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OPENAI NEARS LAUNCH OF AI AGENT TOOL TO AUTOMATE TASKS FOR USERS

OpenAI is preparing to launch an AI agent codenamed 'Operator' that will be able to use a computer to take actions on users' behalf. It plans to release the tool as a research preview in January. OpenAI has been working on several agent-related research projects. The one nearest to completion is a general-purpose tool that executes tasks in a web browser. OpenAI and its competitors are moving towards agents as they are seeing diminishing returns from their costly efforts to develop more advanced AI models.

AMAZON DEBUTS DISCOUNT STORE WITH EVERYTHING UNDER $20 TO TAKE ON TEMU AND SHEIN

Amazon has rolled out a new storefront that features items priced below $20. Amazon Haul, created to fend off competition from Temu and Shein, is accessible through the company's mobile app. Shoppers get free delivery on orders over $25. Amazon will be screening Haul products to make sure they're safe, authentic, and comply with regulatory requirements. The company will not accept returns on items $3 or less. Items on Haul will be imported directly from manufacturers in China.

SUPERHUMAN VISION LETS ROBOTS SEE THROUGH WALLS, SMOKE WITH NEW LIDAR-LIKE EYES

PanoRadar is a system created by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania that converts basic radio waves into rich 3D views, allowing robots to see beyond traditional sensor limits. The device processes radio waves using AI algorithms, making it possible for robots to precisely navigate through challenging situations and obstructions where conventional sensors are inadequate. PanoRadar could be used to complement existing sensing technologies to develop more reliable multi-modal perception systems for robots. A video explaining how the technology works is available in the article.

NEW STUDY ON MOONS OF URANUS RAISES CHANCE OF LIFE

Uranus and its five biggest moons may have oceans - the moons may even be capable of supporting life. Much of what we know about the planet and its moons was gathered by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which visited nearly 40 years ago, apparently on a bad day. New research shows that Voyager 2 flew past during a solar storm, which temporarily distorted the magnetic field and gave us an incorrect view of what Uranus and its moons are normally like. NASA has plans to launch a new mission to go back for a closer look. It is expected to arrive by 2045 and inform scientists about whether the moons have the possibility of being home to life.

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WILL WE CARE ABOUT FRAMEWORKS IN THE FUTURE?

Frameworks are abstractions over a platform designed for people and teams to accelerate work and maintenance while improving the consistency and quality of projects. They frequently force a certain type of structure and architecture. Software development is radically shifting to a world where a person never actually has to manipulate code directly anymore. AI doesn't care about shared logic, extensibility, or inheritability of components - it just implements what it needs. Frameworks may become obsolete in the future unless new patterns of software architecture that work with AI are created.

🤔🔍 B2C BILLING IS ACTUALLY HARDER THAN B2B BILLING

B2C billing is often underestimated because it feels like a solved problem. Choosing a billing system is a business-critical decision that can have wide-reaching impacts on flexibility, compliance, and customer retention. It may be tempting to build a custom solution, but most companies are better off choosing an existing solution as they cover most common billing challenges.

LESSONS FROM MY FIRST EXIT

TinyPilot is a bootstrapped hardware company that its founder ran for four years before exiting. This article discusses practical lessons that the founder learned from the experience, what went well, what they want to improve in the future, and what surprised them about selling the business. TinyPilot sold for $598,000, with the founder receiving $490,803 after commissions and fees. The founder ended up profiting $920,000 from the business over four years.

FBI SEIZES POLYMARKET FOUNDER'S PHONE IN RAID OF HOME

The FBI has seized the phone of Polymarket's founder and CEO Shayne Coplan. Federal agents raided Coplan's Manhattan home early Wednesday morning. It is unclear what prompted the FBI's search. A Polymarket spokesperson claims that the raid is an act of obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election.

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JUST EAT IS SELLING GRUBHUB TO MARC LORE'S WONDER FOR $650M

Wonder plans to integrate Grubhub into its platform and offer a superapp for restaurants, groceries, and meal kits.

OBSESSIVE PROBLEM SOLVING FOLLOWED BY AIMLESS WANDERING

Finding the next is the art of wandering, and wandering well takes practice and patience.

BLUESKY CROSSES THE 15 MILLION USER MARK

Bluesky, which uses the decentralized AT Protocol, added around a million new users in the last week.

AMAZON SHUTS DOWN SECRET PROJECT TO DEVELOP FERTILITY TRACKER

Amazon had been working on a fertility monitoring device and companion smartphone app for the past four years but disbanded the team working on the project in October.

