The Daily Index — Friday, January 10, 2025 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

THE TIKTOK BAN HEADS TO THE SUPREME COURT TOMORROW. HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

TikTok will argue its case before the Supreme Court today in a case that will decide whether the government can ban the platform if it doesn't sever ties with China. The US government wants to ban TikTok due to concerns about China's control over the app. TikTok says the ban violates its First Amendment right to free speech and that the US government's security concerns are too vague and hypothetical to justify an infringement of its rights. If TikTok is banned on January 19, people who don't already have the app on their devices will no longer be able to download it from Google or Apple app stores. The law also bars US internet hosting services and data-storage providers from supporting the app. There are workarounds, but they are limited.

links.tldrnewsletter.com · 4 min

TLDR AI

META'S LLAMA COPYRIGHTED TRAINING

A recent filing alleges that Meta's Llama team trained on copyrighted material with approval from Mark Zuckerberg, raising concerns over intellectual property use in AI training.

techcrunch.com · 6 min

TLDR Web Dev

ACCESSIBILITY ESSENTIALS EVERY FRONT-END DEVELOPER SHOULD KNOW

Following accessibility best practices improves the user experience for everyone, not just those with disabilities. Some key principles include using semantic HTML, correctly structuring forms with labels (avoiding placeholders), writing descriptive alt text for images, and having smooth keyboard navigation with focus management in modals. This post covers styling considerations like focus indicators and how to use ARIA attributes.

martijnhols.nl · 13 min

TLDR InfoSec

IVANTI WARNS OF NEW ZERO-DAY ATTACKS HITTING CONNECT SECURE PRODUCT

Ivanti has announced two high severity vulnerabilities in Ivanti Secure Connect appliances. The first vulnerability is a stack-based buffer overflow that allows unauthenticated, remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. The second vulnerability is a privilege escalation vulnerability for local, authenticated attackers. Ivanti says that the first vulnerability is being actively exploited and urges customers to update vulnerable devices.

securityweek.com · 2 min

TLDR Crypto

GEMINI ONBOARDS THREE MORE SENIOR EXECUTIVES AMID EUROPEAN REGIONAL EXPANSION

Gemini has appointed Mark Jennings as head of Europe, Daniel Slutzkin as head of the UK, and Vijay Selvam as the international-focused general counsel all to drive its European expansion amid evolving crypto regulations. Gemini is hiring to continue its push to navigate new regulatory frameworks like the EU's MiCA and the UK's upcoming crypto roadmap, solidifying its commitment to growth in the region.

links.tldrnewsletter.com · 2 min

TLDR

X LAUNCHES GROK'S IPHONE APP IN THE US

xAI has released an iOS app for its Grok chatbot in the US. It can perform the same functions as the chatbot built into the X app. The company has been testing the app in a handful of countries since December. There is no word on when it might come to Android. xAI is also working on a dedicated website for Grok.

theverge.com · 1 min

TLDR

A TALLER, HEAVIER, SMARTER VERSION OF SPACEX'S STARSHIP IS ALMOST READY TO FLY

SpaceX plans to test Starship's payload deployment mechanism on its seventh test flight, which could be launching as soon as January 13. The upcoming flight test will launch a new generation ship with significant upgrades. In addition to testing the payload deployment mechanism, SpaceX plans to fly multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster. Details about the upgrades on the new generation ship are available in the article.

arstechnica.com · 12 min

TLDR

BLUE ORIGIN'S FIRST ORBITAL LAUNCH NOW TARGETING SUNDAY

Blue Origin is aiming to launch its first orbital rocket on Sunday. The launch was delayed due to rough seas in the Atlantic, where the company hopes to land its first stage booster on a ship. The rocket, New Glenn, will carry a prototype of Blue Ring, a US Defense Department funded spacecraft. The launch will mark Blue Origin's long-awaited entry into the orbital launch market and escalate the rivalry between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

phys.org · 2 min

TLDR

WHY AREN'T WE ALL SERVERLESS YET?

The industry pivot to serverless compute hasn't really happened despite an appealing value proposition. Friction against serverless is caused in part by fatigue from the last paradigm shift to microservices. Caution in the industry is reasonable as a shift to serverless will amplify the same type of challenges that were caused by microservices, many of which still aren't fully resolved. The main incentive for broad serverless is financial, not technical, it is unlikely for someone from the engineering department to sponsor the idea.

varoa.net · 12 min