TLDR 2020-11-25

SpaceX Starlink engineers took part in a Reddit AMA on Saturday. Starlink will try to avoid having data caps on their service, but there may have to be measures in the future to prevent abuse and to ensure everyone has a quality service. The beta will be expanding in late January. Starlink is currently looking for more staff, and people are encouraged to apply. Other topics covered in the AMA, such as mobility, weather, coverage, power consumption, and more, are summarized in the article. A link to the original Reddit thread is available.

Amazon Sidewalk is Amazon's local networking system that extends smart homes into smart neighborhoods. The technology uses various communication protocols to create a mesh network across the neighborhood so that everyone in the area can achieve better connectivity. For example, the network can ensure that a security camera has adequate connectivity even if it is far from the home Wi-Fi router. While the network can be used to access the web, it has very limited bandwidth. There are some security concerns with Sidewalk, including the extra data that it sends to Amazon. Users can disable Sidewalk, but doing so will opt out all their devices from the neighborhood network.

Nanobots that can protect your biological system and ensure that you have a good and long life could be working inside you within the next 10 years. DNA robots are already being tested in animals to seek out and destroy cancer cells. Researchers believe that nanobots could soon deliver drugs to humans with a high degree of accuracy, allowing exact dosages where needed and potentially preventing harmful side effects. They could be used to treat and monitor a wide range of medical issues.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved two new programs that will allow autonomous vehicle operators to accept monetary compensation for rides. Companies have used California as a testing ground for autonomous vehicles in the US, but the state has previously disallowed the companies from charging for their services. The permits that allow companies to start taking advantage of the new rules will take several months to apply for. California has the strictest rules for autonomous vehicles in the US.

This repository contains an eCommerce demo store built using the Commerce.js v2 SDK and Next.js. A link to a live demo is available. The store can be deployed to Netlify in one click. It features carts, a checkout, customer accounts, payment gateways, and more.

VimCharm is a vim configuration file that transforms vim into an approximation of PyCharm. It can be used as a command-line replacement for PyCharm on remote machines. VimCharm features autocomplete, PyCharm shortcuts, syntax and linter errors, and more. The article discusses how VimCharm was made. A link to the complete configuration file is provided.

Elon Musk is now the world's second-richest person in the world with a net worth of around $128 billion. Musk ranked 35th on the list in January. A visual of this level of wealth compared to the average American household is linked. Tesla's market cap has gone from under $100 billion at the beginning of the year to almost $500 billion, despite producing a fraction of the cars of most established automakers. SpaceX has also seen recent success, sending four astronauts to the International Space Station last week. Bill Gates was on top of the Billionaires Index until 2017 when Jeff Bezos took over. Gates has donated over $27 billion of his wealth since 2006.

User reviews of the new Apple Silicon M1 have appeared on Reddit. The M1 SoC integrates an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, Media encode and decode engines, and RAM, all on a single-chip. As the new chip is much more energy-efficient compared to its Intel counterparts, battery life has increased. The MacBook Air is even shipping without a fan, as it can be passively cooled like all iOS devices. Rosetta 2 is performing much better than expected, ranging at speeds between 70-80% of native code. This has resulted in overwhelmingly positive reviews, some which can be read in the article.