Rust has been gaining traction in the developer community, thanks to a host of modern features. One of the biggest its its emphasis on memory safety, which greatly improves security since memory issues are one of the leading causes of vulnerabilities. Google has seen significant improvements to Android’s security as a result of incorporating Rust, Microsoft is similarly adding it to the Windows kernel, and the NSA has been encouraging companies to switch to Rust and similar languages.

DARPA’s Translating All C to Rust (TRACTOR) program is designed to help accelerate the transition from legacy C to Rust.

“You can go to any of the LLM websites, start chatting with one of the AI chatbots, and all you need to say is ‘here’s some C code, please translate it to safe idiomatic Rust code,’ cut, paste, and something comes out, and it’s often very good, but not always,” said Dr. Dan Wallach, DARPA program manager for TRACTOR. “The research challenge is to dramatically improve the automated translation from C to Rust, particularly for program constructs with the most relevance.”

“Rust forces the programmer to get things right,” added Wallach. “It can feel constraining to deal with all the rules it forces, but when you acclimate to them, the rules give you freedom. They’re like guardrails; once you realize they’re there to protect you, you’ll become free to focus on more important things.”

Interested developers can learn more here.

Scalability and Flexibility

One of the most significant advantages of cloud computing in the web is its ability to scale resources dynamically. Whether a startup needs to handle a sudden spike in user traffic or an enterprise requires consistent performance during peak times, cloud infrastructure can easily adjust to these demands. This scalability ensures that applications remain responsive and efficient, regardless of workload variations.

Example: A retail business experiencing seasonal surges can utilize cloud resources to scale their e-commerce platform, ensuring smooth user experiences during high-traffic periods like Black Friday.

Cost Efficiency

Cloud computing shifts the financial model from capital expenditure to operational expenditure. Instead of investing heavily in physical hardware and maintenance, businesses can leverage cloud services and pay for what they use. This pay-as-you-go model is particularly beneficial for startups and small businesses, allowing them to allocate resources more effectively.

Stat: According to a report by Flexera, 61% of enterprises have reported significant cost savings after moving to the cloud.

Enhanced Collaboration

Cloud platforms facilitate better collaboration among development teams. With cloud-based development environments, teams can work together in real-time, regardless of geographical locations. This enhances productivity and allows for more seamless integration of workflows.

Example: A global software development team can use cloud-based tools like GitHub and Bitbucket to collaborate on code, track changes, and manage projects efficiently.

Improved Security

Modern cloud service providers offer robust security measures, including data encryption, identity management, and compliance with international security standards. This ensures that sensitive information is protected against breaches and unauthorized access.

Quote: “Cloud computing has fundamentally changed our approach to security. With advanced encryption and compliance measures, we can ensure our applications and data are secure.” – Jane Tyler, CTO of Instructure.

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)

Cloud computing facilitates CI/CD practices, enabling developers to integrate code changes frequently and deploy updates seamlessly. This accelerates the development lifecycle, reduces errors, and ensures that new features and improvements reach users faster.

Example: Using AWS CodePipeline, developers can automate the build, test, and deploy phases of their applications, ensuring continuous delivery and integration.

Innovation and Experimentation

The cloud provides a fertile ground for innovation and experimentation. Developers can quickly spin up new environments, test ideas, and deploy prototypes without the need for extensive upfront investment. This fosters a culture of innovation and allows businesses to experiment with new technologies and solutions.

Stat: According to a Gartner report, 70% of businesses attribute their ability to innovate directly to cloud computing.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Cloud computing enhances disaster recovery capabilities by providing automated backup and recovery solutions. Businesses can ensure continuity and minimize downtime by leveraging cloud-based disaster recovery plans.

Example: A financial services company can use cloud-based disaster recovery services to back up critical data and applications, ensuring minimal disruption in case of a system failure.

