2026-10-27

etc

• lighting the skies

  This is an invention that forever changed the battlefield, and it's one that does put on a show. In fact, that has become the technology's main purpose. From the 1870 siege of Paris to the modern used car lot, searchlights have marked many of history's great conflicts—and great deals.

Horseshit

• Birth control pills do not alter women's preferences for masculine faces

• Researchers Pinpoint the Exact Location of First Ever Photo of a Human

• Trace the footsteps of England's most famous accused witches

• U.S. birth rate drops to record low, but older women are having more babies

• 'Donnie Darko' Oral History: A Mind-Twisting Cult Classic Turns 25

• Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity

• Birdwatching rewires the brain and slows cognitive decline

• Vegemite is not a human right

• What Happened to the Neanderthals?

• Early NASA diapers forced astronauts to disclose the size of their manhood

• Worms mate in man's eyes, get plucked out right before larvae burst out

celebrity gossip

• Thiel's leaked lectures on the end of the world

  • Peter Thiel, the tech oligarch who believes in the Antichrist

• Peter Thiel says Apple has done 'nothing new' after Steve Jobs

• Zuckerberg can control Meta after death. He refused to give up that power

Obit

• Eric Bauza, Voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Dies at 46

• Walter Koenig, Ensign Chekov on original 'Star Trek' series, dies at 90

  • Walter Koenig Has Died

  • Walter Koenig, the Russian Crewman Chekov on Star Trek, Dies at 90

  • Walter Koenig, Chekov from 'Star Trek,' Has Died

  • Walter Koenig, star of Star Trek, dies aged 90

  • Walter Koenig, Chekov in Original 'Star Trek' Series, Dies at 90

Musk

• Musk says he was behind Starlink speed restriction in Ukraine

  • Elon Musk Straight Up Admits He Shut Off Starlink to Ukraine

• Tesla cancels Cybertruck in Australia and NZ after 7 years of deposits

• Grok releases the first seven minutes of its AI-generated 'Odyssey'

• US Military gives SpaceX access to sensitive space-tracking data

  • They need to know what data they shouldn't publish:

  • Starlink | Stargaze

  To maximize safety for all satellites in space, SpaceX will be making Stargaze conjunction data available to all operators, free of charge, via its space-traffic management platform. This platform has been in a “closed beta” with over a dozen participating satellite operators, allowing low-latency ephemeris sharing and conjunction screening. Starting this spring, operators that submit ephemeris (trajectory predictions) to the platform will also receive CDMs against Stargaze data, in addition to ephemeris from other participating operators. This ensures that operators have low-latency access to the best available data for conjunction assessment.

• SpaceX closes $40B debt deal for AI chips

Electric / Self Driving cars

• Police pull over two men riding an electric couch down the street

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Everybody panic: A Valve developer said "HLX" in public

• Rest of World faces prospect of shutting down

• Netflix Users Are Watching Less, Not Opening the App as Often

• Nvidia RTX 20, 30, and 40-series GPUs hacked to remove a half-speed AI throttle

  For all impacted GeForce generations, Nvidia imposed a limit that, per its own published specs, runs FP32-accumulate math at half each card’s FP16-accumulate rate. That does not apply to its Turing and Ampere pro cards. The unlock returns native matrix-math throughput to owners of the cards, which can speed up prompt processing and image generation.

• Why Micron Is Suddenly Ditching 4F² DRAM as Rivals Double Down

• Apple's Foldable iPhone Duo Draws Early Complaints of the Screen Cracking

• The GameMaker engine series is going free for commercial use on PC

• Rhode Island sues Meta over alleged profits from scam ads

Panopticon / Surveiled State

• In Leaked Audio, Flock CEO Tells Cops Backlash to the Company Isn't Real

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• Emulate Apple II on Raspberry Pi

• The Fascinating World Of IrDA And Other Infrared Protocols

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• Readers land on 'Binface' as name for UK space cleanup mission

• New Pentagon UFO files detail FBI agents’ sighting of silent triangular object with no visible engines.

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• The End of the Internet

  All of software is built on an inherently creaky human-authored foundation; the human factor meant the primary gate in all of software development was “Did it work?”, not “Is it secure from every possible privilege escalation or race condition?” or the myriad of ways that software can act in ways not intended. The saving factor previously is that attackers were limited by human time and ingenuity as well; AI, however, has limitless time and the ability to substitute iteration for cleverness — and it’s getting pretty clever as well! It’s not a surprise that this wave of vulnerabilities is coming to light, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better — which I do, for the record, expect to happen; after all, the good guys have AI as well, and in the long run software will be better when it is (re)written by AI, and defended by agents continuously.

• AI cloud computing firms face 'guppy-level death', Elon Musk warns

  • SpaceX closed $40B in GPU debt, debt markets shut off credit for AI datacenters

  • We're going to see a lot of stranded compute in partially complete data centers

  • Two AI Chipmakers Make Up 34% of America's Earnings Boom

  • Analysts say that AI is delivering no return on investment to 493 companies in the S&P 500.

