Meta's battle with ChatGPT =
begins now (5 minute read)
Meta's AI assistant is being integrated=
into search boxes within its apps. It will start appearing directly in the=
main Facebook feed and users can chat with it using Meta's messaging apps.=
The assistant is also accessible via a standalone website. It runs on Meta=
's new Llama 3 model, which outperforms competing models of its class on ke=
y benchmarks. The assistant integrates real-time search results from both B=
ing and Google and can generate images.
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Google merges the Android, =
Chrome, and hardware divisions (2 minute read)
Google has reorganized its Android, Chr=
ome, and Google hardware divisions, merging them under a new 'Platforms and=
Devices' division. The new division will be led by Google Hardware SVP Ric=
k Osterloh. It will include a group from Google Research that has been work=
ing on computational photography. The unified team will help Google deliver=
higher-quality products and experiences for its users and partners.
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Science & Futuristic Technology
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Two lifeforms merge in once=
-in-a-billion-years evolutionary event (5 minute read)
Scientists have witnessed a rare phenom=
enon called primary endosymbiosis, where one microbial organism engulfs ano=
ther and starts using it like an internal organ. The process results in the=
host cell providing nutrients, energy, protection, and other benefits to t=
he symbiote, which eventually becomes an organelle. It is being observed in=
a species of algae which have engulfed a cyanobacterium, allowing the alga=
e to obtain nitrogen straight from the air. The relationship between the tw=
o organisms started to evolve around 100 million years ago. Studying the pr=
ocess may provide a new path to incorporate nitrogen-fixing into plants to =
grow better crops.
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Video: Boom's XB-1 cleared =
for supersonic test flights (2 minute read)
The US FAA has given Boom the first-eve=
r Special Flight Authorization to Exceed Mach. The authorization will allow=
the company's XB-1 prototype to break the sound barrier during its test fl=
ights. The permission designated the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor at =
Edwards Air Force Base in California and part of the High Altitude Superson=
ic Corridor within the R-2515 airspace as a permissible area for Boom to co=
nduct supersonic test flights. Boom still has to complete up to 20 subsonic=
tests before starting supersonic tests.
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Programming, Design & Data Science
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Hatchet (GitHub Repo)
Hatchet is a distributed fault-tolerant=
task queue. It replaces difficult-to-manage legacy queues and pub/sub syst=
ems so that developers can design durable workloads that recover from failu=
re and solve for problems like concurrency, fairness, and rate limiting. Ha=
tchet can be used to distribute functions between sets of workers with mini=
mal configuration or infrastructure. Example use cases for Hatchet include =
fairness for generative AI, batch processing for document indexing, workflo=
w orchestration for multi-modal systems, and correctness for event-based pr=
ocessing.
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otel-profiling-agent (GitHu=
b Repo)
otel-profiling-agent is a whole-system =
cross-language profiler for Linux via eBPF. It implements the experiential =
OTel profiling signal with very low CPU and memory overhead. otel-profiling=
-agent features support for C/C++ executables, profiling of system librarie=
s, mixed stack traces between runtimes, and more.
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China Orders Apple to Remov=
e Popular Messaging Apps (6 minute read)
China has ordered Apple to remove some =
of the world's most popular messaging apps from the App Store in the countr=
y. WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, Telegram, and Line have now been removed from=
the store. Apple said it was told to remove the apps due to national secur=
ity concerns. The messaging apps were only accessible in China through virt=
ual private networks, but they were still commonly used. China's increasing=
censorship will likely result in more apps being removed from app stores o=
ver the coming months.
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Chemists Invent Drugs and D=
rugs Save Lives (23 minute read)
Drug development is an integrated team =
effort with crucial players from both the biology and chemistry disciplines=
.. However, the design, synthesis, purification, and characterization of new=
drugs lies squarely within the domain of chemistry. Physicians administer =
drugs, but they don't usually invent them. The public needs to be more awar=
e of chemists' involvement with the drug development process so that they c=
an better help resolve the myriad of problems confronting humankind.
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Inside Amazon's Secret Oper=
ation to Gather Intel on Rivals (18 minute read)
Big River Services International, an op=
eration that sells around $1 million a year of goods through e-commerce mar=
ketplaces, is an arm of Amazon that surreptitiously gathers intelligence on=
the tech giant's competitors, using its sales across multiple countries to=
obtain pricing data, logistics information and other details about rival e=
-commerce marketplaces, logistics operations, and payments services.
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Mark Zuckerberg - Llama 3, =
Open Sourcing $10b Models, & Caesar Augustus (74 minute read)
This is a transcript of an interview wi=
th Mark Zuckerberg that covers Llama 3, open sourcing towards AGI, custom s=
ilicon, synthetic data, energy constraints on scaling, Caesar Augustus, int=
elligence explosion, bioweapons, $10b models, and much more.
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& Stephen Fl=
anders
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