TLDR 2023-05-15

M3 MacBooks 💻, the map of GitHub 👨‍💻, finding meaningful work 💼

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Big Tech & Startups

Apple Testing 'M3 Pro' Chip for MacBook Pro With 12-Core CPU and 18-Core GPU (2 minute read)

Apple is reportedly testing an unreleased chip believed to be the base-level M3 Pro inside a future high-end MacBook Pro. The chip is expected to be manufactured based on TSMC's 3nm process. It has a 12-core CPU, 18-core GPU, and 36GB of memory. Apple is currently working on new iMac, MacBook Air, and low-end MacBook Pro models with the standard M3 chip. The first Macs with the M3 chip are expected to be released towards the end of this year or early next year. The long-rumored 15-inch MacBook Air will be released this summer with the M2 chip.

Microsoft wants Firefox to make Bing its default search engine (3 minute read)

Firefox's contract with Google is ending and Microsoft would like the browser to make Bing its default search engine. Apple's default browser contract with Google is expiring next year, providing Microsoft with an opportunity to make Bing the default browser on Safari. Microsoft sees potential in such partnerships for boosting Bing's usage. These deals may not guarantee increased usage of Bing.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

The groundbreaking plan to map the entire human immune system (6 minute read)

Wayne Koff, who spent over 30 years fighting the AIDS crisis, has launched the Human Immunome Project to create a virtual simulation of the human immune system using artificial intelligence. Its success could lead to significant impacts, such as improving cancer therapies and understanding Long Covid. The project faces a much greater challenge than the Human Genome Project, with the data involved being millions of times larger and vastly more complex. Completing it will require an unprecedented level of collaboration between research laboratories.

Hammerhead sharks are first fish found to ‘hold their breath’ (4 minute read)

Scalloped hammerhead sharks have developed an innovative technique to maintain their body temperature during cold, deep-water hunting trips: they close their gills. Conserving body temperature is challenging for cold-blooded animals looking to keep their metabolism active while hunting in water that is just above freezing. The sharks maintain their core temperature by not opening their gills or mouth during the dive, essentially holding their breath. Though these sharks are the first fish found to exhibit this behavior, other kinds of sharks and fish may have similar adaptations. The ability to hunt in warmer temperatures when everything else remains cold is a big advantage.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

Introducing Baseline: a unified view of stable web features (2 minute read)

The Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) has launched Baseline labeling to streamline information for developers. This will enable developers to quickly identify what they can utilize now and what will soon be available. Developers can check on MDN whether a feature is 'Baseline' to decide whether to use it. The MDN aims to build a shared descriptive understanding of the web platform and reduce the pain points of browser incompatibilities.

First-principles on AI scaling (31 minute read)

Scaling laws indicate that Large Language Models (LLMs) will get substantially better at predicting words with the addition of more data and computational power. However, while it might be feasible to increase dataset size, there are potential barriers to making them more than 10 times larger than their current state, such as cost. Scaling LLMs to maximum potential would cost substantially more than the GDP of the planet with current technology. There is likely a computational limitation. Current scaling laws could be inaccurate due to the small amount of data and computation used to fit the model.
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Miscellaneous

Google’s Sundar Pichai talks Search, AI, and dancing with Microsoft (33 minute read)

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, introduced new generative AI features in all of the company's products during Google I/O. This article contains a transcript of an interview with Sundar where he discusses Search, the reorganization of Google and Alphabet's AI teams, his vision for the future of Google and what is driving its growth, and more. The audio for the interview is available in the article.

How to find meaningful work (5 minute read)

Working on something that you care about has many benefits. It allows for better ideas to emerge and your ability to sell these ideas improves significantly. When someone is interested in their work, it blurs the line between work and play, leading to increased productivity and satisfaction. Finding problems to solve is a more effective way to stay interested and engaged in a project rather than pursuing a passion. Doing things that you care about will lead to greater success and fulfillment.
Quick Links

Map of GitHub (Website)

This site provides a map of GitHub that shows different main topics, subtopics, and projects and how they are all linked together.

Microsoft just rolled out early beta access to GitHub Copilot Chat (3 minute read)

This Twitter Thread contains a copy of Copilot Chat's confidential rules.

ChatGPT Plugins And Web Browsing Beta Rollout For Plus Users (2 minute read)

OpenAI has announced the beta rollout of web browsing and 70 plugins for ChatGPT Plus users.

The new .zip TLD is going to cause some problems (3 minute read)

Web browsers try to autolink to things that look like domain names - the .zip top-level domain will cause browsers to be confused about whether or not a link should be a URL or filename.

How ‘open’ should your open source be? (17 minutes)

This article presents a discussion on the state of open source and gives suggestions on how to improve open source so that projects can be maintained by multiple parties without taking on lifetime appointments.

Oculus founder says Apple's headset is 'so good' (2 minute read)

Oculus founder Palmer Luckey posted a Tweet on Sunday that said, 'The Apple headset is so good'.
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