OPENAI TO PRESENT PLANS FOR U.S. AI STRATEGY AND AN ALLIANCE TO COMPETE WITH CHINA

OpenAI's official blueprint for US AI infrastructure involves AI economic zones, government projects funded by private investors, and a North American AI alliance to compete with China's AI own alliances.

MARK ZUCKERBERG JUST DROPPED A SINGLE WITH T-PAIN

Mark Zuckerberg created a cover of Lil Jon's 'Get Low' with T-Pain - the original song was playing when Zuckerberg first met his wife Priscilla at a college party.

APPLE TARGETING MARCH RELEASE FOR NEW WALL-MOUNTED SMART DISPLAY PRODUCT

Apple could be releasing its first Apple Intelligence-powered smart home device as early as March. It is rumored to be developing a wall-mounted display that resembles a traditional home security panel. The display will serve as a command center for the home. It will be a standalone device, but an iPhone will be required for some tasks, including parts of the initial setup. Apple is also working on a higher-end smart home product that features a robotic arm.

AMAZON READY TO USE ITS OWN AI CHIPS, REDUCE ITS DEPENDENCE ON NVIDIA

Amazon is already testing its Trainium 2 chips with Anthropic, Databricks, Deutsche Telekom, and Japan's Ricoh and Stockmark. Developed by Annapurna Labs, an Austin-based chip startup that Amazon acquired in early 2015, Trainum 2 is aimed at reducing Amazon's reliance on market leader Nvidia. The biggest advantage of Amazon's chips is that they use less power, which helps drive down costs. Amazon avoids making direct comparisons of its chips and doesn't submit its chips for independent performance benchmarks, but experts are confident the company's claims of a 4x performance increase between Trainum 1 and Trainium 2 are accurate.

GROUNDBREAKING: 'SLEEPY WEED' SHOWN TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE SLEEP

Cannabinol, a lesser-known component of the cannabis plant, delivers better quality and longer sleep. Cannabis folklore has suggested for decades that aged cannabis makes consumers sleepy due to the build-up of cannabinol, but this was only recently supported by scientific evidence. Cannabinol increases total sleep time with a comparable effect to zolpidem, or Ambien. It may be best suited for patients who have trouble staying asleep or experience early morning awakening insomnia because it has a delayed onset but enduring effects.

WHEN MUSCLES WORK OUT, THEY HELP NEURONS TO GROW, A NEW STUDY SHOWS

During exercise, muscles release a soup of biochemical signals called myokines that helps neurons grow. A recent study found that the repeated pulling on neurons during exercise helps them grow as much as when they are exposed to myokines. This suggests that exercise could be effective for treating nerve injuries.

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SPIN

Spin is a framework for building, deploying, and running fast, secure, and composable cloud microservices with WebAssembly. It offers a simple command-line interface for creating, distributing, and executing applications. Spin aims to be the easiest way to get started with Web Assembly microservices. Demos and sample apps are available.

ANNOUNCING .NET 9

.NET 9 includes thousands of performance, security, and functional improvements. This post looks at the highlights of the update across developer languages, workloads, and tools. There are enhancements across the entire .NET stack that enable developers to build with a unified platform and easily infuse apps with AI. The .NET team, its partners, and the .NET community will be showcasing what's new in .NET 9 at .NET Conf 2024, a three-day virtual developer event happening now (November 12-14).

GROWTH OF AI ADOPTION SLOWS AMONG U.S. WORKERS

The percentage of workers in the US who are using AI has remained largely the same over the last three months. The flattening of growth could affect the very high market valuations tied to the technology. Many workers are uncomfortable with telling their managers they use AI at work. Leaders need to encourage employees to talk about and experiment with AI out in the open to ensure the adoption of the technology.

BLUESKY ADDS 700,000 NEW USERS IN A WEEK

Bluesky now has more than 14.5 million users in total. The majority of the new users on the decentralized social network are from the US. Bluesky added 500,000 new users in one day after X announced it would allow blocked users to still see posts from the person that blocked them. The app recently added features like pinned posts, support for posting videos, and the ability to send DMs.

TIKTOK LAUNCHES INTEGRATION WITH LEMON8, AS US BAN LOOMS

Lemon8 will remain a separate app, but the two platforms will share a unified user login.

NEW SECRET MATH BENCHMARK STUMPS AI MODELS AND PHDS ALIKE

FrontierMath is a new mathematics benchmark that contains hundreds of expert-level problems which leading AI models are able to solve less than 2% of the time.

