TLDR 2023-06-19

DON'T REOPEN

Some moderators participating in the protest against the Reddit API changes received messages from the company saying to reopen their subreddits or be removed from their positions. Many large subreddits have reopened out of fear that their mod teams will be forcibly replaced. A Reddit spokesperson has confirmed that moderators taking part in the protest may be in violation of the code of conduct. The company is planning to pursue changes that would let regular users vote moderators out more easily.

INTRODUCING VOICEBOX: THE MOST VERSATILE AI FOR SPEECH GENERATION

Voicebox is an AI model from Meta that can perform speech generation tasks that it wasn't specifically trained to do through in-context learning. It can produce high-quality clips and edit pre-recorded audio while preserving the content and style of the audio. Voicebox is multilingual and can produce speech in six languages. Examples of clips generated by Voicebox are available in the article.

BPClip is a cell phone attachment that can measure blood pressure with comparable readings to those taken with a traditional cuff. It consists of a plastic clip with a spring mechanism that lets the user squeeze the device. An ultra-low-cost blood pressure device could help make diagnosis and treatment for hypertension more accessible to marginalized populations. The design still needs to be refined before it is ready for mass production. Details about how the device works are available in the article.

NEW NANO-TATTOOS DON'T NEED BATTERIES OR WIRES

Researchers from Istanbul have created nanotattoos capable of passive wireless communications with nearby devices without the need for an external power source. Backscattering-based nanotattoo sensor (BNTS) tattoos are made by painting a zinc oxide ink containing embedded nanowires on top of a graphene aerogel conductive ink using separate needles. As the tattoos change shape, they convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Data from the tattoos can be extracted using a smartphone. The tattoos can be placed on any surface, not just on the human body.

GPT ENGINEER

GPT Engineer can generate entire code bases based on a prompt. It is easy to adapt and extend and it can learn code styles. GPT Engineer will ask for clarification before it starts to build. A video demo is available.

PANDA

Panda is a universal styling solution for the modern web. It allows developers to write type-safe styles with ease. Panda has TypeScript support out-of-the-box, a low learning curve, and a great developer experience. It generates modern CSS code at build-time with features like cascade layers, :where selectors, and CSS variables. Panda works everywhere, including in server components.

MARK ZUCKERBERG WAS EARLY IN AI. NOW META IS TRYING TO CATCH UP.

Mark Zuckerberg saw the promise for artificial intelligence a decade ago and invested large amounts of money into its advancement, hiring one of its early visionaries, Yann LeCun, to lead the charge. Meta fell behind in the field and is now scrambling to refocus its resources to generate usable AI products and features. It previously prioritized academic discoveries while struggling to capitalize on their commercial potential. Meta had attempted to launch several chatbots before ChatGPT was released but these systems were criticized for their incorrect and biased answers.

GPT-4 CAN USE TOOLS - NOW THAT'S A BIG DEAL

The GPT API was recently updated with a tool called function calling. Function calling allows GPT to call out to external code, databases, or other APIs whenever it needs to. GPT can decide which tools to use and when. This ability makes GPT models significantly more powerful as it helps them overcome many of their limitations. It also makes some open-source projects obsolete. OpenAI's release should remind developers that projects built at the infrastructure layer can be easily obviated by a future OpenAI update.

HEADQUARTERS

The 30-year project will include over 3 million square feet of office space and 7,000 residential units.

LANGUAGE MODELS

This package makes it easy for learners and educators to explore how large language models intersect with modern software development on any computer with 512MB of RAM.

THIRD-PARTY DATA

Similarweb reported a 6.6% drop in traffic for Reddit on June 13.

IMAGINARY PROBLEMS ARE THE ROOT OF BAD SOFTWARE

Intelligent people will make up imaginary problems when tasks are boring - this can lead to the creation of solutions that ignore clients' basic requests.

HOME, SMART HOME

Homes built in California's first planned smart solar-powered residential microgrid community can proactively respond to and manage energy use, for example, by changing power sources or reducing energy use when prices and demand spike.

MODERN CSS FOR DYNAMIC COMPONENT-BASED ARCHITECTURE

This article explores modern web project architecture, features to improve code organization, and examples of context-aware components that use cutting-edge CSS techniques.