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Del.icio.us is returning under new management! Ruby’s got a new type signature language! Unix editor Nano releases v5.0! Mozilla releases Firefox v79! Microsoft backs Blender!
Grind Time Go!
News
Australia Taxes Google & Facebook
The Australian government, in an international first, is forcing American tech giants Google and Facebook to pay Australian news outlets for the content featured on Google and Facebook’s news offerings. This could become a trend, where other media outlets seek to restore revenue lost to being republished on social media and newsfeed platforms. REUTERS
Chinese AI Co Sues Apple
The Chinese AI company Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology Co, Ltd (AKA Xiao-i) is suing Apple for $1.43 billion in damages. The company claims that Apple’s voice assistant Siri infringes on a patent that the company was granted in 2009. “The lawsuit marks the continuation of a row that has been ongoing for nearly a decade.” NDTV
Hacking Zoom Security
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom has seen an explosion of users on their platform. And they’ve caught a lot of flack for security issues they’ve had. This article recounts one hacker’s experience testing a Zoom password vulnerability, submitting the vulnerability to the company, and having them adopt the fixes in a subsequent release. A great read on the process of volunteer white hat hacking in action. TOM ANTHONY
TikTok, Trump, and Microsoft
As of last Friday, American president Trump was suggesting he’d be banning TikTok from US app stores. For fear of losing younger voters (the app boasts 100 million US users), the rhetoric has deescalated since then. Now Microsoft (and no other competitors) has been granted a window of 45 days to acquire the app. The acquisition is far from a sure bet, and needless to say, the future of TikTok in America is unclear. REUTERS
Opinion
The Art of Not Thinking
To complete a task, you must first begin that task. And beginning a task can often be the most difficult part. Tiffany Matthe’s short essay provides a counter-intuitive strategy that might help get you to garner enough activation energy to get over the hump: not thinking. TIFFANY MATTHE
What I Learned from Doing 60+ Technical Interviews in 30 Days
Get some practical advice on succeeding in your next technical interview, earned from completing many interviews in a short period of time. G33K CHRONICLES
From the Gitconnected Network
6 Ways to Improve Your Web App’s Security Now
The need for proper web app security has always been important, but it’s also rapidly evolving into one of the most important concerns for tech companies of all sizes. No app is safe from the prying eyes of skillful hackers.
Dev Tools
Luckysheet
A truly impressive and feature rich open-source alternative to Google sheets.
Perfect Edition
Perfect Edition is “a web e-book template that works in modern browsers.” I have not yet come across a more mature free and open-source solution for publishing web-based e-books.
Fancy Projects
Macintosh.js
Take a trip down memory lane with 1991’s MacOS 8, written entirely in JavaScript, and published as an electron app. It even comes with Oregon Trail!
Briar
A newer open-source messaging app that focuses on security first, based on a decentralized architecture. It is “designed for activists, journalists, and anyone else who needs a safe, easy, and robust way to communicate.”
Keep grinding!
Dan
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