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Amazon jumps into virtual tourism, offering live one-on-one experiences around the world . Amazon Explore is Amazon's new tech platform and marketplace that offers access to live virtual experiences with people from around the world. The platform was in the works long before global travel restrictions took effect. A public beta of the service will launch soon for Amazon's US customers. Prices on the platform are set by the host and can be between US$10 to US$200 for a session that lasts around 35 minutes to an hour. Amazon uses its own tech platform for Amazon Explore. It displays audio and video and customers can easily save images from the experience and download them afterward. When the global pandemic finally ends, Amazon will have established relationships with tour guides around the world, allowing the company to expand its service into in-person tours and experiences. |
Researchers make a quantum storage breakthrough by storing a qubit for 20 milliseconds . Researchers from the University of Geneva broke a new record by storing a qubit in a crystal for 20 milliseconds. The development could help create secure long-distance quantum telecommunication networks. Photons that carry qubits disappear after traveling a few hundred kilometers inside optical fiber cables. The storage could be integrated into repeaters to extend network ranges. The researchers aim to have a system on the market within 10 years. |
GM unveils a new electric vehicle platform and battery in bid to take on Tesla . General Motors showcased its electric vehicle strategy to investors on Wednesday, along with an all-new modular electric vehicle platform called Ultium. The platform is designed to be flexible and multifaceted, allowing it to be built into a variety of vehicle types and shapes. Ultium also features an improved battery pack that is unique due to its large-format, pouch-style cells, which allow them to be stacked vertically or horizontally inside a battery pack. The batteries will supply power ranging from 50 to 200 kWh, allowing for a driving range of over 400 miles. Aluminum is used in the batteries, reducing cobalt content by 70 percent. GM is planning to release 20 electric nameplates by 2023 across all four of its brands. |
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. |
Netflix takes first stab at mobile gaming in its Android app, but only in Poland . Netflix has released two Stranger Things games on its Android app in Poland. The games have been available for years outside of the Netflix app. Netflix plans to bring ad-free games to mobile devices, and maybe even to consoles, at no additional cost to subscribers. The company has named gaming as one of its toughest competitors because of the massive amount of hours they command worldwide. |
YouTuber Builds an Electric Skateboard With Tank Tracks . YouTuber Ivan Miranda created a custom electric skateboard with tank treads using 3D printed parts. The board features brushless DC motors, a lithium polymer battery, and a remote control system. The 19-minute video of the build is available at the end of the article. |
SpaceX’s Starlink is in talks with ‘several’ airlines for in-flight Wi-Fi . SpaceX's Starlink team has been in talks with several airlines to connect aircraft to the internet. The company has an aviation product in development and it is hoping to release something soon. Starlink has launched nearly 1,800 satellites. It will need 4,400 to provide global coverage. The design for SpaceX's airline antennas will be similar to its consumer terminals. Starlink's satellites will require inter-satellite links to provide connectivity to airplanes flying over remote parts of the ocean. Competition is growing in the low-orbit satellite internet industry, but SpaceX appears confident that it can provide the best experience. |
Facebook and Instagram roll out personalized ‘Year in Review’ features . Meta is rolling out Year in Review features for both Facebook and Instagram. Facebook users will be able to share a personalized card with highlights from 2021 until the end of December. Instagram users will be able to share a Playback time capsule made up of up to ten stories to their IG Story for several weeks. The review features on both platforms are fully customizable. They will be available to users all around the globe over the next few days. |
Amazon more than doubles top base pay of corporate and tech workers . Amazon has increased the maximum base pay of workers in corporate and technology roles up to $350,000. It will increase overall compensation ranges for most jobs globally. Amazon has historically offered lower base pay than other tech giants, making up the difference with restricted stock units instead. These other compensation components will stay following the pay increase. The labor market has become more competitive in the past year, forcing the company to increase its compensation to attract and retain staff. |
Google says Matter is still set to fix the biggest smart home frustrations (11 minute read). Matter is a smart home interoperability protocol supported by Apple, Google, Amazon, and other companies in the Connectivity Standards Alliance. It allows smart home devices from different manufacturers to work together. This article features an interview with Michele Turner, the senior director of Google Smart Home Ecosystem. In the interview, Turner discusses how Google plans to implement Matter and what it will mean for Google's Nest products and the Google Home app when Matter is released later this year. |
GitHub investigating crypto-mining campaign abusing its server infrastructure . GitHub is investigating a series of attacks against its cloud infrastructure that allows the attackers to use the servers for crypto-mining operations. The attacks abuse a feature called GitHub Actions, which allows users to execute tasks and workflows. It involves forking legitimate repositories, adding malicious GitHub Actions, and then filing Pull Requests with the original repository. The attacks target project owners who have automated workflows that test incoming pull requests via automated jobs. They create huge computational loads for GitHub's infrastructure, but they don't appear to damage users' projects in any way. |
InfluxDB is the essential time series toolkit (Sponsor). InfluxDB has everything you need to build time series applications – a multi-tenanted time series database, UI and dashboarding tools, background processing, and monitoring agent. All this makes deployment and setup a breeze. Get started for free today! |
