The Daily Index — Thursday, July 6, 2023 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

INSTAGRAM’S TWITTER COMPETITOR, THREADS, IS AVAILABLE NOW

Meta's Twitter competitor Threads is now available. It can be accessed on iOS, Android, and the web. Threads allows users to create text-based posts with up to 500 characters, share photos, and upload videos up to five minutes long. It looks similar to Twitter, with an interface that gives users the option to like, comment, repost, and share threads. Users can choose to log in with their Instagram usernames or create a new account. Threads does not currently support ActivityPub, but there are plans to integrate the protocol later down the line. The app is not available in the EU due to the EU's strict privacy regulations.

theverge.com · 2 min

TLDR AI

OPENAI LAUNCHES SUPERALIGNMENT TEAM

How do you align a model much smarter than humans? OpenAI has been working on this question across teams for some time, but now they're bringing 20% of the entire org (compute-wise) to bear on this challenge. They're hiring extensively and many top scientists internally are working on this problem.

openai.com · 7 min

TLDR Web Dev

REACT PERFORMANCE & OPTIMIZATION

A new React Handbook page that discusses two key aspects of React performance: Loading and Runtime Performance. Loading Performance focuses on how quickly a webpage's content loads. The handbook suggests optimization techniques like GZip compression, image optimization, and code splitting to improve loading performance. Runtime Performance, on the other hand, measures the application's smoothness post-load. The handbook recommends strategies such as fixing rendering issues, offloading work to Web Workers, and using memoization and virtualization.

reacthandbook.dev · 4 min

TLDR Crypto

LARRY FINK SAYS 'CRYPTO IS DIGITIZING GOLD' AND THAT BLACKROCK'S BITCOIN ETF COULD HELP MAKE THE SECTOR 'MORE DEMOCRATIZED

BlackRock's CEO, Larry Fink, stated yesterday that Bitcoin is now viewed as an "international asset". The statement comes after the asset management firm made moves to offer a spot Bitcoin ETF. Fink also compared the role of Bitcoin to digital gold, offering an alternative to physical gold investments as an inflation hedge. Despite his initial skepticism, Fink asserted that BlackRock's aim is to democratize crypto and provide cheaper options for investors.

archive.ph · 9 min

TLDR

CHATGPT DROPS ABOUT 10% IN TRAFFIC AS THE NOVELTY WEARS OFF

ChatGPT's traffic declined for the first time from May to June. Worldwide unique visitors to the site dropped by 5.7%, with the amount of time spent on the site down 8.5%. ChatGPT still attracts more visitors than Bing.com. Charts showing ChatGPT's growth and recent decline are available in the article.

similarweb.com · 4 min

TLDR

CONTROL

OpenAI is forming a team to develop ways to steer and control superintelligent AI systems. AI with intelligence exceeding that of humans could arrive within the coming decade. There is no current solution for controlling a potentially superintelligent AI and preventing it from causing harm. The team aims to develop a solution by creating a human-level automated alignment researcher that will find ways to ensure AI systems achieve desired outcomes.

techcrunch.com · 2 min

TLDR

HEAT PUMPS - THE WELL-TEMPERED FUTURE OF A/CS

Air-conditioners keep people comfortable and alive. Extreme heat waves are killing more and more people every year. The demand for more air-conditioners is exacerbating climate change due to increased demand for electricity and the leakage of refrigerants. Both winners of the 2021 Global Cooling Prize were heat pumps that reduce cooling's climate impact by up to 80 percent. Heat pumps address the problems of emissions while providing a source of emissions-free power. They're also comparatively cheaper to install than central air-conditioners.

spectrum.ieee.org · 6 min

TLDR

INTRODUCING THE VERCEL PLATFORMS STARTER KIT

The Vercel Platforms Starter Kit is a full-stack Next.js template for building multi-tenant applications with custom domains. It features programmatically assigned unlimited custom domains, subdomains, and SSL certificates, fast performance, an AI editor, image uploads, custom styles, and more. The kit creates apps that can serve multiple customers across different subdomains/custom domains with a single unified code base.

vercel.com · 3 min

TLDR

WHY INSTAGRAM IS TAKING ON TWITTER WITH THREADS

Twitter's recent volatility provided Meta with an opening to compete. Meta had been planning to release Threads for a while, but the recent backlash over Twitter's limit on how many tweets people can see per day prompted the company to push it out this week. Meta expects tens of millions of people to try the service within the next few days. Threads is now available in 100 countries, but not in the EU due to complexities complying with some of the laws coming into effect next year.

theverge.com · 17 min