The metaverse has been here for a long time — it just hasn’t been very good. The term, a conceptual catch-all of interconnected virtual spaces, has surged in the cultural zeitgeist since Facebook changed its name to Meta. Once simply the domain of gamers and niche commercial applications, a mainstream embrace of extended reality seems practically inevitable. The immediate problem with this future — whether you’re excited, apprehensive, or otherwise — is that current extended reality (XR) hardwar
This article was originally published on .cult by Tomasz Łakomy. .cult is a Berlin-based community platform for developers. We write about all things career-related, make original documentaries and share heaps of other untold developer stories from around the world. You might be familiar with the following scenario. You’ve been a developer for a while and you’ve learned quite a lot along the way. Travelled to a couple of tech conferences, saw a number of tech talks and one day you think, “I can
This article was originally published on .cult by Mikaella C. .cult is a Berlin-based community platform for developers. We write about all things career-related, make original documentaries and share heaps of other untold developer stories from around the world. The job posting looked great. The company is interesting. The role offers you a challenge you’re excited to tackle. But when you get to the first interview, you have a strange feeling of unease… or worse, you think the interview is fine
Heartbreaks are bad, but have you ever experienced the pain of your favorite app shutting down? It’s devastating when you learn about the death of a tool or service you cherished using, and dreamt you’d grow old with. It happens more than we’d like, and it doesn’t ever get easier. We asked you about the discontinued apps that you’re sad about, and wanted to raise a toast to our beloved tools. Google Reader Mentioning Google Reader on the internet always brings the strongest emotions out of mille
We’re getting closer to the vehicle automation dream. No, I don’t mean Elon Musk’s self-driving Level 2 nonsense. I’m talking about vehicles that can function without any human intervention. But while the tech itself is evolving and going through growing pains, there’s a problem: inadequate road infrastructure. While there’s been huge investment in developing vehicular autonomous driving technology, there’s been little by cities in the infrastructure necessary for vehicles to communicate with e
There is a certain point in a developer’s career where you go from contributing to projects to inventing your own schtick. For some it’s earlier, for some later, and some never get there at all. Most developers with a long career do experience this point, though. I’ll call it the build-it-yourself point. If you’ve arrived there yet, you know what the first questions are: How does it work? What does the user experience? What’s the architecture? How does the data flow? And many more questions like
The invasion of Ukraine has led European leaders to reconsider their dependence on Russian natural gas for electricity and heating. While other countries are working hard to offer alternatives like Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), this still leaves the continent dependent on foreign supply. Luckily, literally everyone on Earth is standing right on top of a virtually limitless energy source; geothermal energy. Recently, an American startup called Quaise made headlines with their plan to drill super deep
Picture the scene. It’s 50 years in the future. We’re sitting with our grandchildren. They wobble over to us, lean closer, and ask what it was like when Apple’s M1 chips were first announced. “Those were simpler times,” we’d say, “back in 2020, there was only a single M1 processor.” Now it’s 2072, and the company has just launched the M1 Plus Pro Max Ultra Mega Demon Alpha Theta Gamma Burrito. Okay, we’re not quite there yet, but it’s getting closer. You know, like last night at Apple’s first 20
It’s the season of software comebacks. Google’s Inbox has been resurrected by a new company. The music streaming service 8tracks was reborn. And legendary media player WinAmp is being overhauled. And the latest entrant to the pack? Limewire. Yep, that file-sharing service where you got your MP3s in high school. Now, it’s making a comeback as a… digital collectible service in the music space? Shockingly, there’s a crypto element to it too. Who would’ve thought? Anyway, we’ll talk about all that l
The repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have already spread to space. The International Space Station (ISS) has been at the forefront of the extraterrestrial fallout. Dmitry Rogozin, the controversial head of Russian space agency Roscomos, warned last week that sanctions threatened the very existence of the lab: If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe? There is also the option of dropping a 500-ton s