Snyk - Developer Loved, Security Trusted (Sponsor). Snyk is security that even developers love. It automatically scans your code, dependencies, containers, and cloud configs — finding and fixing vulnerabilities in real time from the tools and workflows you already use. Create your Snyk account for free! |
DuckDuckGo is working on a privacy-focused desktop browser . DuckDuckGo is working on a desktop browser that will help users avoid being tracked. The browser will have robust privacy protection turned on by default and function in the same way as its mobile app. Early tests indicate that the browser is significantly faster than Google Chrome. It is currently in a closed beta test on macOS and there is no word on when it will be publicly available. |
For the first time, humans have been placed in biostasis . Scientists have been able to place humans into biostasis for the first time by replacing a person's blood with a very cold saline solution, rapidly cooling the person's body to about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. The technique was developed to give doctors more time to work with patients who have acute trauma. Putting the body into biostasis slows down or stops all chemical reactions, which means the body's cells need less oxygen. It is unknown how long humans can safely remain in biostasis. |
Amazon offered vendors ‘Amazon’s Choice’ labels in return for ad spending and lower prices . Amazon has recently come under fire as it was discovered that it previously allowed vendors the ability to bid for an Amazon's Choice badge by lowering prices and spending more money on advertising. The Amazon's Choice label gives certain products and items priority and better visibility in search results. Vendors with the label would see an increase in sales. Amazon has denied that this bidding program existed. The company has since switched to using algorithms to determine who gets the Amazon's Choice badge. However, with the new algorithm, Amazon frequently recommends inferior and defective products, as well as products whose reviews have been manipulated by the seller. Two senators have asked Jeff Bezos to explain how products are chosen for Amazon's Choice, as if sellers can pay for the badge, it would limit competition in the marketplace. |
Didi says it will delist from the U.S. and prepare to list in Hong Kong . Didi will start delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and will list in Hong Kong instead. Chinese regulators asked the firm's executives to delist from the NYSE due to concerns over sensitive data. China doesn't want tech companies listing in US markets as it brings them under the jurisdiction of US regulators. The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently finalized rules that allow it to delist foreign stocks for failing to meet audit requirements. Almost all US-listed Chinese tech companies are expected to relist in Hong Kong or the mainland. |
China starts large-scale testing of its internet of the future . China has launched a large-scale experimental network to test the future of internet technology. It connects 40 of the country's leading research universities with huge bandwidth and far lower latency than the existing internet. The network will connect to almost everything for seamless communications in an AI-driven society. China launched a massive effort to replace Western hardware in its information infrastructure after it was revealed how Western technology was riddled with back doors. |
Sri Lanka to Construct 100 MW of Floating Solar Projects in Maduru Oya Reservoir . The government of Sri Lanka has approved a proposal to build a photovoltaic farm in the Maduru Oya Reservoir. A call has been made by the government for international contractors to provide competitive proposals to build the solar farm, which will cover 4% of the reservoir’s surface area. The Sri Lankan government has approved several solar initiatives recently and they aim to install 200 MW of solar projects by 2020, and 1,000 MW of solar projects by 2025. |
Starsky Robotics Becomes First Uncrewed Truck To Hit 55 MPH . A Florida-based unmanned trucking company, Starsky Robotics, has set a record for the fastest that an unmanned truck has driven on a public road. It hit 55 MPH in a speed test on the Selmon Expressway outside Tampa. Building a driverless truck that can handle highway speeds could solve a $726 billion dollar problem in the trucking industry. Starsky’s trucks aren’t completely autonomous. Instead, they have a remote driver that controls the trucks between freight depots and the freeway, after which an automated system takes over. Truck drivers are increasingly harder to find as the work hours and conditions are unappealing, and employees have to stay away from family for long periods of time. |
Blood test that finds 50 types of cancer is accurate enough to be rolled out . A test developed by US-based company Grail can detect more than 50 types of cancer before any clinical signs or symptoms of the disease emerge. It is accurate enough to be rolled out as a screening test and will be piloted by NHS England in the autumn. The test looks for chemical changes in fragments of genetic code that leak from tumors into the bloodstream. It has an impressively high level of accuracy with a low false-positive rate. |
BoTorch (GitHub Repo). BoTorch is a library for Bayesian Optimization built on PyTorch. It is designed for researchers and sophisticated practitioners in Bayesian Optimization and AI. BoTorch can be used as a low-level API for implementing new algorithms in Ax, a machine learning optimization platform. |
Netflix has biggest quarter with nearly 16 million new subscribers signing on . Netflix gained 15.77 million paid subscribers globally in the first quarter of 2020, its biggest quarter yet. It earned $709 million, with revenue growing to $5.77 billion in the quarter. Netflix is currently working on more than 200 projects in post-production. It expects to continue with its releases throughout 2020 and 2021. Shares for the company have risen by 13.6% in the past 12 months. 🚀 Science & |
How I operated as a Staff engineer at Heroku (12 minute read). Amy Unger worked effectively as a Staff engineer at Salesforce for five years. During this time, she worked on the Heroku Add-ons project and the Heroku API team. This article discusses her role in the company, the daily operations of a Staff-plus engineer, sponsoring other engineers, and networking at a remote company. |
