The Daily Index — Wednesday, January 3, 2024 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

SPACEX STARLINK TO LAUNCH FIRST DIRECT-TO-CELL INTERNET SATELLITES

SpaceX has launched its first batch of six Starlink satellites designed to enable direct-to-cell internet service from space. The satellites will provide global access to texting, calling, and browsing anywhere in the world without special hardware or firmware. They have a modem that acts as a cellphone tower in space, eliminating dead zones with network integration. Partner providers will include T-Mobile in the US, Rogers in Canada, and Optus in Australia.

themessenger.com · 1 min

TLDR AI

STUFF WE FIGURED OUT ABOUT AI IN 2023

This article attempts to round up the highlights in AI development over 2023. It covers how to run LLMs on personal devices, fine-tuning models, the problem of gullibility, LLM applications, and more. LLMs can provide people who use them effectively with a significant boost to their quality of life. They're actually quite easy to build, but there's still a lot unknown about them and they're still unreliable for many applications.

simonwillison.net · 7 min

TLDR Web Dev

BACK TO BASICS: 5 HTML ATTRIBUTES FOR IMPROVED ACCESSIBILITY AND USER EXPERIENCE

This article covers five HTML attributes that can improve accessibility and user experience. `hreflang` is useful for specifying the language of linked resources, `translate` controls element translation, `reversed` is for reversing ordered lists, `controls` adds video or audio playback controls, and `autocomplete` allows automatically completing form values. When used properly, these attributes provide a more accessible and usable web experience for users.

htmhell.dev · 6 min

TLDR InfoSec

EUROPE’S LARGEST PARKING APP PROVIDER INFORMS CUSTOMERS OF DATA BREACH

EasyPark Group, Europe’s largest parking application operator, has disclosed a data breach impacting customer information. Data stolen by hackers includes name, phone number, physical address, email address, and partial IBAN or credit/debit card numbers.

securityweek.com · 3 min

TLDR Crypto

IRS RULES REQUIRE REPORTING DATA FROM $10K CRYPTO TRANSACTIONS IN 2024

The US Infrastructure Bill, signed into law by President Biden, requires crypto transactions above $10,000 to be reported to the IRS. It officially went into effect at the start of this year. The legislation requires any entity that receives $10,000 or more in crypto in the course of business to report personal details of the parties involved to the IRS within 15 days of the transaction. While the new law states that not complying will be considered a felony, there is no guidance on how exactly individuals and businesses should actually conduct this process.

cointelegraph.com · 2 min

TLDR

FOLDABLES HELP CHIP AWAY AT APPLE'S PREMIUM SMARTPHONE LEAD IN 2023

Foldables emerged as a differentiator in the premium smartphone market in 2023. Apple ended the year with a 71% share of the premium smartphone market due to competition from Huawei and Samsung. While global smartphone sales have been down, the premium segment is set to grow 6% year-on-year. Consumers are willing to spend more to get a higher quality device that will last longer and promotions, sales, and financing options make the devices accessible to a larger market.

pcmag.com · 1 min

TLDR

JUNO MAKES ITS FIRST ULTRA-CLOSE FLYBY OF THE VOLCANO-COVERED MOON IO

NASA's Juno spacecraft flew within 930 miles of the surface of Io, the fourth largest moon in the Solar System, on Saturday. Io is a dense and dry moon that is extremely geologically active, making it an object of great interest to astronomers and planetary scientists. The data collected from the flyby will help scientists determine how Io's volcanoes erupt and how its activity is connected to Jupiter's magnetosphere. A link to a gallery of images from the flyby is available in the article.

arstechnica.com · 2 min

TLDR

HUMANOID ROBOTS ARE GETTING TO WORK

A handful of companies will be deploying their humanoid robots in commercial pilot projects this year. This article looks at the current state of humanoid robots and whether they're ready for work. Humanoid robots are able to replace human workers doing robotic jobs, freeing them to be able to work in other more valuable positions. The pilot tests this year will determine whether their potential will translate into a fundamental shift in how repetitive labor is done.

spectrum.ieee.org · 7 min

TLDR

LLMS AND PROGRAMMING IN THE FIRST DAYS OF 2024

Large language models (LLMs) are great for programming work, but using them requires practice. Communicating poorly is a great limitation. Many programmers communicate poorly despite being very capable in their field. Asking LLMs the right questions is a fundamental skill that can be improved with practice.

antirez.com · 26 min