The Daily Index — Thursday, June 27, 2024 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

SPACEX IS BUILDING A NASA CRAFT TO INTENTIONALLY DESTROY THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AFTER RETIRING

NASA has awarded SpaceX an $843 million contract to build a vehicle to deorbit the International Space Station after its retirement in 2030. The vehicle will effectively destroy the ISS by pushing the station into reentry from orbit. It is unknown whether the vehicle's design will be based on one of SpaceX's existing spacecraft. NASA intends to replace the ISS with private space stations.

cnbc.com · 3 min

TLDR AI

YOUTUBE TRIES CONVINCING RECORD LABELS TO LICENSE MUSIC FOR AI SONG GENERATOR

YouTube is negotiating with major record labels for licenses to use their music in AI song-generation tools. It is offering substantial upfront payments but facing resistance from artists worried about devaluing their work. The platform, which trialed a generative AI tool called "Dream Track," aims to expand its AI music capabilities, potentially integrating them into YouTube Shorts. Meanwhile, the music industry is pushing back against unlicensed AI usage, with leading companies suing AI startups Suno and Udio for copyright infringement.

arstechnica.com · 4 min

TLDR Web Dev

EXPLORING HOW CACHE MEMORY REALLY WORKS

Cache memory is a temporary storage located on the processor that increases CPU efficiency by holding frequently accessed data. The CPU cache is organized in levels (L1, L2, L3, etc.) with varying speeds and sizes, with L1 being the fastest and smallest. Cache placement policies determine where data is stored in the cache. Direct mapping is one of the simplest approaches. Programmers can write cache-friendly code by optimizing data locality, avoiding complex loops, and using appropriate struct alignment and compiler flags.

pikuma.com · 10 min

TLDR Crypto

BITCOIN ETFS SEE $31M IN INFLOWS, BREAKING OUTFLOW STREAK

Following a week of net outflows, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $31 million in net inflows, primarily coming from Fidelity's FBTC and Bitwise's BITB. The inflows occurred as expectations increased around the launch of spot ether ETFs.

theblock.co · 1 min

TLDR Design

GOOGLE IMPROVES SEARCH EXPERIENCE IN THE CHROME MOBILE APP

Google has announced new mobile Chrome features to enhance search, including local search shortcuts, a refreshed address bar, personalized recommendations, and live sports cards. These upgrades, aimed at improving user experience on Android and iOS, also include Chrome Actions for quicker access to tasks and enhanced tablet browsing. The rollout ensures users can see trending searches on iOS and custom shortcut suggestions based on browsing history.

techcrunch.com · 2 min

TLDR

AMAZON PLANS TO LAUNCH DISCOUNT STORE IN BID TO FEND OFF TEMU AND SHEIN

Amazon is planning to launch a new section on its site dedicated to low-priced fashion and lifestyle items. The new storefront will allow Chinese sellers to ship directly to US consumers, with items arriving within nine to 11 days. It is an aggressive attempt to fend off competition from Temu and Shein, who have expanded their presence in the US in recent years. Amazon will start accepting products for the storefront this fall. The company has yet to announce when it intends to debut the storefront.

cnbc.com · 2 min

TLDR

THE BRAIN MAKES A LOT OF WASTE. NOW SCIENTISTS THINK THEY KNOW WHERE IT GOES

Two teams of scientists have published three papers that offer a detailed description of the brain's waste-removal system. Their research suggests that during sleep, slow electrical waves push fluid from around cells deep in the brain to its surface, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through a sophisticated interface. There is growing evidence that the brain's waste-removal system is impaired in Alzheimer's disease - the new findings could help researchers figure out how to restore the system.

npr.org · 5 min

TLDR

TOYS “R” US RILES CRITICS WITH “FIRST-EVER” AI-GENERATED COMMERCIAL USING SORA

Toys “R” Us partnered with ad agency Native Foreign to create a brand film using OpenAI's text-to-video tool Sora. The film uses AI-generated video clips to tell the story of the company's founder. Sora, which was introduced in February, is still not yet available to the public. The video required quite a bit of human post-production work to put together, showing that Sora is not yet a turnkey solution for instantly usable clips. The video, as well as behind-the-scenes footage showing how it was made, is available in the article.

arstechnica.com · 5 min

TLDR

IF YOU'RE USING POLYFILL.IO CODE ON YOUR SITE – LIKE 100,000+ ARE – REMOVE IT IMMEDIATELY

Polyfill.io is being used to infect websites with malware. Websites running any JavaScript code from the domain are advised to remove it immediately. The site previously offered code that added functionality to older browsers. A Chinese organization bought the domain earlier this year. Some popular CDN providers have created mirrors of the domain so sites can continue to use it without having to load the malicious code.

theregister.com · 5 min