📰 News

💰 We’re still talking about Y Combinator valuations

Investors are complaining about high valuations coming out of Y Combinator's latest cohort, with some saying that it is getting too pricey to invest, and a majority of early-stage investors have expressed concern about the trend, as it remains to be seen if high valuations are sustainable amidst a possible downturn.

🚧 World’s last dedicated Meccano factory to close in France

The world's last dedicated Meccano factory in Calais, France is set to close its doors in 2024 due to a lack of competitiveness and the soaring cost of raw materials, however, Meccano toys will still be produced by partner companies across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

💰 Burglars tunnel through Apple Store’s neighbor, allegedly steal $500K in iPhones

Burglars allegedly tunnelled through the wall of a coffee shop in Lynnwood, Washington, to reach an Apple Store next door, stealing an estimated $500,000 worth of iPhones.

💥 It sounds like science fiction but it’s not: AI can destroy your business

Scammers are using deepfake AI technology to steal money from unsuspecting consumers and businesses by fabricating the voices of loved ones, doctors and attorneys requesting money, prompting the US Federal Trade Commission to issue a warning about an AI scam that is not science fiction, with the FBI also cautioning businesses that criminals are creating 'employees' online for remote-work positions to gain access to corporate information, meaning companies must implement and enforce controls to protect themselves.

🤖 Musk admits NPR isn’t state-affiliated

Elon Musk admits to not understanding the operations and funding of NPR after mistakenly labeling the news outlet as "US state-affiliated," despite NPR receiving less than 1% of its funding directly from the US government, ultimately changing the label to "Government Funded Media."

🐙 We’re one step closer to reading an octopus’s mind

Researchers at the University of Naples Federico II and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology have monitored and tracked the brainwaves of three captive, but freely moving, octopuses for the first time, using recording electrodes implanted in the creatures, identifying a previously unseen brainwave, as well as waves that may be similar to those seen in human brains, which could indicate the evolution of intelligence.

🔥 The hellish design of the Crusader Kings video games

Paradox Interactive's Crusader Kings 3 video game has a reputation for having a complex and overwhelming user interface, but the developers have intentionally streamlined the game's UI to make it more accessible to players while still retaining its sophisticated gameplay interactions. The game's UI now features tooltips within tooltips and presents information based on how zoomed in or out the player is on the map, allowing players to spend most of their time in a single map mode and interact with anything using just their left mouse button.

🕵 Why the startup sector should keep its eye on the SEC

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank and negative narratives around venture-backed startups could lead to tighter regulations from the SEC, potentially increasing barriers to capital, constraining investor access, and pushing more companies from private to public, ultimately slowing down innovation in the US markets, according to Anthony Cimino, head of policy at Carta.

🚀 Black hole is soaring between galaxies, leaving stars in its wake

A team of researchers has found a long, thin streak in an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, which appears to be the wake left behind by a supermassive black hole that has been shot free of the galaxy that used to host it, possibly due to a merger of galaxies.

🙅 “I frankly don’t want to be the CEO of any company”

Elon Musk testified in a trial challenging his compensation package at Tesla and said that he doesn't want to be CEO of Twitter or any company, but rather see himself as an engineer developing technology and making sure his team achieves their goals. He also mentioned eventually appointing a new chief executive at Twitter and stepping down as CEO of Tesla.

👋 Mark Zuckerberg abandons metaverse as shiny new toy appears

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has abandoned the metaverse project in favor of chasing the shiny new toy of generative AI, according to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, leaving the company's metaverse of dead-eyed avatars as a multibillion-dollar money pit, although the company is geared up to deploy AI in its advertising machine in the short term.

💻 WebGPU on Chrome

Google's Chrome browser will support the WebGPU API by default in version 113, which aims to bring the benefits of low-overhead APIs to web browsers and other apps, and will enable improved graphics in frameworks like Babylon.js and game engines like Unity, as well as support GPU-accelerated workloads for machine learning and AI.

💰 If you’ve raised venture capital, you have to pay yourself

Investors who suggest founders shouldn't take a salary while raising money are being counterproductive and rude, and founders should pay themselves what they need and set milestones to increase their salary closer to market rates, among other reasons.

💻 Cybercrime: Be careful what you tell your chatbot helper

As chatbots become increasingly popular and sophisticated, experts are warning of their potential as gateways for fraud and intrusive data-gathering, while Italy has banned OpenAI's ChatGPT on privacy grounds and expressed concerns over its model, worrying that the company might have broken strict European data protection laws. Despite the privacy risks posed by search engines such as Google, experts think chatbots could be even more data-hungry, while AI-enabled services are rapidly emerging and as they develop, the risks are going to get worse.

👀 New allegations of plagiarism against Roy Lichtenstein

A new documentary titled "WHAAM! BLAM! Roy Lichtenstein and the Art of Appropriation" alleges that hundreds of the artist's works can be traced back to other artists and comic book creators, who were cheated out of recognition and struggled financially while Lichtenstein's paintings sold for millions of dollars.

💸 Creative tech firm Talenthouse is close to failure as debts mount

Creative tech firm Talenthouse, which matches artists with major brands, is facing legal action by creditors and the closure of its UK entity due to substantial unpaid debts, leaving many contributors and staff uncertain about their payments.

💔 Ben Ferencz: last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor dies aged 103

Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials and a long-time advocate of international criminal law, has died at the age of 103.

📷 A picture made him a hero. Then his life fell apart

The story of US Marine James Blake Miller, whose iconic war photograph made him a hero but post-traumatic stress disorder from war resulted in stress, divorce and a casualty of war, is a reminder of the hidden psychological cost of combat which is often ignored when soldiers return home.

👮 Iranian police plan to use smart cameras to identify ‘violatiors of hajib law’

Police in Iran will use smart technology to identify and penalize women who violate the country's strict Islamic dress code, with car owners also warned they will receive a text message if any of their passengers breach the dress code, according to a statement. This comes after women in Iran have been increasingly removing their hijabs since the recent death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for breaking the dress code.

💰 Profits at Apple’s subsidiary in Ireland rise to $69B

Apple's main Irish subsidiary, Apple Operations International, paid €7.7bn in incorporation tax last year but paid out nearly triple that amount in dividends to its California parent company, after reporting more than $69bn in profits, according to the latest financial filings, with the Irish division making the equivalent of nearly $190m a day over the year to September.

💡📚 Articles

🏢 Demystifying The Clean Architecture (4 min read)

Discover the Benefits of Clean Architecture: A Domain-Centric Approach to Building Reliable Software

💻 Out-Of-Process Design Vs Aspect-Oriented Programming— Where to apply what? (4 min read)

Breaking it Down: Out-of-Process Design vs Aspect-Oriented Programming - Which Works for You?

🚀 Use Model Features to Speed Up Backend Development in a DRY Manner (9 min read)

Boost your backend programming skills with Model Features: How to reduce duplication and simplify code in your RESTful services. Learn how to implement a layered architecture using C#, generic types, and interfaces.

🚀 Introduction to Azure API Management Services (3 min read)

Streamline Your API Management with Azure API Management - Simplify Complexities of Multiple APIs

🏗 Deep Dive into Architecture Patterns, Part 1 (8 min read)

Get Ready to Dive Deep into Architecture Patterns: Understanding Requirements and Factors Influencing Pattern Selection

🔨 Builder pattern in TypeScript (3 min read)

Learn how the Builder Pattern simplifies the creation of complex objects step by step, creating different representations of the same object in an easy way, through the use of a Builder interface and concrete builders in JavaScript.

👨‍💻 Repositories

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