Conclusion

Cloud computing is an integral part of modern software development, offering scalability, cost efficiency, enhanced collaboration, improved security, and much more. By leveraging the power of the cloud, businesses can accelerate their development processes, innovate continuously, and maintain robust security practices.

For businesses looking to harness the full potential of cloud computing in their software development projects, Zibtek offers expert web development services tailored to meet your unique needs. Contact us today to learn how we can help you integrate cloud computing solutions and drive your business forward.

AWS Chief Evangelist Jeff Barr made the announcement via X:

Barr goes on to say tha the company is doing the same with S3 Select, CloudSearch, Cloud9, SimpleDB, Forecast, and Data Pipeline.

AWS provided slightly more detail in a dev blog:

After careful consideration, we have made the decision to close new customer access to AWS CodeCommit, effective July 25, 2024. AWS CodeCommit existing customers can continue to use the service as normal. AWS continues to invest in security, availability, and performance improvements for AWS CodeCommit, but we do not plan to introduce new features.

Customers can migrate their AWS CodeCommit Git repositories to other Git providers using several methods, such as cloning the repository, mirroring, or migrating specific branches.

Google has developed a well-deserved reputation for abruptly killing off products that have gained a following, something Amazon is not known for doing. As a result, the company opting to eliminate new access to so many DevOps services is not going over well with some users, including those that replied to Barr’s original posts.

Yet another use made a direct comparison to Google’s way of treating users.

I sincerely hope you take in the feedback over this. Discontinuing services is one thing, but doing so without proper communication or prior notice is something else entirely. It's something I would expect from Google, but not AWS.

— Zeryther AnimagiC 2024 (@Zeryther) July 31, 2024

AWS may need to rethink its communication strategy moving forward, otherwise it risks losing the trust it has built up with its users over the years.

Skype was once the king of online messaging, before losing popularity to a host of newer competitors that offered better security, including WhatsApp, iMessage, Signal, and Telegram. What’s more, those services generally offer a far superior experience, including an ad-free one.

It appears Microsoft is at least addressing that last issue, according to a post on its community forums.

We’re excited to announce that Skype is now ad-free! Our latest update removes all ads from Skype channels and the entire Skype platform, ensuring a smoother, decluttered and more enjoyable user experience.

• Ad-Free Channels: Enjoy uninterrupted browsing and communication in all your favorite Skype channels.
• Seamless Conversations: Focus on your chats without any ad distractions, making your Skype experience cleaner and more user-friendly.
• User-Centric Design: We’ve prioritized your feedback to create a more streamlined and pleasant environment across all platforms.

Thank you for your continued support as we strive to make Skype the best communication tool for everyone. Enjoy an ad-free experience and keep the conversations flowing!

In addition to getting rid of ads, Microsoft has improved the interface, streamlined access to the AI image creator, optimized menu items, improved navigation, and made sign-ins easier with OneAuth integration.

CrowdStrike pushed an updated to its cybersecurity update that crippled millions of Windows PCs around the world, bringing multiple industries to their knees. Because CrowdStrike’s software runs at the kernel level, it was nearly impossible to resolve the issue without physical access to the affected machines.

The FSF says the industry needs to learn from the incident, citing a number of issues that led to the outage, including automatic updates:

Let’s be clear: in principle, there is nothing ethically wrong with automatic updates so long as the user has made an informed choice to receive them. For instance, it’s perfectly understandable that a public library might not want to pore over kernel changelogs; they simply want to receive the update and move on with their work. At the same time, software bugs happen. Free software developers know this better than anyone. The Linux(-libre) kernel does not have some mystic immunity to them. What our community does have is a social structure that, most likely, would have rectified the situation swiftly.

