The Daily Index — Thursday, January 16, 2025 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

LEAKED SAMSUNG GALAXY S25 SLIM IMAGES SHOW OFF ITS SUPER-THIN DESIGN

Images of what appears to be the Samsung Galaxy 25 Slim have leaked. The super-thin smartphone has a flat front, flat back, flat sides, and three cameras on the back. It will be 6.4mm thick, about 1.2mm thinner than the Galaxy S24 and nearly 2mm thinner than the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The phone's camera system will include a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with 3.5X optical zoom and a special design. It will have a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12GB of RAM. The phone will apparently launch in May and may be showcased at Samsung's January 22 Galaxy Unpacked event.

theverge.com · 2 min

TLDR AI

OPENAI'S BOARD, PARAPHRASED: ‘TO SUCCEED, ALL WE NEED IS UNIMAGINABLE SUMS OF MONEY'

OpenAI's shift from a public-benefit focus to for-profit resembles the early transitional story of Netscape as it leads the AI chatbot market but lacks a sustainable technical moat, suggesting funding is driven by an investment bubble. Despite already raising significant capital, OpenAI's board claims the need for even more funding, mirroring patterns of an unsustainable financial model.

daringfireball.net · 2 min

TLDR Web Dev

REFACTORING WITH CODEMODS TO AUTOMATE API CHANGES

Codemods are automated scripts that use Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) to manage large-scale code changes, particularly when dealing with breaking API changes or refactoring legacy code. They automate tasks like removing feature toggles or refactoring complex components. This article provides practical examples in JavaScript and shows how to write codemods, test them effectively, and compose multiple smaller codemods into larger transformations.

martinfowler.com · 22 min

TLDR InfoSec

FORTINET WARNS OF AUTH BYPASS 0-DAY EXPLOITED TO HIJACK FIREWALLS

Fortinet is warning customers of an actively exploited vulnerability in FortiOS and FortiProxy. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to gain super admin privileges via maliciously crafted requests to the Node.js websocket module. Fortinet reports that attackers are exploiting this vulnerability to randomly generate admin or local accounts and add them to new or existing SSL VPN groups.

bleepingcomputer.com · 2 min

TLDR Crypto

MALAYSIA MULLS CRYPTO POLICY AFTER TALKS WITH UAE AND BINANCE FOUNDER CZ

Malaysia is exploring a crypto regulatory framework after discussions between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Abu Dhabi leaders, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao aimed at modernizing the financial system and embracing digital finance. This potential policy shift marks a large departure from traditional approaches and would require comprehensive government studies and collaboration with regulatory authorities.

links.tldrnewsletter.com · 2 min

TLDR

TIKTOK SAYS EMPLOYEES WILL HAVE JOBS EVEN IF BAN TAKES EFFECT

TikTok employees in the US will still have jobs even if the app is banned in the country. The company is apparently not planning to leave the US in the near term even if it is banned. The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision on whether to overturn the ban before the law takes effect on Sunday. TikTok's leadership team remains laser focused on planning for various scenarios and is continuing to plan the way forward.

nytimes.com · 2 min

TLDR

SPACEX LAUNCHES 2 LUNAR LANDERS ON PATH TO THE MOON

SpaceX's 100th launch of a Falcon rocket from pad 39A yesterday sent two landers on their way to the Moon. The mission also featured a successful landing of the Falcon 9 first stage on the Just Read The Instructions drone ship. It will take about 45 days for Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander to reach lunar orbit, after which the landing process will take just over an hour. The Resilience lander, which is carrying a 5kg rover dubbed Tenacious, will reach the moon in approximately four to five months, after which it will complete a lunar flyby before entering orbit around the Moon.

theregister.com · 2 min

TLDR

CHINA PLANS TO BUILD ENORMOUS SOLAR ARRAY IN SPACE — AND IT COULD COLLECT MORE ENERGY IN A YEAR THAN 'ALL THE OIL ON EARTH'

Chinese scientists plan to build an enormous, 0.6-mile-wide solar power station in space that will beam continuous energy back to Earth via microwaves. The project has been dubbed 'another Three Gorges Dam project above the Earth'. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest hydropower project. Based in China, it generates 100 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. The US, EU, and Japan have also been investigating solar satellite array technology - Japan's JAXA is set to launch its proof-of-concept satellite this year.

livescience.com · 3 min

TLDR

DESIGNING FOR DEVELOPERS MEANS DESIGNING FOR LLMS TOO

Most large language models (LLMs) aren't great at using less popular frameworks. This shouldn't be surprising, but it is an important developer experience problem. A simple and effective solution is for the framework to tailor instructions specifically designed for LLMs, rewriting documents, adding conventions and rules, and packaging the instructions. This can make LLMs much better at building apps for less well-known frameworks.

encore.dev · 3 min