🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #79

May your Friday be filled with peace and your weekend with joy.

#StickerSquad - WhatsApp has added a custom sticker maker to its Android app. Users can create, edit, and share custom stickers with anyone. The GIPHY sticker library can be accessed by simply tapping the sticker icon. This feature will slowly be rolled out.

#GossipInsurance - Google is adding a new display to the right of the response that shows cited webpages more prominently. You can click the icons in the top-right corner of AI Overviews on mobile to view source links. The new format is rolling out today, and it will also show up on mobile when you select the site icons.

#BlameTheWorkers - You won't believe what Eric Schmidt said about Google's ML flop! He thinks workplace flexibility is the reason they're falling behind, but honestly, it's probably because they're understaffed and have constant layoffs. Meanwhile, Google tries to cram everyone back into the office... like, hello, I'll just take my work and WFH, thank you very much!

#ClickOrQuit - Remember when Elon went crazy on Twitter and demanded everyone agree to work "extremely hardcore" or else? Well, one of the poor souls who didn't click "yes" just won a major lawsuit against him! Apparently, Musk's "fork in the road" email was just a way to strong-arm people into staying with the company. SMH! Now, the Irish government is awarding this poor guy $600K!

Binance Resumes Operations in India After Seven-Month Hiatus
Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has resumed operations in India after being blocked by local authorities for seven months. The company has registered as a reporting entity with India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), allowing it to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.

GitHub hit by Unexpected Outage
GitHub developer service and code repository service suffered an outage on Wednesday evening. DownDetector showed that there was a huge spike in GitHub users reporting that the service was not online.

AltStore PAL Goes Free with Epic Games' MegaGrant
AltStore PAL is an app store that takes advantage of the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) to bring a third-party app store to EU users. With a grant from Epic Games, the app store is now free for two years.

Valve Starts Testing New Review Sorting System On Steam
Valve is testing a new system that sorts reviews on Steam based on how helpful they are in helping players make decisions about games. The company is trying to reduce the impact of "non-helpful" reviews like ASCII art and memes.

Apple Opens Up Its NFC Hardware to Developers
Apple Pay will soon be available to developers in the US, UK, Canada, Japan, and other countries. Apple Pay lets users pay for goods and services using their iPhone's near-field communication (NFC) hardware. The move follows Apple's settlement with the European Commission.

Torchchat | Run PyTorch LLMs locally on servers, desktop and mobile

Orbit | Create radial interfaces using only CSS.

The Overlooked Importance of Practical Design in Everyday Items
Good design often goes unnoticed in everyday items like food packaging. Niko Kitsakis argues that simple changes, like placing expiration dates on the front of labels, can significantly enhance functionality and reduce food waste. Using Muji as an example, Kitsakis highlights how thoughtful design can improve both user convenience and product appeal.

Tech Trends 2024: Developer Dissatisfaction, AI Adoption, and Emerging Frameworks
Key insights from industry reports reveal high job dissatisfaction among developers, with 80% unhappy in their roles despite their passion for coding outside of work. AI tools are increasingly used, enhancing productivity, while React remains the most demanded frontend framework globally. Emerging trends in software architecture, such as cell-based architecture and privacy engineering, are also gaining traction, shaping the future of tech development.