The FSF also takes Microsoft to task for blaming CrowdStrike’s access to the Windows kernel as one of the main reasons for the outage:

In a cunning PR spin, it appears that Microsoft has started blaming the incident on third-party firms’ access to kernel source and documentation. Translated out of Redmond-ese, the point they are trying to make amounts to “if only we’d been allowed to be more secretive, this wouldn’t have happened!” Anyone with so much as a basic understanding of software development can see that this argument doesn’t hold water, just as anyone with a basic understanding of rhetoric can appreciate the irony that the same company that develops Copilot is whinging about the need to keep code secret from others. At this very minute, Copilot is ingesting free software on Microsoft’s proprietary platform, GitHub, with little respect for each program’s license.

In our own coverage of CrowdStrike, we pointed out our belief that the situation is slightly more nuanced than the above quote would make it seem. While open-source software does have a good track record with security—thanks to the source being easily inspected and audited—Microsoft being forced to open up kernel access is not an apples to apples comparison.

Windows is closed-source software. Similarly, much of CrowdStrike’s software is closed-source as well. As a result, CrowdStrike’s access to the Windows kernel is combining the worst options, namely marrying two closed-source platforms. Because both platforms are closed-source, they don’t benefit from the same open nature as true open-source software, and lack the transparency and ability to inspect and audit the code.

Nonetheless, the FSF is right that something needs to change:

We also need to see that calling for a diversity of providers of nonfree software that are mere front ends for “cloud” software doesn’t solve the problem. Correcting it fully requires switching to free software that runs on the user’s own computer.

The Free Software Foundation is often accused of being utopian, but we are well aware that moving airlines, libraries, and every other institution affected by the CrowdStrike outage to free software is a tremendous undertaking. Given free software’s distinct ethical advantage, not to mention the embarrassing damage control underway from both Microsoft and CrowdStrike, we think the move is a necessary one. The more public an institution, the more vitally it needs to be running free software.

According to Bloomberg, Khan made the comments at Y Combinator in San Francisco.

“There’s tremendous potential for open-weight models to promote competition,” Khan said. “Open-weight models can liberate startups from the arbitrary whims of closed developers and cloud gatekeepers.”

Khan’s comments come at a time when regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are growing increasingly wary of Big Tech. AI companies have done little to stave off such concerns, with accusations they plagiarize content, throttle organizations’ servers as they scrape them, and show little regard for the potential danger AI may pose.

In view those issues, many lawmakers are concerned about a future where AI development and breakthroughs are largely controlled by a handful of companies.

One notable exception in the industry is Meta’s Llama AI model, which the company has made available as open-source software. The company explained its reasons in a blog post announcing Llama 3:

We’re committed to the continued growth and development of an open AI ecosystem for releasing our models responsibly. We have long believed that openness leads to better, safer products, faster innovation, and a healthier overall market. This is good for Meta, and it is good for society. We’re taking a community-first approach with Llama 3, and starting today, these models are available on the leading cloud, hosting, and hardware platforms with many more to come.

With Khan’s comments, LLama and other open models may see an uptick in use.

The White House announced the news in a press release:

Nine months ago, President Biden issued a landmark Executive Order to ensure that America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks of artificial intelligence (AI).

This Executive Order built on the voluntary commitments he and Vice President Harris received from 15 leading U.S. AI companies last year. Today, the administration announced that Apple has signed onto the voluntary commitments, further cementing these commitments as cornerstones of responsible AI innovation.

Apple is widely considered to be a significant factor in the AI industry, thanks largely to its penchant for making high-tech solutions approach to the average user, as well as the huge user base that it can leverage.

With the announcement of Apple Intelligence, many critics and experts say Apple has done more to make the case for AI’s usefulness to the average user than most other companies combined. In view of the role Apple will likely play, it’s good to see the company’s continued commitment to safe AI development and deployment.

Unlike iOS, Android gives users full access to the file system. This makes it a viable option for transferring files and more. According to Microsoft, accessing those files is getting a lot easier with File Explorer.

Today we are beginning to gradually roll out the ability to see your Android phone in File Explorer to Windows Insiders with Android phones across all Insider Channels.