Nikola’s founder steps down from board as company faces fraud allegations . Trevor Milton has stepped down from Nikola's board of directors. Milton will be replaced by Stephen Girsky, a former vice-chairman of GM. Nikola shares fell 22 percent in US pre-market trading. After GM announced that it would take an 11 percent stake in Nikola, short-selling firm Hindenburg Research released a report that accused Nikola of exaggerating its progress in technology. Nikola had recently released a video showing one of its trucks cruising down a hill, but Hindenburg claims that the video was staged. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice are reportedly investigating the company. |
Brave is bypassing Google AMP pages because they’re ‘harmful to users’ . Brave has announced a new feature for its browser that automatically bypasses pages rendered with Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages framework and takes users to the original website. The company believes that AMP is harmful to users and the web. AMP was created to simplify and speed up mobile websites. Google is facing a lawsuit over making non-AMP ads load slower. |
Snapchat will launch Bitmoji TV, a personalized cartoon show . Snapchat users will soon be able to watch their Bitmoji avatar in a full-motion cartoon series called Bitmoji TV. Users can register their interest on Snapchat's website to be notified about its release in February 2020. Many of Snapchat's core features have been copied by Facebook's family of apps. Facebook is developing Facebook Avatars to compete with Bitmoji. Bitmoji originally placed avatars in comic strips, and TV is a return to these roots. Snapchat's 210 million daily users can use Bitmojis as overlays in snaps, Fitbit smartwatch faces, characters in comic strip stories, game and profile avatars, and more. Snapchat has even launched merchandise based on Bitmoji characters. The success of Bitmoji TV will depend largely on the quality of writing. |
New energy-dense lithium-sulfur battery works at extreme temperatures . A new type of lithium battery can operate in freezing cold and scorching hot temperatures while storing double the energy of current batteries. |
Microsoft Office now available on Apple's Mac App Store . Microsoft's full Office suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive are all available in the Mac App Store. The big benefit here is that the apps will be automatically updated through the App Store. It costs $7/month for the personal version. |
How To Create A Kickass GitHub Profile Page . This article teaches you how to create a GitHub profile page that automatically updates itself with your latest content, shows GitHub stats, and displays tech stack icons. An example profile is provided at the beginning of the article. A 23-minute video version of the tutorial is available. |
Exclusive: First look at the LG Wing with its twisty dual display . The LG Wing is LG's latest take on dual-display phones. It features a secondary display that flips out in a twisting motion. An 11-second video is available that shows the phone in its T-formation configuration. The video demonstrates how the second screen can be useful. Specs for the phone haven't been released yet. There are no details on release dates or pricing, but it is expected to be launched well before Christmas. |
Towards ‘Eternal Sunshine’? New Links Found Between Memory and Emotion . Emotionally-charged memories can seem to transport us back to those life events, creating vivid visions. Studies have found that a special group of cells in the hippocampus synchronize their activity to speak to the amygdala every time mice recall trauma. Disruption to this pathway could potentially be an easy and specific path towards emotional relief. |
Bugs bogging down code? Never miss an error with Airbrake (Sponsor). Built by developers for developers. As one user said, "Airbrake is the only tool I use for real-time bug monitoring & my team can react in a manner of minutes." Get started with a free dev account & receive unlimited monitoring for 30 days with Airbrake. |
Spotify's standalone Kids app is now available in the US . Spotify’s stand-alone app for kids allows parents to play music for their kids without affecting their own algorithmically generated playlists and recommendations. The beta is now debuting in the US, Canada, and France. Spotify Kids is COPPA compliant and ad-free. There are no algorithms to determine playlists. Playlists are created by experts in children’s entertainment. Parental controls are built into the app and Spotify plans to expand controls over the app content. Podcasts for kids will also be available soon. |
Twitch is going to fund new reality programming . Twitch is looking to fund a slate of new unscripted series to help broaden its audience in a time when its audiences are bigger than ever. The company wants live, interactive programming that airs a few times a week. It will spend between $50,000 to $250,000 a week on the project. A large part of Twitch is the interactivity with the audience. Twitch chat can get fairly chaotic, so it will be interesting to see how the format fares with unscripted TV. |
Locked In: Bitcoin’s Taproot Upgrade Gets Its 90% Mandate . Taproot is a new upgrade to Bitcoin that adds a new signature scheme known as Schnorr signatures. It allows for new possibilities for privacy, multi-signature wallets, and scaling. The update now has enough mining support to begin the activation process. Miners and nodes now have five months to update their software to the newest version of Bitcoin Core that contains the Taproot soft fork. After Bitcoin reaches a specified block height, all upgraded nodes and devices will be able to recognize and accept transactions using Taproot. |
What Other Coronaviruses Tell Us About SARS-CoV-2 . Medical researchers have had more than half a century’s experience with coronaviruses, with the first human version being identified in 1965 and multiple animal coronaviruses known before then. Four coronaviruses cause the common cold, and more serious variants have been identified recently, such as SARS in 2003, and more recently, SARS-CoV-2. Other coronaviruses can help confirm some information about SARS-CoV-2, such as whether it causes gastrointestinal issues and loss of the senses of smell and taste. They can also give clues to how the virus might behave so we can develop strategies to prevent its spread. |
