2025-09-13

Horseshit

• Quantum computing company raises a record $1B

• Scientists pioneer 'animal internet': dog phones and touch screens for parrots

• Volkswagen patented a system that uses the car itself for VR gaming

• 'You just can't recreate that glow': The people who hunt old TVs

• Dinosaurs to supercrocs: Niger's bone keepers preserve its ancient fossils

• Good Old IBM Is Leading the Way in the Race for 'Quantum Advantage'

• Jef Raskin's cul-de-sac and the quest for the humane computer

• Don't panic about the global fertility crash

• Two billionaires have different – and wild – visions of a future in space

• The Boss Move for Ordinary Workers: Hiring Your Own Executive Assistant

• The Onion's Chad Nackers on the enduring power of satire

• E-bike injuries are a massive burden, say surgeons

• Calif. construction worker unofficially broke a fabled world record

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• The politics of depression: Diverging trends in internalizing symptoms among US adolescents by political beliefs

  We hypothesize that increasing exposure to politicized events has contributed to these trends in adolescent internalizing symptoms, and that effects may be differential by political beliefs and sociodemographic characteristics. We analyzed nationally-representative data from 2005 to 2018 Monitoring the Future annual cross-sectional samples of 12th-grade students (N ​= ​86,138). We examined self-reported political beliefs, sex, and parental education as predictors of four internalizing symptom scales over time, including depressive affect. From 2005 to 2018, 19.8% of students identified as liberal and 18.1% identified as conservative, with little change over time. Depressive affect (DA) scores increased for all adolescents after 2010, but increases were most pronounced for female liberal adolescents, and scores were highest overall for female liberal adolescents with low parental education. Findings were consistent across multiple internalizing symptoms outcomes. Trends in adolescent internalizing symptoms diverged by political beliefs, sex, and parental education over time, with female liberal adolescents experiencing the largest increases in depressive symptoms, especially in the context of demographic risk factors including parental education. It is therefore possible that the ideological lenses through which adolescents view the political climate differentially affect their mental wellbeing.

• Global press freedom suffers sharpest fall in 50 years, report finds

Musk

• Tesla Pivots to Robots as Investors Question Sales and Soaring Valuation

Electric / Self Driving cars

• Volvo CEO: EV wave will kill a few Western automakers

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Researchers find oldest written claim that the Shroud of Turin was faked

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• The Rise of 'Conspiracy Physics'

• Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low

• After 10 years of black hole science, Stephen Hawking is proven right

• The Perverse Consequences of the Easy A

• Epistemic Collapse at the WSJ | Not Even Wrong

  If you replaced “Streamers” by “Sabine Hossenfelder” this would be reasonably accurate, and a serious discussion of this would have been interesting and worthwhile. Instead, the article is an excellent example of the sort of epistemic collapse we’re now living in. There’s zero intelligent content about the underlying scientific issues (is fundamental theoretical physics in trouble?), just a random collection of material about podcasts, written by someone who clearly knows nothing about the topic he’s writing about. The epistemic collapse is total when traditional high-quality information sources like the Wall Street Journal are turned over to uninformed writers getting their information from Joe Rogan podcasts. Any hope of figuring out what is true and what is false is now completely gone. I was planning on writing something explaining what exactly the WSJ story gets wrong, but now realize this is hopeless (and I’m trying to improve my mental health this week, not make it worse). Sorting through a pile of misinformation, trying to rebuild something true out of a collapsed mess of some truth buried in a mixture of nonsense and misunderstandings is a losing battle.

  • "I know my doctrine is indefensible so I won't try"

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Nintendo's latest patents on Pokémon mechanics should not have been granted

• Google is shutting down Tables, its Airtable rival

• Tim Cook and Apple's Design Team Explain the 'Shockingly Thin' iPhone Air

• Spotify peeved after 10k users sold data to build AI tools

• Huntress's 'hilarious' attacker surveillance splits infosec community

• Do Media Organizations Even Want Cultural Criticism?