With this new experience, you will be able to wirelessly browse through all your folders and files, including media that is on your Android phone. You can open them, copy them to your PC, copy PC files to your phone, rename files, move them, and delete them.

Microsoft says the Android phone must be running at least Android 11 or later, and a beta version of the Link to Windows app is necessary. Users will also need to register for the Windows Insider Program while the features is still in testing.

To enable this experience, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile Devices and choose “Manage devices” and allow your PC to access your Android phone. You’ll then be able to see a toggle to show your phone in File Explorer. If you do not see this toggle, that means the experience hasn’t yet rolled out to you yet.

The feature will be a nice addition for Android users, and will help ease cross-platform file sharing and access.

Sonos rolled out a major new version of its app, but the it was a definite step back from the previous version. In fact, users complained of poor performance, bugs, and missing features they relied on. In the wake of the rollout, Spence is apologizing and promising the company will fix the issues.

We know that too many of you have experienced significant problems with our new app which rolled out on May 7, and I want to begin by personally apologizing for disappointing you. There isn’t an employee at Sonos who isn’t pained by having let you down, and I assure you that fixing the app for all of our customers and partners has been and continues to be our number one priority.

We developed the new app to create a better experience, with the ability to drive more innovation in the future, and with the knowledge that it would get better over time. However, since launch we have found a number of issues. Fixing these issues has delayed our prior plan to quickly incorporate missing features and functionality.

Spence goes on to say that the company has released new updates roughly every two weeks, each one brining “significant and meaningful improvements.”

Spence outlines the company’s roadmap for continued improvements to the new app:

July and August:

• Improving the stability when adding new products
• Implementing Music Library configuration, browse, search, and play

August and September:

• Improving Volume responsiveness
• User interface improvements based on customer feedback
• Improving overall system stability and error handling

September:

• Improving Alarm consistency and reliability

September and October:

• Restoring edit mode for Playlists and the Queue
• Improving functionality in settings

Hopefully the company is able to deliver on Spence’s promise and restore the functionality and experience users are accustomed to.

Apple has been improving Maps for years, building it into a legitimate rival to Google Maps. Conspicuously absent, however, was a web-based option. The company is now rectifying that, offering a beta of an all-new web-based version of Apple Maps.

Unfortunately, as of right now, access is extremely limited. Mac and iPad, as well as Windows, are the only platforms supported, with Linux and Android both blocked. Similarly, Safari, Edge, and Chrome are the only web browsers supported, with Firefox and Brave unsupported.

Hopefully, by the time Apple releases the final product it will support all platforms and all major web browsers.

Google Maps has lacked incident reporting since its inception, making it one of the most requested features among users. While Google is now introducing it, it is only doing so in a single country.

In its India blog post, Google announced the new feature:

Easily report incidents to help your community

One of the things that makes Google Maps so special is our passionate community of local contributors. India boasts the largest such community in the world, with over 60 million people sharing millions of reviews, photos, business edits, and road updates every day. This wealth of authentic, real-world information is a helpful resource for people navigating their everyday lives. We’re always looking for ways to make it easier for users to share valuable information to help the community.

We’ve simplified how you can report road incidents. Whether there’s ongoing construction or a traffic mishap on your route, you can now report it with just a few taps, making it easy and less distracting. You can even confirm others’ reports with a single tap which helps increase confidence in these user reported incidents. This update is available in India on Google Maps across all platforms – Android, iOS, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay.

While Apple CarPlay has had the feature for some time, it looks like Google Maps users outside of India will have to wait to be able to access the feature.

WhatsApp is the world’s most popular cross-platform messaging service, but its popularity has lagged in the US thanks largely to the popularity of Apple’s iPhone and iMessage service. The service is making headway, however, with WhatsApp reporting 100 million US users.

The company made the announcement in a blog post:

It’s been a long time since we’ve written about the momentum of WhatsApp and today we have some exciting news to share. As of this month, WhatsApp now has 100 million users in the United States.

