TLDR 2024-10-31

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APPLE UPDATES THE MACBOOK PRO WITH M4 PRO AND M4 MAX CHIPS

Apple has announced 14- and 16-inch M4 MacBook Pros via a low-key press release. The M4 Pro-equipped laptops will start at $1,999 for the 14-inch and $2,499 for the 16-inch, with the basic 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro starting at $1,599. The M4 Pro laptops will have 24GB of base RAM while the basic M4 model will have 16GB. Preorders are available now - the new MacBook Pros will be available on November 8.

ZOOX CUSTOM ROBOTAXIS ARE FINALLY COMING TO SAN FRANCISCO AND LAS VEGAS

Zoox, which was founded a decade ago and acquired by Amazon four years ago, will start rolling out its robotaxi service in San Francisco and in Las Vegas in the coming weeks. It will start by offering employees rides in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco and on the Las Vegas Strip. The company has been working closely with local and federal safety regulators and will take a measured approach to rolling out its robotaxi service. It plans to scale production in 2026.

WE DIGITIZED SCENT

Scientists from Osmo have fully digitized and reprinted the scent of a fresh summer plum using AI. They created a system that can analyze air molecules to determine scents and then print the scents as a clear liquid. The printed scents smell the same as the original scents, showing that the team was able to give their computers a sense of smell. A video from Osmo explaining its technology is available.

BELGIUM IS CONSTRUCTING THE WORLD'S FIRST ARTIFICIAL ISLAND TO HARNESS OFFSHORE WIND

Belgium is constructing a massive artificial island in the North Sea. Set to be completed by 2027, the island will enhance Belgium's renewable energy capabilities, integrating an impressive 3.5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity into the Belgian power grid, enough clean electricity to power over three million homes. The project, which will cost €650 million ($702 million), is being funded by the European Investment Bank. The initiative is a key part of the EU's plan to phase out fossil fuels and fully commit to sustainable energy.

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OCTOVERSE: AI LEADS PYTHON TO TOP LANGUAGE AS THE NUMBER OF GLOBAL DEVELOPERS SURGES

Developers are building AI models into applications and engaging with AI projects on GitHub in large numbers. Python overtook JavaScript as the most popular language on GitHub in 2024 and Jupyter Notebooks use skyrocketed. Both are technologies heavily used in data science and machine learning. The number of developers on GitHub has rapidly grown since tools like GitHub Copilot started going mainstream in early 2023, with significant gains in the global south. There are signals that AI is driving interest in software development.

CREATING AN LLM-AS-A-JUDGE THAT DRIVES BUSINESS RESULTS

This article discusses how to avoid creating bad evaluation processes. It introduces a technique called 'Critique Shadowing' for streamlining AI evaluation processes. Critique Shadowing involves finding a principal domain expert, creating datasets, and having the domain expert review the data and fix errors before building the LLM judge and performing an error analysis. The process repeats periodically or when material changes occur. The real value of the process is that it tricks people into looking at their data and performing careful analysis.

DROPBOX CUTS ITS WORKFORCE BY 20 PERCENT IN LATEST ROUND OF LAYOFFS

Dropbox is laying off 528 people amid slowing growth for its core cloud storage business. The company is making significant cuts in areas where it is over-invested or underperforming while designing a flatter, more efficient team structure overall. Affected employees will receive sixteen weeks of severance pay, equity, bonus plan lump sums, payouts of approved leave, and immigration consultation for those on work visas. Dropbox reported an increase of 63,000 paid users quarter over quarter for its second-quarter earnings this year, light compared to its total 18 million-plus user base.

HOW TIKTOK SAVED ITS E-COMMERCE BUSINESS IN INDONESIA

TikTok's e-commerce business in Indonesia was thriving, then one day, the government declared that social media platforms would no longer be allowed to process online payments, forcing TikTok to abruptly halt its e-commerce operations. Some Indonesian officials argued that TikTok was so popular it threatened to monopolize online shopping, while others said it didn't have the right license. TikTok's defenders said the government was acting on behalf of TikTok's competitors in Indonesia.TikTok Shop restarted as a pilot program under government supervision after teaming up with local company Tokopedia.

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VECTOR DATABASES ARE THE WRONG ABSTRACTION

Vector Databases create unnecessary complexity because they treat embeddings as independent data instead of derived data - it's better to treat embeddings more like database indexes.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM A SUCCESSFUL RUST REWRITE

A lot of the friction, pitfalls, and issues in C++ that Rust claims to have solved are in fact not really solved at all.

THE NEW GLENN ROCKET'S FIRST STAGE IS REAL, AND IT'S SPECTACULAR

Blue Origin rolled out the first stage of its large New Glenn rocket on Tuesday night at a launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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OPENAI JUST MADE AN IMPORTANT SERVICE 80 PERCENT CHEAPER

OpenAI's RealTime API will soon automatically cache audio and text inputs, reducing the cost of long conversations by up to 80%.

MATT MULLENWEG SAYS AUTOMATTIC IS ‘VERY SHORT-STAFFED' AMID WORDPRESS VS. WP ENGINE DRAMA

Automattic has offered two rounds of severance deals - 159 employees out of roughly 1,900 employees took the first deal.

HOW TO FREE ELON MUSK'S SPACEX FROM FEDERAL RED TAPE

The Federal Aviation Administration says that SpaceX neglected necessary paperwork for two 2023 launches and is seeking $633,009 in civil fines.