🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #55

Hope this Monday morning fills you with boundless energy for the week ahead!

#OldSchoolCool - India’s still rocking those ancient feature phones while brands tear their hair out. 350 million folks are sticking with their retro gadgets instead of splurging on shiny new smartphones. Guess old habits die hard, even in the tech world!

#ExpensiveFail - Did you hear that the Apple Vision Pro is a total bust? Only 100,000 units sold worldwide, and Apple's expecting a 75% drop off by August! They're literally giving up on this thing and are already working on a cheaper version. I mean, who can afford $3,500?

#SystemicSilliness - Bots are spreading disgusting comments and links to shady Discord servers on YouTube?! They're basically normalizing hate speech! I know the YouTubers are trying, but it's gonna take YouTube to step up and actually do something about it.

#ValveHiringSecrets - Can you believe Valve, the gaming behemoth only has 336 employees?! Like, they're running the whole Steam store and stuff, but they're basically a small team. And, oh, they only had 79 people working on Steam, which is crazy small! Guess they're getting help from other companies or something...

#EsportsOlympics - The very first E-Sports Olympics is taking place in… Saudi Arabia. In 2025. This isn’t a sponsor gimmick, but the IOC itself has approved this! A VERY BIG DEAL, especially for esports gamers.

#OpenSourceLipService - SAP, the ERP Giant, is trying to prove that it’s open source friendly… but contributors aren’t buying it.

#DislikeIsHere - X, formerly twitter, has now all but confirmed that a Reddit-style dislike button will soon appear for tweets. Could be a game changer depending on which side of the argument you are on.

India’s UPI Expands Global Footprint in Qatar
Qatar National Bank (QNB) has partnered with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) to introduce QR code-based UPI payment systems across Qatar, enabling Indians and locals to make transactions using UPI at various merchants. This will simplify transactions for Indian tourists and boost business growth for local merchants.

Meta Allows Trump's Facebook and Instagram Accounts to Return to Normal
Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has lifted the restrictions on Donald Trump's profiles, two years after he was banned for inciting violence on January 6th. The move is meant to level the playing field ahead of the US presidential nominations, but critics argue that it provides an uneven advantage to political figures, who can spread misinformation without consequences.

Banks in Singapore Phasing Out One-Time Passwords
The Monetary Authority of Singapore decided to ban one-time passwords (OTPs) in the country's major retail banks due to security concerns with phishing and other scams. Singapore bank customers will now use digital tokens instead of one-time passwords.

Rufus, Amazon's AI Chatbot, Now Live for All US Customers
Amazon's Rufus is an AI chatbot that helps with shopping, allowing you to ask for product recommendations and answers to specific questions. It's currently tied to the app and not the web version, and has been trained on Amazon's product catalog, customer reviews, and public information. Give it a try by updating your app and looking for the colorful icon on the bottom-right.

Apple Faces Anti-Trust Problems In India
Apple is being accused of using its dominant position in the app store to stifle competition and force developers to use their proprietary payment system. An investigation in India found that Apple engaged in "abusive conduct and practices" and wields "significant influence" over the digital products and services that reach consumers through its iOS platform.

Elon Musk's X Subjected to EU Scrutiny and Possible Fines for Deception and Non-Compliance with Digital Services Act
Elon Musk's overhaul of the Twitter verification system deceives users and violates the Digital Services Act, the European Commission said today. The social media platform now called X "designs and operates its interface for the 'verified accounts' with the 'Blue checkmark' in a way that does not correspond to industry practice and deceiving users," the EU regulator said.

Ice | Powerful menu bar manager for macOS

Dot UI | Accessible, mobile friendly, modern UI components.

Rust Crab | An Open Source project with everything you need to learn about the Rust programming language

CSS One-Liners for Improved Web Page Readability and Visual Appeal
As a computer science student, you'll learn how to enhance your web pages' readability and visual appeal using popular CSS one-liners. These one-liners, when applied to a web page, will automatically improve the page's layout, make text easier to read, and create a more visually appealing experience for users. This knowledge will help you progress your career by enabling you to create more effective and user-friendly web applications.

Improving Pull Requests for a More Efficient Software Development Cycle
As software engineers, we often focus on writing code, but improving the process can make a big difference. By creating pull requests that are easy to review, we can improve team efficiency and outputs. This article outlines best practices to achieve this, including writing code that is easy to understand, well-structured, and consistent, as well as guidelines for managing PR creation and feedback. By following these tips, we can create a robust review culture that enhances collaboration and improves code quality.

This Engineer Hacked a Plane’s WiFi System To Setup a Simple Chat Messenger App
A new desperately needed way to bypass in-flight internet fees has been discovered. A software programmer exploited a hole in JetStreamers' firewall and created a simple instant messaging protocol using Python and the PySkyWiFi tool.

React Native for React Developers - An Introduction
Expo, a popular cross-platform framework, has published a blog post on how to take your React app from the web to native, utilizing their toolkit and CLI.