🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #227

Wednesday is the perfect day to reflect and refocus!

Lot of content to share today. Looks like the tech reporters had a field day yesterday.

#SaaSGoneWild - Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. We cannot make this up even if we tried. Cursor, the popular AI coding tool, asked a developer trying to use it, to learn coding instead! 🤣

#Sabotage - A 55-year-old software dev installed a kill-switch that activated when they left their company. They got convicted for deploying malicious code that ruined his former employer's network, costing them hundreds of thousands. Apparently, he got salty after a corporate "realignment" reduced his responsibilities and decided to take revenge, creating "infinite loops" and a "kill switch" to shut down everything - talk about a grudge! 👿

#Apple - So, Apple's getting a major makeover, and we're not just talking about a new iPhone case - the entire operating system is getting a revamp, from icons to menus, all to make it more consistent and pretty, just like the Vision Pro headset, and let's be real, it's about time, it's been ages since iOS 7. 😑

#Microsoft - Microsoft will turn 50 - and to celebrate it, they are holding an anniversary event on the 4th of April. The event will include an employee-only celebration of the company’s 50 years. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, and other “leaders of past and present” will be part of the event. 🎂

Airtel Partners With SpaceX To Bring Starlink To India
Airtel is an Indian telco giant and SpaceX is Elon Musk's private aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company. They've partnered to launch Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet services, in India, pending regulatory clearance. This move comes after SpaceX's previous attempts to enter the Indian market were halted due to licensing issues. The partnership is a blow to competitor Reliance Jio and could bring reliable and affordable broadband to Indian customers.

Ola Electric Shares Plummet Amid Raids Over Violation Of Transport Regulations
Ola Electric is an Indian electric vehicle manufacturer. Reports of raids by authorities over violation of transport regulations led to a drop in shares, with 95% of vehicle outlets lacking basic certification, resulting in seizures, shutdowns, and show-cause notices.

Microsoft Prepares Next-gen Xbox Hardware
Microsoft has Xbox, a popular gaming console brand. They're reportedly working on next-gen hardware, including a handheld gaming device to be released in 2025, made in collaboration with a third-party company, and another one developed internally to be released in 2027. They're also working on a new Xbox console, successor to the Xbox Series X, also set to release in 2027.

Meta Develops First In-house AI Training Chip
Meta is now making their own AI training chip. They're testing it out and if it works, they'll order more. This is a big deal because it means they'll rely less on other companies like Nvidia for their AI needs. They plan to use it to make their algorithms better and eventually for their AI chatbots.

YouTube - Automatic human review of automated ad placement assessments to improve monetization accuracy and speed.

Google Gemini - Allows adding events to Google Calendar directly from emails with a new "Add to Calendar" button.

Heroku - Introduced a VSCode extension. Adds real-time resource insights, one-click deployments, and add-on management to streamline cloud development within VS Code.

Windows - Remote Desktop App will now be sunset and new Windows App will be its replacement

Bluesky - Expanded video upload limit to three minutes, added "Chat requests" screen, quick mute account option, improved tablet-size layouts on web, and enhanced moderation reporting flow.

Datalyze - Datalyze, launched by MachineHack, is an AI-powered, no-code platform offering simulation-based, gamified learning experiences in data analytics. It enables users to upload, explore, clean, and analyze data effortlessly, making data analytics accessible to everyone, regardless of technical expertise.

FreeSound - A collaborative database of over 500,000 Creative Commons-licensed audio samples, including field recordings and synthesized sounds.

EndOfLife - An open-source website that tracks end-of-life dates and support lifecycles for over 340 products, including programming languages, operating systems, and software applications. It aggregates data from various sources, presenting it in a clear format with exact dates and concise release policies.

Lynx - An alternative to Flutter and React Native, brought to you by TikTok. A framework that allows developers to build applications with native rendering across Android, iOS, and the web. It leverages existing knowledge of CSS and React, offering instant launch times and responsive user interfaces through a multithreaded engine.

A different kind of job board today - just one job posting. Namma Yatri - the alternative to Uber and Ola is running a hiring challenge. The challenge includes coding assessments and a hackathon, leading to interviews for roles in Bangalore, Chennai, and Kolkata. More details here.

Node.js Vs Deno: Typescript Support Showdown
Node.js added native TypeScript support in version 22.6 (stabilized in 23.6) This has sparked questions within the community about how Deno’s existing TypeScript integration compares with Node’s.

Rescript: A Sound Alternative To Typescript
ReScript, a statically typed language, boasts a robust type system, pure functional programming support, and high-performance compilation. It offers features like type soundness, immutability, records, tuples, and pattern matching, making it a compelling choice for large-scale projects, particularly when integrated with React.

Mobile App UI Design Trends In 2025
Emerging trends in mobile app design include minimalism with a purpose, dynamic gradients, personalized UX, dark mode domination, responsive design for wearables, neo-brutalism, and AI-powered features, with templates available for download, offering solid ground for creating impressive UI designs.