Beyond Meat Details Plans for Initial Public Offering . Beyond Meat has filed for an Initial Public Offering which they hope will value the company at about $1.2 billion. Like many of the other tech companies that have been going public this year, Beyond Meat is also running at a loss, but their revenue is growing faster than losses. The market for meat replacements in the US grew around 22% last year. Beyond Meat stocks their pea and beetroot based meat alternative in supermarkets, and sales statistics show that 93% of people who purchase Beyond Meat products also purchase real meat. Ethan Brown, the founder of Beyond Meat, started the company as a way to combat the effects of the meat industry on the environment. |
Entire Crew Of A Russian Nuclear Submarine Is In Quarantine After COVID-19 Exposure . One of Russia's submarines is in quarantine after one of the crew members was possibly exposed to COVID-19. The virus is starting to impact the readiness of military forces around the world. Russia claims that it tested more than 3,700 individuals across its armed services for COVID-19 on March 30th, all of which came back negative. There are currently 1,836 cases in Russia, and Moscow has declared total lockdown. |
EU Approves Landmark Legislation to Regulate Apple and Other Big Tech Firms . The rules will target 'gatekeepers', large companies that own platforms with large numbers of users in an entrenched and durable position. |
Color Thief (GitHub Repo). Color Thief uses JavaScript and the canvas tag to find the dominant color and color palettes from any image. It could be useful for sites that search by color, or creating a UI that adapts to the colors of an image. |
Scientists say they can read nearly the whole genome of an IVF-created embryo . A Californian company claims that it can decode almost all of the DNA in days-old embryos created using in vitro fertilization. The technique requires fully sequencing both parents' DNA and reconstructing the embryo's genome with the help of the data. While the technique could be used to screen for genetic diseases, the science of screening embryos for genetic diseases is still new and primarily used only in research. There are still many limitations to the technology and scientists are still learning about what works. |
I thought I made a hard game and then speedrunners totally destroyed it. Here is what that feels like . Developer Zukalous spent over one year creating a challenging platform game called 1 Screen Platformer. As it was his first game, he decided to make it short and focused on making it as hard as possible. After the release, the game became unexpectedly popular with speedrunners, who began to tear apart the game section by section to complete it in the fastest time possible. At first, some bugs were discovered, which the developer quickly patched. As time went on, more and more shortcuts and tricks were found, and the community began competing for the fastest times possible. A video for the fastest speed run is available, as well as other clips showing speedrunners demonstrating exploits they had discovered. |
EA is reportedly seeking a sale or a merger . Electronic Arts is actively looking for a buyer or another company willing to merge with it. It has held talks with Disney, Apple, Amazon, ESPN, Comcast, and other potential buyers or partners. Comcast was the closest to closing a deal, but the agreement fell through within the last month. Electronic Arts has been trying to find a sale or merger since Microsoft announced that it was buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. |
Silicon Drinkabout (Community). Silicon Drinkabout is a global network of local startup communities. They host meetups in dozens of cities (mostly in Europe, South America, and Canada), so if you're into startups and you live in one of those places you should definitely check it out! |
Spotify is buying Bill Simmons’s The Ringer to boost its podcast business . Spotify has bought The Ringer, a podcast-centric media company owned by Bill Simmons. Simmons and his employees will all be absorbed in the deal. The Ringer has around 30 titles, ranging from an NBA chat show to a show devoted to rewatching old movies. Neither company disclosed a sale price for the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of this year. Spotify did not make Gimlet Media's podcasts exclusive to its platform when it purchased the company last year, so The Ringer's podcasts should still be available on all platforms. This is the fourth podcast company Spotify has acquired in the last 12 months. |
A Mysterious Desert Bacterium Has Evolved Its Own, Unique Ability to Photosynthesize . Researchers have discovered a species of bacteria from the Gobi desert that can photosynthesize using a unique structure. It obtained the genes for photosynthesis from an ancient proteobacterium, demonstrating the power of bacteria's horizontal gene-transfer skills. The bacteria has a central reaction center, an inner sunlight-capturing ring, and an outer ring, making it larger than other photosynthesizing bacteria. Its structure could hold the secrets to building a future of solar-powered synthetic biology. |
Netflix brings spatial audio to its lineup of original series and movies . Netflix has partnered with Sennheiser to bring spatial audio to its original programming for all devices. The feature will start rolling out today. It was previously only available on specific Apple devices. Spatial audio will be automatically enabled when using stereo audio. Users can search for shows with the feature by typing 'spatial audio' into the search bar. |
Plasmid, Virus or Other? DNA ‘Borgs’ Blur Boundaries . Scientists from the University of California have discovered unique genomic structures within fragments of DNA obtained from samples of mud from wetland environments. The unknown DNA may be from a new type of genetic entity called Borgs. Borgs are able to pick up DNA from their hosts and carry them to the next host. Scientists are still debating whether Borgs are really a new genetic entity, or whether they are another type of large virus or plasmid. |
Imagen - Pytorch (GitHub Repo). This repository contains an implementation of Google's text-to-image neural network, Imagen. Imagen is architecturally much simpler than DALL-E 2. A Discord community is available for developers interested in replicating Imagen. |
A New Quantum Computing Method Is 2,500 Percent More Efficient . Q-CTRL has discovered a way to reduce computational errors in quantum systems. The new method increases the likelihood of quantum algorithms succeeding by 2,500%. It uses specialized software to alter quantum logic gates. It can be used on any quantum system, so we could see more breakthroughs in the industry soon. |
