AI Is Going Off the Grid

Plus: Moon Landing Memories, Error Handling, and more!

Author

David Thurman
February 20, 2025

Morning folks! This is Beyond Code - the newsletter designed to help developers build their careers, one Thursday at a time.

Note: This newsletter is not sponsored. Any websites/tools/apps we recommend are purely because we enjoy them personally

Did You Know…

The Apollo Guidance Computer Had Less Memory Than a Modern Calculator

These guidance computers had just 4KB of RAM on them. They allowed the astronauts to guide, navigate, and control the spacecraft as they landed on the moon.

So NASA got to the moon with 4KB of RAM and yet my single Chrome tab apparently needs 4 whole Gigs 🤔

Handy Coding Tool

Measure Performance (Or.. Lack Thereof) At a Glance - Lighthouse

Built right into Chrome’s DevTools, Lighthouse audits your site for performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO. After receiving a quick rating for each category, you’ll get tips on how to improve each one.

From Chrome DevTools, you’ll see Lighthouse in either the top bar or in the dropdown menu. Simply run it while on any website you want to test

Tech Highlights

AI Starts Going “Off The Grid”

As privacy concerns and the demand for real-time processing grow, there’s a notable shift towards AI models that operate entirely on local devices, eliminating the need for network connectivity. This approach enhances user privacy, reduces latency, and offers greater control over data.

Here are some notable developments in this space:

Meta’s Llama 3.2: A lightweight, quantized version of Meta’s language model runs efficiently on mobile devices, enabling tasks like real-time translation and enhanced camera features—all without the cloud. (Source)

Apple’s Neural Engine: With its latest M4-series chips, Apple’s Neural Engine handles advanced AI tasks like AR and real-time translation, processing up to 38 trillion operations per second on-device. (Source)

webAI’s Navigator: This platform enables local AI model deployment on Apple devices, simplifying training with drag-and-drop tools while emphasizing privacy and performance. (Source)

AI really is advancing at an incredible rate. In classic tech CEO style, it’s gone from “ruling Silicon Valley” to “embracing the digital hermit lifestyle.”

Programming Tip

Handle Errors Gracefully

Never assume things will work perfectly. Use error handling to make your code more robust and user-friendly.

Why it’s important:

  • Stability: Prevent crashes from unhandled exceptions

  • User experience: Show meaningful error messages instead of cryptic stack traces

// * Bad *
const data = JSON.parse(input);
// * Good *
let data;
try {
    data = JSON.parse(input);
} catch (error) {
    console.error("Failed to parse JSON:", error);
}

Ask the Experts

“What qualities do you think set successful software developers apart from those who struggle to find success in the industry?”

I think humility is a very important quality as an engineer; you will sometimes be wrong or not understand something, no matter how experienced you are. Being willing to ask for help, or to admit that you were wrong is very important not only to earn and maintain the respect of your peers, but also will accelerate your rate of learning.

James N, Senior Software Engineer @ Clayton

Open Source Highlight

Become the Fastest Fizz Buzz in the West - Codewars

Codewars is an open-source platform where you can practice coding challenges (called “kata”) and level up your skills. With a focus on community-created problems, it’s a fun way to tackle new concepts and share solutions.

Why It’s Awesome:

  • Practice in multiple languages

  • Community-driven with ranked challenges

  • Compare your solution to others for new insights

What’s Open Source?
“Open sourced projects” refer to projects that have their code open to the public. They allow anyone to contribute to the project and help maintain it. Not only are they a great way to get hands on experience early on in your career, they also provide you a way to add bigger projects to your resume!

Shameless Plug

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• Courses for building your tech career.
• Interviews with professional developers.
• Handy resources to make coding life easier.
• A Discord community to network with fellow devs.

www.beyondcode.app - Join for free!

Pop Quiz

Can You Spot the Bug?

def find_target(numbers, target):
    for num in numbers:
        if num == target:
            return True
        else:
            return False

print(find_target([1, 2, 3], 2))

Find the answer at the bottom of the newsletter!

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Pop Quiz Answer: The loop returns False immediately if the first number doesn’t match the target. The else statement should be removed.