TLDR 2022-03-18

New Samsung Galaxy 📱, Android 13 Dev Preview 👨‍💻, how to become a supervillain 🦹

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Big Tech & Startups

Samsung Galaxy A73, A53, and A33 announced (4 minute read)

Samsung has announced three new 5G phones with a new 5nm chipset. The Galaxy A73 5G and Galaxy A33 5G will be available in select markets from April 22. The Galaxy A53 5G is now available for pre-order and will be available through US carriers from April 1. Customers who pre-order the device will be eligible for a free pair of Galaxy Buds Live. Samsung will launch a new Onyx color for the Galaxy Buds2 and Buds Live next month. The Galaxy A series will not include chargers in the retail package.

China is forcing Alibaba and Tencent to cut over 50,000 jobs (1 minute read)

Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings are preparing to lay off up to 15% of their workers due to the country's regulatory crackdown. Chinese regulators have taken a heavy-handed approach towards controlling the growth of its tech giants due to antitrust and cybersecurity concerns. WeChat, owned by Tencent, experienced stunning daily user growth in 2021 despite the crackdown. Alibaba has been targeted since its founder Jack Ma publicly criticized Chinese regulators in 2020.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

MIT's Robotic Cheetah Taught Itself How to Run and Set a New Speed Record in the Process (4 minute read)

Researchers at MIT CSAIL used artificial intelligence and simulations to train a robot to walk over a variety of terrains. The Mini Cheetah constantly monitors its movements and makes adjustments to its environments. It can make adaptations to compensate for damaged or over-stressed components. The robot can hit a top speed of 3.9 m/s, which is faster than the average human can run. A GIF of the robot running into a padded wall is available in the article.

Disney's "Holobricks" could stack up for larger holograms (2 minute read)

A new hologram system from Cambridge and Disney uses modular holographic blocks called holobricks to create high-quality scalable holographs. Each holobrick is made up of a spatial light modulator, a scanner, and coarse integrated optics. The system can create images that can be viewed from multiple angles in full color with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels at 24 frames per second. Holobricks can be combined to create larger images. The technology could be used to create video walls or interactive kiosks at Disney theme parks in the future.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

Here’s everything new in Android 13 Developer Preview 2 (1 minute read)

This article looks at all of Android 13 Developer Preview 2's new features and every single change. It lists out the features along with screenshots and short notes. A link to a step-by-step guide on how to install Android 13 DP2 is available.

Ploomber (GitHub Repo)

Ploomber helps developers quickly build data pipelines. It features tool integrations with leading data science ecosystem tools, YAML and Python APIs, shorter development cycles, and automatic pipeline generation. Video demos are available.
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Miscellaneous

Want to become a supervillain? Here’s a step-by-step guide (15 minute read)

Ryan North is the author of 'How to Take Over the World: Practical Schemes and Scientific Solutions for the Aspiring Supervillain', a book that guides readers through a step-by-step process towards world domination. North is a webcomic pioneer and has written several Marvel Comics series. This article features an interview with North that discusses the new book and North's process in writing it.

5 traps to avoid when working at a big company (2 minute read)

This Twitter thread discusses five traps to avoid when working at a big company. Avoid being someone's lieutenant as they will never let you excel past them. Focus on building internal and transferable expertise. Don't fall for perks as they don't cost the company anything. Switching jobs can be much more profitable than staying at a company, even as a top performer. You should be recognized for 70% of the work you do and any less means you are being taken for granted and underpaid.
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