The Daily Index — Friday, December 8, 2023 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

GOOGLE’S BEST GEMINI DEMO WAS FAKED

The video demonstrating some of Google Gemini's best interactions may not be entirely real. While Gemini appears to be able to do the things that Google shows in the video, it isn't able to do them live and in the way the video implies. The video was a series of carefully tuned text prompts with still images selected to mislead viewers about the speed, accuracy, and fundamental mode of interaction with the model. A breakdown of the video is available in the article.

techcrunch.com · 4 min

TLDR AI

META’S PURPLE LLAMA SAFETY PROJECT

Purple Llama, a new project aiming to level the playing field for building safe and responsible generative AI experiences, is launching with permissively licensed tools, evaluations, and models for both research and commercial use. Initial offerings include CyberSecEval for assessing AI system security, the Llama Guard model for detecting and preventing cyberattacks, and tools for insecure code detection and cyber attack compliance testing. This initiative democratizes access to essential resources, empowering developers to create secure and responsible AI experiences.

ai.meta.com · 6 min

TLDR Web Dev

UPGRADING GITHUB.COM TO MYSQL 8.0

GitHub successfully upgraded its fleet of 1200+ MySQL hosts to version 8.0, which was a challenging task due to the complexity of its ecosystem. Key challenges included ensuring backward replication and identifying queries that passed CI but failed in production. In this post, GitHub’s team describes how they addressed these challenges. The experience led to the development of new processes and operational capabilities for managing the MySQL fleet, with a focus on automation and self-healing capabilities for future upgrades.

github.blog · 10 min

TLDR InfoSec

KIDSECURITY’S USER DATA COMPROMISED AFTER APP FAILED TO SET A PASSWORD

A popular parental control app for Android, KidSecurity, provides parents with the ability to set app limits, track their children, and listen to sounds around their children. Researchers discovered an ElasticSearch instance belonging to the app that had no authentication configured. This led to the exposure of private information including phone numbers, email addresses, and portions of credit cards.

cybernews.com · 2 min

TLDR Crypto

EVEN SMALL-TIME JITO AIRDROPPERS ARE GETTING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN JTO TOKENS

Jito, described by some as Flashbots + Lido on Solana, conducted an airdrop yesterday that took all of Crypto Twitter by storm. Close to 10,000 Solana addresses were airdropped a minimum of 4,941 JTO tokens, which ended up being worth nearly $15,000 by the end of the day yesterday. This airdrop was reminiscent of the Uniswap airdrop that kickstarted the Ethereum ecosystem last cycle.

coindesk.com · 2 min

TLDR

BEEPER MINI FOR ANDROID SENDS AND RECEIVES IMESSAGES, NO MAC SERVER REQUIRED

It is now possible to send iMessages without handing over Apple credentials or logging in with an Apple ID on a Mac server. Beeper Mini for Android allows Android users to send iMessages with all the typing, delivered/read receipt, emoji reaction, and most other iPhone-to-iPhone message features. The app is powered by a teenager's reverse-engineering discovery. This article looks at how the app works.

arstechnica.com · 6 min

TLDR

CHINA LAUNCHES WORLD’S ‘MOST ADVANCED’ NUCLEAR REACTOR THAT’S COOLED BY GAS, NOT WATER

China has begun operations at a nuclear reactor that uses gas rather than water for cooling. Construction of the plant started in 2012 and its first reactor was connected to the country's power grid in 2021. Interest in gas-cooled reactors is increasing globally as they can provide efficient and cost-effective electricity. They can also produce high-temperature process heat for industrial applications. Pictures of the power plant are available in the article.

independent.co.uk · 2 min

TLDR

DEFYING CAVITY: LANTERN BIOWORKS FAQ

Lantern Bioworks claims to have a cure for tooth decay. It has a genetically modified bacterium designed to infect patients' mouths to outcompete tooth-decay-causing bacteria, making cavities a thing of the past. One treatment with the bacteria is enough to infect users' mouths forever. This article contains an interview with Lantern founder Aaron Silverbook where he explains how the technology works, both in a biological and economic sense.

astralcodexten.com · 18 min

TLDR

DATA ENGINEERING DESIGN PATTERNS (BOOK)

This is a book on Data Engineering Design Patterns that aims to dissect the evolutionary paths in data engineering and identify universal design patterns applicable across the spectrum of data engineering. It explores the concept of convergent evolution, its relevance to data engineering, and how the concept can guide engineering through the Data Engineering Lifecycle and enrich their understanding and practice.

dedp.online