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HUMANOID ROBOTS HEAD TO HOMES: MEET THE NEO BETA

studies.

REACTR

The React ecosystem is rich with components that can enhance R web and Shina apps. reactR provides a set of convenience functions for using React in R. It aims to allow R users to more easily incorporate React and JSX. reactR can be used to create rich visualizations and highly customizable charts from R data.

THINGS I'VE LEARNED SERVING ON THE BOARD OF THE PYTHON SOFTWARE FOUNDATION

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote, protect, and advance the Python programming language and to support and facilitate the growth of a diverse and international community of Python programmers. It is responsible for protecting and supporting the Python language and community, but not the development of CPython itself, which is handled by the Python core team, who are governed by the Python Steering Council. This article looks at how the PSF functions, what life is like as a board member, the kinds of things the board talks about, and more.

WHAT AMAZON'S STRICT RETURN TO OFFICE POLICY SAYS ABOUT REMOTE WORK

Amazon's move to push employees back to the office five days a week signals that tech sector employers have regained some leverage over workers. The tech sector has experienced a lot of layoffs over the past few years so it's not easy to find a new job, leaving many feeling stuck. Amazon's change may give other companies cover to restrict work-from-home a bit more. However, research shows that most companies have settled into a new hybrid setup and are not likely to go back.

IN US V. GOOGLE, YOUTUBE'S CEO DEFENDS THE GOOGLE WAY

The central question of US v. Google is whether Google bought its competitors in the online advertising business only to park them so no one could possibly upset its dominance. YouTube's CEO Neal Mohan testified that Google was never attempting to buy up and neuter its competitors and that it was simply trying to compete. Google has previously purchased competitors at above market valuation to integrate their technology. The company claims the acquisitions were only in service of building better products in a competitive space.

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A FRIENDLY INTRODUCTION TO ASSEMBLY FOR HIGH-LEVEL PROGRAMMERS

This is an introduction to assembly for people with programming experience - it discusses the basics of the language and maps them to high-level programming constructs.

GM ELECTRIC VEHICLES CAN FINALLY ACCESS TESLA SUPERCHARGERS

Owners of GM electric vehicles will need to purchase 'GM approved' Tesla adapters through each brand's smartphone app for $225 - future GM vehicles will come with Tesla's charging port natively installed.

VALKEY 8.0

Valkey 8.0 includes stability and performance improvements over the second release candidate and is fully compatible with Redis OSS 7.2.4.

READ EASIER WITH OUR FREE FONT

Atkinson Hyperlegible was designed to help low-vision readers by improving legibility and readability through the use of clear and distinctive letters and numbers.

KUBESAFE

Kubesafe allows developers to safely run commands across multiple Kubernetes contexts.

GOODHART'S LAW IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Goodhart's Law - when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure - is a warning for bosses who use terrible metrics.

SNAP'S NEW SPECTACLES INCH CLOSER TO COMPELLING AR

Snap's fifth-generation Spectacles have a richer, more immersive display. They feel faster and last longer on a charge. The new Spectacles will not be sold but will be instead distributed to developers making AR lenses for Snapchat. Developers will have to apply for access through Lens Studio, Snap's desktop tool for creating AR software, and pay $99 per month to rent a pair of Spectacles for at least one year. This article takes a look at what it's like to wear the new Spectacles.

SALESFORCE'S NEW AI STRATEGY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT AI WILL TAKE JOBS

Salesforce says that its AI tools can handle tasks without human supervision. The company plans to charge $2 per conversion held by its new generative AI agents. Salesforce is insulating itself from customer job cuts by pricing its new AI features based on outcomes rather than the number of employees using it. Its new AI agents will allow companies to increase their workforce capacity during busy periods without having to hire additional full-time employees or gig workers.

