2026-10-18

Worthy

• Flying Cars, and Those Who Hate Them

  The thing about the left is, it’s made up largely of people who aren’t great at doing things. They don’t get rich by building things or doing things. They get rich, when they do, by declaring problems, getting the government to throw money at them, and then stealing some (sometimes pretty much all) of that money for themselves and their NGOs. There’s nothing for them in flying cars. But there’s more than that going on here. Because getting rich to them is secondary to self-importance. When Elon does something cool, they’re offended because they feel diminished by that. As Norman Mailer wrote about why the hippies turned against the space program, the hippies spent years going around talking about how they were going to change the world, then a bunch of guys with flattop haircuts and pocket protectors and slide rules went and actually did it. Unforgivable. Interestingly, people on the right — and most Americans generally — don’t feel diminished by other people doing cool stuff. They feel spiritually and culturally enriched by it.

  • If you need examples of how far they'll go to hate on Musk: Tesla Roadster | Hacker News

Horseshit

• The Leap Second Is No More

  • Timekeepers Have Gotten Rid of the Leap Second and Introduced the Leap Hour

  • Leap second to be scrapped from 2017

• Bryan Johnson’s girlfriend tracks her ‘nighttime erections’ with 'techno tampon'

• Aviation superfan installs an Airbus A380 suite in his apartment

• Scientists Detect Rare Type of Wood Alcohol in Space

• The 39 pictures that changed the way we see men (for good and for bad)

• The Criminal Behind Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory

• Oldest shipwreck found off Kekova Island in Turkey

• SF AI Founder's Zombie Shooter Game Turns Tenderloin Residents into Targets

• Astronomers discover the first ever green star

  • Astronomers say they've discovered the first green star

• Why some people say the 2-day weekend is due for a makeover

• For a Mere $2M, You Could Own Three Books That Unlocked the Universe

• Science says your boss should talk less in meetings

• Rare pink diamond goes on display in France 100 years after amateur heist

• A dog longevity pill is nearing FDA approval. A vet explains what it can and can’t do.

  "The term 'anti-aging pill' often implies freezing time, turning back the block, or even something cosmetic. LOY-002 specifically targets the metabolic concept that aging is linked to lowered sensitivity to insulin (and other body wide changes) so the thought is that improving sensitivity to insulin, and decreasing high insulin blood levels, could potentially increase longevity. The goal isn't simply to add months or years to lives marked by frailty and illness but to prolong what's known as healthspan, the time spent with vitality and less loss of function." The science behind that idea isn't new. In a landmark 14-year Purina study published in 2002, Labrador retrievers fed 25 percent fewer calories than their littermates, stayed leaner, developed chronic disease later, and lived a median of nearly two years longer.

• MLB Plans to Play Stupid Games with Its Website Again in Upcoming Lockout

celebrity gossip

• The Elizabeth Holmes Documentary, via the Eyes of the Reporter Who Exposed Her

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• Social media bans are not the answer to protect young people's mental health

Musk

• Roadster's Hidden Breakthrough: The Motors

  a 33% increase in power combined with a 50% reduction in mass results in approximately 2.66 times the power per kilogram.

  • The Flying Car Must Never Be Built

• TikTok "Permanently Suspends" the 'Musk' Film Account, Raising Suppression Fears

  • TikTok bans Musk film account

  • TikTok bans Musk documentary account

• Texas Has Been Considering Selling a Beloved State Park to Elon Musk's SpaceX

Robot uprising / Humanoid Helpers

• Retired UPenn professor arrested after blocking Uber Eats robots

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• MIT Scientist (Sabatini) Wins $6M in Sexual Harassment Defamation Suit

• California Student Data Leaked

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Australian gov't advises citizens on how to request unpaid leave to play GTA 6

• Broker Accused of Illegally Buying 18.5M Tickets to Beyoncé, Post Malone

• The Digger disaster: what an epic movie flop means for Tom Cruise and Hollywood

  Unprecedented folly of misjudgment, bad timing and spectacular hubris is predicted to lose $245m. How did this happen?

