TLDR 2023-11-03

Starlink hits breakeven 🛰️, Mint.com shuts down 💳, building your own keyboard 📠

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Big Tech & Startups

Mint is shutting down, and it’s pushing users toward Credit Karma (2 minute read)

Intuit's budgeting app Mint is shutting down. Mint will be absorbed into Intuit's Credit Karma on January 1. It is unclear whether Credit Karma will receive the budgeting features Mint is known for. Mint offered a free way for users to track their budgets, manage expenses, negotiate bills, and keep tabs on subscriptions. Credit Karma offers similar features, but it doesn't have the same budget tracking tool.

Elon Musk says SpaceX’s Starlink business ‘achieved breakeven cash flow’ (2 minute read)

Elon Musk announced on Thursday that SpaceX has achieved breakeven cash flow. It is unclear whether the milestone was hit on an operating basis or for a specific time period. SpaceX's valuation is now at around $150 billion. Musk is considering spinning off Starlink and making it public through an initial public offering likely after 2025.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

In a surprising finding, light can make water evaporate without heat (7 minute read)

Researchers have been puzzled for years over the fact that water held in hydrogels evaporates at a significantly higher rate than could be explained by the amount of heat that the water was receiving. New research has concluded that under certain conditions, light can directly bring about evaporation without heat at an even more efficient rate than with heat. The phenomenon may play a role in the formation and evolution of fog and clouds, so climate models will need to consider the new factor to improve accuracy.

Two former Google engineers have a product and a plan to fix robot vacuums (15 minute read)

The Matic is a fully autonomous robot vacuum that can clean floors without getting stuck on cables or toys. It processes things visually instead of spatially, making it less prone to common robot vacuum pitfalls. Mapping is all done on-device, so it doesn't require an internet connection to run. The Matic is now available for preorder with delivery planned for March next year.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

What's new in Chrome 120 for Extensions (4 minute read)

Chrome 120 is now available in beta. It includes many updates for Chrome Extension developers. Extensions can now manage collections of user scripts and determine when and how to inject them on web pages. The limit on enabled static rulesets has been raised to 50, and the total number of allowed static rulesets is now 100. Chrome 120 adds the ability for extensions to create, read, update, and delete reading list entries. More on the update is available in the article.

tailspin (GitHub Repo)

tailspin is a log file highlighter. It allows users to view any log file of any format without any setup or configuration. tailspin highlights numbers, dates, IP addresses, UUIDs, URLs, and more. All highlight groups are customizable. tailspin is easy to integrate with other commands.
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Miscellaneous

A fireside chat on climate and global development (24 minute read)

Bill Gates participated in a fireside chat at Chatham House in London last month. The conversation centered around climate change and global development and why they both demand urgent action. Gates believes that it's not enough to make the planet livable, we also need to make it a better place to live. This article contains a transcript of the conversation.

I designed my own keyboard layout. Was it worth it? (14 minute read)

Typing in qwerty can be uncomfortable, so Jonas Hietala set out to design his own keyboard layout. The main goals for the project were to relieve his RSI and to optimize the layout for his usage. Hietala used a Ferris split keyboard with 34 keys to create his final setup. This article goes through his experience in creating a custom layout and discusses his learnings from the project.
Quick Links

NASA launches new app to see the International Space Station (3 minute read)

NASA has launched an app with augmented reality features and an interface for learning more about the International Space Station.

DoltgreSQL (GitHub Repo)

DoltgreSQL is a Postgres-flavored version of Dolt, a version-controlled SQL database.

Geist (GitHub Repo)

Geist is a new font family for Vercel.

Stability AI’s latest tool uses AI to generate 3D models (3 minute read)

Stable 3D, currently available in private preview, is an AI-powered app that generates textured 3D objects for modeling and game development platforms.

Apple M3 and the State of CPUs (4 minute read)

The PC market is likely to remain split for a long time to come, with Apple continuing to capture the bulk of segment profitability.
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