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I've got some EXCEL-lent News - which may involve iPhones and Pythons šŸ“± šŸ

Don't be scared...

Author

Yemi Davis
September 10, 2023

So hereā€™s whatā€™s been happening

Weā€™re getting new iPhones on Tuesday!

Apple

Apple just announced their annual September Keynote event where we are expected to see the launch of the new iPhone 15 lineup of mobile devices (or whatever they decide to call it). The keynote is next week Tuesday 12th September at 6:00 PM GMT / 10:00 AM PT

One big change that has been rumoured is the implementation of a USB-C port across the new iPhone lineup. According to long-time Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, If this is done, it is expected to be implemented either through the USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt protocol which should translate to quicker file transfer speeds via a wired connection, wider compatibility with even more peripheral devices (USB storage devices, microphones, etc) as well as faster charging speeds.

Other than new iPhones, weā€™re expected to see a few new devices too:

  • AIrpods ā€“ We may get refreshed Airpods with USB-C ports in the cases as well as potentially new AirPods Max as these are long overdue for an update.

  • Apple Watch ā€“ These should also get an incremental update, so potentially new colourways for the Ultra model and a few other bits.

  • Vision Pro ā€“ Earlier in the year Apple announced their long-awaited spatial computing headset and hopefully we should see some more updates to it and deeper insights into other use cases for the device.

You can stream the Keynote on the Apple Website or on their YouTube channel

Apparently, paper straws are now a ā€˜no-no ā€˜ - really sucks doesnā€™t it?

Donā€™t use plastic straws they said. They are bad for the environment they said. (this is true by the way) New research found that the alternative paper straws arenā€™t all that better either.

The researchers found evidence of PFAS or ā€œforever chemicalsā€œ in straws made with plant-based materials, such as paper and bamboo.

Yemi WTH is a PFAS?

So PFAS is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (quite the mouth full huh?) Itā€™s essentially a blanket term for a group of chemicals that can last for ages and as such take their sweet time to break down in the environment; so they definitely donā€™t belong in our bodies.

PFAS has been linked to:

  • Certain types of cancers such as kidney, testicular and prostate

  • Weakened immune system

  • Decreased fertility

  • Developmental delays/issues in children

  • The list goes on

You may find them in certain types of cookware, food packaging such as single-use plastics, cleaning products and more.

Researchers from Belgiumā€™s University of Antwerp examined about 39 different brands of straws made from different materials ranging from plastic, paper, glass, stainless steel and bamboo. In total, eighteen different PFAS were detected, the most common being perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) which interestingly enough was banned globally in 2020. They found 69% of them contained PFAS, with paper straws coming out on top with a staggering 90% of those paper straws with the highest concentration versus 75% with their plastic counterparts. With the exception of stainless steel, all the other materials were found to contain traces.

It is believed that manufacturers use these substances in straws to make them more water-repellant, however, they could also be introduced through raw materials.

I feel like we really canā€™t win at this point as this really does feel like a ā€œchoose the lesser evilā€ situation trying to do our part to preserve the planet and ourselves. Hopefully, we get better solutions in the near future.

You can now write Python code directly in Excel

Yup, you read that right and you donā€™t have to install Python to get it to work.

This is a result of a collaboration between Microsoft and Anaconda. This is super exciting news for Excel users as it now gives you the superpowers data scientists and developers had. Imagine being able to create complex visualisations using Matplotlib and Seaborn or even perform statistical analysis with statsmodels and pandas all within your spreadsheets.

Excel is such a familiar application to millions worldwide, so introducing this new feature should help make it even easier for people to get into data with tools they are already used to.

You can learn more about how it works from the official blog post.

Itā€™s not out for Mac just yet, but If youā€™re a Windows user, you can sign up here to try it out for yourself.

Titbits

Bluesky is a new social media platform supported by ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey thatā€™s (interestingly enough) a similar concept to Twitter/X. Itā€™s still in the invite-only phase and Iā€™ve finally got a few extra invite codes available if anyone wants to give it a go:

bsky-social-5tg2g-6fkqn

bsky-social-a6puw-lpr5o

bsky-social-mbrea-qd5q2

bsky-social-6g6rs-4jnen

āœØ Interesting Opportunities

šŸŽ§ Iā€™m Currently listening toā€¦

Uncomfortable

Katori Walker Ā· Song Ā· 2022

open.spotify.com/track/4ZS5mXMgeivMQP1iMkOI8v?si=eb4b95f6b8734512

Thatā€™s it for today gang. See you in the next one!

- Yemi šŸ’„

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