Panopticon / Surveiled State

• MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood

  • MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood

• Fired Georgia officer gave Flock surveillance camera access to ICE agent husband

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• Decoding base64 in Python at 10 gigabytes per second

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Anthropic offers Blackstone double-digit yield in latest chip financing

  • Letter to Anthropic Re: Planned Initial Public Offering

  given the gravity of your stated concerns, prudence should not only be shown with respect to the pace of the frontier, it should be also shown with respect to the timing of an IPO. I therefore urge Anthropic to pause the IPO process so that the company may fully address these key issues, ones which investors must also assess regarding the company’s revised development strategy, governance commitments, and emerging risk landscape.

• Weak Links Start to Show in A.I. Borrowing

  • AI neolabs are raising huge sums. Most have little to show for it

• OpenAI models hacked a crypto wallet and breached more websites

  • OpenAI discloses four more rogue incidents

• Meta to scrape content from business customers for model training

  • Meta to Every Business User: Nice Website You Got There

  • Meta removes language that may have allowed it to scrape news sites

• Hannah Fry: How OpenAI has caused an existential crisis in mathematics

  • Mathslopocalypse

• Android gets AI defenses against messaging scams, fake calls

• Deleted AI Chats May Leave Clues Behind

• Replit is no longer working with Anthropic, CEO says

• The trickle-down economics of the AI boom

• A Conversation with the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses

• Amazon devices chief sees a future where AI devices replace the need to use apps

• "thegentlemanpervert" producing AI CSAM is a NJ prosecutor, say cops

• Amazon's Bee AI devices have a bystander problem, says former security engineer

• What happens when AI can read our minds?

• As AI triggers a tsunami, computer science conferences impose caps

• Websites are closing their doors to AI agents

• Meta Opens Muse Spark's Weights with Strings Attached

• AI lab offers free plumbing and HVAC repairs to train AI robots

• Torvalds calls AI disclosure rules 'utterly stupid' as Linux drops its tag

• History's long-secret codes are being cracked by amateurs using AI

• Google DeepMind's New Resident Philosopher Tackles AI Ethics

• Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers joining AI's $400-an-Hour gig economy

Neo Gambling / Crypto con games

• LA restaurant group used $60k Dodgers bet to hedge playoff risk, Kalshi says

Economicon / Business / Finance

• American Retirees on Different Incomes Rely on Social Security

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Letters with 'suspicious substances' sent to US senators and election offices

  The suspicious letters were sent to at least five Democratic senators' offices, most of which were intercepted before delivery. They include California's Alex Padilla, Connecticut's Chris Murphy and New York's Kirsten Gillibrand, the senators' offices confirmed to the BBC. New York Senator Chuck Schumer and Delaware Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester were also sent the suspicious pieces of mail, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News. "This incident is a stark reminder of the very real danger facing those who serve the public and who help administer our elections in the face of increasingly hostile political rhetoric," Padilla said in a statement to the BBC.

  Delaware's Department of Elections said its office received and opened a letter containing a white powdery substance on Thursday, adding that staff followed security protocols on handling suspicious mail. The Oklahoma State Election Board and the Louisiana secretary of state both said this week that their offices had received letters containing a white powder. The Louisiana office was evacuated after a staff member opened the package on Tuesday, but it has since reopened after law enforcement found no evidence of harmful substances. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said his office was the intended recipient of a letter containing white powder, but the USPIS had intercepted it. The New York State Capitol in Albany and the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne also received suspicious packages, according to emergency responder scanner feed reviewed by the BBC.