Marriott Data Breach Is Traced to Chinese Hackers as U.S. Readies Crackdown on Beijing . The cyberattack on Marriott hotels that leaked the information of 500 million guests was done by Chinese hackers, who also hacked health insurers, other hotels, and the security clearance files of millions more Americans. They are suspected to be working for the Chinese Ministry of State Security. US officials believe that the hacks were intended to gather intelligence to root out spies, and the Marriott data would give the hackers access to an important element: travel habits. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies involvement, saying "China firmly opposes all forms of cyberattack and cracks down on it in accordance with the law." |
Atuin (GitHub Repo). Atuin replaces shell history with an SQLite database and records additional context for commands. It can synchronize fully encrypted shell histories between machines and calculate statistics such as 'most used command'. Atuin can run on zsh, bash, and fish. |
Netflix plans real-life Squid Game reality TV show with $4.56m prize . Netflix is recruiting for a reality TV show inspired by Squid Game. 456 recruits from around the world will play games with a $4.56 million prize at stake. The 10-episode series will be filmed over four weeks in early 2023. Participants need to be over 21 years old and speak English. Netflix has confirmed that Squid Game will be renewed for a second season. |
With ‘Mulan,’ Disney Tests Out Entirely New Early VOD Model . Disney will release Mulan on Disney Plus on September 4. Mulan won't be available directly to Disney Plus subscribers. Instead, they will have to pay $29.99 to rent the movie on top of the usual subscription fee. Many movies have been delayed due to the pandemic as cinemas remain shut down around the world. The movie will be released in cinemas where Disney Plus isn't available. Disney's decision to mix things up with Mulan may mean that other future releases may follow this model. AMC Theatres and Universal recently announced an agreement to debut some movies on home entertainment platforms within 17 days of theatrical debut. |
Experimental drug holds promise for treating the coronavirus . At least two hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19 have quickly recovered after receiving a drug called remdesivir. Remdesivir has also shown promise in treating MERS, another type of coronavirus. The drug appeared to have an immediate effect, but it is too early to tell whether it was due to the drug or whether the patient would have recovered anyway. Remdesivir is now in clinical trials, with results expected in late April. |
China Aims for a Permanent Moon Base in the 2030s . China and Russia are aiming to build an international moon base. All interested countries and partners are invited to cooperate in the project. China has planned a series of missions to set up infrastructure beginning in the early 2030s. This article details the plans so far to build the International Lunar Research Station. It includes diagrams of the vehicles that will be used in each mission. |
TensorNetwork (GitHub Repo). TensorNetwork is a tensor network wrapper for TensorFlow, JAX, and Numpy. Tensor networks are data structures originally designed for simulating quantum many-body physics, but they are currently also applied in other research areas, such as machine learning. Examples of how to use TensorNetwork are available along with links to articles regarding tensor networks. |
Average Software Engineering Salaries by Country in 2022 (17 minute read). This article discusses and compares average software engineering salaries in over 20 countries. The US, Switzerland, and Israel have the highest developer salaries. Those who work in major cities tend to get paid better than workers living outside of urban areas. The lowest paying countries are Nigeria, India, and the Philippines. The countries with the highest demand for software engineers are Canada, Australia, and Russia. |
Venezuela's Socialist Regime Is Mining Bitcoin In a Bunker to Generate Cash . Venezuela is mining bitcoin in a last-ditch effort to save its economy. Inside a bunker at a military base outside Caracas, a facility houses several S9 AntMiners, a specialized type of computer for mining bitcoin. The Venezuelan government is under sanctions by the US and it isn't able to buy and sell using dollars. It has rolled out a series of laws and regulations that it hopes will save its sinking economy. The Venezuelan military was accused of raiding mining farms and stealing equipment three years ago. Venezuela's cheap electricity made the country attractive to crypto miners. The country tried to launch its own cryptocurrency in 2018, but it failed. |
Company Unveils Robot Boots for VR Locomotion With Half-Life Demo . Ekto VR has unveiled a pair of robotic boots called the Ecto One. The boots allow users to move through VR environments using real steps without moving through the room. It doesn't require any wires or straps. The shoes are made from carbon-fiber material and Ekto claims they are lightweight. There are rotating plates at the bottom of the boots that can twist with the user's motion and a series of wheels to control the user's position. It is equipped with brakes to stop the boots from moving when the user is standing still. A 3-minute video is available in the article that demos the boots being used to play Half-Life: Alyx. |
Lens (GitHub Repo). Lens is a cross-platform user interface for managing Kubernetes clusters. It has support for multi-cluster management, real-time cluster state visualization, terminal access to nodes and containers, and more. A three-minute video is available that explores the Lens UI. |
A “no math” (but seven-part). Quantum mechanics have entered into our everyday experience with modern technology, and the importance of quantum effects will only grow in the decades to come. This article is part of a seven-part series that introduces quantum mechanics and explains how it applies to our everyday world. The series promises no maths, no philosophy, and only experimentally verified information. This part of the series answers the deceptively simple question, "How do particles move?" |
Uber and DoorDash reportedly held failed talks to merge last year . Last year, SoftBank urged Uber and DoorDash to discuss a potential merger. Although the companies did not come to an agreement, they have not yet completely ruled out the idea. SoftBank has heavy investments in both companies. Uber Eats has struggled to become profitable, despite high growth. It has recently sold its business in India and exited South Korea. The food delivery market has proven competitive, but many have struggled to generate a profit, except for Grubhub. |
