🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #76

A very good Tuesday morning to you! Let's accomplish great things today.

#PassportToHype - BlinkIt, the hyperlocal e-commerce provider has launched a new service that lets you get passport pics delivered in 10 mins! It's like, upload your fave selfie, and voilà! You'll have stunning 32 prints in no time! Privacy concerns be damned, eh?

#GovernmentCtrlAltDelete - The Indian government plans to classify social media creators as “digital news broadcasters” The move would make it mandatory for them to register with the government. Over 785 Indian creators have sent a letter to the government seeking more transparency.

#Xodus - Anecdotally, at least, people report seeing an influx of new users and other online friends leaving X to join Meta’s Threads. But app store and website traffic data don’t yet reflect any significant changes between the two platforms.

#Pwned - CrowdStrike president Michael Sentonas accepted a “Most Epic Fail” award at the annual Las Vegas Def Con hacking conference. The company’s software update caused a global IT outage last month. While accepting the award, they said it was “super important to own it when you do things horribly wrong.”

#AppleIsTheNewMeanGirl - Apple has threatened to remove crowdfunding app Patreon from the App Store if creators continue to use unsupported third-party billing options or disable transactions on iOS. The company says it’s begun a 16-month-long migration process to move all creators to Apple”s subscription billing by November 2025.

Google Ships Locally Made Pixel 8 in India, A Head of Pixel 9 Launch
Bye Bye Made-In-China. Google announced that they're starting to ship locally manufactured Pixel 8 phones in India, ahead of the anticipated launch of the Pixel 9 series. This move is aimed at making the phones more affordable and reducing the wait time for Indian consumers.

Conversational AI Leader Gupshup Sees Strong Demand, Expands Workforce by 20%
Gupshup is witnessing strong demand for its conversational AI solutions in India and international markets. To fuel this growth, the company undertook accelerated hiring in FY24, growing its workforce by 20% to 1400 people.

Convin Breaks Ground with Advanced LLM Specifically for Indian Call Centers
Convin recently launched its advanced Large Language Model (LLM), with 7 billion parameters. This model is specifically designed to improve the business output and resolve the unique challenges of customer-facing teams.

NASA Faces Crucial Safety Decision for Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are nearly 10 weeks into a test flight that was originally set to last a little more than one week. The two retired US Navy test pilots were the first people to fly into orbit on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft when it launched on June 5. But had to extend their stay due to issues with their return spacecraft.

Arrival Time | Simple and powerful progress time estimation (ETA) for JavaScript

Whirl | CSS loading animations with minimal effort!

Mastering the Art of Saying No
Learn how to prioritize your time and focus by saying no effectively, as shared by Sidwyn Koh, Staff Engineer at Meta. Focus on your goals, don't get sidetracked, and explore four practical approaches to saying no, including the Direct, Redirect, Change Their Perspective, and Stonewall approaches.

Why Top IT Firms in India Are Silent Hires
Despite the booming IT industry in India, top companies are struggling to fill open positions due to a shortage of skilled workers, says a recent report. Expertise gaps in areas like AI and cloud computing are particularly concerning.

Planning to Launch Your Own Software? Here are some Strategies For Pricing Your Product
This HackerNews Thread is an interesting read into how one can determine the best price for their product.