#47: Bored Claude, Mechazilla, OceanGate, WordPress, Canine Memory, Asteroid Crime Scene, Jets as a Service, and more!
Hi everyone!
In his latest essay, Paul Graham predicts that within the next few decades, there won't be many people who can write.
Writing is very difficult, so people are adopting the use of LLMs to do the writing for them. That’s great, but there’s one problem. To write well, you have to think clearly. And if you outsource your writing, you outsource your thinking as well.
If you're thinking without writing, you only think you're thinking
— Leslie Lamport
His conclusion: the world will be divided into writers, and non-writers. Or thinkers and non-thinkers. I know which side I want to be on...
Enjoy this edition of the newsletter,
Xavier
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🤓 Cool Stuff I Found on the Internet
Netflix stats
In the first half of 2024, people watched of 94 billion hours of content on Netflix. Ninety-four billion hours! Let that sink in...
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Jet-engine-as-a-service
Suffering from subscription overload? Here’s one more: did you know airlines don’t actually own the engines on their planes? Rolls-Royce pioneered a business model where they sell most engines as a subscription. The company sells engines at a loss, but recovers cost through hourly fees under its TotalCare program. The company monitors all engines in real-time and proactively sends spare parts before servicing is needed.
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Wreckage of OceanGate's Titan
The US Coast Guard has released the first public footage of OceanGate's Titan submersible wreckage near the Titanic. It reveals the extent of damage from its fatal implosion in June 2022. Recent hearings have uncovered many safety issues with OceanGate's operations, including equipment problems.
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Dogs have amazing memory
Our loyal canine companions can remember the name of their toys after not seeing them for 2 years! This research found that certain dogs can recall the names of up to 60% of their toys.
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Apple Vision Pro leaks eye data
Researchers used Apple's Vision Pro eye tracking data to figure out what you're typing on virtual keyboards, including your passwords! The attack was named GAZEploit and had an accuracy of 98%. Apple has resolved the issue, but it shows how our biometric data can be exploited in unexpected ways as we embrace more immersive technologies.
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Wordpress going rogue
WordPress is a powerful content management system that powers nearly half of all websites. It’s available as free and open-source software. However, there are tensions between the open source WordPress project and profit-driven businesses that use the system without contributing back.
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🧠🤖 Artificial intelligence
Claude can control your PC, and instantly gets bored
Anthropic released a new feature called “Computer Use”. It allows Claude to control your computer in order to accomplish certain tasks. It looks really powerful, but while testing, Anthropic found that Claude gets bored sometimes. In one example, it took a break from coding and began to peruse photos of Yellowstone National Park.
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25% of new Google code is written by AI
Google's CEO revealed that AI systems now generate over 25% of new code for their products, with human engineers reviewing the computer-generated contributions. While AI-assisted coding promises increased productivity and efficiency, it also raises concerns about potentially difficult-to-detect bugs and errors in AI-generated code.
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What is open source AI?
There was some confusion around “open source” AI models. Some argue that even freely accessible models from companies like Meta and Google aren’t truly open-source due to usage restrictions and undisclosed training data. The Open Source Initiative has now defined what it means to be an open source AI. They emphasize unrestricted use, inspection, modification, and sharing of AI systems. It also aims to define transparency levels for training data, source code, and weights.
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⏳ On this day...
1920 - KDKA in Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast covers the results of the 1920 United States presidential election.
1988 - The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
2000 - Expedition 1 arrives at the International Space Station and starts an uninterrupted human presence in space.
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⚡️ Energy & Environment
Microsoft to restart Three Mile Island
Nuclear energy is making a comeback. Three Mile Island, once the site of America's worst nuclear accident, is being revived with a $1.6 billion investment to power Microsoft's AI business.
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Leaky carbon capture project
One way to battle climate change is to capture CO2 from industrial installations before it’s released in the atmosphere. One project in Illinois is facing significant issues with corrosion and leaks. This setback raises concerns about the viability of CCS as a climate solution and may affect future projects in the US.
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👽 Space
SpaceX catches rocket!!
Landing rockets on sea barges or launchpads? Boring! The Super Heavy booster now flies back to the launch tower and is caught with giant mechanical arms. This is a significant milestone towards rapid reusable rockets. In theory, it should be possible to catch the booster, lower it back down onto the launch pad, fuel it, and have it launch again in a matter of hours.
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Tour of Tiangong space station
Chinese astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station have provided an rare insight into China's secretive space program. A video tour showcases the station's kitchen, sleeping quarters, and laboratory modules, revealing a surprisingly comfortable and well-equipped environment. I'm especially envious of the beds which a window overlook Earth!!
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Europa Clipper
NASA’s Europa Clipper and ESA’s JUICE missions will explore Jupiter’s moons, focusing on Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. These icy moons are believed to harbor vast underground oceans, potentially containing more water than Earth’s oceans combined. Scientists hope to gather data about the potential habitability of these ocean worlds.
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Asteroid Crime Scene
Remember when NASA smashed a probe into an asteroid to see if we could deflect it? The ESA is now sending another spacecraft to the asteroid to assess the damage and collect data on the impact. This will help us design future planetary defense missions.