Change My View Reddit Community Launches Its Own Website . The subreddit /r/changemyview is a large community of over 700,000 people in which anything is debatable. Users enter into debates following certain rules of engagement, such as requiring a reason for agreement/disagreement, and it is now known as an online oasis for people who enjoy discussions. The founder of ChangeMyView has launched a website where users can continue using the same format of discussion without the restrictions of Reddit. Researchers have commented on the difference in the quality of conversation that occurs on the subreddit, as it is quite different from debates that occur elsewhere on the internet. |
The Trauma Floor (20 minute read). As one of the largest social networks, Facebook receives a massive amount of content from users all over the world. While Facebook has rules regarding the type of content that is allowed on the platform, not all users follow these rules. A team exists which reviews the content to see if it should be removed or not. Some of the content is extremely graphic and can cause lasting mental health issues with the employees who are tasked with viewing it. Employees in this team are paid significantly less than the average Facebook employee and are subject to harsher work conditions. |
I took a huge pay cut for a more meaningful job, and it was nothing like I expected . Moving away from a high-earning job in order to chase more fulfilling activities may have varying results. Some people are able to manage their own businesses well and eventually earn more than their previous roles. People who leave their high-paying jobs to work for lower-paying companies or organizations usually find that their lifestyles had to be significantly changed to fit their new budgets. Those who had significant others who were employed and supportive or a significant amount of savings and investments found the transition to be a lot easier than those who depended on their income. Timing was important, as the financial burdens of reality play a large role in determining whether the decision is viable. |
Reddit buys TikTok rival Dubsmash . Reddit has acquired Dubsmash, a short-form video social platform. Dubsmash will continue to exist as a separate platform and brand, but its software will be integrated into Reddit. Reddit has allowed video uploads since 2017, but its video-editing tools are limited. Dubsmash has declined to share its total number of users, but its share of the USA's short-form video market is second only to TikTok. Reddit specifically cited Dubsmash's user base as a reason for its acquisition. |
Facebook executive: we got Trump elected, and we shouldn’t stop him in 2020 (10 minute read). A leaked memo by a Facebook executive, Andrew Bosworth, talks about how the social media platform was responsible for electing President Donald Trump in 2016, and warned employees against using the company's power to stop Trump's reelection in 2020. The memo discusses some of Facebook's high-profile scandals. Bosworth claims that the reason that Trump won the 2016 election was due to him running the best digital ad campaign Bosworth had ever seen. While Facebook has enormous power to influence the outcome of the next election, Bosworth believes that the company should remain impartial and not interfere with the results. The full memo is available to read in the article. |
A new and outlandish delivery drone concept can carry 100 pounds up to 80 miles . Austria-based Cyclotech and Japanese delivery firm Yamato have partnered to create a concept delivery drone. The CCY-01 will use a thrust vectoring propulsion system developed by Cyclotech that will enable it to land in confined spaces and handle challenging wind conditions. The drone is able to produce horizontal sideways thrust without tilting. The CCY-01 has a payload capacity of 99 lbs and it can fly up to 25 miles at speeds of around 80 mph. A video of the CCY-01 performing its first free flight is available in the article. |
Social media influencer/model created from artificial intelligence lands 100 sponsorships . Rozy is a virtual human created by Sidus Studio X. She has been keeping an active online presence since December of last year. Rozy has advertising contracts and a significant amount of sponsorships. Virtual humans appeal to advertisers as there is no fear of advertisements being suspended due to celebrity scandals. The models can also be active for longer as they don't get sick or grow old. Pictures of Rozy are available in the article. |
NVIDIA Neural Modules: NeMo (GitHub Repo). NeMo is a framework-agnostic toolkit for building AI applications powered by Neural Modules. Researchers can define and build new speech and NLP networks easily using applications built with NeMo. |
A Whistle-Stop Tour of 4 New CSS Color Features . An upcoming change to CSS will bring new color models and new functions that map color models differently. This article discusses the new changes and how they will affect how colors are set and displayed. The new features include Display-P3, which allows developers to take advantage of modern monitors that can display more vibrant colors, relative color syntax, and the ability to define custom CSS color spaces. |
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. |
pika/web (GitHub Repo). JavaScript has become a more difficult platform to begin development on as more and more tools are required. Pika aims to make the process simple again by installing npm dependencies that run directly in the browser, removing the need for Browserify, Webpack, or import maps. It does not require any bundlers, is able to handle dependency trees of any size, and the browser only downloads dependencies when they change. |
Shrimp made from algae that looks and tastes like the real thing (4 minute video). This is a cool video from a company called New Wave Foods, showing off their shrimp replacement product made from algae that definitely looks (and supposedly smells and tastes) like real shrimp! |
