TLDR 2021-03-10

Amazon's home robot 🤖, mass security camera hack 🎥, lunar space stations  

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Big Tech & Startups

Amazon’s long-rumored Vesta home robot project details leak (2 minute read)

Amazon's project Vesta is a long-rumored home robot that features built-in Alexa, multiple integrated cameras, a display, and the ability to move around a home. The project has more than 800 workers and it is one of Amazon's biggest current hardware projects. There have been multiple production delays, and it is unknown whether the robot will ever be released.

Stadia lets you play people's screenshots, and it feels kinda like the future (3 minute read)

Stadia's State Share is a feature that allows users to share links to screenshots or video clips of their games which other players can click on to play on the captured level. Some games that feature procedural generation use this feature to allow others to share the same experience. Players have been using the feature creatively to help each other. Only a few games support the feature at the moment.
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Science & Futuristic Technology

Facebook's ready to talk about how its AR glasses will work with neural wristbands (2 minute read)

Facebook's first pair of smart glasses are being released this year. The next generation of smart glasses will work alongside a soft wristband that measures hand and finger gestures and provides haptic feedback. It will use neural input tech to convert electrical impulses into inputs. A short video demonstrating how the setup would work is available in the article.

Russia partners with China for lunar space station (3 minute read)

Russia and China have agreed to build and work on an International Scientific Lunar Station orbiting the Moon. NASA, the ESA, Japan, and Canada are working together on the Lunar Gateway, another planned space station. Russia was not asked to be a part of the Lunar Gateway project. Cooperating with China was one of Russia's top priorities last year. It is unclear what specific contributions Russia will make. China has also held talks with France's space agency.
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Programming, Design & Data Science

GIFRun (Website)

GIFRun creates high-quality GIFs from video streaming sites. Users just need to paste in the link to the video, and then they can choose when the GIF starts and adjust the length and speed of the GIF. They can also add text.

image2csv (GitHub Repo)

image2csv is a Python program that converts images of array numbers to corresponding CSV files. The program works better with images of higher resolution. An example is available in the repository.
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Miscellaneous

Security startup Verkada hack exposes 150,000 security cameras in Tesla factories, jails, and more (2 minute read)

Silicon Valley security startup Verkada suffered a major security breach, with the hackers gaining access to over 150,000 of the company's cameras. Verkada serves companies like Tesla, Cloudflare, and Equinox, and it also serves hospitals, jails, schools, and police stations. The group had access to the full video archive of all of Verkada's customers. Verkada has disabled all internal administrator accounts and the company is investigating the scale and scope of the issue. The hackers managed to gain super admin-level access using credentials they found publicly on the internet.

Go watch this stunning FPV drone short film inside a bustling bowling alley (2 minute read)

A new video by YouTuber jaybyrdfilms shows an astonishing display of camerawork and drone piloting skills. It was shot at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis with an FPV drone. The video is available in the article.
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