That is at the moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of know-how.
How the hunt to sort Chinese language on a QWERTY keyboard created autocomplete
—That is an excerpt from The Chinese language Laptop: A World Historical past of the Info Age by Thomas S. Mullaney, printed on Might 28 by The MIT Press. It has been evenly edited.
When a younger Chinese language man sat down at his QWERTY keyboard in 2013 and rattled off an enigmatic string of letters and numbers, his forty-four keystrokes marked the primary steps in a course of often called “enter” or shuru.
Shuru is the act of getting Chinese language characters to seem on a pc monitor or different digital system utilizing a QWERTY keyboard or trackpad.
The younger man, Huang Zhenyu, was one among round 60 contestants within the 2013 Nationwide Chinese language Characters Typing Competitors. His keyboard didn’t allow him to enter these characters instantly, nevertheless, and so he entered the quasi-gibberish string of letters and numbers as a substitute: ymiw2klt4pwyy1wdy6…
However Zhenyu’s prizewinning efficiency wasn’t solely noteworthy for his spectacular typing velocity—one of many quickest ever recorded. It was additionally premised on the identical sort of “further steps” as the primary Chinese language pc in historical past that led to the invention of autocompletion. Learn the remainder of the excerpt right here.
In case you’re occupied with tech in China, why not try a few of our China reporter Zeyi Yang’s latest reporting (and subscribe to his weekly e-newsletter China Report!)
+ GPT-4o’s Chinese language token-training information is polluted by spam and porn web sites. The issue, which is probably going on account of insufficient information cleansing, may result in hallucinations, poor efficiency, and misuse. Learn the total story.
+ Why Hong Kong is focusing on Western Large Tech corporations in its ban of a preferred protest music.
+ Deepfakes of your lifeless family members are a booming Chinese language enterprise. Individuals are in search of assist from AI-generated avatars to course of their grief after a member of the family passes away. Learn the total story.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Election officers wish to pre-bunk dangerous on-line campaigns
It’s a bid to forestall political hoaxes from ever getting off the bottom. (WP $)
+ Faux information verification instruments are failing in India. (Remainder of World)
+ Three know-how traits shaping 2024’s elections. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
2 OpenAI has began coaching the successor to GPT-4
Simply weeks after it revealed an up to date model, GPT-4o. (NYT $)
+ OpenAI’s new GPT-4o lets individuals work together utilizing voice or video in the identical mannequin. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
3 China is bolstering its nationwide semiconductor fund
To the tune of $48 billion. (WSJ $)
+ It’s the third spherical of the nation’s native chip funding program. (FT $)
+ What’s subsequent in chips. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
4 Nuclear vegetation are extraordinarily costly to construct
The US must learn to minimize prices with out chopping corners. (The Atlantic $)
+ The way to reopen a nuclear energy plant. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
5 Laser techniques may very well be the very best line of protection in opposition to army drones
The Pentagon is investing in BlueHalo’s AI-powered laser know-how. (Insider $)
+ The US army can be pumping cash into Palmer Luckey’s Anduril. (Wired $)
+ Contained in the messy ethics of constructing struggle with machines. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
6 Klarna’s advertising and marketing campaigns are the product of generative AI
The fintech agency claims the know-how will put it aside $10 million a 12 months. (Reuters)
7 The US has an EV charging drawback
Would-be automobile consumers are nonetheless nervous about investing in EVs. (Wired $)
+ Micro-EVs may provide one resolution. (Ars Technica)
+ Toyota has unveiled new engines appropriate with various fuels. (Reuters)
8 Good luck betting on something that’s not sports activities within the US
The end result of a significant election, for instance. (Vox)
+ How cell cash supercharged Kenya’s sports activities betting habit. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
9 Perfectionist dad and mom are Facetuning their youngsters
It goes with out saying: don’t do that. (NY Magazine $)
10 Why a film model of The Sims by no means acquired off the bottom
The beloved online game would make for a severely bizarre cinema spectacle. (The Guardian)
Quote of the day
“As soon as materialism begins spreading, it could actually have a nasty affect on youngsters.”
—Chinese language state media Beijing Information explains why China has began cracking down on luxurious influencers identified for his or her ostentatious shows of wealth, the Monetary Instances experiences.
The massive story
Recapturing early web whimsy with HTML
Web sites weren’t at all times slick digital experiences.
There was a time when browsing the online concerned opening tabs that performed music in opposition to your will and sifting by way of partitions of textual content on a coloured background. Within the 2000s, earlier than Squarespace and social media, web sites had been manifestations of individuality—constructed from scratch utilizing HTML, by customers who had some information of code.
Scattered throughout the online are communities of programmers working to revive this seemingly outdated strategy. And the motion is something however a superficial attraction to retro aesthetics—it’s about celebrating the human contact in digital experiences. Learn the total story.
—Tiffany Ng
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Take pleasure in this potted historical past of why we are saying okay, and the place it got here from.
+ There’s something very humorous about Elton John calling The Lion King’s Timon and Pumbaa “the rat and the pig.”
+ The very best of British press pictures is at all times price a peruse.
+ I had no concept that Sisqo’s Thong Track used an Eleanor Rigby pattern.
