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TAKE THE ROAD MOST DOCUMENTED

Popular software is not always the most understandable - choosing programs with extensive documentation and active community resources makes solving problems much easier.

AMAZON ABANDONS $1.4 BILLION DEAL TO BUY ROOMBA MAKER IROBOT

The deal has no path to regulatory approval in the EU.

TIKTOK GOES FULL YOUTUBE

TikTok will boost horizontal videos that are more than a minute long within 72 hours of posting for creators who have been on the platform for more than three months, as long as the videos are not ads or from political parties.

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GOOGLE’S GEMINI PRO BEATS GPT-4

Google's Gemini Pro has claimed the second position in HuggingFace's Chat Bot Arena Leaderboard. Gemini Pro is Google's second-best model - Gemini Ultra's capabilities have yet to be revealed. OpenAI risks losing its lead if it fails to introduce a new model soon. Google is integrating a 'Help me Write' feature directly into Google Chrome to reduce the need for users to draft content on other AI platforms.

APPLE’S PLANS FOR THE DMA IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Apple has announced a broad, wide-ranging, and complex set of new policies regarding its intended compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). This article looks at Apple's proposed changes. Anti-big-business regulation and pro-consumer results often go hand-in-hand, but the DMA exposes issues with these types of regulations. The DMA will likely not change much for the better for iOS users in the EU. Its practical effects will likely make things worse for users.

A NEW AI MODEL CALLED MORPHEUS-1 CLAIMS TO INDUCE LUCID DREAMING

Prophetic, a neurotechnology startup, has a new AI model called Morpheus-1 that it claims can help people enter a lucid dream state. The model takes the current brain state as a prompt and generates ultrasound holograms that can be sent to the brain to start the lucid dream state and keep it stable. Lucid dreaming is a type of dream state where the dreamer is aware they are asleep and can control the dream. Prophetic plans to release a headband product called The Halo in beta in the Spring. The device sends sound waves into the brain to connect with the current brain state and put the mind into a lucid state.

THE ROOFTOP SOLAR INDUSTRY COULD BE ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE

Solar panel salespeople obscuring the specific terms of financial agreements and clouding the value of their products are causing a storm in the solar panel industry. Law firms across the US are claiming to receive multiple calls every week from potential clients with stories of dodgy salespeople causing them to sign up for deals that they can't afford. Some of the nation's biggest public solar companies are struggling to stay afloat as questions arise over the viability of the financial products they sold to both customers and investors. These factors could topple the residential solar industry: more than 100 solar dealers and installers in the US declared bankruptcy in late 2023 alone.

LOSSY CSS COMPRESSION FOR FUN AND LOSS (OR PROFIT)

cssfact is a lossy CSS compressor. It takes CSS and outputs other CSS that retains most of the information in the input but with fewer rules than the original. cssfact only works on style rules, leaving non-style rules unchanged. This article discusses how cssfact was built and the reasons behind creating the project.

INSIDE .GIT

This post presents a look at what's inside the .git directory. It covers each directory and file, with an explanation and example for each section. An image with a ~15-word explanation for each part of a .git directory is available at the beginning of the post.

SIMON WILLISON INTERVIEW: AI SOFTWARE STILL NEEDS THE HUMAN TOUCH

This article features an interview with Simon Willison, one of the co-creators of the Django framework, where he discusses AI, software development, intellectual property, and related matters. In the discussion about intellectual property, Willison acknowledges how some activities can be legal and still be morally wrong, like how models can be trained on creators' content and then used to compete against the original creators. The issues he discusses are complex, but Willison takes the time to explain them in detail.

ASK HN: THOSE WHO'VE JOINED A FRIEND'S STARTUP AS AN EMPLOYEE, HOW DID THAT GO? (HACKER NEWS THREAD)

The dynamics of joining a friend's startup as an employee aren't widely discussed. This Hacker News thread provides many personal anecdotes of what the experience is like. While some people report positive experiences, many replies tell the story of how the decision to work at a friend's startup ultimately cost them the friendship. Working with friends may be more enjoyable, but the decision to join a startup should be based on the startup itself rather than the friendship - is the opportunity good, does it progress your career, does it pay you well, and is the equity fair?

NOVONIMBUS IS HIRING A CLOUD SOLUTIONS SALES SPECIALIST (NYC OR REMOTE)

Looking for technical sales specialist interested in AI/LLMs with 3+ years of sales experience in cloud computing/infrastructure to help drive adoption of our NVIDIA GPU cloud. Apply here [15].

MOZILLA SAYS APPLE’S NEW BROWSER RULES ARE ‘AS PAINFUL AS POSSIBLE’ FOR FIREFOX

Apple's plan to comply with the EU's new rules will mean that independent browsers like Firefox will be forced to build and maintain two separate browser implementations.

THERE'S NEVER GOING TO BE TIME

If you want to do something, you're going to have to make time for it - that's just what life is like.