  • Neocloud stocks fall as Elon Musk says 200 companies in the sector may collapse

• Anthropic S-1

  • Anthropic IPO: S-1 Filing Offers First Look at Claude Maker's Finances

  • Anthropic rushing IPO before AI bubble bursts

  • Anthropic Reveals 14-Fold Increase in Growth as It Prepares for Blockbuster IPO

  • Anthropic files for listing on US stock market: valuation of more than $1.5T

  • Anthropic Unveils IPO Paperwork

  • Anthropic files S-1 with the SEC for proposed initial public offering

  • Why Anthropic can't afford to delay its IPO

  • What's Riding on Anthropic Going Public? Nearly Everything

  • Anthropic's IPO filing shows explosive growth, risks and staggering costs

  • Anthropic S-1: Inside the 335-page IPO plan

  • Anthropic's prospectus: $16.3B in revenue and an $80.7B net loss in H1

  • Anthropic files for IPO even as CEO warns of risk to humanity from AI

  • Anthropic Reveals It Will Pay SpaceX Up to $120.5B for AI Compute

  • Anthropic warns of 'catastrophic risk' to humankind ahead of blockbuster share listing

  • I asked Claude to explain Anthropic's IPO

• Meta Plans to Raise Up to $95B for AI Push

  • Meta announces $95 billion stock offering to fund AI expansion.

• Owners of Elvis Presley's Music Sue Anthropic for Copyright Infringement

  • Anthropic sued for allegedly using 274 Elvis Presley songs to train AI models

• Anthropic's Claude AI model accessed Georgia voter data in US

  • Claude accessed publicly available Georgia voter data without authorization

• Young Creators Who Cannot Draw Are Making Their First Comics with AI

• Researchers at cybersecurity startup Cathedral got inside Anthropic

• Vibe coding is turning the music gear world upside down

• How Close Are We to Autonomous Chip Design

• If AI displaces human workers, they will lose more than just pay

• Data centre debate heats up ahead of US midterms

• The anti-AI writing police are everywhere. What are they looking for?

• Nvidia is thinking of charging $2000 per GPU in annual license fees for running its AI software, an estimated $10 billion per year.

  • Nvidia discusses $2k-per-GPU annual fee for software

• Whoops: Meta's Muse Share Links Disclosed All Sorts of Super-Sensitive User Data

• The AI Agents Trying to Be Real-Life Journalists

• NYPD in negotiations to use new AI-driven technology to track phones

• Scattered thoughts on how doing math feels these days

  People often complain that AI writing overuses various patterns or lacks a unique voice or whatever. I don’t disagree, but I always felt like there was a deeper issue that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. With math, this becomes very clear: The problem is it doesn’t make any goddamned sense. Really, I think it’s deeper than being bad “at writing”. It seems like AI is bad at thinking in certain ways that manifest as bad writing.

  I think the biggest reason I’m not more productive is: What’s the point? In the past, if you came up with an elegant proof, you’d tell yourself, “I made a thing! Other people will read and use my thing! I am advancing human progress.” You can still tell yourself that now. But you have to wonder, will anyone actually read your proof? Or will they just ask another AI to explain it to them? Will your proof help their AI explain it better? For how long? If you just waited a year, would some other AI produce that same proof independently?

• Brazil's Big bank Itau agrees to buy AI startup NeoSpace for $589M

• Empires of AI

• Can Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's Former CEO, Help Fix A.I.'S Gender Problem?

• Plans to allow US companies run entirely by AI “agents” have come under fire from powerful Republicans in Congress, who fear they will shield business owners from liability and could harm consumers.

• US political candidates tailor messages for AI models used by voters

Neo Gambling / Crypto con games

• NBA announces partnership with prediction markets Kalshi, Polymarket

Economicon / Business / Finance

• US Wages Share of GDI at 75 Year Low

  • Wages Fall to 43% of U.S. Gross Domestic Income, Lowest Since 1929

• New research tries to defuse the "China shock"

• Employers use your personal data to find the lowest salary you'll accept

• Volvo Car Sinks to Record Low as CEO Says China Market Gone

• Microsoft offers mass buyouts for roughly a quarter of its workforce

  • Microsoft to Trim Workforce with Buyout Offers for 60k Staff

  • Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees in AI efficiency push

  • Microsoft offers voluntary buyout to 60k employees

  • Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60k Employees (25%) as It Spends on A.I

• Skydance offers buyouts, orders return to office

Left Angst

• Think Europe’s Chaos Can’t Happen Here? It’s Already Being Planned

  The Democratic Socialists of America are already planting the seeds of violence if things don’t go their way in the election, with their “New Battlefield Project,” calling on 10,000 “volunteers” to guard polling places. Here’s what’s really happening. “Activists are planning mass protests if the Trump administration tries to interfere with voting or ballot counting,” U.S. News reported in September. “And legal scholars are distributing white papers advising judges what they should do if the government tries to seize ballots.” Meanwhile, “A small group of U.S. national security officials has been discreetly advising state governments and congressional lawmakers” on how to prepare for “Trump administration interference in midterm elections,” the Washington Post reports.

