2026-04-01

Horseshit

• New Technique Turns Everyday Surfaces Like Walls and Desks into Touch Panels

• We Used to Think Everybody Heard a Voice Inside Their Heads – But We Were Wrong

• Spacecraft Heat Shields Could Violently "Burst" in Alien Atmospheres

• I went down a rabbit hole on who owns every power tool brand

  TTI, a Hong Kong company called Techtronic Industries, owns Milwaukee. They also own Ryobi and make Ridgid tools. They bought Milwaukee from Atlas Copco in 2005 for about $626 million. Stanley Black & Decker owns DeWalt, Craftsman, Black+Decker, Porter-Cable, Irwin, and Lenox. They've blown through over $6 billion in acquisitions since 2002.

• Polygraphs have major flaws. Are there better options?

• Craigslist Made Me Rich. Giving the Money Away Is Easy

• On the trail of ancient art, deep in the Sahara

• Why some American accents have endured – while others have faded away

• What Maxxing Reveals About Life Online

• "mini?" World’s largest Cadbury Mini egg weighs as much as an emu.

• Angry parents: 'Phones should be illegal for kids until they're 18 '

• ‘Something Dark is Going On’: Nine Top-Level Scientists Die or Go Missing in Past Year

celebrity gossip

• Heather Graham slams ‘awkward’ new reality of Hollywood sex scenes.

• Army investigates after two helicopters hovered by Kid Rock's pool as he saluted

• Alan Moore on William Blake's Contempt for Newton

• Paul McCartney banned from Reddit after sharing pics from his sold-out LA show

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• Entirety of Wikinews to be shut down

  the Foundation has decided to permanently shut down the Wikinews project, one of Wikimedia's oldest projects. Starting on May 4, editing and new content creation will no longer be possible with all of the pages on the site locked in read-only mode.

Musk

• Another Starlink satellite has inexplicably exploded

• Starlink satellite breaks apart into "objects"; SpaceX confirms "anomaly"

Electric / Self Driving cars

• As electric truck demand craters, GM lays off workers and idles plant

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Olympics finally picks biology over ideology to save women’s sports.

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Some of the most popular graduate degrees don't pay off financially, study finds

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• How Apple became Apple: The definitive oral history of its earliest days

  • How the Apple II created the core of personal computing

• YouTube chat logs reveal employees aimed for “viewer addiction” and scrapped safety tools - Dexerto

  • YouTube deliberately sought 'viewer addiction,' killed safety tools: court docs

• Sony halts memory card shipments due to NAND shortage

• GitHub backs down, kills Copilot pull-request ads after backlash

• Disney Reportedly Interested in Acquiring Epic Games and Fortnite

  • Disney Reportedly Considering Epic Games and Fortnite Purchase

• Amazon Leo Satellite Internet Coming to Delta Flights in 2028

• Duolingo's Luis von Ahn Wants to Delete the Blockchain

• Authors' lucky break in court may help class action over Meta torrenting

• Our First AI Glasses Built for Prescriptions

• DRAM deals: this is genuinely insane

  Micron is now down ~33% from its post-earnings high. Revenue up 196% year over year, EPS up 682%, and the stock is in freefall because the company restructured its entire business around a demand signal that came from non-binding letters and is now being compressed out of existence by a research paper.

• Tcl to buy majority stake of Sony Home Entertainment

• All Google users in the US can now change their Gmail address

  • Don't Like Your Gmail Email Address? You Can Finally Change It

  • Google Now Lets You Change Your Gmail Address

  • You can now change your Google Account username

• Raspberry Pi profit surges as AI boom lifts demand

• The Software on Your Phone Was Shipped by People Who Don’t Use It

  This pattern isn’t limited to phones. It’s everywhere in tech right now. The product you’re using is almost certainly 90% great and 10% infuriating — and that 10% is almost always a product management failure, not an engineering one. Someone decided to ship before the details were right. Someone prioritized a spec sheet bullet point over the daily experience. Someone built a feature that demos well in a boardroom but annoys you every morning.