MUSK'S NEURALINK GETS FDA'S BREAKTHROUGH DEVICE TAG FOR 'BLINDSIGHT' IMPLANT

Neuralink's experimental 'Blindsight' device, which is designed to enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see, has received the US FDA's breakthrough device designation. The 'breakthrough' tag is given to certain medical devices that provide treatment for or diagnosis of life-threatening conditions. It is aimed at speeding up the development and review of devices. Neuralink is currently testing an implant designed to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking - it is unknown when it expects Blindsight devices to move into human trials.

WHY UNITED CHOSE SPACEX'S STARLINK TO POWER ITS FREE WI-FI

United Airlines has signed an agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink internet services to its entire fleet and offer free Wi-Fi to all passengers. United is currently using a mix of four different providers, all with different capabilities and limitations. Starlink is the only service that provides global coverage with enough bandwidth. Its hardware is also easy to install, with the satellite terminals being much smaller than the ones United currently uses. The first passenger flight with Starlink Wi-Fi will take off sometime in 2025.

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OPIK

Opik is an open source end-to-end large language model development platform. It allows developers to confidently evaluate, test, and monitor LLM applications. Opik can be used for tracing, annotations, evaluations, production monitoring, and more.

VOID

Void is an open source alternative to Cursor, an AI code editor. It allows developers to write code with AI tools and access powerful AI features while retaining full control over their data. Void has many built-in and community features - anyone can build their own AI integrations. Developers can choose to host their own models or use popular hosted models.

UNFORTUNATE STARTUP PIVOTS. A SHORT LIST

Going from B2B to consumer doesn't work as the founding team's strengths usually lie in selling to enterprise customers and having a deep network in a specific vertical. Adding more social features rarely helps. Neither does chasing trendy tech like AI or web3. Other common mistakes include building platforms prematurely and going from paid to free.

WHAT ARE THE BEST OPTIONS FOR AMAZON SDES THINKING ABOUT LEAVING OVER RTO POLICY (HACKER NEWS THREAD)

This thread is for SDEs thinking of leaving Amazon over the 5-day return-to-office announcement. It discusses the best options for work-from-home, flexibility, interesting projects, and salaries. There are a lot of good options out there, but workers may have to accept lower pay. Talented Amazon engineers should basically have the 'pick of the litter' and companies will likely be fawning over them. Amazon recruiters periodically ping previous employees to see if they're interested in returning, so it's worth leaving the company on good terms.

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23ANDME INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS QUIT BOARD OVER UNSATISFACTORY BUYOUT PLAN FROM CEO

23andMe went public in 2021 - its CEO has been trying to make the company private since April, but their proposal was deemed insufficient and not in the best interest of shareholders.

MUSK SAYS SPACEX WILL SUE FAA FOR "REGULATORY OVERREACH"

SpaceX is facing upwards of $630,000 in fines for allegedly violating launch requirements during two missions in 2023.

SNAPCHAT IS GETTING ITS BIGGEST REDESIGN IN YEARS

Snapchat is simplifying its interface from five tabs to three tabs to bring Stories closer to conversations, simplify content discovery, and allow quick access to the camera.

OPENTELEMETRY TRACING IN 200 LINES OF CODE

Tracing libraries are a lot simpler than you'd expect - it's just fancy logging combined with context propagation.

WHY TO NOT WRITE A BOOK

A book commits you to a single task for years, cutting you off from other opportunities, and there is a serious risk that it may not work out.

OPEN SOURCE NEEDS TO BE FINANCIALLY SYMBIOTIC

This post looks at how Eleventy evolved from a side project to an independently full-time community-funded open source project.

AMAZON TELLS EMPLOYEES TO RETURN TO OFFICE FIVE DAYS A WEEK

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has instructed corporate staffers to spend five days a week in the office starting on January 2. The decision is a significant shift from Amazon's earlier return-to-work stance, which required corporate workers to be in the office at least three days a week. Amazon also plans to simplify its corporate structure by having fewer managers, with each S-team organization expected to increase its ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the end of the first quarter of 2025. A copy of the full memo from Jassy is available in the article.

