The Daily Index — Wednesday, August 23, 2023 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

MORE DIRECT AIM AT ELON MUSK’S X

Meta's Threads has started rolling out on the web. The web version will be improved to look more like the mobile app over the coming weeks. Meta is currently working on a search feature to improve functionality on Threads and make it more of a competitor to X. The company has no plans to monetize the service until it is more established.

cnbc.com · 2 min

TLDR AI

MAKING OBJECT DETECTION BETTER FOR SMALL ITEMS

While current methods are great at detecting objects, they often have problems spotting small items. CFINet is designed specifically for these small object challenges. It uses a step-by-step approach to first find good areas of interest and then focuses on mimicking features to better recognize the small items.

arxiv.org · 16 min

TLDR Web Dev

AVA DISCOVERY VIEW: SURFACING AUTHENTIC MOMENTS

Netflix stores millions of image files and other artwork to represent their titles. Its assets are often created by selecting static image frames directly from our source videos. To make this process easier, Netflix created AVA, an internal tool that surfaces still frames from video content. The tool provides an efficient way for creatives to pull moments from video content that authentically represent the title’s narrative themes, main characters, and visual characteristics.

netflixtechblog.com · 10 min

TLDR Cybersecurity

TESLA INSIDERS LEAK DATA OF 75,000 EMPLOYEES

Tesla filed a data breach notification that two former employees leaked more than 75,000 individuals’ personal information to a foreign media outlet. The leaked data includes social security numbers among other personally identifiable information. Tesla has sued the former employees and the German media outlet that received the data claims that they will not (and cannot) use it.

techcrunch.com · 2 min

TLDR Crypto

RUSSIA

Binance is being investigated by the DOJ over potential US sanctions violations concerning Russia. Despite scaling back operations in Russia following the Ukraine invasion and implementing Western sanctions requirements, substantial ruble trading has continued on Binance's platform. The exchange is suspected of helping clients convert funds from sanctioned Russian banks into Binance balances and enabling trades involving blacklisted banks. This is just another of many accusations that US regulators have made and are investigating Binance over.

archive.ph · 7 min

TLDR

NETFLIX PLANS TO GIVE AWAY DVDS AS SERVICE SHUTS DOWN

Netflix is shutting down its DVD rental service on September 29. Customers can keep any remaining DVDs they have after the service shuts down. Subscribers can potentially receive up to 10 discs for free as Netflix clears out its inventory. Netflix will allow people to sign up to its DVD plan until midnight on August 28 for a chance to win the DVDs.

arstechnica.com · 3 min

TLDR

BREAKTHROUGH CREATES STEM CELLS WITHOUT ANY “MEMORIES”

Embryonic stem cells are difficult to obtain and they can be rejected following transplants if they don't match the recipient's DNA. Australian researchers have developed a technique to reprogram adult cells to be more like embryonic stem cells. These cells can then be reprogrammed to become any kind of cell. The technique potentially unlocks an endless supply of stem cells for research or treatment.

freethink.com · 4 min

TLDR

LANGUAGES, SPEECH OR TEXT

SeamlessM4T is a multimodal AI model for speech and text translations. It can perform text-to-speech, speech-to-text, speech-to-speech, and text-to-text translations for up to 100 languages. Meta developed the model to help people who speak different languages communicate with each other more effectively. SeamlessM4T has been released under a research license. Its code and weights are available on Hugging Face.

arstechnica.com · 5 min

TLDR

MICROSOFT IS BRINGING PYTHON TO EXCEL

Microsoft is bringing Python to Excel. A public preview of the feature is now available. Excel users can now manipulate and explore data in Excel using Python plots and libraries in combination with Excel's formulas, charts, and PivotTables. No additional software is required to access the functionality. Microsoft plans to add a feature that will expose Python data within the grid of an Excel spreadsheet.

theverge.com · 3 min