• US federal budget deficit jumps 12% in one year to nearly $2 Trillion

• US air traffic controllers to get 2.8% pay raise under FAA deal

Trump

• Trump Signs Order Exempting Russia from Sanctions

  • Trump waives Russia-related sanctions before they even kick in

• Katie Zacharia, Trump’s New Press Secretary, Is Ousted After 5 Days

Left Angst

• Why Is Tech Billionaire Marc Andreessen So Mad?

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• 3 children, 1 teacher killed in shooting at Bend, Oregon, elementary school; teen suspect dead

  The children killed were ages 5, 8 and 11, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said at a news conference Thursday night. The 5-year-old victim was identified as Rhoam Summer, according to fundraisers and a social media post from his father. Friends have set up two fundraisers or the family. The teacher killed was identified Friday as 25-year-old Megan Lambert. Two other victims who were wounded, a 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher, were taken to St. Charles Medical Center with critical injuries. Krantz on Friday identified the shooter as Griffin J. John II of Bend, Oregon. The suspect previously attended Silver Rail Elementary but was not currently enrolled at Bend-La Pine Schools, Krantz said.

  • Bend school shooter broke through 'secure vestibule' meant to keep children safe and murdered four before being killed 'by student's dad', as teacher who saw him approach with long gun tells of terror on kids' faces

  Smith and her students were ultimately rescued from being killed by a good Samaritan who spotted the teenager and followed him into the building, shooting him dead shortly after he began his rampage. It has since emerged that Kaylub Giamanco, 36, was the hero gunman who just happened to be driving past on his way home for lunch when he heard gunfire. He is a carpenter and a father of two girls, ages 5 and 10, who attend Silver Rail Elementary.

• FBI awarding UFC exclusive agreement to train agents

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Are we sleepwalking into World War III?

• Putin envoy says Russia and US are discussing joint deals including data centres

World

• Palantir patient data tech rejected by many NHS trusts in England

• Russian billionare takes tiny Norwegian newspaper to court in London

• EU negotiates sanctions swap with China to rescue critical ASML supplier

• Internet access a fundamental right for all age groups – India's Supreme Court

• Lula's party to file complaint against Meta over Brazil election interference

• Oh. I thought it was about schools... 800k involved in nationwide protests in France over rising cost of living

  • Unrest Mars Day of Protest in France, as Student Movement Turns National

  • Mobs loot and burn as protests turn violent across France

  • "Scuffles" Internet Rips CBS News for the Worst Tweet on French Riots Since ‘Mostly Peaceful.’

• EU plans to fast-track antitrust approval of SpaceX rival

• $1.5B data centre for Canada's cyber spy agency to be built in Ottawa area

• Logitech begins making devices in India, says it was a 'natural' shift

Israel

• Israeli settlers attack olive framers & Washington Post journalist in West Bank

• Israeli firm used ads to enable espionage, Canadian researchers say

• Masked settlers attack European diplomats in occupied West Bank

  • Israeli settlers attack European diplomatic cars in West Bank beat French mayor

  • Israeli settlers attack European diplomats in the West Bank

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Ukraine's data centre strikes have thrown Russia into turmoil

China

• Chinese phones with built-in malware sold in Africa

• China is second only to the U.S. in healthcare costs as a percentage of income

Health / Medicine

• Overlooked brown fat in our bodies linked to wide range of health benefits

• Why people who have never smoked are getting hooked on vapes

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• How Tree Rings Challenged the Myth of American Wilderness

• "Tame" boar and deer are instinctively adapting to the wolf in the Netherlands

• El Niño: Chief Minister 'prays' to farmers to save drinking water

• NOAA oceanographer explains Kelvin waves and their part in El Niño

• The orca brothers preying on great white sharks

• Microplastics React with Water, a New Study Says. That's a Problem for Biology

• Loki the Sea Cucumber, One of 57 Newly Discovered Deep-Sea Species

• An invisible jet of radioactive goo is heading for Earth

• 1,000-Foot ‘Invisible’ Waves Are Tearing Through the Deep Ocean.

• How Do Fungi Keep the Planet Healthy?