TechSlice 2023-10-18

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BIG TECH & STARTUPS

Apple announces entry-level Apple Pencil with USB-C charging (2 minute read)

Apple has just dropped a sleek and budget-friendly Apple Pencil, now rocking a USB-C connection, priced at an enticing $79. While this version lacks some premium features like pressure sensitivity, wireless charging, and the coveted double-tap tool switch, it's got your back with that cool magnetic attachment to iPads, even the 10th-gen model. Get ready to stylize with the USB-C Apple Pencil, compatible with various iPad models, and hitting the market in early November. Apple's making iPad accessories cooler than ever! 🍏🖊️

AI-generating music app Riffusion turns viral success into $4M in funding (4 minute read)

Seth Forsgren and Hayk Matiros have leveled up their AI-generated music project, Riffusion, after a year of hype. They've commercialized it with the help of musical duo The Chainsmokers, securing a cool $4 million in seed funding led by Greycroft. The upgraded Riffusion app uses generative AI to whip up musical riffs based on your descriptions, and it's set to make music creation a breeze for all, breaking barriers like a boss. But, fear not, it's not a copyright-infringement machine; it's all about crafting personal tunes, keeping the music industry on its toes.

One year-post acquisition, X traffic and monthly active users are in decline, report claims (4 minute read)

Contrary to CEO Linda Yaccarino's claims that X's usage was at an all-time high, a report from market intelligence firm Similarweb reveals a decline in X's website traffic and mobile app performance. Notably, the report indicated that even the top 100 social networks and online communities experienced declining web traffic, except for TikTok, which saw growth. X's monthly active users dropped by 17.8% in September, while Facebook and Instagram also saw declines, down by 8% and 3.7%, respectively.

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SCIENCE & FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY

AI Will Resurrect Dead Musicians And Challenge Our Ideas Of Ownership (7 minute read)

Tim Urban's imaginative calendar extended life to ninety years, envisioning AI-generated music for artists like Chester Bennington, Freddie Mercury, Johnny Cash, and Elvis, giving us a peek into what could have been. The legal landscape for AI music is evolving, touching on copyright and rights of publicity, as labels may continue to profit from artists' digital personas even after death. Technology's role in music is expanding beyond our wildest dreams. 🎶

China cracks open the door to flying taxis (2 minute read)

In 2023, while we're enjoying pocket-sized computers and semi-autonomous cars, flying cars and jetpacks have been a bit elusive, but China is taking a step closer. EHang Holdings has received certification from China's aviation authority to begin passenger trials of their EH216-S air taxi for aerial tours. These autonomous, battery-powered air taxis resemble large drones and can transport two passengers for short distances at around 62mph, although air taxis in the US are still a few years away due to regulatory hurdles.

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PROGRAMMING, DESIGN & DATA SCIENCE

Examining the AI Boom’s Impact on Cloud Services (4 minute read)

In the realm of data science, the spotlight is shifting from cloud-as-a-service to AI, a tech tool with boundless potential. However, the cloud's future is far from bleak; AI is set to enhance it significantly, offering new products and services, improving efficiency, and transforming data center infrastructure. This synergy promises a new era in data science, unlocking its full potential. 🌩️

How Erasure Coding is Applied for Data Protection (9 minute read)

Erasure coding is an efficient data protection method for distributed storage, offering fault tolerance without excessive storage overhead. MinIO implements inline erasure coding at the object level, ensuring rapid recovery and improving operational efficiency. This approach is well-suited for object storage, outperforming RAID and replication in terms of data protection, object-level healing, and storage efficiency. 🛡️

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MISCELLANEOUS

Tech CEO Sentenced to 5 Years in IP Address Scheme (3 minute read)

Former Micfo CEO Amir Golestan has been sentenced to five years in prison for wire fraud after securing over 735,000 IP addresses using fake companies. The sentence serves as a deterrent for those considering fraudulent schemes for internet resource acquisition.

U.S. to cut China off from more Nvidia AI chips (4 minute read)

The Biden administration plans to halt shipments of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China, including those designed by Nvidia, as part of efforts to prevent Beijing from acquiring cutting-edge U.S. technologies for military use. These measures are intended to limit China's access to semiconductors vital for military applications and will be updated regularly.

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QUICK LINKS

A Tesla owner says his 'heart missed a beat' when he received a $21,000 bill after the battery was damaged by rain (2 minute read)

A UK Tesla owner received a $21,000 bill to repair a damaged battery, revealing potential high costs for battery repairs not covered by warranties. Similar incidents have occurred previously, highlighting concerns over the expense of battery replacements for electric vehicles.

Marc Andreessen's AI manifesto hurts his own cause (2 minute read)

In his extensive manifesto, tech luminary Marc Andreessen staunchly championed the untapped potential of Artificial Intelligence and expressed concerns over stifling regulations. However, his critique of concepts like "existential risk" and "tech ethics" has sparked a nuanced debate within the tech community on the balance between fostering innovation and the imperative of responsible technology development.

Roblox says employees must return to office because the metaverse still isn’t good enough (3 minute read)

Roblox is transitioning away from remote work, with the CEO, David Baszucki, informing employees that they will be required to work from the company's headquarters in San Mateo by next summer. Under the new model, employees will be expected to work three days in the office (Tuesday through Thursday). Those who are not able to relocate have until April 15, 2024, with Roblox offering a severance package for those who choose to leave.

Microsoft-affiliated research finds flaws in GPT-4 (3 minute read)

A new research paper affiliated with Microsoft suggests that OpenAI's GPT-4, a large language model, may be more vulnerable to generating toxic and biased text than its predecessor, GPT-3.5, when given specific "jailbreaking" prompts that bypass safety measures. The researchers found that GPT-4 can also be more susceptible to leaking private and sensitive data when provided with certain prompts. Microsoft's research team has worked with Microsoft product groups to confirm that these vulnerabilities do not impact current customer-facing services and has also shared the research with OpenAI for potential mitigation efforts.

A new wave of Discord malware is on the rise - here's what you need to know (2 minute read)

An APT has been detected exploiting Discord to target Ukraine's critical infrastructure, exfiltrating data via a webhook on the platform. The attack involved a phishing campaign distributing an embedded Visual Basic Script through a OneNote file disguised as a donation request for a Ukrainian non-profit organization.

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