The Daily Index — Tuesday, October 31, 2023 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

X IS OFFICIALLY WORTH LESS THAN HALF OF WHAT ELON MUSK PAID FOR IT

X employees were awarded equity in the company at a valuation of $19 billion on Monday. At $45 per share, X's self-assessed value is at a 55% discount to Musk's original purchase price. The equity is in the form of restricted stock units, so employees will have to wait for a liquidity event to sell them. Employees will have to pay tax on any sales as income.

theverge.com · 1 min

TLDR AI

GPT-3.5-TURBO IS 20B PARAMETER

Researchers wrote that gpt-3.5-turbo (the model behind ChatGPT) is a 20B parameter model in a paper by a Microsoft research group that studies diffusion models for code. The original model was said to be 175B parameters, so there could have been retraining or distillation.

arxiv.org · 2 min

TLDR Web Dev

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WEBSOCKETS WITH REACT

WebSockets is a communication protocol that enables bidirectional communication between applications. React itself does not require a specific library for WebSockets, though some do exist. This article dives into best practices for managing WebSocket connections in React with code examples. It explores different approaches, such as using the "useWebSocket" hook, managing the connection in the top-level component, using the Context API, or creating a custom hook.

ably.com · 30 min

TLDR Crypto

UK TREASURY RELEASES FINAL PROPOSALS FOR CRYPTO ASSET REGULATION

The UK Treasury has issued final proposals for crypto asset regulation that require firms dealing in crypto assets to be authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority. The proposals do not currently include regulation for DeFi. The Treasury is hoping these guidelines will foster growth in the UK's crypto space while managing potential consumer and stability risks.

theblock.co · 2 min

TLDR Design

RE-DESIGNING SLACK ON MOBILE

Slack's mobile app has undergone a redesign to streamline its expanded features, like voice/video clips and collaboration tools, into a simpler, more intuitive interface. The revamp introduces a simplified navigation bar, ergonomic gestures for quick access, a supercharged search, and a comprehensive activity feed, all aimed at enhancing productivity on smaller screens without compromising on functionality.

slack.design · 6 min

TLDR

FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM LAUNCH A PAID AD-FREE SUBSCRIPTION

Meta is launching a paid subscription for people aged 18 and older in the EU that will remove ads from Facebook and Instagram on the web for €9.99 per month and on iOS and Android for €12.99 per month. The subscription aims to address concerns by the EU about Meta's ad targeting and data collection practices. Free access with ads will remain available and the experience for nonpaying users will not change. The ad-free subscription will initially apply across all linked Meta accounts, but the company will start charging extra for linked accounts starting in March 2024.

theverge.com · 2 min

TLDR

WORLD'S SMALLEST PARTICLE ACCELERATOR IS 54 MILLION TIMES SMALLER THAN THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER — AND IT WORKS

A new particle accelerator known as a nanophotonic electron accelerator is around the size of a small coin. The device consists of a small microchip that houses an even smaller vacuum tube made up of thousands of individual pillars. Researchers can accelerate electrons by firing mini laser beams at these pillars. The main goal of creating these devices is to use the energy given off by the accelerated electrons in targeted medical treatments that can replace damaging forms of radiotherapy.

space.com · 3 min

TLDR

NEW LASER ENABLED 3D-PRINTING METHOD MAKES STEEL MORE AFFORDABLE

A new method for 3D printing metal developed by a team led by the University of Cambridge allows structural alterations to be written into metal alloys during 3D printing. It allows for the creation of complex forms and the engineering of the structure and characteristics in the material. The method gave the researchers complete control over both the strength and toughness of its structures. It uses typical laser-based 3D printing technology with some modifications.

interestingengineering.com · 3 min

TLDR

THE ARCHITECTURE OF TODAY’S LLM APPLICATIONS

This blog post aims to give readers everything they need to know to build their first LLM app. It also introduces some problem spaces that readers can start exploring today. The blog covers the emerging architecture of LLM apps and the real-world impacts of LLMs. Resources for further reading are available.

github.blog · 2 min