A US federal judge has ruled that Apple violated a previous court order in the Epic Games antitrust case, aimed at increasing competition in its App Store. The judge found Apple failed to allow developers to properly steer users to alternative payment methods and illegally imposed a new 27% commission on external purchases. The tech giant and one of its executives have been referred to federal prosecutors for potential criminal contempt.",

"slug": "apple-willful-violation-app-store-order-criminal-contempt

This episode dives into the term 'vibe coding,' explaining its main definition coined by Andrej Karpathy in 2025, where AI generates code from natural language prompts, raising exciting possibilities but also significant concerns about quality and security. We contrast this with the unrelated vibe.d framework, a robust asynchronous web framework for the D programming language. Get ready to unravel the confusion and see which 'vibe' is which!

Verizon, a global telecommunications leader and the largest US wireless provider, didn't just grow—it was born big from a complex series of mergers following the AT&T breakup. Key deals involved Baby Bells like NYNEX and Bell Atlantic, a joint venture with Vodafone, and acquiring GTE, all within a short period. The company further expanded through major acquisitions like Alltel, the rest of Verizon Wireless, AOL, Yahoo, TracFone, and Frontier, cementing its massive scale.

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Duolingo's journey from a university project by founders Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker to a global EdTech giant valued in billions. It explores the 'secret sauce' behind its addictive success, rooted in a freemium model, masterful gamification, and the iconic, meme-famous mascot, Duo the Owl. Duolingo's expansion beyond languages into subjects like math, music, and chess, alongside its integration of cutting-edge AI, positions it as a formidable force aiming to make 'one app to learn anything' a reality.

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Unhappy accountant Brian Smith moved from Australia to California, noticing a gap in the market for comfortable post-surf footwear. He founded UGG based on Australian sheepskin boots, overcoming initial struggles and slow sales through persistent branding and marketing. After selling UGG to Deckers Outdoor Corp., the brand exploded into a global phenomenon, while Smith became a mentor sharing lessons of perseverance and adaptability.

Tesla's Full Self-Driving Supervised technology has evolved significantly over the past few years, with version 13 bringing noticeable improvements through end-to-end AI implementation. While enthusiasts praise the system's progress and Elon Musk promises unsupervised driving capabilities by late 2025, safety experts remain concerned about Tesla's approach of beta testing on public roads with untrained consumers. The controversy continues as Tesla aims to launch a RoboTaxi service amid regulatory challenges and ongoing questions about safety data transparency.

In just one year since its US launch in September 2023, TikTok Shop has outpaced competitors by converting more users to shoppers than any legacy platform, with 47 million shoppers spending an average of $32 million daily in 2024. The platform has become crucial for small businesses and creators, with its algorithm-driven 'shoppertainment' approach creating a closed-loop shopping experience that keeps buyers in the app ecosystem. However, TikTok faces an uncertain future due to federal legislation requiring ByteDance to divest from the app and sell to a US-based company by April 5, 2025.

Once the poster child of international expansion, Starbucks now faces significant challenges in China despite adding thousands of stores. Domestic competitor Luckin Coffee has surpassed Starbucks in store count with its grab-and-go model and aggressive discounting strategy. Economic pressures, rising Chinese nationalism, and changing consumer preferences have further complicated Starbucks' position in what remains a largely untapped coffee market.

Amazon developed Just Walk Out technology, allowing shoppers to enter stores with a credit card tap and leave without checking out while cameras and AI track their purchases. While initially planned for Amazon's grocery stores, the company has pivoted away from using it in their larger formats, instead focusing on selling the technology to third-party retailers like stadiums, airports, and college campuses. Despite technological advances including new generative AI systems, the technology faces challenges including consumer trust, data privacy concerns, and high implementation costs.

Software developer jobs, once ranked as the best job in the U.S., are now facing a significant decline due to the rapid advancement of AI. Since 2025, over 110,000 software developers have been laid off globally as companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon increasingly adopt AI tools to automate programming tasks. While this doesn't mark the complete end of software developers, they must now adapt to work alongside AI, focusing more on strategic roles as repetitive tasks become automated.