• France says Apple notified victims of new spyware attacks

• Windows developers can now publish apps to Microsoft's store without fees

• The challenge of maintaining curl

• The bloat of edge-case first libraries

• Paramount Skydance preparing bid for Warner Bros Discovery, source says

• CVC Strikes $1.5B Deal for Namecheap

• Nintendo Switch is getting a Virtual Boy accessory and Switch Online games

  • Nintendo is bringing back the Virtual Boy as a Switch and Switch 2 accessory

• It's time for Meta to add a display to its smart glasses

• RTX 5090 With 128 GB VRAM Mod Is on Sale for $13,000

• Steam Censorship of Adult Games Shows How Payment Processors Wield Immense Power

  Japanese politicians Zenko Kurishita and Taro Yamada have been among those bringing attention to the problems caused by these abrupt crackdowns by payment processors, highlighting that these measures against illegal adult content are so vague that legitimate NSFW content and its creators also get caught in the crossfire. Speaking to Denfaminicogamer, Kurishita pointed out that in the face of demands from payment processors, platforms “are forced to take arbitrary action without any explanation, which leaves them with no choice but to delete everything that seems suspicious. This results in mass deletions like we saw this time (with Steam).”

• Microsoft reportedly fixing SSD failures caused by Windows updates

• Is 'The Pitt' an 'ER' Spinoff? Michael Crichton's Estate Says It Is

• Spotify peeved after 10k users sold data to build AI tools

• Proton Mail Suspended Journalist Accounts at Request of Cybersecurity Agency

• Amazon developing consumer AR glasses to rival Meta, The Information reports

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• OpenAI says nonprofit parent to own stake in company over $100B

• Albania puts AI-created 'minister' in charge of public procurement

• FTC Investigates AI Companions: OpenAI, X, Meta, Google, Snap, IG and Character

• Oracle's blockbuster surge shows AI trade's growing influence on market

• AI Startup Founders Tout a Winning Formula–No Booze, No Sleep, No Fun

• Encyclopedia Britannica sues Perplexity over AI 'answer engine'

• A.I.'S Prophet of Doom Wants to Shut It All Down

• Nvidia and OpenAI to back major investment in UK AI infrastructure

• The rise of AI cults and the false prophets of revelation

• Oracle and OpenAI Are Full of Crap

• OpenAI's Funding Challenges Loom over Oracle, Broadcom Deal Spree

• Tucker Carlson blindsides Sam Altman with theory about OpenAI staffer's 'murder'

• Fire up the gas turbines, says US Interior Secretary: Gotta win the AI arms race

• Education report calling for ethical AI use contains over 15 fake sources

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• Do or die for America exploring the Solar System

Crypto con games

• UK's biggest Bitcoin buyer eyes struggling rivals and FTSE 100 berth

• The town that rebelled against the crypto farm that kept it awake for six months

= The treasury is expanding the Patriot Act to attack Bitcoin self custody

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Larry Ellison briefly becomes richest person

• Small Businesses Face a New Threat: Pay Up or Be Flooded with Bad Reviews

  • The business model that BBB, Yelp; etc were built to exploit...

• SK Hynix Shares Climb to Record After AI Memory Milestone

• Intel talent bleed continues as Xeon chip architect heads for the escape hatch

• Corporations are trying, and now failing, to hide job openings from US citizens

• Sequoia's 15-Year-Old Bet on Buy-Now, Pay-Later Firm Pays Off

• 'Data like you wouldn't believe': the rise of unofficial US economic reports

• Amazon Suspends Engineer Who Sent 'Threatening' Letter to CEO Andy Jassy

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• US Government sues Uber, alleging discrimination against disabled passengers

• Waymo Tells Cops: 'Get a Warrant'

  • Waymo Says You're Not Getting Its Footage Without a Warrant

  Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana recently emphasized that the company will challenge, limit, or reject robotaxi footage requests from law enforcement that are not backed by a valid legal process, such as a warrant or court order. She stressed that while the company “follows the legal process to receive footage,” it reserves the right to push back on overly broad or undefined demands—a move aimed at preserving rider trust.

  • They dont wanna say who called their cars to the riots.

• Government Accountability Office Gets Schooled by the Department of Education

• FAA Launches Process to Select Prime Integrator for Brand New ATC System

• California Passes Bill Banning Federal Immigration Agents From Wearing Masks.

• California lawmakers pass SB 79, housing bill that brings dense housing

• Ohio bill would let utilities throttle customers' thermostats and water heaters

Trump

• Making Lists - by Francis Turner - L'Ombre de l'Olivier

  the point of police and courts and due process is to stop the lynch mob. The lynch mob is always an option if the police and the courts are unable or unwilling to do the job

• Trump to deploy National Guard to Memphis to crack down on crime.