• Well, That '60 Minutes’ Deportation Sob Story Sure Blew Up in a Hurry – RedState

  Well into the 60 Minutes report, they acknowledge that "the U.S. had a right to deport him, but not to Mali." They didn't. The U.S. sent him to Ghana, not Mali. Now, Ghana subsequently returned him to Mali, raising questions about whether U.S. officials knew that would happen. But the outlet did a bang-up job reporting here. By ignoring serious questions surrounding his asylum claim to run a sympathetic family package, 60 Minutes got completely caught spinning a false narrative that collapsed rather swiftly.

• The EPA Is Quietly Killing Its Web Archive

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Drone warfare is evolving faster than armies can adapt

• US designates helium as a critical material

• US fired over 600 missile interceptors defending Israel in three years

World

• Lula wins election after final votes tallied

  • Lula is declared winner of Brazil's election as Bolsonaro rejects results

  • Brazil elections: Lula secures fourth term after dramatic comeback

  • Lula wins fourth term as Brazil president in huge upset

  Lula’s re-election puts the brakes on a wave of Right-wing victories across Latin America, including in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru – whose leaders have been backed by Donald Trump. His victory deprives the US president of a major addition to a growing bloc of Right-wing Latin American governments that have embraced Washington’s agenda on security and migration.

  • Brazil Stocks Crater As Bolsonaro Seeks To Annul Runoff After Socialist Lula's Shock Victory

  Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro said overnight that he would seek to annul the presidential runoff, challenging a last-minute, two-hour voting extension granted at the request of socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's campaign. The order came from Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, Lula's former personal attorney, whom the president appointed to the high court.

  • Lula Vows to Regulate Social Media Giants

  • Brazil election: How 'Lula's Army' WhatsApp channel helped turn race around

  • A Rout in Brazilian Financial Markets

  • Brazil markets, currency reel from leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's election win

  • Flávio Bolsonaro has been summoned by the Federal Police to hand over his passport

  by order of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The Supreme Court Justice argues that there is a risk that Bolsonaro could flee abroad to avoid prosecution.

• Brazil’s weird economy needs serious reform

• Unique source blinded Dutch intelligence agencies to Putin's invasion

• Viktor Orbán, U.N. Secretary-General?

• Guernsey, Jersey and other havens rake in revenues from global minimum tax

• Germany to tap Ukrainian tech with missile purchase

• A New India Is Here, and It Wants to Make Things

• Rastafarians in Jamaica want more rights

• ASML may account for up to 1.6% of Dutch economy in 2026, ING says

• Dutch Government Plans to Cut 25,000 Jobs in AI-Led Overhaul

• Denmark's bid to ditch Microsoft Office for open-source alternative collapses

• Japanese companies compensate users as cyberattacks buffet economy

• UK families told to stock up on emergency supplies — and be ready for war

Israel

• The Great Schlep: Israelis Are Flying Back to Vote

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Russia pursuing spacecraft from companies helping Ukraine including Starlink

• The America-Ukraine link grows even spottier

• France's Nuclear Forces Bring in Neighbors to Keep Russia in Check

China

• Chinese PCB Maker Dongshan Raises $1.3B in HK Listing

• In China, the AI bubble has burst

Health / Medicine

• Popular Sleep Supplement Could Come With an Unexpected Catch, Scientists Warn.

• This mysterious mushroom makes people see hundreds of tiny humans.

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• World's first rhino IVF could help save the northern white rhino

• How to grow a cacao tree at home

• Science could lift Italy's sinking cities back up

• SS United States to be sunk as largest artificial reef

• Crows make decisions twice as fast as humans and monkeys

• US startup's demonstration of lighting Earth from space draws critcism

• Scientists were unsure of how microplastics harmed the body – until now

• Brazil sees record fall in Amazon deforestation

• Peta releases video showing experiments on infant monkeys at Univ of Washington

• 'It's offensively cheap': Solar power is quietly becoming bigger than nuclear

• Examine the costs of turning America's corn into fuel

  An influential early analysis concluded that producing ethanol from corn required more fossil energy than the fuel contained. Later Department of Energy analyses, incorporating coproduct credits and improvements in farming and refining, found a positive energy balance. Results depend heavily on assumptions about fertilizer, farm energy, refinery efficiency, coproducts, and land-use change.

  • I'm so old I remember when the greenest hippies were promoting ethanol heavily. I got to watch some of the interchange between them and old moonshiners, first hand.