TLDR 2025-02-04

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Apple plans to launch a new iCloud-based service called Confetti that will be tied to the iOS 18.3 Calendar app. Confetti offers a new way to invite people to parties, functions, and meetings. It will be free and ad-free and work with calendars from multiple services. There may be Photos integration so that attendees can seamlessly share their photos right from the Calendar event.

Meta's CTO, Andrew Bosworth, told staff that this year was the most critical for proving whether the metaverse was a visionary feat or a legendary misadventure. The company recently announced a series of changes in its Reality Labs division, which plans to launch half a dozen AI-powered wearable devices this year. Meta's trajectory this year will give it a good indication of whether smart glasses will be a really prominent computing platform. A full copy of the memo Bosworth sent to employees is available in the article.

Asteroid mining company AstroForge has plans to intercept a small M-type asteroid named 2022 OB5 on a mission launching no earlier than February 26. The asteroid is likely richer in metals than most asteroids. It will come within 404,000 miles of Earth in January 2026. AstroForge built its spacecraft in 10 months. The mission's primary goal is to make sure the spacecraft communicates back to Earth - the company expects that failure is more likely than success.

Alzheimer's disease is one of the leading causes of death among older adults in the US. No treatment has been created despite decades of research. Fraud and misconduct by scientists have played a huge role in the lack of progress over the last 25 years. This article looks at several examples of the deceptive practices employed over the years by scientists trying to ascend in a brutally competitive field. The hubris and lassitude around misconduct needs to change, otherwise skeptics of science will almost certainly act.

Some companies have had to change their interviewing methods due to candidates using AI to answer questions. However, many have found that candidates who use AI are less knowledgeable or competent. Most candidates aren't able to demonstrate critical thought when using AI, preferring instead to read back answers verbatim. One way for recruiters to test candidates is by asking them about past and current challenges, as this helps recruiters understand who the candidate is and how they would fit into the team.

Developers should avoid scenarios where a ground-up rewrite starts to look attractive. They should aim to have 90% of the work done in 50% of the available time to leave time for process improvements. Developers should automate good practices and think about edge cases where things can fail. There's usually a way to write code more simply. Code should be written to be testable.

OpenAI's 'deep research' is a new agentic research assistant that can compile full-blown research reports. Unlike previous versions of ChatGPT, it runs fully autonomously and works through many steps before returning an answer. The assistant can take anywhere from one to 30 minutes to research an answer depending on the complexity of the question - users can follow its work in real time. This article looks at how 'deep research' works, how well it works, and the impact the technology will have on research.

This article presents a deep dive into the world of dating apps for those who think that they can be 'fixed'. It looks at some of the stats in the industry and the complaints that users have about the apps they use. People don't present themselves well on digital platforms, which results in either over-hyper-optimization before meeting or disappointment when meeting. The core problem is that users don't want to go on dates to find out more about potential partners and would rather try to find a partner from their bed using unrealistic criteria.

El Salvador has removed bitcoin's status as a legal currency, although it remains legal tender - its use is entirely voluntary but it cannot be used to pay taxes or settle government debt.

The US sovereign wealth fund is expected to be created in the next year by the US Treasury and Commerce Departments.

The projects developers wish they could code if they had the time include next-gen scripting languages, novel messaging clients, karaoke apps, and more.

Klarna has saved the equivalent of $10 million annually by using artificial intelligence to automate work typically done by humans.

SoftBank will pay $3 billion a year to force the companies in its portfolios to experiment with AI agents.

OpenAI rates o3-mini's persuasive capabilities as a 'Medium' risk, meaning that the model has comparable persuasive effectiveness to typical human written content.