Strange life forms found deep in a mine point to vast 'underground Galapagos' . Organisms have been discovered 7,900 feet below the surface inside Canada's Kidd Mine. The dark waters in the mine contain single-celled organisms that breathe sulfur and live off pyrite, also known as fool's gold. Other organisms have been discovered in deep areas, including boreholes, volcanic vents on the bottom of the ocean, and in sediments far beneath the seafloor. These areas have no light, air, or any connection to the surface, and may help us understand how life started on our planet, as well as on other planets. Some of these organisms are able to live in temperatures well above the boiling point of water, and others can withstand pressures 20,000 times higher than the air pressure at sea level. Due to these conditions, the organisms' cellular metabolism can be different from that of those on the surface, with some organisms surviving for thousands of years or more without dividing. |
A Chinese AI startup is tracking lost dogs using their nose prints . Megvii is a Chinese AI startup that supplies facial recognition software for the Chinese government’s surveillance program. It has released an app that is able to recognize dogs by their nose prints, which are unique, just like our fingerprints. Owners are required to take photos of their dog’s snouts from multiple angles to register. Megvii claims that it has a 95 percent accuracy rate and that the app has reunited 15,000 lost pets with their owners. Due to Megvii’s relationship with the Chinese government, the app may also be used to track owners to make sure that they keep their pets controlled and clean in public areas. |
Openstacks (Website). Openstacks helps developers discover tech stacks from companies that are leading the way in transparency and openness. Each listing has a link to the company website, as well as a list of the technologies that they use. Users can easily contribute to the list, as well as receive updates when new tech stacks are added. |
New Yorkers protest Amazon HQ2: 'We should be investing in housing, not in helicopters' . Amazon is bringing 25,000 jobs with average salaries of $150,000 to Queens in New York City, but locals are protesting the $1.525 billion ($48,000 per job) that Amazon is receiving in incentives. The city is also giving Amazon permission to build a helipad so execs can easily access the new campus. Labor leaders and activists say that they're worried about people's ability to stay in the neighborhood, and that the money given to Amazon was needed for underfunded schools. The protest was organized by New York State Senator Michael Gianaris who represents the neighborhood Amazon is moving into. |
Facebook is testing a video speed-dating app called Sparked . Sparked is a new video speed dating app from Facebook's New Product Experimentation (NPE) Team. During events, the app cycles people through speed video dates that last four minutes. If the date goes well, the pair can schedule a longer meeting. Users have to fill in questions when signing up that indicate that kindness is a major factor when qualifying for the app. The NPE Team has launched many apps with little success, so it is unclear how committed Facebook will be to this project. |
RISC-V AI Chips Will Be Everywhere . RISC-V is a free and open-source computer instruction set architecture introduced in 2010. For many years, it was assumed that general-purpose computer architectures would never keep up with GPUs and other purpose-built architectures for machine learning and AI. Esperanto Technologies has created a RISC-V AI processor intended to compete against powerful GPUs in AI-recommendation systems. There will be 25 million RISC-V AI chips produced in 2027, worth $291 billion in revenue. Intel is creating a $1 billion fund to help drive further adoption of RISC-V. |
awesome-mobile-security (GitHub Repo). This repository contains resources on mobile security. There are two main sections, Android and iOS. Each section contains links to general resources, books, courses, tools, labs, talks, and some other miscellaneous information. |
CodeSwing (GitHub Repo). CodeSwing is an interactive coding environment for VS Code that allows developers to have a traditional web playground directly within their highly-personalized editors. Developers can view a live preview of their web apps as they type, without compiling or bundling anything. Demos and examples are available in the repository. |
Facebook Parent Meta Is Opening Its First Store. Here's What It's Like Inside . Meta has opened its first store at its campus in Burlingame, California. The store allows customers to demo several of the company's devices, such as the Portal Go, Oculus Quest 2 headset, and Ray-Ban smart glasses. It is open Monday to Friday from 11 AM to 6 PM. A gallery of images showing what it is like inside the store is available in the article. |
Apple Watch Could Gain Breakthrough Health Upgrade . Rockley Photonics produces sensors for the Apple Watch. The company is preparing to go public in New York. A recent report suggests that its new sensors, which can detect blood pressure, blood glucose, and alcohol levels, could be in devices as early as 2022. Rockley Photonics' CEO did not confirm if the sensors will appear in an Apple product. Apple is Rockley Photonics' biggest customer, and it is unlikely that the sensors the report are referring to belong to any other company. |
Google.com tests a busier homepage with a row of info cards . Google is testing a new homepage with a row of information cards at the bottom. The cards currently show weather information, trending searches, viewing recommendations, stocks, local events, and COVID news. Users have the option to turn off the cards. A screenshot showing the cards on the new homepage is available in the article. |
Hiring qualified remote software developers just got easier (Sponsor). Hiring qualified remote software developers just got easier . ReadyTal is the easy way to hire vetted, English-speaking developers from around the world. Every developer on our platform has passed rigorous coding challenges to verify their skillset. Find the most qualified candidates through our streamlined process, grow your team with ReadyTal. Learn more. |
Earth's final frontier: the global race to map the entire ocean floor . Scientists around the world are racing to map the ocean floor by 2030 to help countries prepare for tsunamis, protect marine habitats, and monitor deep-sea mining. As of 2017, only 6% of the ocean was mapped in accurate detail. The lack of ocean maps plays a role in nearly every critical ocean issue, including sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and biodiversity. Mapping the ocean presents many difficult challenges and expeditions can be costly. The goal of completing the ocean map by 2030 seems possible, but there will still be much more to discover after it is done. |