• OkCupid gave 3M dating-app photos to facial recognition firm, FTC says

• Google Touts Dubious Android Browser Benchmarks; Press Swallows It Whole

• Google attributes Axios hack to North Korea

• Yes, a Smartphone Can Be Too Big for the Masses

• Samsung's new app claims to alleviate motion sickness using sound

• Microsoft plans to build 100% native apps for Windows

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• Americans Have Never Been All That Excited About Going to the Moon

• Artemis II mission countdown clock started

• Astronaut's Condition That Led to Space Station Evacuation Remains a Mystery

• Artemis II is not safe to fly

  On Wednesday, NASA will attempt to send four astronauts around the moon on a mission called Artemis II. This will be second flight of NASA’s SLS rocket, and the first time the 20-year-old Orion capsule flies with people on board. The trouble is that the heat shield on Orion blows chunks. Not in some figurative, pejorative sense, but in the sense that when NASA flew this exact mission in 2022, large pieces of material blew out of Orion’s heat shield during re-entry, leaving divots. Large bolts embedded in the heat shield also partially eroded and melted through.

  NASA is going to fly Artemis II based on vibes, hoping that whatever happened to the heat shield on Artemis I won’t get bad enough to harm the crew on Artemis II.

• Has Something Changed in the Near-Earth Meteoroid Environment?

  The number of large fireball events (those seen by 50+ witnesses) has roughly doubled in Q1 2026 compared to the five-year average. But the total number of fireballs is about normal. So it’s not that more rocks are hitting us — it’s that more of them are big enough to notice.

• Can humans have babies in space? It may be harder than expected

• Can NASA launch a nuclear mission to Mars by 2028?

• My third Orion launch, but it feels different

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Why chatbot therapists can't offer what we need

• Claude Code's source code has been leaked via a map file in their NPM registry

  • I Read the Leaked Claude Code Source – Here's What I Found

  • Claude Code's source code appears to have leaked

  • Anthropic just fired dev who published dev/Claude-code NPM package

  • GitHub has DMCA'd nearly all forks of the official Claude-code repo

• Anthropic, The Pentagon, and the Future of Autonomous Weapons

• 100x Less Power: The Breakthrough That Could Solve AI's Energy Crisis

• Federal judges report broad adoption of AI tools

• Life with AI is frying human brains.

• Restoring old photos with AI is a fundamentally broken concept.

• Anthropic: Claude Code users hitting usage limits 'way faster than expected'

• Americans' AI Use Increases While Views on It Sour, Poll on AI Finds

• Goldman CIO Marco Argenti on the Warp-Speed Improvements in AI

• Why Is OpenAI Dropping Video? To Focus on What Matters

• Students Embrace AI but Fear False Accusations

• College students, professors are making their own AI rules. They don't agree

• Anthropic wins preliminary injunction in Trump DoD fight

• New York Times drops freelance journalist who used AI to write book review

• The Subprime AI Crisis Is Here

  there really isn’t any way that these services make sense at a monthly rate, and every single AI company loses incredible amounts of money, all while failing to make that much revenue in the first place.

• More than half of the U.S. says AI is likely to harm them

• Data centers' heat exhaust is not raising the land temperature around them

Economicon / Business / Finance

• American Exchange Group to buy sneaker maker Allbirds for $39M

• U.S. stocks are set to deliver their worst quarter in nearly four years

• Fermi shares plunge 13% on $486M net loss

• Oracle lays off employees as it curbs costs during AI buildout

  • Oracle slashes 30k jobs with a cold 6 a.m. email

• Unilever Foods to Combine with McCormick

  • Unilever imposes global hiring freeze, citing Middle East war effects, memo says

• Freight bankruptcies mount in March as trucking, logistics firms file Chapter 11

• Whoop, a wearable device maker, raises $575M

• Congratulations, Here's a Pay Cut

• How Congress Plans to Take on the Housing Crisis

  • Are New York's Environmental Concerns Worsening a Housing Shortage?

• TSMC is reportedly sold out until 2028

• 'Worst in Show' CES products include AI fridges, AI companions and AI doorbells

• Dow surges 1,100 points, S&P 500 posts best day since May as hopes grow for end of Iran war: Live updates

• KPMG Faces Allegations of Blown Audit in Private Credit Collapse

• Allbirds, Once Valued at $4B, Just Sold Its Assets for Next to Nothing

• Microsoft in Talks with Chevron, Engine No. 1 over $7B Texas Power Plant

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• US paves way for private assets to be included in 401(k) retirement plans

• (PDF) SCOTUS: Colorado conversion therapy ban violates First Amendment

  • Supreme Court rules against Colorado ban on 'conversion therapy' for LGBTQ+ kids

  • US Supreme Court Rejects Colorado Ban on 'Conversion Therapy' for LGBTQ Minors

• Costco sued for seeking refunds on tariffs customers paid

• CPSC Warns Consumers to Stop Using Male-to-Male Extension Cords

Trump

• Trump Tells Aides He's Willing to End War Without Reopening Hormuz

• Pete Hegseth's broker looked to buy defence fund before Iran attack

  • Broker for Pete Hegseth made multi-million defense investments before Iran War

• The Unlikely Ensemble Leading Trump’s Hunt for 2020 Election Fraud: Senior officials are pursuing theories the Trump campaign had earlier dismissed.

