TLDR 2021-08-16

Working two remote jobs 💻 , how Google bought Android 📱, Earth's hottest month 🌎

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Big Tech & Startups

Zillow, Other Tech Firms Are in an ‘Arms Race’ To Buy Up American Homes (8 minute read)

The high-tech house flipping market, otherwise known as the iBuyer industry, is in a race to buy up as much inventory as possible. Companies are trying to gain inventory and market share rather than focusing on profits. The companies buy mid-level homes for cash, make a few repairs, and put them back on the market, making the process quick and convenient for buyers and sellers. The scale of these operations makes them very profitable. While homeowners may do better on the open market, the convenience that iBuyers offer is worth it for some sellers.

Excerpt: How Google bought Android—according to folks in the room (12 minute read)

A new book from a long-time Android engineer offers a behind-the-scenes look at early Android development. This article features two chapters from the book that covers the startup's search for venture capital and the team's eventual meeting with Google. Slides from the original investor presentation are available.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

How do vaccinated people spread Delta? What the science says (5 minute read)

The Delta strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is more likely than other variants to spread through vaccinated people. Data from Covid-19 tests show that vaccinated people who are infected with Delta SARS-CoV-2 can carry as much virus in their noses as unvaccinated people. The findings highlight the importance of protective measures to reduce transmission. Researchers stress that the Covid-19 vaccines are protective against serious illness and death. The Delta strain is more infectious and affects people slightly longer than other strains. However, some studies show that vaccinated people might remain infectious for a shorter period.

Culture shock: how loss of animals’ shared knowledge threatens their survival (5 minute read)

Many animals have been found to learn socially and create cultures. Culture is learned from other individuals, making groups behave in similar ways. Animal cultures are disappearing along with their habitats and numbers. Newer generations are having trouble surviving without the knowledge passed down from their elders. Conservation efforts are now more aware of the importance of animal cultures and are finding ways to introduce behaviors that will help animals survive across generations.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

Ethermint (GitHub Repo)

Ethermint is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain that is fully compatible and interoperable with Ethereum. It features Web3 and EVM compatibility, high throughput via Tendermint Core, horizontal scalability through IBC, and fast transaction finality. Ethermint is under very active development and should not be run in production.

Easegress (GitHub Repo)

Easegress is a cloud-native traffic orchestration system. It features multiple protocols, rich routing rules, meaningful and readable statistics, simple integration with other systems, and much more. Examples are available in the repository.
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Miscellaneous

Earth just had the hottest month since humans have kept track (3 minute read)

July was the hottest month humans have ever recorded. The three previous hottest months happened in 2016, 2019, and 2020, a strong indicator of climate change. Climate change is linked to more extreme weather. The planet has seen a rise in extreme heat events since the 1950s. Some regions have been affected worse than others. The heatwave that took place in late June would have been virtually impossible without climate change. More temperature records are likely to fall if greenhouse emissions continue to grow.

Go read this story of tech workers who secretly work multiple remote jobs (2 minute read)

Some tech workers have started to earn two full-time paychecks while working remotely, without letting either employer know about the other. The workers have to balance the two jobs, sometimes using paid time off to juggle the occasional big project. Many do not work more than 40 hours a week at both jobs combined. The workers are unapologetic, as they are taking advantage of a system that they feel has taken advantage of them.
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