TIKTOK ARGUED AGAINST ITS U.S. BAN IN COURT TODAY. HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED

On Monday, a panel of three judges from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit heard TikTok's arguments against a law that will force the company to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned nationwide. It was unclear which way the court was leaning, but the judges appeared dubious of TikTok's plea that its right to free expression surpasses national security concerns. However, the judges did point out that shutting down the app could violate the rights of US TikTok users and TikTok's US operations. TikTok's strategy of trying to overturn the law by attacking Congress' legislative authority is unusual - it appears that it may be asking the court to send the law back to Congress to be amended.

"GOLDEN LETTUCE" GENETICALLY ENGINEERED TO PACK 30 TIMES MORE VITAMINS

A team from the Research Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology has genetically engineered lettuce to boost its nutrients. They increased levels of an antioxidant called beta-carotene, which the body uses to make vitamin A. The high levels of the antioxidant make the leaves of the lettuce a striking yellow color, giving it the nickname Golden Lettuce. Golden Lettuce has up to 30 times more beta-carotene than regular lettuce. Developing the lettuce involved accumulating the antioxidant in parts of the plant's cells where it is not normally found.

CHIPOTLE'S TESTING AN AVOCADO-PEELING ROBOT AND AN AUTOMATED BOWL ASSEMBLY LINE

Chipotle's Autocado machine can cut, core, and peel avocados by the case. It can get an avocado of any size peeled and seeded within 26 seconds. The Autocado is currently being tested in a store in California with the aim of freeing up employees for other tasks. Chipotle is also testing a machine that builds bowls and salads, which make up about 65% of its digital orders.

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KTY

kty is an SSH server that makes it easy to access Kubernetes resources without using kubectl. It provides a dashboard for interacting with clusters that enables users to run shells in pods, access logs for running and exited containers in a pod, forward traffic from a local machine into a cluster or from a cluster to a local machine, access clusters from any device with an SSH client, and more. kty relies on OpenID providers to verify identity.

PYTHON IN EXCEL

Python in Excel is now generally available for Windows users of Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise. The feature makes it possible to seamlessly combine Python and Excel analytics within the same workbook. Python in Excel keeps data private by preventing Python code from knowing who users are and opening workbooks from the internet in further isolation within their own separate containers. The data does not persist in the Microsoft Cloud. This page provides examples of what is now possible with the integration.

WHAT IF OZEMPIC IS JUST A GOOD THING?

The public discussion of Ozempic's economics has so far been consistently fatalistic. Many doubt that the drug will benefit more than just the lucky few who can afford it. The people who most need the drug often struggle to get it. As long as it is talked about primarily as a weight loss drug, insurance companies will remain incentivized to treat it as a luxury good. The drug presents a radical opportunity to change the chronic disease landscape in the US, but it may require radical policy changes to make it accessible.

WORDS ON FOUNDER MODE

Founder Mode is the culture of a company, and a culture is defined by the character of the founders. It is when the whole team is involved with the details and work - when an organizational chart becomes more like a map than a power structure. While there is job specialization, there is also a belief that everyone is equally accountable for the product. A stratification of responsibility is a red flag in any company.

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SOME REFLECTION ON WHAT TODAY'S REASONING LAUNCH REALLY MEANS

OpenAI's o1 represents a new paradigm - people shouldn't expect the same pace, schedule, or dynamics of the pre-training era or for their GPT prompts to 'just work'.

BAN WARNINGS FLY AS USERS DARE TO PROBE THE “THOUGHTS” OF OPENAI'S LATEST MODEL

OpenAI has been sending out warning emails and threats of bans to users trying to probe how its latest AI model works.

HOW GOOGLE GOT AWAY WITH CHARGING PUBLISHERS MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE

Google never experienced any real pricing pressure despite knowing its fees were higher than competitors' and being aware of customer complaints about its tools due to its unshakable dominance in the market.