The blog goes on to make the point that WhatsApp is “the solution” to the cross-platform messaging issues that currently plague the US market:

This milestone has been a long time coming and it proves that WhatsApp is the solution to the cross platform divide in America. No matter if you have an iPhone or Android, people want private and secure messaging that works well for everyone and that’s what we do best.

WhatsApp is referring to the blue vs green bubble debate, where texting between iPhone and Android devices is a subpar experience at best. Efforts have been made to address the issue, with Apple finally adopting RCS—the feature-rich successor to SMS—to improve cross-platform texting. Still other solutions, such as Sunbird Messaging, are trying to address the issue by bringing a form of iMessage directly to Android.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is trying to position itself as a viable option that already exists, has widespread global adoption, and has a longstanding track record of reliability.

Fedora’s maintainers originally proposed including opt-out telemetry in Fedora 40 Workstation, a proposition that drew widespread criticism and condemnation since it would be enabled by default. While the proposal emphasized that all telemetry would be anatomized, critics remained unconvinced. As a general rule, Linux users tend to value their privacy much more than Windows or Mac users, making opt-out telemetry a non-starter.

The maintainers took the criticism to heart and revamped the proposal, this time around opt-in telemetry, meaning users have to explicitly enable it. The revised proposal passed with a 6-0 vote.

The proposal includes the follow details:

The goal of this change proposal is to provide the Fedora community with accurate, representative data about the real world use of Fedora Workstation. By doing this, we believe that we can accelerate the development of Fedora Workstation, and ensure that it improves in line with our users’ needs and requirements.

Protecting user privacy is of utmost importance for this initiative. To this end, the service will only collect generic, standardized data, and will never collect anything that is personally identifying. It will also, of course, be fully open source. On the server side, the data will be stored in a way that prevents user identification.

Another important aspect of the initiative is that it will be run in a transparent manner, and will be governed as part of the Fedora project. Although this change is proposed by Red Hat, a new SIG will be responsible for the service and will be open to community participation. It will publish analyses of the data which has been collected, provide documentation about how the service operates, share samples of the database data, and respond to requests from the community.

Finally, we intend to ensure that metrics reporting is fully under the control of end users. Metrics collection will default to off, and will only be enabled through a clear on/off prompt in initial setup. Users will be able to view the data that has been collected locally, and will be able to remove the client software from their systems, should they choose to do so.

It’s good to see the Fedora maintainers listen to the community and change course. A number of open source projects—including KDE—use opt-in telemetry, demonstrating its viability as an option for privacy-conscious user bases.

For instance, residents of the state can greatly reduce the complexity of their tax management process by utilizing a New York tax calculator integrated with personal finance software. This application ensures that users’ financial plans and tax computations are correct and in compliance with state laws by accounting for New York’s unique tax rates, deductions, and credits.

Benefits of Integration

Enhanced Accuracy

The increased precision that comes with combining tax calculators with personal financial software is one of the main advantages. Personal financial software frequently includes features for tracking income, expenses, and investments. The program can automatically apply applicable tax laws and rates to these financial transactions by integrating a tax calculator. This decreases the possibility of human error while manually entering data into different tax calculating software. 

Real-Time Tax Insights

Integrating a tax calculator with personal financial software provides real-time tax insights. The calculator can instantly update the user’s tax due or refund status based on the financial transactions logged in the software. As opposed to waiting until tax season to learn about their tax status, consumers may make more informed financial decisions throughout the year with this real-time input. 

Features to Look for in Integrated Solutions

User-Friendly Interface

Any integrated system must have an easy-to-use interface. The personal financial software and tax calculator should be user-friendly and intuitive. Features like step-by-step instructions, informative visualizations, and automatic data entry can improve the user experience. Financial summaries and tax information have to be accessible to users without requiring a great deal of technical expertise or training.

