TechSlice 2023-11-10

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BIG TECH & STARTUPS

Popular video chat service Omegle shuts down (2 minute read)

Omegle, the online chat service founded in 2009, has shut down due to the platform's misuse, including involvement in "unspeakably heinous crimes," according to its creator Leif K-Brooks. Despite attracting around 50 million visitors last month, the site faced criticism for sketchy activities during the pandemic, leading to attempts at improvement. K-Brooks expressed disappointment in the changing internet landscape and the challenges posed by misuse, citing financial and psychological strain as factors in the decision to close Omegle.

Tumblr is reportedly on life support as its latest owner reassigns staff (4 minute read)

The future of Tumblr appears uncertain as an internal memo from Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, reveals plans to reassign the majority of Tumblr employees in product and marketing to other divisions. The memo cites a lack of expected results in revenue and usage despite 600+ person-years of effort since Automattic's acquisition of Tumblr in 2019. Despite past struggles under Yahoo and Verizon, Automattic aimed to complement its product portfolio with Tumblr, but the platform's cultural impact has not translated into sustained business success.

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SCIENCE & FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY

SpaceX will launch the Space Force's mysterious X-37B space plane on a Falcon Heavy rocket (2 minute read)

The U.S. Space Force's X-37B space plane is set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on December 7 for its seventh mission, USSF-52. This is the first time the X-37B will launch on a Falcon Heavy. While the mission's details are largely undisclosed, it will experiment with future space domain awareness technologies and carry a NASA experiment called Seeds-2 to test the effects of space-based radiation on plant seeds during a long-duration spaceflight.

140-year-old ocean heat tech could supply islands with limitless energy (4 minute read)

A UK-based startup named Global OTEC is developing a commercial-scale ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) offshore rig called Dominique. OTEC, invented in 1881, harnesses the temperature difference between sun-warmed surface water and cold ocean depths to generate electricity. Dominique aims to provide small island nations with clean, baseload energy, and Global OTEC's floating barge design reduces costs by using a single large cold-water pipe instead of multiple seabed-fixed pipes.

Polestar will begin testing StoreDot’s 5-minute charge battery (2 minute read)

Battery company StoreDot is developing an extremely fast-charging cell that could add 100 miles of range to electric vehicles in just five minutes. The technology focuses on quicker charging rather than larger energy density, using silicon anodes and thinner components in pouch cells to manage battery temperature during charging. Polestar, an electric carmaker, plans to test StoreDot's battery pack in a prototype Polestar 5 sedan, highlighting a potential revolution in the ownership experience for electric vehicle owners by offering rapid recharging capabilities.

How a flying hospital is helping fight preventable blindness (1 minute read)

The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, a converted cargo plane, serves as a mobile eye hospital aiming to combat avoidable blindness by providing teaching and support to eyecare professionals in regions lacking resources. Donated by FedEx, the aircraft features an operating room, classroom, recovery room, and an audiovisual system for live 3D surgery broadcasts and simulation training in ophthalmology.

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PROGRAMMING, DESIGN & DATA SCIENCE

Empathy in Action: User Research Strategies for Enhanced UX (4 minute read)

In the realm of User Experience (UX) design, empathy is the guiding principle for creating exceptional products and services. User research, a systematic approach involving surveys, interviews, usability testing, and observations, provides deep insights into user behaviors and preferences. Empathy in UX design is crucial for identifying real user needs, enhancing communication, creating user-centered solutions, reducing biases, and improving usability and satisfaction, making it the fundamental philosophy for successful projects in the fast-paced world of UX design.

Implementing Tic Tac Toe with 170mb of HTML - no JS or CSS (5 minute read)

The author leveraged Chrome's experimental popovers to create a Tic Tac Toe game using pure HTML. By exploiting XSS vectors and using popovers as a state mechanism, the author generated permutations for the game, initially using tables but later optimizing by replacing them with br tags due to performance issues. The final game, although not graphically advanced, showcases a unique approach to creating a game using pure HTML, resulting in a sizable but functional output.

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MISCELLANEOUS

It's perfectly legal for cars to harvest your texts, call logs (3 minute read)

Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors have been cleared of wrongdoing in lawsuits accusing them of violating Washington state privacy laws by storing text messages and call records from connected smartphones. The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit dismissed the class-action suits, stating that the claims did not meet the Washington Privacy Act's statutory injury requirements. The court ruled that a mere violation of the act was insufficient to satisfy the statutory injury requirement, emphasizing that potential privacy violations were not necessarily indicative of actual injury.

Jezebel to shut down after 16 years as parent company lays off staff (4 minute read)

Jezebel, a feminist news site owned by G/O Media, has been shut down with 23 layoffs and no plans to resume publication. The closure follows the dismissal of five class-action lawsuits against G/O Media, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors, accusing them of violating Washington state privacy laws. The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the claims did not meet the Washington Privacy Act's statutory injury requirements, prompting the closure of Jezebel.

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QUICK LINKS

OpenAI Data Partnerships (3 minute read)

OpenAI is launching Data Partnerships, collaborating with organizations to generate public and private datasets for AI model training, aiming to make AI models more versatile and beneficial by increasing their understanding across various subjects, industries, cultures, and languages.

Apple should pay €13bn Irish tax, argues EU lawyer (2 minute read)

A legal adviser to the European Court of Justice has recommended a review of the ruling that allowed Apple to avoid paying €13bn ($14.3bn) in back taxes, citing legal errors in the previous decision, leading to renewed scrutiny in the long-running case between the EU, Apple, and the Irish government.

Your pets can now eat meat that’s ‘grown’ in a lab (2 minute read)

Czech startup Bene Meat Technologies receives EU permit for lab-grown pet food, addressing supply chain disruptions and consumer concerns, with plans for market entry in 2023.

Signal is now testing public usernames to help users maintain chat privacy (2 minute read)

Signal is testing a new username feature, addressing user concerns about the use of full names and phone numbers, enhancing its end-to-end encrypted messaging service; the update is being tested with a select group of volunteers before a broader release.

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