Wednesday's here - let's make the most of it!
Geek Gossip
#Deloitte - Deloitte got caught using AI to write a report for the Australian government and it was FULL of errors, like, a dozen deletions, wrong references and typographic mistakes? The company's gotta refund $440,000 now!
#Sora2 - More controversies. Apparently, people are creating AI videos of the dead now in OpenAI’s new app. OpenAI promises to block depictions of public figures by default. But some users are finding that prohibition has a rather large loophole, allowing for videos of dead public figures.
Latest Updates
Anthropic Expands To India
Anthropic, a leading AI startup, is setting up an office in Bengaluru and exploring a partnership with Reliance Industries, with plans to deepen its presence in India, its second-largest market after the US.
Google Updates AI Bug Bounty Program
Google is launching a dedicated AI Vulnerability Reward Program. The program will encourage researchers to report security vulnerabilities and abuse issues directly to Google.
Instagram Launches "Rings" Award
Instagram introduces "Rings", an award celebrating creative and courageous users who inspire and shift culture through their work. Rings is an award for those who aren't afraid to take creative chances. The winners will receive a physical ring and a digital ring on their Instagram.
OpenAI Takes A Leap Towards A ChatGPT "Operating System"
OpenAI just concluded their Dev Day event. Here’s a summary of all the changes announced. The biggest one - a hub for all your daily tasks and apps, seamlessly integrating with services like Spotify, Zillow, and Canva, making it a sort of operating system for your daily life.
Steam Down
Valve's popular gaming platform is experiencing a widespread outage, with users reporting difficulties accessing the site at the time of publishing this post.
Changelog
Spotify - Integrates with ChatGPT to provide personalized music and podcast recommendations within conversations.
WhatsApp - Adds on-device message translation in 21 languages, available in conversations, group chats, and channels.
iPhone - Updated alarm user interface with a 'slide to stop' button on the lock screen to prevent accidental snoozing.
Facebook - Introduced AI-powered recommended search on select reels to discover more content about a topic you love.
Mastodon - Introduces "Packs", a feature allowing users to curate and share collections of recommended accounts.
Evernote - AI Assistant feature brings ChatGPT-like functionality to the app with the ability to search, interact with documents, and generate new content.
Website Wednesday
Media Cheatsheet - an extensive, searchable directory of social media and ad specifications across platforms. It offers downloadable, ready-to-use templates (with safe zones), filterable views by platform or format, and stays updated with latest dimensions and formats.
Impo Lighthouse - A site auditing tool created by technical SEO consultant Jono Alderson. It offers “brutally honest” performance feedback (on mobile) with varying tones (Friendly, Irritated, Monty Python, Scathing). Users input a URL to receive an audit of speed and performance issues and recommendations for fixes.
Idea Instructions - Different types of algorithms, explained like IKEA (the furniture store) assembly instructions.
In Case You Missed It
🎁 We now have a dedicated page to list all events. We will be updating this page EVERY WEEK. We will of course be publishing new (and coming-soon) events in this section but for a comprehensive list of events, check the link(s) below:
This link is EXCLUSIVELY accessible by subscribers of Heap Heap Hurray!
ZeroDay Cloud is a cloud-security hacking contest inviting researchers to find zero-day vulnerabilities in open-source cloud, AI, database, virtualization, web server, and DevOps software. Payouts across targets can range from $10,000 to $300,000, with a total prize pool of $4.5 million. You can participate here.
Miscellaneous
Stop Avoiding Politics In Your Workplace
The author argues that politics is unavoidable in organizations - it’s the invisible system of influence, relationships, and informal power that shapes decisions. Engineers who shun politics often find that bad decisions win, not because merit loses, but because those who engage gain visibility, build coalitions, and communicate across teams. Good politics means using influence ethically: understanding stakeholders, managing up, building relationships early, creating win-wins, and making sure good ideas are heard.
Amazon's Seasoned Developer
With decades of experience, older developers see patterns repeat, and know how to navigate the hype around generative AI, focusing on practical solutions and customer needs, not just FOMO.
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