Customization and Flexibility

Essential characteristics of integrated tax calculators and personal finance software include customization and adaptability. Since users’ financial circumstances vary, the software should support customized settings. This involves adjusting tax rates, credits, and deductions to unique situations. Users can create reports that are particular to their needs using flexible reporting options, whether for personal use or to share with a tax professional.

Security and Privacy

A tax calculator’s security and privacy should be carefully considered before combining it with personal finance software. Users must believe that their private tax and financial data is secure. Seek out software programs with strong encryption, safe data storage, and adherence to pertinent privacy laws. Regular security upgrades and multi-factor authentication are two features that can improve user data safety.

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

YNAB is a financial management and budgeting program integrated with tax computation software. Although YNAB lacks an integrated tax calculator, it can be integrated with external tax software to offer an all-inclusive financial management solution. Because of this flexibility, customers may take advantage of YNAB’s extensive budgeting features while selecting the tax tools that best suit their needs.

Summing it Up

One effective technique to improve financial management is to integrate tax calculators with personal finance software. The advantages of improved precision, instantaneous tax insights, and simplified financial planning render this integration a compelling choice for individuals who aim to maximize their financial resources. The integration of these tools will advance in sophistication as technology develops, making the complexity of managing taxes and personal finances increasingly more accessible to understand.

Fortunately, there are some easy strategies that can help you do it.

Common Reasons Phones “Die”

Phones don’t last forever, but if we want to maximize how long they last, we need to first understand why they “die” or become no longer useful.

These are the usual culprits:

·       Physical damage. Most of us have had the experience of dropping a phone, then picking it up and resuming normal use. But unfortunately, all it takes is one bad point of physical damage to completely compromise your phone’s functioning capacity. Dropping your phone into water, causing forceful damage to the phone, and in some cases, even cracking the screen can prevent the phone from being functionally useful. Thankfully, you can protect most phones with the right phone case – more on that later.

·       Battery issues. Some phones die simply because their batteries no longer hold an adequate charge. We rely on our phones for their portability, giving us access to communication and various technological features no matter where we go. Once the battery is no longer able to hold many hours of a charge, the phone no longer works as a mobile device.

·       General slowdown. Sometimes, phones become in need of replacement when they experience a general slowdown. They’re no longer as responsive as they once were, and certain apps no longer work as we’d like. This is often because operating systems and software evolve to keep pace with the latest hardware, so it’s only a matter of time before old hardware can no longer keep up. However, this may also be attributable to hardware mismanagement.

·       Lack of support/compatibility. Phones eventually reach the end of their life permanently when they experience such a lack of support and so many compatibility issues that they’re no longer worth using. For most users, a manufacturer terminating support is the end of the road.

Use the Right Case

One of the best strategies to make your phone last longer is to use the right case. A good case can protect your phone from almost any kind of physical damage, though admittedly, no case is perfect.

·       Fit. Make sure you’re using a phone case that’s approved for your specific phone model. You need a case that fits snugly around your phone, while still providing ample flexibility.

·       Materials. It’s also important to consider the materials used. Soft materials are flexible and capable of absorbing impact, while harder materials provide even more durability. Most people benefit from using a combination of both.

·       Port coverage. Ports gather dust and debris, eventually compromising their effectiveness. Ideally, you’ll have a case that can protect them.

·       Screen protection. You should also have something in place to protect your screen. If your case doesn’t come with one, invest in a separate screen protector.

Handle Your Phone Responsibly

No matter how good your case is, it’s still a good idea to handle your phone responsibly. Driving over your phone with a car, throwing it recklessly, or submerging it into water can cause irreversible damage, even if you have a nice phone case in place.

Upgrade/Replace Your Battery

No matter how well you take care of it, your phone battery is going to start losing capacity within 2 or 3 years. Once you start noticing a discrepancy in your battery life, consider upgrading or replacing the battery. This is usually inexpensive, and it might even be something you can do on your own, but it can add years of life to your existing phone model.

