🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #181

Tuesday's here - let's turn dreams into plans!

#BingVsGoogle - Microsoft Bing is trying to be sneaky, showing a Google-esque search page when you search for, well, Google - it's like they're trying to trick you into thinking you're on the competition's site, but only the address bar and some small text give it away, and now some users are calling foul, saying it's just plain misleading! Seriously - try it yourself. Go to bing and search for google - and compare the UI with any other search term on bing.

#GestureControl - WowMouse is a gesture control app that lets you use a smartwatch to control phones, tablets, headsets, and other devices. At CES 2025, Doublepoint Technologies introduced the brand-new WowMouse app for Apple Watch. The company says the Android version of the app already has 100,000 downloads.

#2Hours - That’s all it takes to train an AI to replicate your personality. 2 hours. Researchers from Google and Stanford University created "simulation agents" of 1,052 individuals based on two-hour interviews with each participant. These interviews were used to train a generative AI model designed to mimic human behavior. The AI replicas matched the responses of their human counterparts with 85% accuracy.

#HoneyExtension - Devin Stone of the YouTube Channel Legal Eagle is suing PayPal over the affiliate link practices of its Honey extension. Honey operates by offering to find coupon codes through its browser extension. When shoppers interact with its pop-up offers at checkout, it replaces existing affiliate cookies with its own in the background.

#PieAdblock - Pie Adblock was accused of copying code and text from rival uBlock Origin in violation of the latter's software license – the GNU GPL version 3. Pie Adblock's maker has published materials that are at the heart of the extension and clearly come from u block Origin as well as another competitor.

Kumbh Mela Goes Digital
The Maha Kumbh Mela is one of the largest spiritual gatherings in the world. It is set to take place in Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26, 2025. Authorities are implementing AI-driven surveillance systems to ensure safety and efficient crowd management.

Odisha CM Launches Odisha Yatri App For Seamless Transport And Driver Empowerment
From the makers of Namma Yatri App, comes another app “Odisha Yatri” sponsored by the state of Odisha, only for the people of the state. It is not clear if the app is just a clone, a fork or a completely different app at the moment.

Samsung Unveils Vision AI And Next-gen TVs
Ability to find recipes for dishes as you are watching your favorite series and live translations within your TV - some of the tech that Samsung has recently announced for its upcoming television sets in the ongoing CES 2025 in Vegas.

L'oréal Unveils Revolutionary Skin Analysis Device
L’Oréal Cell BioPrint analyzes skin and offers tailored advice on ingredients and skin health. Device aims to resolve the issue of sampling different products or ingredients to see what suits your skin and works best for it. L’Oreal plans a pilot run in Asia, but pricing and global availability are currently unknown. The device can give you a personalized result, as not everyone’s skin is the same.

OpenAI ChatGPT - A summary of the all the updates that ChatGPT / OpenAI received in 2024. Handy if you want to catch up.

Nitro | Insanely fast native C++, Swift or Kotlin modules with a statically compiled binding layer to Javascript bindings.

Awrit | Actual Web Rendering in a Terminal. A full graphical web browser for Kitty terminal with mouse and keyboard support

Double-check user actions: All about warning message UI
A confirmation dialog is that little pop-up you see when you’re about to take an action and need to double-check if you’re sure. It asks for your decision before moving forward. Such a double-check warning message UI is helpful when the action could have a big impact, like deleting a file or confirming a purchase.

Software Development Methodology
Developing complex software is different from developing small software. The best way to start is with the components with no dependencies. Start with small toy driver programs to find physical constraints, then code in layers, defining each layer's API as a domain-specific language, and implement layers from top to bottom, stubbing out lower layers as needed.

Quality Over Quantity? Who Cares?
Rant on design, photography, and media creation highlights experts' obsession with perfection, while most users don't notice the differences; eased by Netflix's focus on casual viewing, sacrificing quality for accessibility and convenience.