TLDR 2022-04-29

Microsoft Edge Secure Network is a feature recently discovered on a Microsoft support page. It provides a service similar to a proxy or VPN that encrypts browsing data and prevents online tracking. Users will get 1GB of free data per month. The feature has not been released yet, but it is likely to be available soon. A screenshot of the feature is available in the article.

Snap has released a camera drone called Pixy. The drone weighs just 101 grams and is small enough to fit in a pants pocket. It can follow users around to capture photos or videos. Pixy's battery can last for five to eight flights at around 10 to 20 seconds each. The footage is synced wirelessly to Snapchat for editing and can be shared directly in the app or elsewhere. A video explaining the Pixy is available in the article.

MIT researchers have developed a portable desalination unit that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water. The water it produces exceeds World Health Organization quality guidelines. Weighing less than 10 kilograms, the device requires less power to operate than a cell phone charger. Using electrical power lowers its maintenance requirements, allowing the device to be deployed in remote and severely resource-limited areas. The machine can produce 0.3 liters of water per hour using 20 watts of power per liter.

A Japanese company and researchers from Saga University have developed a new method to mass-produce two-inch wafers made of diamond. The ultra-high-purity diamonds could be used for quantum computing, which requires diamonds with less than three parts per billion of nitrogen atoms. Previous attempts at creating these diamonds resulted in crystals that were only about four millimeters square. The company plans to commercialize the diamonds in 2023.

Redis 7.0 is now available. It adds almost 50 new commands and options. The most notable improvements are Redis Functions, AVLv2, command introspection, and Sharded Pub/Sub. A lot of development was focused on making Redis more performant, stable, and lean. More details about the update are available in the article.

Zag is a JavaScript API that implements common component patterns using the state machine methodology. It can be used to build UI components in React, Solid, or Vue without worrying about the logic. Zag can adapt components to multiple frameworks with a focus on accessibility.

Many dog breeds are about appearance, but plenty of others are devoted to specific tasks. A team of US-based researchers conducted a study on around 18,000 dogs to study dog behavior and its underlying genetics. With a few exceptions, most behaviors are only loosely associated with specific breeds. Many modern breeds only originated about 150 years ago, and complicated behaviors are shaped by many factors.

Snap has launched Lens Cloud, a server-side component for its developer platform that will help developers build dynamic, multiplayer experiences. Lens Cloud will let developers take advantage of multi-user services, use location-based services to anchor Lenses to places, and store assets on Snap's servers and load them on demand. Lenses are augmented reality apps that can be accessed in Snapchat. The storage service will launch in the coming months. Lens Cloud is free for Snap AR developers.