Install Updates Regularly

Turn on automatic updates and make sure your phone and all its apps are updated regularly. Updates are made for several reasons, such as adding new features, improving efficiency, boosting security, and ensuring compatibility. It’s one of the best ways to make sure your phone continues functioning throughout the end of its natural life.

Get Rid of Whatever You Don’t Need

Be sure to regularly offload any apps, photos, and other media you no longer need. Maintaining a leaner phone can help it run faster and more smoothly; plus, the fewer apps and items you have to deal with, the fewer potential issues you’ll face.

Use Low Power Mode

Even if your battery is quite high, consider using low power mode. When in low power mode, your phone uses far fewer resources and operates much more efficiently. It’s not especially detrimental to most tasks, but it can greatly extend your battery life and cause less wear and tear to the phone itself.

Periodically Clean

Cleaning out phone ports is easier than you might think, and it’s something you should do regularly. Taking just a few minutes to clean out your ports can ensure they maintain clean, consistent contacts, ultimately prolonging their lifespan.

As you can see, even a handful of simple strategies are enough to boost the functional, useful life of your phone. As long as you’re willing to make a few investments and maintain your phone as necessary, you can probably get many additional years out of each model you buy.

Apple has long been rumored to be working on a foldable iPhone, with many experts and critics believing the company cannot ignore the form factor forever. In true Apple fashion, however, the company has been in no hurry to release its first foldable, waiting for the technology to mature so it can release a device that meets its exacting standards.

Apple’s summary provides some interesting details:

An electronic device may be provided with a foldable housing. The housing may have first and second portions that are coupled by a hinge for rotation about a bend axis.

A foldable display may be mounted to the foldable housing. The foldable display may have a display cover layer and a flexible display panel. The foldable display may bend around the bend axis. The display panel may have an array of pixels configured to display an image through the display cover Layer.

The display cover may be formed from a layer of glass. A recess may be formed in the layer of glass that extends along the bend axis. The recess may form a flexible locally thinned portion in the layer of glass that allows the glass layer to bend about the bend axis.To ensure that the display cover layer exhibits satisfactory impact resistance during drop events, corner portions and other edge portions of the display cover layer may have increased thickness relative to other portions of the display cover layer outside of the locally thinned portion.

The hinge and/or other structures in the display may be configured to help hold the display flat when unfolded during normal use, while causing the display to slightly fold about the bend axis when the electronic device is jolted during a drop event. This helps prevent the display from impacting a hard surface while fully opened.

Apple’s summary focuses heavily on addressing one of the biggest criticisms of many foldable devices, namely their fragility. Users have complained about screens becoming unusable after small drops, something Apple focuses heavily on in its summary.

Apple has a long history of incorporating fall detection measures. The company incorporated Sudden Motion Sensor technology in its laptops as early as 2005. The feature was designed to detect a fall and instantly park the heads of traditional spinning hard drives to prevent damage from the fall. A decade ago, the company received a patent for technology to help iPhones better survive falls.

In view of that history, it’s not surprising that Apple is focusing so heavily on helping a foldable iPhone survive a drop event intact.

Markdown is markup language that allows users to easily format plain text. The format is popular among writers, researchers, developers, content creators, and more, thanks to a variety of benefits. The Markdown Guide highlights some of the most popular reasons users opt for Markdown:

• Markdown is portable. Files containing Markdown-formatted text can be opened using virtually any application. If you decide you don’t like the Markdown application you’re currently using, you can import your Markdown files into another Markdown application. That’s in stark contrast to word processing applications like Microsoft Word that lock your content into a proprietary file format.
• Markdown is platform independent. You can create Markdown-formatted text on any device running any operating system.
• Markdown is future proof. Even if the application you’re using stops working at some point in the future, you’ll still be able to read your Markdown-formatted text using a text editing application. This is an important consideration when it comes to books, university theses, and other milestone documents that need to be preserved indefinitely.

