Apple's Artificial Intellig=
ence Efforts Reach a Make-or-Break Point (22 minute read)
Apple's AI division now believes that a=
true modernized conversational version of Siri won't reach consumers until=
iOS 20 at best in 2027. iOS 19 will likely not include any significant con=
sumer-facing changes to Apple Intelligence because the company is still wor=
king on getting the features announced last year out the door. The company =
is currently not moving fast enough internally to create the underlying AI =
technology that it needs to keep up with the competition, suggesting that c=
hange is required.
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With Alexa Plus, Amazon fin=
ally reinvents its best product (7 minute read)
Amazon usually announces dozens of new =
gadgets at its event, but it spent 70 minutes at its press conference last =
week instead talking about Alexa Plus, its new generative AI-powered Alexa =
voice assistant. The company has focused on building cheap hardware for Ale=
xa over the past decade and wasting efforts on failed ways for people to in=
teract with the assistant rather than improving the core technology. The ne=
w Alexa was 100% rearchitected and is far more capable than its predecessor=
- which will remain accessible. It can order food, control smart home devi=
ces, create natural language security reports and menus, and much more.
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Science & Futuristic Technology
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Alphabet's Taara chip uses =
light beams to provide high-speed internet (2 minute read)
Alphabet's Taara chip could lead to low=
-cost, high-speed internet connectivity even in distant locations. It is ab=
out the size of a fingernail and works by using a very narrow, invisible li=
ght beam to transmit data at speeds as high as 20 gigabits per second at di=
stances of up to 20 kilometers. The technology works similarly to tradition=
al fiber except the light doesn't travel through cables. It only takes days=
to install instead of the months or years it takes to lay down fiber. The =
chip is expected to become available in 2026.
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"We're on the moon": privat=
e Blue Ghost spacecraft makes a historic lunar landing (3 minute read)
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander s=
uccessfully touched down on the Moon's surface early Sunday morning. The sm=
ooth touchdown makes Firefly Aerospace the first commercial company in hist=
ory to achieve a fully successful soft landing on the Moon. Blue Ghost is c=
arrying 10 NASA experiments on board. The lander will capture high-definiti=
on imagery of the March 14 total eclipse, when the Earth will pass between =
the Moon and the Sun.
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Programming, Design & Data Science
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Vibe Coding and the Future =
of Software Engineering (9 minute read)
Vibe Coding is a mode of coding where t=
he developer fully gives into the vibes and forgets that the code even exis=
ts - this is made possible by large language models (LLMs). Developers can =
now just talk to LLMs and write code while barely even touching the keyboar=
d. Even looking at the code becomes unnecessary. The Vibe Coding meme is a =
hint at where things are headed - developers are building towards a future =
where AI can be harnessed to build better software products safely and effi=
ciently.
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Hallucinations in code are =
the least dangerous form of LLM mistakes (4 minute read)
Large language models (LLMs) make codin=
g mistakes that aren't instantly caught by the language compiler or interpr=
eter all the time. Hallucinations in LLM-generated code are usually obvious=
because they result in an error, but just because code looks good and runs=
without errors, doesn't mean it's actually doing the right thing. One of t=
he reasons LLMs won't put software professionals out of work is because the=
ir job is to prove that code works - manually testing code is essential. Be=
ing able to read, understand, and review code written by other people is a =
crucial skill.
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The Vanishing Middle Class =
of Tech (5 minute read)
The stable middle ground of tech employ=
ment - the middle-class engineer - isn't needed anymore. Product builders w=
ho can code can ship entire products in days when armed with AI. A single d=
eveloper can now accomplish what once required an entire team. Companies ar=
e streamlining their operations, focusing on engineers who can use AI and d=
emonstrate they can do the job of multiple engineers. The biggest losers in=
this shift may be the fresh graduates looking to enter the industry - rece=
nt graduates now have to be better than people already working.
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=E2=80=9CIt's a lemon=E2=80=
=9D=E2=80=94OpenAI's largest AI model ever arrives to mixed reviews (7 minu=
te read)
Reviews say that OpenAI's newest AI mod=
el, GPT-4.5, is big, expensive, and slow. The model provides marginally bet=
ter performance than GPT-4o at 30 times the cost for input and 15 times the=
cost for output. There seems to be diminishing returns in training unsuper=
vised-learning large language models - scaling laws may have possibly met t=
heir natural end. OpenAI seems well aware of these limitations, which is wh=
y it released the model as a limited 'research preview'.
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JavaScript Fatigue Strikes =
Back (7 minute read)
Choosing the right JavaScript framework=
is a difficult task - developers should choose boring, simple, and well-ma=
intained technology so they aren't the first team to ever encounter a probl=
em or the last team stuck using old technology.
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Thanks for reading,
Dan Ni &a=
mp; Stephen =
Flanders
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