ELON MUSK WANTS TEXAS ENGINEERS 'SLEEPING ON THE LINE' OF EV COMING IN 2025

The production ramp will be challenging and not an off-the-self 'it-just-works' type of thing.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF SQUARE CHECKBOX

Checkboxes used to be square, and radio buttons were round - Apple's new visionOS will have round checkboxes.

ARC SEARCH COMBINES BROWSER, SEARCH ENGINE, AND AI INTO SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT

Arc Search takes search queries, finds answers, and then builds pages around the answer that contain key information, related links, and other helpful data.

SURPRISE! GOOGLE CHROME GOES NATIVE FOR WINDOWS ON ARM

An Arm-native version of Chrome for Windows 11 has been spotted in the latest nightly builds of Chrome in the Canary channel - it provides a significant performance boost compared to the regular x86 version.

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APPLE IS BRINGING SIDELOADING AND ALTERNATE APP STORES TO THE IPHONE

Apple has announced plans to change rules for developers releasing iOS software in the EU. Third-party app stores will be allowed on iOS for the first time. The changes will arrive with iOS 17.6 in March. Marketplaces will have to go through Apple's approval process and can be set as the default on devices. Developers can choose to use Apple's payment services or integrate third-party systems. All apps must still be notarized by Apple, and distribution through third-party marketplaces will still be managed by Apple's systems. Developers will only be allowed to distribute a single version of their app across different app stores.

NEW EMBEDDING MODELS AND API UPDATES

OpenAI is launching new models, reducing prices for GPT-3.5 Turbo, and introducing new ways for developers to manage API keys and understand API usage. The new models include two new embedding models, an updated GPT-4 Turbo preview model, an updated GPT-3.5 Turbo model, and an updated text moderation model. The updated GPT-4 Turbo preview model completes tasks like code generation more thoroughly than previous preview models and is intended to reduce cases of 'laziness'. OpenAI plans to launch GPT-4 Turbo with vision in general availability in the coming months.

RESEARCHERS SHOWCASE A SPEEDY NEW APPROACH TO PRINTING METAL

A team at MIT has announced a new method of 3D printing metal that prioritizes printing speeds and scale over resolution. It is capable of printing large aluminum parts at least 10 times faster than comparable metal additive manufacturing processes. The technique utilizes a bed of 100-micron glass beads to create a structure into which molten aluminum is deposited. The beads can stand intense temperatures while allowing heat to quickly dissipate. While the final product doesn't offer near the pinpoint accuracy of some other methods, the technique's quick turnaround makes it a candidate for revolutionizing the way metal printing and metal forming are currently handled.

AIRBORNE INFECTION RISK PLUMMETS IN FACE OF METAL NANOPARTICLE SPRAY

A new sprayable coating applied to standard air filters may help protect against airborne respiratory infections like measles, influenza, SARS, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and COVID-19. It provides a greater than 99% antiviral activity while also completely stopping bacterial growth. The spray doesn't interfere with the effectiveness of filters doing their normal job of removing other particles from the air. There are many other similar technologies in the works, but they will all need more development before they become commercially available.

31st livestream

PYTHON & JAVASCRIPT LIBRARIES

The initial version of the Ollama Python and JavaScript libraries are now available. These libraries make it possible to integrate new and existing apps with Ollama in a few lines of code. Ollama allows developers to get up and running with large language models locally. It supports a wide range of models, including Mistral, Dolphin, Llama2, and Orca.

VIROREACT

ViroReact is a library for building augmented reality and virtual reality experiences. It can run React Native code natively across all mobile VR and AR platforms. A page showing example projects is available.

APPLE IS FINALLY ALLOWING FULL VERSIONS OF CHROME AND FIREFOX TO RUN ON THE IPHONE

iOS 17.4 will introduce a change that will allow alternative browser engineers to run on iOS. Developers will have to be authorized by Apple to switch engines, which involves meeting specific criteria and committing to a number of ongoing privacy and security mitigations. The change will only apply to people with EU-based accounts. EU users will be presented with a new choice screen for choosing a default browser when opening Safari for the first time.

ELON MUSK SAYS CHINESE ELECTRIC CAR BRANDS COULD ‘DEMOLISH’ RIVALS AS TESLA EARNINGS FALL

Tesla has backed off its bullish sales targets due to growing EV sales by rival brands. The company has been cutting prices for more than a year to boost sales. It lost the lead in global EV sales to Chinese automaker BYD in the fourth quarter of 2023. Elon Musk told analysts on a call that Chinese carmakers will have significant success outside of China. He believes that current trade barriers are preventing Chinese car manufacturers from demolishing most other car companies in the world.

MICROSOFT LAYS OFF 1,900 EMPLOYEES IN ACTIVISION BLIZZARD AND XBOX DIVISIONS

Impacted employees will receive severance benefits informed by local employment laws.

KENER

Kener is a Node.js status page tool that offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies tracking service outages and improves on communication during incidents.