THE GITHUB PLUGIN MY COWORKERS ASKED ME NOT TO WRITE

This developer wrote a plugin that figured out how many people would have to leave a project before that project stalls out due to a lack of knowledgeable or competent personnel.

WHAT I WISH SOMEONE TOLD ME ABOUT POSTGRES

This post catalogs some Postgres tips and tricks to make it easier to learn.

GENETIC TESTING FIRM 23ANDME CUTS 40% OF ITS WORKFORCE AMID FINANCIAL STRUGGLES

23andMe is cutting around 200 employees and will discontinue further development of its therapies as part of a restructuring program.

FORMER WALMART EXECUTIVE'S STARTUP IS NEAR DEAL TO BUY GRUBHUB

Wonder, a food-delivery startup led by former Walmart executive Marc Lore, is in advanced talks to buy Grubhub from Europe's Just Eat Takeaway.co.

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AI PROTEIN-PREDICTION TOOL ALPHAFOLD3 IS NOW OPEN SOURCE

The software code for Google DeepMind's AlphaFold3 is now publicly available for free for non-commercial applications. AlphaFold3 is capable of modeling proteins and other molecules. It was originally published without code or model weights, which drew criticism from scientists who said the move undermined reproducibility. Several other companies have also released open-source protein structure prediction tools based on AlphaFold3's specifications.

LG HAS A STRETCHABLE DISPLAY THAT CAN EXPAND BY 50 PERCENT

LG has unveiled a stretchable display that can expand up to 50% and freely transform into any shape. The display uses tiny micro-LED light sources and has a 100-pixel-per-inch resolution. It can be stretched more than 10,000 times. The technology, which opens up the possibility for entirely new types of interfaces, could be widely applied in industries such as fashion, wearables, and mobility. Pictures and a video of the display being stretched are available in the article.

SPACEX DRAGON GIVES ISS A HELPING HAND WITH ALTITUDE

SpaceX's Dragon reboosted the International Space Station (ISS) with a 12-minute, 30-second burn of the freighter's Draco thrusters. The burn adjusted the orbit of the ISS, proving that SpaceX's Dragon can be used in the same way as the Roscosmos Progress spacecraft and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus. The ISS requires regular reboosts to prevent it from tumbling back to Earth. It is expected to be retired in 2030, but there is a possibility the station's life will be extended a few more years.

SCIENTISTS MAKE MIND-BLOWING BREAKTHROUGH IN BATTERY SAFETY WITH PROTOTYPE THAT ACTUALLY WORKS WHEN CUT: 'THE BATTERY CONTINUES TO FUNCTION'

Chinese battery researchers have developed two lithium-sulfur batteries, one that remains stable after 300 charge/discharge cycles and another that provides power after being cut in half or folded. The batteries' resilience is due to a unique cathode coating. Lithium-sulfur batteries have the potential to be cheaper than lithium-ion alternatives, but they can take hours to charge. The breakthrough could lead to safer batteries and make lithium-sulfur technology more mainstream.

studies.

HOW I SHIP PROJECTS AT BIG TECH COMPANIES

Shipping is a different skill to writing code. Projects do not automatically ship - someone has to take up the difficult and delicate job of shipping them. It's important to have one person on the team who has an end-to-end understanding of the whole project. This article discusses what shipping is and how to do it properly. Shipping is hard - it has to be the top priority to be successful.

ALL THE DATA CAN BE YOURS

This article presents tips for finding and using undocumented APIs. GitHub's code search tool is a powerful way to look for potential endpoints. Parts of pages that load after the rest of the page or actions that don't cause a full page refresh are likely making requests to JSON APIs. All WordPress sites have a built-in REST API for accessing posts, pages, media, and more. Other tips include looking at the site's robots.txt file, searching Google, reading and debugging JavaScript, and looking through the site's mobile app.

BITCOIN BLOWS PAST $82,000 TO NEW ALL-TIME HIGH

Bitcoin has hit a new all-time high above $82,000. Recent political victories signal a favorable environment for cryptocurrency in the coming years. There is a strong chance for bitcoin to hit $100,000 by the end of the year if the rally continues. Breaking the all-time high is a key psychological indicator for a continued rally.

THE DEATH AND LIFE OF PREDICTION MARKETS AT GOOGLE

Google has hosted two different internal platforms for predictions over the past two decades. Prophit lasted for several years before it was shut down. Gleangen was launched a month after Google employees worldwide were sent home due to COVID-19. Prediction markets have been in the spotlight in recent months. This article looks at the story of Prophit and Gleangen, the two largest corporate prediction markets ever run, and sees what lessons can be learned from them.