Bizarro Devs - Issue 155.5
Issue 155.5💰⏱️ $25 million heist pulled off in 12 seconds by MIT students. NYC restaurant hires remote cashiers from Philippines to take orders. Phones can now tell if their owners are depressed.Hey Bizarro Readers! We only saw each other two weeks ago and already so much has happened since then. Open AI released a new GPT version, Google has started unrolling AI-driven search results, and lots more. And of course those are only the big news stories, but if you’ve been following us for a bit, then you know that we also love to dig up interesting news that maybe didn’t make it on your radar. For this issue, we’ve got the following:
Plus we’ve got the usual lineup of tools, stats, another code conundrum challenge, and more. Let’s get into it! 📰 From the Newsroom💰⏱️ $25 Million Heist Pulled Off in 12 Seconds by MIT StudentsI was originally going to put this story in the “Numbers Game” section of this issue because “$25 million in 12 seconds” is such an attention-grabbing numerical pairing, but the entire backstory is just too good to not give it a more in-depth look. Everything from how they planned it to how they (surprisingly) got caught is entertaining enough to be turned into a movie at some point (à la 21).
Perhaps the most mind-boggling part of this sophisticated crypto heist is how the perpetrators were caught. The level of skill and intellect to exploit an intricate blockchain vulnerability in a mere 12 seconds is something few posses, and yet they somehow forgot to use a TOR browser or a VPN when researching how to "wash crypto" and how to avoid financial KYC requirements. Instead, their publicly-logged browser histories contained damning searches about top crypto lawyers and extradition policies. So smart…and yet so dumb at the same time. 🍜🖥️ NYC Restaurant Hires Remote Cashiers From Philippines to Take OrdersSansan Chicken, a fried chicken chain with locations in Manhattan and Queens, has implemented a novel approach to staffing its cashiers - outsourcing the roles to remote workers in the Philippines through a company called Happy Cashier.
This story made me reflect back to a few years ago when I worked with a fully remote company and one of my colleagues, who was Filipino, revealed her salary to me. At first I was angry on her behalf that she was being so underpaid…until she informed me that by her local standards she was making good money. It brings up a larger conversation that’s been the topic of discussion across labor markets for quite a while, but really picked up steam during the lockdowns when remote work took off:
*By company’s domestic rates, I mean if there is a German company hiring remote workers internationally, then they will pay their remote colleagues within the typical German salary range for their position - irrespective of where they live. 📱☹️ Phones Can Now Tell If Their Owners Are DepressedHas this ever happened to you: You’re having a conversation with a friend on your phone - whether through text, voice, or voice message - and you mention some specific life event or problem and then shortly afterwards you start getting targeted ads for products or services related to your conversation? Well, it turns out that not only can your phone decipher that you might want to buy something, it can also determine if you’re depressed or not.
