TLDR 2023-06-14

OpenAI upgrades API πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’», Redditors extend blackout πŸ“±, custom QR codes with Stable Diffusion πŸ–ΌοΈ

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Big Tech & Startups

Reddit communities with millions of followers plan to extend the blackout indefinitely (2 minute read)

Moderators of many Reddit communities are pledging to keep their subreddits private or restricted indefinitely. The majority of subreddits were to resume on Wednesday, but a thread on the r/ModCoord subreddit indicates that a growing number will continue the protest. Not all subreddits will be able to go dark indefinitely for various reasons. More than 8,400 subreddits have gone dark. Reddit briefly crashed on Monday due to the protest.

AMD reveals new A.I. chip to challenge Nvidia's dominance (3 minute read)

AMD's MI300X GPU for artificial intelligence will be available for sampling later this Fall and start shipping in greater volumes next year. Nvidia currently dominates the AI chip market with an over 80% market share. While AMD hasn't disclosed a price for the chip yet, its release could put pressure on Nvidia's GPUs, which can cost $30,000 or more. Lower priced GPUs could help drive down the costs of AI applications.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

Flexible brain implant tested in people for the first time (4 minute read)

Precision Neuroscience, a startup co-founded by a founding member of Neuralink, has tested its safe, easy-to-place brain implant in people for the first time. The implant is made out of a flexible film and is placed into the space between the brain and skull through an incision less than a millimeter wide. It contains 10 times as many electrodes per square centimeter as a standard brain implant without the need for highly invasive surgery. The implant was able to read, record, and map the brain's electrical activity when tested on humans. Precision Neuroscience has yet to test its implantation procedure on people, but it has worked on miniature pigs.

The Satellite Renaissance (17 minute read)

There are now over 7,000 active satellites in orbit. Thanks to companies like SpaceX, private enterprises are able to launch machines into space. Many aspects of our world will change as the number of satellites and space-based services continues to grow. This article looks at what life might be like in the future and the opportunities that the Satellite Renaissance brings.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

OpenAI rolls out big chatbot API upgrades for developers (3 minute read)

OpenAI has announced a sizable update to its large language model API offerings. A 16,000 context window version of gpt-3.5-turbo is now available, allowing developers to process around 20 pages of text in a single request. A new feature called function calling allows developers to more easily build chatbots capable of calling external tools, convert natural language into external API calls, or make database queries. The offerings update includes many price reductions. Some models will soon be deprecated.

How to make a QR code with Stable Diffusion (4 minute read)

A Reddit user recently posted a series of artistic QR codes created with a custom-trained ControlNet model. The Stable Diffusion community has figured out how to make the QR codes without a custom model. This article walks readers through the process of generating artistic QR codes.
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Miscellaneous

Two visions of the future (2 minute read)

Generative AI and AR/VR headsets present two distinctly different visions of the future. AI removes UI and assists humans naturally, while AR/VR headsets introduce new UIs and immerse people into virtual worlds. Both are extraordinary technologies and may coexist in the future, but they are radically different takes on where things are headed.

Apollo's Christian Selig explains his fight with Reddit and why users revolted (16 minute read)

Christian Selig's Reddit client Apollo has become the central figure in the latest protest over the new terms for Reddit's API. The new pricing for access to the API will mean that many third-party developers will have to close their apps or run at a loss. Thousands of subreddits have gone dark to protest the policy as the change will affect tools that many users rely on. Selig plans to shut down Apollo on June 30. This article features an interview with Selig where he talks about what he wants from Reddit, why he still believes in the platform, and whether he thinks there's any chance of keeping Apollo alive.
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Quick Links

Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout will pass (3 minute read)

Reddit's CEO Steve Huffman has told employees to block out the noise from the ongoing protest and to be careful about wearing Reddit items in public to avoid the risk of being the subject of users' frustrations.

Hackers can steal cryptographic keys by video-recording power LEDs 60 feet away (16 minute read)

The attack monitors characteristics such as power consumption, sound, electromagnetic emissions, and the amount of time it takes for an operation to occur to recover secret keys using cameras in iPhones or commercial surveillance systems.

Murex (GitHub Repo)

Murex is a shell with an enhanced user experience and support for additional type information in pipelines.

A moonshot for infrastructure (6 minute read)

The newly formed US Advanced Research Project Agency for Infrastructure will research projects that address a number of major themes, including climate change, road safety, clean energy, and environmental justice.

Finish your projects (10 minute read)

Finishing projects requires work and courage, but doing so will result in a growing body of completed work and the confidence of knowing you are a person who finishes things.

Developer sentiment around AI/ML (45 minute read)

Stack Overflow's 2023 developer survey shows that developers are both curious and skeptical about AI.
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