TLDR 2023-10-10

GitHub Copilot's terrible economics 💰, Apple VR neck strain 🌎, ergonomic dev setups 👨‍💻

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Big Tech & Startups

Apple is already designing a lighter Vision Pro to fix “neck strain” (3 minute read)

Apple has a long history of releasing intriguing first-generation devices followed by second- or third-generation revisions that realize the full potential of the original idea. The company is already working on a next-generation version of its Vision Pro to address early complaints about the yet-to-be-released first-generation model. It aims to reduce the device's size and weight as it is apparently causing neck strain among some testers. The company is also considering changing the way prescription lenses are built into the headset and looking into a lower-end model.

GitHub Copilot Loses an Average of $20 Per User Per Month (2 minute read)

GitHub Copilot costs users $10 per month, but it is costing Microsoft an average of $20 per user per month. Some users are costing the company as much as $80 per month. This is likely why Microsoft decided to charge a lot more for the AI capabilities in Microsoft 365 Copilot. The costs are also likely why the company is developing its own in-house AI chip sets for its data centers and pushing the adoption of Neural Processing Units across the industry.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

Extreme Parkour with Legged Robots (1 minute read)

This study is an attempt at developing robot parkour on a small low-cost robot with imprecise actuation and a single front-facing depth camera for perception. It shows how a single neural net policy operating directly from a camera image can overcome imprecise sensing and actuation to output highly precise control behavior end-to-end. The resulting robot is able to high jump on obstacles two times its height, long jump gaps two times its length, do handstands, run across tilted ramps, and more. A video of the robot performing different movements is available.

The big AI and robotics concept that has attracted both Walmart and Softbank (8 minute read)

Symbotic and Softbank have created a joint venture called GreenBox Systems that promises to deliver AI-powered logistics and warehousing to small companies. It will provide its services in facilities that different companies will share. GreenBox aims to help companies that can't afford the multi-million dollar investments required to build and operate such facilities in the same way cloud companies make high-end compute tech accessible.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

NixOS & Flakes Book (Book)

NixOS is a Linux distribution built upon the Nix package manager that excels in replicating consistent system environments across multiple machines. Flakes is an experimental feature that records all external dependencies and locks their versions, which significantly enhances the reproducibility and composability of the Nix package manager and NixOS configurations. This book aims to help more people enjoy the benefits of NixOS and encourage participation in its development.

GPT Pilot (GitHub Repo)

GPT Pilot is an AI-powered dev tool that writes scalable apps from scratch. It enables developers to create apps using a description of the kind of app they want to build. GPT Pilot creates apps step-by-step while asking questions for clarification or help when it gets stuck. A video demo is available in the repository.
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Miscellaneous

Forty years of programming (6 minute read)

This article presents several tips to improve the ergonomics of a programming setup. It makes several product recommendations that can improve the developer experience, for example, Apple's Magic Trackpad for improved comfort and navigation and the Ergodox EZ for a keyboard where users' wrists never have to move. The article also recommends stretching during breaks and managing stress levels by disconnecting from work during non-work hours.

FTX Dramatic Escape In 2022: How Consultants Thwarted A High-Stakes Heist (2 minute read)

FTX staff witnessed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto being stolen in real time on November 11, 2022. The company quickly assembled a team to save the assets. It decided to contact BitGo, which had been in talks with FTX for custody of its crypto holdings, to request the immediate creation of cold storage wallets. While BitGo was creating the wallets, FTX temporarily stored its assets on an employee's personal Ledger Nano hardware wallet. The siphoning of funds stopped once the money was moved to the new wallet and the rescued crypto was eventually transferred to BitGo.
Quick Links

How to add documentation to your product life cycle (5 minute read)

This article presents three models for implementing documentation into a product life cycle and discusses which models are best for different types of organizations.

First 2024 Tesla Cybertruck Reportedly Auctioned for $400,000, with First Deliveries Still Elusive (2 minute read)

The auction occurred at the Petersen's 29th gala event, with tickets to the festivities costing $1750 to up to $30,000 for a premier table.

ChatGPT’s mobile app hit record $4.58M in revenue last month, but growth is slowing (2 minute read)

The slowing revenue growth may be an indication that ChatGPT is nearing saturation in terms of how many mobile users are willing to pay for ChatGPT+.

My personal C coding style as of late 2023 (7 minute read)

This article presents a C coding style that has produced significant productive and organizational benefits.

Unity CEO John Riccitiello stepping down, effective immediately (1 minute read)

John Riccitiello had served Unity as president and CEO for nine years.

‘Ukuhumusha’—A New Way to Hack OpenAI's ChatGPT (3 minute read)

Various restrictions in ChatGPT can be bypassed by using less common languages like Zulu and Gaelic.
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