As these AI-driven mental health technologies advance, we must grapple with profound questions. How much are we willing to sacrifice privacy for increased access and early intervention? Can we trust companies and developers to uphold ethical standards with such personal data? One sobering example is Meta's 2018 algorithm scandal, which scanned WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for suicide risk, triggering over 1,000 non-consensual wellness checks by police. While well-intentioned, it clearly overstepped the bounds of privacy. ⛓️ Ten More Must See Links of the Month
🎤 It’s How They Said It"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity." – Albert Einstein (supposedly) 🧮 The Numbers Game
⌨️ Code ConundrumSponsored by Optimole, the best image optimization tool on the internet. The winner of last issue’s Ruby on Rails challenge was…no one. I guess we don’t have too many Ruby fans in our community. For the record, the subtle error was the absence of the new action. In the create action, if user.save returns false, it renders the 'new' view, but the 'new' action is not defined in the controller. Therefore, it would result in a routing error when attempting to render the 'new' view. Let’s bring the conundrum back to JavaScript since you all seemed to enjoy that a lot more. Send me an email once you spot the error. Please put "Code Conundrum" in the subject line. Once again, the first person who emails me with the correct answer (either saying what the error is or sending back the snippet error-free) will get a shoutout in the next issue. Also, a quick tip, don’t assume that if you are reading this a day or two after it was published that someone submitted the correct answer already. Just because someone else responds quickly doesn’t mean that they respond correctly. Interested in sponsoring this section? Reach out to me with “Bizarro Sponsorship” in the subject line. ⚒️ Tools and ResourcesGoogle Labs: In issue 152 we told you about Google’s AI Test Kitchen, but Google also has another similar platform called Google Labs. The difference between them is that Labs is a broader platform that highlights Google's AI efforts across products, while the Test Kitchen is more narrowly focused on just three specific AI tools (with a wait list for a fourth). Anyway, Labs has some really cool toys you can play with. Check it out! Storm: This experimental AI is still in its research phase and free to use. Think of it like your personal Wikipedia page generator. If you’re interested in some topic and would like an informational report on it, STORM will do it for you. It’ll also cite all of its sources and link to them so you can always check the claims being made in the report. https://storm.genie.stanford.edu/ 🖼️ What Am I Looking At?The large, glowing circular contraption that you’re seeing above is a “portal” between Dublin, Ireland and New York City, USA. One of these was placed in both cities, and connected them via a 24/7 live stream. Sounds like a cool idea, right? A wholesome way to bring people closer together. Well, there’s the theory and there’s the practice. In practice, the organization behind the portals had to temporarily shut them down after some New Yorkers and Dubliners started flashing their butts at each other, an OnlyFans model on the NYC side gave the good citizens of Dublin a “free preview” of her adult content, and one Dubliner taunted New Yorkers with images of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Uh, humans… 💬 What’s the Word?Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese concept that embodies the idea of finding a deep sense of purpose or meaning in life. The term combines the words "iki" (生き), meaning life, and "gai" (甲斐), which refers to value or worth. Together, they convey the notion of what makes life worth living. Tech professionals who discover their ikigai are those who find joy in their work, leverage their unique skills, address significant problems, and receive fair compensation. When tech companies support their employees in finding their ikigai, they create an environment where creativity and productivity thrive, ultimately leading to groundbreaking advancements and a positive impact on society. 🧑🏻💻👨🏽💻👩🏼💻 Tell a Friend or ColleagueIf you’d like to help us grow, just use the refer a friend button below and if any of your referrals subscribe to Bizarro Devs, then we’ll not only be forever grateful, but we’ll also recognize your efforts in the following way:
* The story or article needs to be relevant to the subject material we typically cover and is subject to editorial approval. In other words, it should be something that we would include in the newsletter naturally. Thanks for reading! If this is the first time you're here at Bizarro Devs and you enjoyed the content, then sign up here to join the fun for the rest of 2024 and beyond. Until we see each other again, Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy Bizarro Devs, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe. |
Older messages
Issue 155
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
🧑🚀🚀 Humanity has entered the 3rd space age. Professional fraud fighter goes undercover at a “Yahoo Boy School.” The AI music app that actually makes good music. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Issue 154.5
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
🧑🍳🍺 The mashup you didn't know you needed: AI x beer. WordPress plugin developer faces backlash for anti-piracy tactic. DALL E-3: Innocent image generator or battlefield tool? ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Issue 154
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
🦹💸 Multinational firm loses $25 million in deepfake scam. Swarms of AI killer robots are the future of war. 17 mysteries that researchers still haven't solved. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Issue 153
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
🤖🏆 ChatGPT defeats humans in series of thinking tests. Globetrotting millennial caught selling $7m of weapons parts to Russia. Generative AI is killing the internet but we can save it. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Issue 152
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
🌊🚯 An AI boat may finally solve our ocean pollution problem. Ex-CIA employee sentenced to 40 years for Vault 7 leak. Blogger unveils research misconduct at cancer institute.
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