TLDR 2022-11-25

Tesla self-driving launches 🚗, effective obesity drug 💊, mastering the command line 👨‍💻

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Big Tech & Startups

Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ Beta is now available to everyone in North America (2 minute read)

Tesla's Full Self-Driving Beta is now available to anyone in North America who has paid for the feature. The software has been rolling out since 2020. Drivers who previously wanted access to the beta needed to pass a minimum safety score and log 100 miles with Autopilot. Full Self-Driving costs $15,000 upfront when buying a car or up to $199 per month as a subscription.

Amazon Plans to Invest $1 Billion a Year in Movies for Theaters (4 minute read)

Amazon plans to spend more than $1 billion a year to produce movies that it will release in theaters. It aims to make between 12 to 15 movies every year for theatrical release. US movie ticket sales have dropped by more than 33% since 2019, a year before the pandemic closed theaters. Despite this, filmmakers, Hollywood veterans, and talent representatives are pushing for media companies to embrace theaters.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

Semaglutidonomics (15 minute read)

Semaglutide is a weight loss medication that causes people to lose more weight than any safe drug has ever caused people to lose before. At $15,000 per year, if only a quarter of the obese population got the drug, it would cost almost twice as much as all other drug spending in the US combined. This article looks at why so few people are using the drug and whether that will change. People are unaware of the drug and it has high costs, but the introduction of competing drugs and other factors will make it more affordable in the future.

New CRISPR-based tool inserts large DNA sequences at desired sites in cells (5 minute read)

MIT researchers have designed a new tool that can cut and replace genes safelt and efficiently. PASTE (Programmable Addition via Site-specific Targeting Elements) can deliver genes as long as 36,000 DNA base pairs to several types of human cells. It works by combining the precise targeting of CRISPR-Cas9 with enzymes that viruses use to insert genetic material into bacterial genomes. In tests, the researchers were able to insert genes with a success rate ranging from 5% to 60% with very few unwanted changes.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

The Art of Command Line (GitHub Repo)

This repository contains a guide to the command line for both beginners and experienced users. It aims to cover everything important with concrete examples, avoiding things that aren't essential. The guide focuses on Linux, but there are macOS and Windows sections. Some tips require special package installs.

git-bug (GitHub Repo)

git-bug is a distributed bug tracker that is fully embedded in git. It works offline and doesn't add any extra files to projects. git-bug integrates with existing tooling and it supports bridging to other bug trackers.
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Miscellaneous

FTC “likely” to file suit to block Microsoft/Activision merger (3 minute read)

The US FTC will likely move to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft and Activision Blizzard's $69 billion merger deal. While not yet guaranteed, the suit could be filed as early as next month. Whatever the outcome of the case, it could delay the planned merger past its July 2023 contractual deadline, which means the companies will have to renegotiate or abandon the deal. The deal is also being investigated in the EU and UK.

We could run out of data to train AI language programs (3 minute read)

A team of AI forecasters say that we might run out of data to train models on as early as 2026. More data is needed as models become more powerful and develop greater capabilities. These models require text that is often produced by professional writers. Data shortages may push AI researchers to use lower quality text or train models on the same dataset multiple times.
Quick Links

Ruby adds a new core class called Data to represent simple immutable value objects (4 minute read)

The Data class helps define simple classes for value-alike objects that can be extended with custom methods.

Apple planned to launch an iPhone-compatible Pencil this year (3 minute read)

Apple apparently pulled out of the project after mass production had already begun.

Intel Officially Introduces Pay-As-You-Go Chip Licensing (3 minute read)

Intel's new pay-as-you-go program will allow clients to upgrade their machines without replacing actual hardware using the company's new Xeon Scalable Sapphire Rapids processor.

WinkNLP (GitHub Repo)

WinkNLP is a JavaScript library for Natural Language Processing designed to make the development of NLP applications easier and faster.

The FDA Just Approved The Most Expensive Drug in The World (4 minute read)

Costing $3.5 million per dose, the drug is a treatment for a rare blood clotting disease.

Elon Musk will offer 'amnesty' to banned Twitter accounts amid more layoffs (3 minute read)

A general amnesty will be granted to those who have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam.
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