TLDR 2020-10-22

Facebook Neighborhoods 📱, futuristic cars 🚗, uncrushable beetles 🐞

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Big Tech & Startups

Facebook is testing mini social networks focused on you and your neighbors (2 minute read)

Facebook is testing a new feature that encourages users to post and share news in social networks focused on small geographical areas. Users will be able to share limited information with their neighbors, and Facebook will use the data it collects to serve more relevant ads. Neighborhoods is currently being tested in Calgary, Canada, and it will likely roll out more widely if the test is a success. Screenshots of the feature are available in the article.

Quibi To Shut Down, Ending $2B Streaming Experiment (5 minute read)

Quibi is officially shutting down. The process is expected to take several months, with subscribers to be notified about the details soon. About 200 employees will be let go. Quibi developed an original platform fueled with groundbreaking technology and IP in one of the priciest misfires of any entertainment-related startup. The company's marketing strategies were expensive and didn't have much effect. It also faced issues with executive turnover, legal action, and more. The company raised around $1.8 billion in capital and it is estimated that only $350 million is left.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

Car design is about to change forever. This video encapsulates how (3 minute read)

A one-minute video from an Israeli startup shows electric vehicles that are basically just giant skateboards. Any sort of seating or storage arrangement can be installed onto the flat base to create almost any form imaginable. Traditional car manufacturing fixes a vehicle's floor plan from its earliest moments on the assembly line, whereas these vehicles can be altered at any time. The video is available in the article.

How This Uncrushable Beetle Can Survive Being Run Over by a Car (5 minute read)

The diabolical ironclad beetle boasts one of the toughest natural exoskeletons, capable of protecting the animal from being run over by a car. While the beetle's exoskeleton is extra tough, it takes on an elastic quality when under pressure that results in a kind of stretching rather than breaking. The discovery of this mechanism could lead to the creation of innovative protective materials.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

FLAT SVG DESIGNS (Website)

This website contains a collection of SVG icons. Users can customize the design as well as generate a featured image with text. The icons can be downloaded as SVG, PNG, or SVG source.

Crowdsec (GitHub Repo)

Crowdsec is a modern behavior detection system written in Go. It can detect peers with aggressive behaviors to prevent them from accessing systems. Crowdsec features a fast and easy installation, out-of-the-box detection, easy bouncer deployment, and easy dashboard access. It is currently still in beta.
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Miscellaneous

Trickbot—the for-hire botnet Microsoft attacked—is scrambling to stay alive (3 minute read)

Trickbot is a for-hire botnet that has infected more than one million devices since 2016. Microsoft and a host of industry partners recently took coordinated action to disrupt the network. After identifying Trickbot's servers, Microsoft and its partners initiated legal actions to get hosting providers to take them down. While the botnet is currently out of action, the operators can still revive it.

PayPal to allow cryptocurrency buying, selling and shopping on its network (2 minute read)

PayPal users in the US will soon be able to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin and other virtual coins on the platform. Cryptocurrency payments will be settled using fiat currencies. The feature will be rolled out in the coming weeks, with plans to expand to Venmo and some other countries in the first half of 2021. PayPal's launch is noteworthy due to its vast reach. It has 346 million active accounts worldwide and it processed $222 billion in payments in the second quarter.
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