🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #188

Thursday's here - time to shine before the weekend! Don’t forget our new section too - Tech Talks Thursday.

#Bing - So, Microsoft tried to trick people into using Bing by making it look like Google, but they got caught and had to roll it back. Now they're trying again, but not as sneakily. Like, come on Microsoft, just make a good product and stop trying to sabotage Google.

#BreakTestFail - A live durability test of an 'Itel S25' phone goes horribly wrong! The presenter challenges anybody to “break” the phone, and they end up doing exactly that - on the first test itself! Second hand cringe right here!

Pixxel Launches India's First Private Commercial Satellites
Pixxel, an Indian space tech startup, successfully launched 3 hyperspectral satellites aboard a SpaceX rocket, marking a significant milestone for India's growing space ambitions. Hyperspectral satellites can track deforestation, ocean pollution, and more.

Meta Axes Underperformers
Mark Zuckerberg just announced that they're planning to let go of underperforming employees to make way for better talent, which will help them build new technologies like AR glasses and improve their social media platforms.

OpenAI Backtracks On “Politically Unbiased" AI Pledge
OpenAI, the brains behind ChatGPT, quietly removed language from a policy document stating that AI models should aim to be "politically unbiased" by default, citing the need to "streamline" the doc, but sparking debate on bias in AI amid accusations of censorship and liberal leanings.

WhatsApp - Introduced new camera effects with 30+ backgrounds, filters, and effects, as well as selfie stickers, quicker reactions, and the ability to share sticker packs with other users.

LinkedIn - Introduces Jobs Match tool to provide users with immediate advice on job opening suitability, and a recruitment AI agent for smaller businesses to streamline the hiring process.

Excel for Windows - Dark mode support added, allowing users to view sheets and cells in a dark color scheme to reduce eye strain and energy consumption on OLED screens.

Substack - Live video streaming now available to all publishers with at least 10 free subscribers, featuring real-time commenting, collaboration, and AI-generated notes and clip generation.

ChatGPT - introduced Tasks, allowing users to create and run scheduled tasks and reminders via natural language prompting, with notifications and supported on web, Android, iOS, and macOS.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat - Added AI agents with access to Copilot Studio, web data, and Microsoft Graph, allowing users to create and use virtual colleagues to automate tasks.

Building a Domain Specific GenAI Chatbot with Serverless - Simplify GenAI with serverless tech, RAG, and AWS tools like Step Functions and Amazon Bedrock. Learn to streamline LLM use and build efficient, targeted GenAI applications with ease.

SvelteKit & the Magic of Progressive Enhancements - Discover the magic of SvelteKit in this playful talk on enhancing websites with progressive features. Learn how SvelteKit keeps browsing smooth, interactions snappy, and projects accessible and fun.

Doing Things Quickly And Completely
Tech entrepreneurial wisdom from a CEO: to get things done, focus on one main task, knock out non-ignorable distractions, and completely finish tasks, avoiding procrastination and "procrastgress". Prioritize, execute swiftly, and minimize delays to achieve goals.

Unlock Efficient UI Design With Modern Component Libraries
UI component libraries are incredibly helpful for building web interfaces. They make it so much easier to create web animations and user interactions, even if you’re not a coding expert. This new generation of copy-and-paste UI libraries take this convenience to the next level.

Not Your Average Null: Database Quirks
SQLite, Postgres, and MySQL treat NULL values uniquely, allowing multiple NULLs in UNIQUE columns. This isn't due to non-compliance, but rather an implementation choice to handle NULLs in line with other databases, despite SQL standards suggesting otherwise.