• Trump Administration Seeks Pilot Projects for Air Taxis

• Some Thoughts

  You are right that most words are not violence. But some words are: Specifically those calling for someone to be killed, or praising an assassin for killing someone, with hopes that additional assassins will emerge. That is what we are condemning. I do grant that some people are making the mistake of attempting to criminalize mere strong political invective -- but what we're really incensed by is that Taylor Lorenz continues to praise Luigi Mangione for his assassination and absolutely zero people in the supposedly "Respectable" media have even so much as chastised her for it. Indeed, CNN had her on to giggle about it.

  This is not a difference of political opinion. We on the right will not have a "debate" about whether leftwing assassins are allowed to murder us, our friends, or our leaders. It's not up for debate. Leftwingers arguing that it is justified to murder me, my friends, and my family, and my president, are not offering a political position. They are openly conspiring to commit murder, and we don't debate murderers. We arrest them and, if necessary, we kill them.

  • They want to be Hamas; allowed license to attack their targets without disapproval; protected from retaliation by the full panoply of Law.

Left Angst

• Gun Charlie Kirk shot with revealed

  A rifle recovered in the hunt for conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s assassin contained ammo engraved with “transgender and anti-fascist ideology,” according to preliminary reports from law enforcement sources. The weapon — an imported .30-06-caliber Mauser bolt-action rifle — was discovered wrapped in a towel by investigators in a wooded area following the killing of the conservative leading light, who was shot once while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, according to the memo.

  • “The point I was trying to make is how peaceful the left was ... right before he got shot”

  • Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Death | WIRED

  The campaign has been swift and widespread and has already led to at least one person losing their job and others receiving death threats. The people posting the identifying information include Chaya Raichik, who runs the hugely influential, hate-filled LibsofTikTok account on X, Trump-whisperer Laura Loomer, and former Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio. A central hub of this activity is a website called Charlie’s Murderers, which was registered in the early evening on the day Kirk was shot and is revealing certain personal information, such as social media usernames and email addresses, of individuals the operators believe were celebrating the horrific murder.

  • Here Are Some Heinous Members of the Professional Class Who Cheered Charlie Kirk's Death

  • What's Going On With Teachers Celebrating Charlie Kirk's Death? – Twitchy

  • Trump confirms authorities have suspect in custody in Charlie Kirk killing | Just The News

  "I think with a high degree of certainty we have" a suspect in custody, President Trump said on the Fox News channel. Earlier in the morning, multiple sources told Just the News the FBI and Utah authorities had detained a person of interest in the investigation and are gathering evidence in hopes of filing a state arrest warrant later Friday. Trump in the interview said that "someone very close" to the suspect turned him in. He said that based on preliminary information someone recognized the person in the photos of the suspected shooter and contacted that person's father, who contacted U.S. marshals.

  • Tyler Robinson ‘full of hate’ before Charlie Kirk shooting, says family friends — while ‘Hey fascist! Catch!’ found written on bullets

  • Charlie Kirk Assassin Suspect Appears to Have Killed for Antifa, Confirmed Rifle Cartridge Messages Show

  • Comcast Execs Memo on MSNBC's Matthew Dowd Comments About Charlie Kirk: 'We Need to Do Better'

  Top execs of Comcast issued a memo to all Comcast and NBCUniversal employees about remarks made by Matthew Dowd, who was fired as an MSNBC contributor after he said on the air that conservative activist Charlie Kirk was a “divisive” figure who pushed “hate speech.” Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday at an event in Utah.

• On Charlie Kirk and Saving Civil Society

  After troubling national events, there’s often a public conversation about the appropriate way to respond. Here’s one option to consider: Quit using these social platforms. Find other ways to keep up with the news, or spread ideas, or be entertained. Be a responsible grown-up who does useful things; someone who serves real people in the real world. To save civil society, we need to end our decade-long experiment with global social platforms. We tried them. They became dark and awful. It’s time to move on.

• The Influencer FBI - The Atlantic

  About four hours after the right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk was assassinated by an unknown shooter at Utah Valley University Wednesday, FBI Director Kash Patel posted a picture of himself with Kirk on his personal X account. The undated photo shows the two men grinning, apparently about to tape Kirk’s daily livestream show; Patel wears a branded shirt with his own name on it, styled as K$H. Roughly five minutes later, Patel’s official FBI account published another post on X, this time announcing the good news that the suspected shooter was already in custody. Then, an hour and a half later, that account posted again—alerting the public that the suspect “has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.” The killer remains at large. Prominent MAGA-aligned influencers on X were not amused by the initial mistake. “Why is the @FBI speculating like everyone not in the know?” demanded Joe Biggs, a leader of the Proud Boys who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. (President Donald Trump commuted his sentence.) “Stop all the click bait shit you keep doing,” he wrote. Kyle Seraphin, a former FBI agent turned right-wing internet personality after losing his job at the bureau during the Biden administration, put it this way: “These two posts are the most embarrassing thing I have seen from a FBI Director.” X commenters demanded in droves that Patel work more quickly to find the shooter. Typically, the FBI waits until it’s certain before making announcements.