Words Are Hard - An Essay on Communicating With Non-Programmers (10 minute read). The ability to correctly communicate an idea or concept in a way that others can understand is by far the most important skill to have as someone working in a software-based small business. Programmers have developed their own jargon to communicate with each other which people outside of the programming world might not understand. The simplest explanation that includes the most important information is usually the best. Using jargon to try to demonstrate intelligence and superiority is usually the wrong way to go about conveying an idea. Being respectful to others goes a long way in getting them to want to understand you. Practicing pitching ideas to non-technical friends can help you receive useful feedback. Techniques like analogies, anecdotes, and metaphors are great tools for getting ideas across. It's ok to admit when you don't know something, and it is often better than losing respect for getting something wrong, as long as you take the initiative to self-educate. |
natto.dev (Website). natto is a tool for manipulating JavaScript expressions on a spatial canvas. It uses panes to evaluate expressions, store values, and display data. Canvases are saved in the browser. |
Animals Can Count and Use Zero. How Far Does Their Number Sense Go? (14 minute read). Practically every animal ever studied can distinguish between different numbers of objects in a set or sounds in a sequence. This ability seems to be a general ability that has evolved multiple times throughout the animal kingdom. Researchers are uncovering increasingly complex numerical abilities in animals, with some displaying the capacity to grasp the quantitative concept of zero, a concept that very young children sometimes struggle with. Researchers are now trying to pin down the genetic mechanisms underlying numerical ability and have identified genes that seem to be associated with a math learning disability in humans. |
Humans had never seen a spacecraft land on another planet — until now . NASA has released a video showing several viewpoints of last week's Mars landing. The video shows the descent starting from the release of the parachute. About 30GB of data was captured during the descent. The footage will be used to sharpen knowledge about future entry, descent, and landing technology. One problem identified by the footage is the large amount of dust that was kicked up by the descent stage, which will be an important issue for larger spacecraft. The video of the landing is available in the article. |
Practical Deep Learning for Coders (Website). This site covers the 2019 version of a practical deep learning course for coders. It is assumed that students have been coding for at least a year. The course recommends that beginners rent cloud machines as many have pre-installed AI setups, which means that students can focus on studying deep learning rather than figuring out how to install everything. Students can communicate with other students and AI practitioners through the course forum. |
Court orders China sales ban on older Apple iPhones in Qualcomm case . A Chinese court has granted Qualcomm an injunction against Apple in a patent infringement case. The patents affect all devices sold with iOS 11 or earlier, so all iPhones from the 6S through the X. The iPhones are currently still on sale in China, Qualcomm has to file a complaint to the enforcement tribunal to get the ban enforced, and Apple will have a chance to appeal. Apple says "Qualcomm's effort to ban our products is another desperate move by a company whose illegal practices are under investigation by regulators around the world." |
Exclusive: Amazon Confirms First Known Coronavirus Case in an American Warehouse . Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Queens, New York, have been informed that a coworker had tested positive for COVID-19. This may impact Amazon's operations significantly at a time when many people are stuck at home and ordering products online. Amazon is already struggling to meet demand. Two office workers at Amazon's Seattle headquarters were also diagnosed with the disease. The Queens facility is deep cleaned daily and is now temporarily closed. Employees at the facility were sent home with full pay. |
This tiny edible sofa was 3D-printed from milk . Scientists at the Singapore University of Technology and Design have developed a method for 3D printing with powdered milk. The process doesn't require the milk to be heated up, preserving its key nutrients. It also doesn't require the additional stabilizers that are usually used in colder methods of 3D printing. The researchers were able to fill the milk objects with syrup and cream. This method could be used to formulate various nutritious foods, particularly for those who have special dietary needs. Images of the 3D printed milk designs are available in the article. |
Apple will bring Live Captions to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac and more gesture control on Apple Watch . Apple has announced a new wave of accessibility features as part of its recognition of this week's Global Accessibility Awareness Day. The features include Live Captions, Assistive Touch gesture recognition controls for the Apple Watch, enhancements to the VoiceOver screen reader app, a Detection Mode for Magnifier in iOS, and much more. Apple stores will offer live sessions to help people learn more about the features and an Accessibility Assistant shortcut rolling out this week will recommend specific features for users on Mac and Apple Watch based on their preferences. |
On rebooting: the unreasonable effectiveness of turning computers off and on again . Rebooting works because it resets the system to its initial stable state. The initialization sequence is generally reliable, so it can transition into other well-behaved states. When the system reaches a defect, it enters a broken state, which makes any attempt to bring it back into a working state improvisational. While this is true for most cases, there are other nuances to consider. This article discusses rebooting systems and the reasoning behind developing crash-only software. |
Magic Grid (GitHub Repo). This is an open source Javascript library for dynamic grid layouts. This makes it easy to have a bunch of grid items that aren't the same height, and it automatically reshuffles the tiles when a window is increased or decreased in size. Looks really cool if you're building any sort of directory style website with a lot of pictures. |