Google says it is significantly improving Docs’ Markdown support:

In 2022, we introduced expanded support for composing with Markdown in Google Docs on web. Today, we’re introducing highly-requested features that enhance Docs’ interoperability with other Markdown supporting tools. These include the ability to:

• Convert Markdown to Docs content on paste
• Copy Docs content as Markdown
• Export a Doc as Markdown (from File > Download)
• Import Markdown as a Doc (from File > Open or “Open with Google Docs” from Drive)

This update is particularly useful for technical content writers as they can now convert Docs content to/from Markdown. For example, developers can collaborate on software documentation in Docs and then export it as Markdown for use in other Markdown supporting tools.

Google says the import/export options are enabled by default, while the “Copy as Markdown” and “Paste from Markdown” are off by default and will need to be enabled.

According to Reuters, GitLab is working with investment bankers to explore a possible sale, with cloud monitoring firm Datadog already expressing interest.

GitLab currently is valued at $8 billion, meaning any deal would be a substantial one at a time when regulators are growing increasingly critical of consolidation in the tech industry. As Reuters points out, GitLab has been facing growing challenges competing with GitHub, which was purchased by Microsoft and benefits from its parent company’s deep pockets.

Sid Sijbrandij, GitLab co-founder and CEO, is currently undergoing is second round of treatment for osteosarcoma. Although he has said he is working on a full recovery and will continue as CEO, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that his health could force him to reduce his role in the company.

It is also unclear what role Alphabet could play in a possible sale/acquisition, given the company controls 22.2% of GitLab’s voting shares.

Ultimately, it is too early in the process to know for sure if a deal will be reached.

WhatsApp is adding a Favorites feature, giving users the ability to set contacts as Favorites. Once set, Favorites will appear as a filter option at the top of the chat and call screen, as the company highlights in a blog post.

Whether it’s your family group chat or your best friend, your ‘favorites’ will be the same across your chats and calls, so you can speed dial them from your calls tab too.

To add to your ‘favorites’:

• From your chats screen, select the ‘favorites’ filter, and select your contacts or groups there.
• From the calls tab, tap ‘Add favorite’ and select your contacts or groups.
• Or, simply manage your ‘favorites’ in your settings by going to Settings > Favorites > Add to Favorites, and you can reorder them at any time.

WhatsApp says the feature started rolling out Tuesday and will be available to all users within the coming weeks.

Thunderbird is the popular open-source email client and PIM suite backed by Mozilla. The new version includes a number of improvements that improve stability, performance, and the overall user experience, some of which is due to the inclusion of more Rust code:

We’ve devoted significant development time integrating Rust — a modern programming language originally created by Mozilla Research — into Thunderbird. Even though this is a seemingly invisible change, it is a major leap forward because it enhances our code quality and performance. This overhaul will allow us to share features between the desktop and future mobile versions of Thunderbird, and speed up our development process. It’s a win for our developers and a win for you.

Cards View also received some notable improvements:

The Cards View, which debuted in 115 Supernova, has been tuned and refined for an even better experience. The new layout is more attractive and makes it easier to scan your email threads and glean information at a glance. Plus, the height of email cards adjusts automatically based on your settings, ensuring everything looks just right.

The Folder Pane received a number of improvements, “including faster rendering and searching of unified folders, better recall of message thread states, and multi-folder selection.”

The new version includes improved theme compatibility, which Thunderbird’s Jason Evangelho says will especially benefit Ubuntu and Linux Mint users, making the application seamlessly blend with their desktop environment.

There are a number of other improvements, including account color customization, streamlined menu navigation, native Windows notifications, and improved context menu. Features that didn’t quite make it into this version, but are progressing nicely, include built-in Microsoft Exchange support, as well as support for Mozilla Sync. Both of these features should show up in a Nebula point release (128.x).