• U.S. Senators call on ICE to halt use of facial recognition

• The Trump Administration Wants to Roll Back Airline Passenger Rights

• Hyundai is now delaying its EV battery plant that was raided by ICE

  • Hyundai battery plant faces startup delay after US immigration raid, CEO says

• Ted Cruz AI bill could let firms bribe Trump to avoid safety laws, critics warn

• India's IT sector nervous as US proposes outsourcing tax

• Six dead in Bali as flash floods inundate popular tourist destination

• The ultra-rich are different from you and me. Their tax rates are lower

• Trump Is Copying China. That's a Terrible Idea.

• Student support for violence, bans on ‘controversial’ speech hits ‘record highs’ in annual survey.

• RFK Jr does not just reject vaccines. He rejects science and must step down

• Trump Renews Threat to Investigate Soros for Funding 'Agitation'

• All your vulns are belong to us CISA wants to maintain gov control of CVE prog

• EPA plans to stop collecting greenhouse gas emission data from most polluters

• U.S. Drugmakers Warn White House of Chaos as Trump Weighs Curbs on China

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• US to split profits with Tokyo from Japan-funded projects till $550B is recouped

• BAE Systems surfaces autonomous submarine for military use

World

• Green energy entrepreneur calls on UK to subsidise North Sea oil and gas firms

• Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting Brazil coup

• North Korea executing more people for watching foreign films and TV, UN finds

• Nepal's Social Media Ban Backfires as Politics Moves to a Chat Room

  • Gen Z protestors have chosen next Nepal PM via vote on Discord

• EU regulators let Microsoft off the hook after Teams unbundling pledge

  • Microsoft swerves EU antitrust fine with price deal for unbundled Teams

• UK Economy Stagnated in July as Headwinds Grow Before Budget

• Checkpoint Britain: digital ID won't stop rafts – will enable mass surveillance

• Over 100 ships have sailed with fake insurance from the Norwegian Ro Marine

• Swiss government look to undercut privacy tech stoking fear of mass surveillance

• N.L.'s 10-year education action plan cites sources that don't exist

Israel

• Senators say US is complicit in Israel's ethnic cleansing of Gaza

• BBC censures staff for calling Hamas a 'terror group'

• Netherlands joins Ireland will boycott 2026 Eurovision if Israel participates

• 'We took the gloves off': ex-IDF chief confirms Gaza casualties over 200k

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• UK launches Project Octopus, thousands of interceptor drones to Ukraine

• Russians lose internet access as Ukrainian drones hit close to home

China

• Think tank warns China's polysilicon subsidies are frying Western fabs

Health / Medicine

• Health care costs are soaring. Blame insurers, drug companies and your employer

  • Anyone but the folks going to the hospitals for silly shit like IV rehydration

• Magic Mushroom Edibles Found to Contain Undisclosed Ingredients–No Psilocybin

• China bans one-pedal driving in default modes by 2027

• NFL and UFC athletes try 'game-changing' psychedelic to treat brain injury

• Type 5 diabetes is a newly recognised disease

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• Ebola vaccine reaches epicenter of Congo outbreak

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Texas banned lab-grown meat. What's next for the industry?

• Indian Point owner floats restart of shuttered nuclear reactors

• US energy chief tells BBC nuclear fusion will soon power the world

• Tonnes of toxic landfill liquid spread on English farms

• Dandelions control the dispersal of their seeds through asymmetrical attachment

• Toxic "forever chemicals" found in 95% of beers tested in the U.S.

• The most miraculous animal migration is happening in the middle of New York City

• Ozone will warm planet more than first thought, study finds

• Eating Oysters against the climate catastrophy

• Solar Power or Forests? Cost-Benefit Analysis of Forest Land Conversion in NE US

• EU court rules nuclear energy is clean energy

• Octopuses prefer to use different arms for different tasks, scientists find

• Pilot union urges FAA to reject Rainmaker's drone cloud-seeding plan

• Scientists uncover extreme life inside the Arctic ice