APPLE’S NEW EXTORTION REGIME TO KEEP BIG APP MAKERS

Developers who choose to use alternative app stores will have to pay a huge 'Core Technology Fee' designed to ensure that no second-party app store ever takes off.

RESEARCH REVEALS HOW IPHONE PUSH NOTIFICATIONS LEAK USER DATA

Certain iOS apps are exploiting a feature designed to allow apps to customize push notifications to send analytics information, circumventing the restrictions imposed by iOS on background app activities.

HP CEO SAYS THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD: ‘MAKE PRINTING A SUBSCRIPTION’

HP sees its customers as investments that don't pay off if they use third-party products.

THE CASE FOR ENSURING THAT POWERFUL AIS ARE CONTROLLED

AI labs should make sure that the safety measures they apply to models prevent AI from intentionally choosing actions that maximize their probability of eventually seizing power.

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TESLA PLANS TO BUILD NEW ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN MID-2025

Tesla has told suppliers it wants to start production of a new electric vehicle in mid-2025. Codenamed 'Redwood', the next-generation vehicle is expected to drive a new wave of growth. Tesla has forecasted a weekly production volume of 10,000 vehicles. The new vehicle may be the entry-level $25,000 car that Elon Musk first promised to build in 2020. Tesla plans to make an inexpensive robotaxi based on the same vehicle architecture as the $25,000 electric car.

GOOGLE’S LATEST AI VIDEO GENERATOR CAN RENDER CUTE ANIMALS IN IMPLAUSIBLE SITUATIONS

Lumiere is an AI video generator that uses a space-time diffusion model for realistic video generation. The Space-Time U-Net architecture that it uses generates the entire temporal duration of a video at once with a single pass. It is designed to handle both where things are and how things move and change throughout a video. Lumiere can perform text-to-video generation, convert still images into videos, generate videos in specific styles using a reference image, apply consistent video editing using text-based prompts, create cinemagraphs, and inpaint videos. It excels in creating videos of cute animals in ridiculous scenarios - examples are available in the article.

CHINA'S NEW DARK MATTER LAB IS BIGGEST AND DEEPEST YET

The world's deepest and largest underground laboratory is around 2,400 meters below the Jinping Mountains in southwest China. The enormous space, with a sprawling capacity of 330,000 cubic meters, is home to scientists studying dark matter, a hypothetical substance thought to make up more than 80% of the mass in the Universe. It opened in 2010 but only became operational in December 2023. The layers of rock above the laboratory shield it from background noise such as cosmic rays.

CHILDREN WITH GENETIC DEAFNESS HAVE HEARING RESTORED WITH GENE THERAPY

Five children with a form of genetic deafness called DFNB9 regained their hearing thanks to a new type of gene therapy. The therapy involves the use of an inactive virus carrying a functioning version of the gene associated with the disease. The children, who were previously totally deaf, recovered their hearing and were able to conduct normal conversations. Further studies will enroll more patients and follow them for a longer period of time to ensure that the treatment works.

MAKING RUST BINARIES SMALLER BY DEFAULT

Cargo by default now uses `strip = 'debuginfo'` for the `release` profile unless debuginfo is explicitly requested for some dependency. This new default will be used for any profile that does not enable debuginfo anywhere in its dependency chain. This article looks at how a developer noticed that Rust binaries were unnecessarily large and then developed and submitted a fix for it.

PROMPTS ARE TINY PROGRAMS

Prompt engineering is just a subset of software engineering. Prompts are tiny programs written in natural language. Guessing the right 'function calls' with the clever use of vocabulary is a huge part of the game as the API isn't specified and varies between models. Thinking of prompts as code allows prompt engineers to generate model-aware syntax highlighters for favored keywords.

A LEAKED MEMO FROM GOOGLE CEO SUNDAR PICHAI COMES AMIDST EMPLOYEE DISCONTENT

A leaked memo from Google's CEO Sundar Pichai revealed the company's seven goals for the year. This year, Google aims to deliver the world's most advanced, safe, and responsible AI; improve knowledge, learning, creativity, and productivity; build the most helpful personal computing platforms and devices; enable organizations and developers to innovate on Google Cloud; provide the world's most trusted products and platforms; build an extraordinary Google; improve company velocity, efficiency, and productivity; and deliver durable cost savings. The leak comes amid a wave of layoffs at the company, with more job cuts on the horizon.

SELF-DRIVING AS A CASE STUDY FOR AGI

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is commonly defined as an autonomous system that surpasses human capabilities in the majority of economically valuable work. Recent developments in autonomous driving present a good early case study of the societal dynamics of increasing automation. Driving is a difficult problem to automate and its automation will impact a large human workforce. The autonomous driving industry has created many new jobs that didn't exist before. Instead of destroying jobs, automation caused the industry to adapt and change.

SIDELOADING IN EUROPE WILL STILL INVOLVE APP REVIEW AND FEES

How much Apple plans to charge is still unknown, but the company currently charges a 27% commission on in-app purchases made through alternative payment systems in the Netherlands.