🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #245

Monday magic is in the air, let's grab it!

#StartupMahakumbh - Union Minister Piyush Goyal called out Indian startups for playing small and not thinking globally and wants them to aim higher than just delivery and gaming, meanwhile, others are calling them out for being harsh.

#LayoffsDoneRight - Guess what this CEO did after laying off 70 employees! He actually helped them find new jobs and gave them 3 months' notice, and even extra salary for those who couldn't find a new gig. Talk about taking responsibility and treating employees like family!

#ChatGPT - So, OpenAI's ChatGPT is huge in India, but it's not making as much money as you'd think. Like, Indians are downloading the app and stuff, but they're not paying for it because it's just too expensive. Meanwhile, the CEO is all about making it a multi-billion-user platform, so they're trying to team up with a big Indian mobile carrier to get more users on board.

Sarla Aviation To Launch Electric Air Taxis In India
Sarla Aviation is an aerospace startup backed by a $10 million Series A funding round. They just announced plans to launch electric air taxis in India, starting in Bengaluru in 2028, then expanding to Mumbai and Delhi, and eventually aiming to cover the entire country within 5 years.

Microsoft Turns 50
Microsoft is a tech giant that was founded 50 years ago by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, originally focused on microprocessors and software. Today, Microsoft celebrates its 50-year anniversary, reflecting on its journey from creating software for early PCs to dominating the industry with Windows and Office, and looking towards an AI-driven future.

EU Regulators To Impose Record Fine On X
The European Union is preparing to impose a fine exceeding $1 billion on X for violating the Digital Services Act, with the penalty also including demands for product changes, aiming to set an example to deter other companies from violating the law.

GitHub Copilot - Introduces premium requests with rate limits for tasks using AI models other than the base model, with optional additional requests available for purchase or through upgrade to Copilot Pro+ plan.

Llama 4 - Introduced new open-weight models, Llama 4 Scout, Llama 4 Maverick, and Llama 4 Behemoth, featuring MoE architecture and native multimodal capabilities.

Bing - Introduces Copilot Search, a feature that generates AI-powered responses and allows users to explore queries further through follow-up questions and related web links.

Cocommit | Cocommit is a command-line tool that works with your HEAD commit and leverages an LLM of your choice to enhance commit quality.

Typia | Super-fast/easy runtime validators and serializers via transformation

Postgres Language Server | A Language Server for Postgres

The Manager I Hated (and Why I Needed Them)
A former software engineer shares their experience of working with a tough manager who provided brutal feedback, but ultimately helped them grow as an engineer and develop essential skills for success.

Debugging A Nondeterministic Chrome Bug In Google Docs
A former Google engineer recounts the challenging process of debugging a mysterious, Chrome-only bug in Google Docs that caused a fatal error, highlighting the difficulties of reproducing and resolving nondeterministic issues in complex software systems.

Freelancing Success Without A Degree
Boran Oktay, a self-taught data scientist, shares his journey of becoming a successful freelancer on Upwork, despite having no prior experience or degree in software development, and earning over $60,000 in 2024.