Democrats

• California to impose new AI regulations in defiance of Trump call

  • What to Know About California's Executive Order on A.I

Left Angst

• The Horrors That Could Lie Ahead If Vaccines Vanish

• "De-banking" was great until it was used on them: She Spoke Out About Gaza. Now She Can't Use a Credit Card

• President's new science council: 9 billionaires and 1 scientist

• The Spectacle of War and the Struggle to Protest

• What it's like to live in Portland, Oregon

• Kristi Noem’s husband seen ‘pouting in photos with fake breasts.’

• Weeks After Denouncing Censorship, Zuckerberg Texted Musk to Remove DOGE Content

• TMZ Has a New Obsession: Vacationing Members of Congress

  Recently, the outlet has devoted particular attention to how members of Congress are behaving during the funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security. TMZ requested tips on Thursday about sightings of lawmakers who left D.C. without reaching a funding deal, leaving many DHS employees to miss paychecks for at least two more weeks.

• The Oil Crisis Is About to Get Physical

  In normal times, about 20 percent of the world’s oil production passes through the Strait of Hormuz. That flow has been cut off except for Iranian oil and a handful of other vessels the Iranians are allowing through. This disruption has led to a large spike in oil futures prices.

  But this price rise has been speculative, driven by the (justified) expectation of future shortages rather than a current lack of oil. In fact, so far deliveries to markets around the world haven’t declined, because shipping oil from the Persian Gulf to major markets takes 4-6 weeks. As a result there was a large quantity of oil already at sea, outside the Strait, when the war began. However, this grace period is about to end. The oil crisis is about to get physical. The map at the top of this post shows J.P. Morgan’s estimates of when tankers from the Gulf will stop arriving at various destinations. Deliveries to Asian markets will end this week; deliveries to Europe will end next week.

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• FBI Confirms Kash Patel Email Hack as US Offers $10M Reward for Hackers

• Arms Dealer Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Export US-Made Ammo Used in Ukraine

• Michigan synagogue attack was Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism, FBI says.

  This man acted under Hezbollah’s direction and control,” Gorgon said. “He intended to kill others, not just himself.”

• She uncovered a terrifying lab hidden in California, with alleged ties to China

  As she walked deeper into the warehouse, passing lab workers filling pregnancy test kits, she located the source of the smell that had brought her there — droppings from 1,000 lab-tested mice, she told The Times during a recent interview. The workers were nice enough, she said, but when she started asking questions she could feel the mood change. “I realized I’m in trouble, and I need to get out of this building without tipping them off that I’m scared,” Harper said. Her discovery blew open an elaborate criminal case with ties to California, Las Vegas and China. The investigation in Reedley found that the lab was part of an elaborate scheme to import COVID tests from China and pass them off as American-made. But there are some who fear the operation was much more complex than that. A congressional committee uncovered payments topping $1 million made to the operator of the Reedley business from banks in the People’s Republic of China. The defendant in the case, Jia Bei Zhu, a Chinese national, has not been charged with running an illicit biolab and his attorney has denied it. The vials discovered in Reedley were never tested. But for some officials, the questions left unanswered from that lab in Reedley, then Nevada, underscore America’s vulnerability to unregulated biohazards that could be used by bad actors for criminal behavior and even terrorism.

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• US embassies to wage campaign against foreign 'hostility' – with Musk's help

• Italy Denies US Aircraft Access to Military Base

  • Italy blocks US use of Sicily air base for Middle East war

World

• Palantir’s UK boss criticises ‘ideological’ groups as ministers move to scrap NHS contract | Palantir | The Guardian

• Germany presents new climate action programme

  Germany's cabinet today presented a climate action programme with a strong focus on renewable power and industry electrification, encompassing 67 measures designed to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 27mn t/yr of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) until 2030, although the country's climate experts warned that it is unlikely to achieve these reductions.

• Meta, TikTok and Google under investigation about Australia's social media ban

• Leaked Calls Expose Hungary and Slovakia as Secret Kremlin Backchannel Inside EU

• Dutch Finance Ministry takes treasury banking portal offline after breach

• Air Canada CEO to Step Down Amid Backlash over Lack of French Comments

• How companies are learning to stop worrying and benefit from pay transparency

• Microsoft faces second major UK investigation over cloud licensing

• Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube aren't complying with U16 ban, Australia says

• UK Police will no longer waste time investigating legal social media posts

• Global Ban on Digital Duties Expires After Stalled Talks at WTO Meeting

• Irish lawmaker urges Stripe to flout US sanctions on UN investigator Albanese

• Top Brussels official urges Europeans to work from home and drive less

• French Senate votes to block social media access for under-15s

• Australia readies social media court action citing teen ban breaches

Iran / Houthi

• Why the US Navy Won't Blast the Iranians and 'Open' Strait of Hormuz

  the days of omnipotent U.S. sea power as a power projection instrument close to well defended shorelines are coming to an end. This change raises questions about the future of navies and the wisdom of investment in these extremely expensive instruments of national power.

• He Helped Stop Iran from Getting the Bomb

• Iran’s internet blackout hiding strike damage and suppressing dissent, Israeli officials say.

• IRGC threatens imminent strikes on US tech giants across the Middle East

  • Iran says it will target US tech companies in Middle East

  • Iran threatens to attack US tech companies

• Iran using children in security roles in war

• Palantir in Focus Regarding Alleged US Attack on School in Iran

Israel

• Israel vows to occupy large parts of southern Lebanon to expand buffer zone

• Israel passes law to give death penalty to Palestinians convicted lethal attacks

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Putin's Internet Blackout: A Chaotic Drive to Cut Off Russians from the World

  • A Cat-and-Mouse Game of Russian Internet Restrictions and Evasion

  • Russia slowly trying to splinter its internet from rest of world, analysts say

• Zelensky hails 'historic' defence agreements with Gulf states

• The Kill Zone: Drones have redrawn the map of war in Ukraine

• Chemical Endurance: The Pharmacology of Russian Military Stimulant Programs

China

• China factories log fastest growth in a year as war risks loom large

• The mindbending 'cyberpunk city' in China that exists on so many levels

• HK police can now demand phone passwords under new national security rules

• Why China insists on internal unity and international harmony

• Huawei posts slower annual revenue growth of 2.2%

Health / Medicine

• Court of appeal says it cannot rule on which identical twin fathered a child

• Vaping likely to cause cancer, new Australian review of evidence finds

  • Vaping likely to cause lung and oral cancer, Australian researchers find

• Water utility announces it's ditching fluoride then reveals it did so years ago

  On March 20, Central Alabama Water (CAW) made an announcement that it had discontinued water fluoridation. The announcement cited “aging equipment” and “increasing maintenance and component replacement” as justifications for the removal of fluoride, which it indicated had already occurred. But the water utility also highlighted unsubstantiated health concerns and noted that people can buy toothpaste and mouthwash that contain fluoride to protect their teeth. Days later, a CAW spokesperson revealed that three of its water treatment plants had abandoned fluoride years ago—in January 2023, August 2023, and March 2024, respectively. “It’s important to realize that pretty much no one in Birmingham has had any fluoride in their water for two years,” a CAW spokesperson told local WBRC news on March 24. The removal occurred before a 2025 law that restructured the water board, the spokesperson explained, adding that there was “no public notification” of the change. The spokesperson said this lack of notice meant residents weren’t able to “consult with their dentists.”

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Scientists shocked to find lab gloves may be skewing microplastics data

  • Ordinary Lab Gloves May Have Skewed Microplastic Data

• Scientists uncovered the nutrients bees were missing – Colonies surged 15-fold

• Seeds of doubt:The dark side of an Italian energy giant's green jet fuel promise

• Tropical geckos are more adaptable than we thought

• Stranded Humpback Whale Beats the Odds and Swims Out to Sea

• And Snow will be a thing of the past by year 2000: A satellite-smashing chain reaction could spiral out of control

• Scientists discover freshwater reservoir beneath Great Salt Lake

• Italy delays coal phase-out by over a decade

• 'junk': E-waste from rich nations floods local markets in Nigeria

• Chernobyl Fungus Seems to Have Evolved the Ability to Harness Radiation