Tootfinder

Dr Paul Bate appointed as Chief Executive of the British Library https://www.bl.uk/about/press/releases/dr-paul-bate-appointed-as-chief-executive-of-the-british-library

from my link log —
Tech ain't that deep - and that's a problem.
https://deadsimpletech.com/blog/tech-aint-deep
saved 2026-07-20 https://…

Tech ain't that deep - and that's a problem | deadSimpleTech
With that in mind, it became fairly clear to me that the tech industry these days has a depth problem: as much as tech is becoming quite a bit more complex, it's also becoming shallower. Learning new things in tech these days, as often as not, simply doesn't give me the same feeling of satisfaction or achievement as learning or writing C back in the first years of my career did. Being effective in tech these days feels as though it's less about understanding than it is about memorising a big li…

Sources: London-based AI infrastructure startup Nscale is seeking to raise as much as $3B in its US IPO, which could take place as soon as September (Bailey Lipschultz/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08…

As an industry and a cooking ingredient, seaweed is gaining ground in Brazil https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-an-industry-and-a-cooking-ingredient-seaweed-is-gaining-ground-in-brazil/

As an industry and a cooking ingredient, seaweed is gaining ground in Brazil
On a Brazilian beach, a family gave seaweed new life.

‘Very unusual’: UK Palestine activists could be sentenced as terrorists | Courts News | Al Jazeera
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/21/very-unusual-uk-palestine-activists-could-be-sentenced-as-terrorists?tra…

‘Very unusual’: UK Palestine activists could be sentenced as terrorists
Court to rule on whether five activists accused of vandalising a Barclays bank will face terrorism sentencing.

How major publishers in the UK are pivoting away from quantity of content towards quality as Google AI changes lead to falling traffic referrals (Charlotte Tobitt/Press Gazette)
https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/hearst-starts-w…

Hearst starts with 'why' as journalists asked to produce fewer articles
Plus, why Telegraph cut down its newsletters in quality over quantity focus.

Trending 📉 📈 after NFL’s Week 1, as Chiefs, 49ers and Seahawks roll https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7617910/2026/09/21/trending-📉-📈-after-nfls-week-1-as-chiefs-49ers-and-seahawks-roll/

As part of the Trump administration’s continuing attack on left-leaning groups,
the US state department has listed several activists and organizations as
“front groups and fellow travelers” for Cuba,
including Hasan Piker and Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls.
In a 100-page report released on Monday, the state department denounces Cuba as the
“capital of 21st-century communism”,
accusing the Cuban government of carrying out a “campaign of subversion”…

‘Front groups and fellow travelers’: state department attacks US left over Cuba
New report denounces Havana and claims ‘campaign of subversion’ has infiltrated highest levels of US government

Not as cool as your's @… but I tried a couple of shots in the fields. I guess I'll try some more versions of my corn field-photos until I find my favourite.
But meanwhile, check out the other photos and blog posts from our vacation as well ;)

Almost like he wants another 9-11 type attack, which he thinks he will then be able to seize extra powers as a result of such an attack. The Reichstag may have been fire, but I don't think a reboot will work as he hopes.
"Congress created…TSA after…September 11, 2001…Before…airlines contracted…private security firms to screen…but…9/11 attacks showed…private system had dangerous vulnerabilities. Now…Trump administration is resurrecting that…"

July 21, 2026
The front page of yesterday’s New York Times featured some of the 440,000 Americans from Arizona alone who have lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits since the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the deepest cuts to SNAP in its history, expanded work rules, and shifted costs to the states even as cuts to federal grant programs have forced Arizona to lay off a third of its caseworkers.

Prescott throws 4 TDs as Cowboys beat Commanders, who again lose Jayden Daniels to dislocated elbow https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/prescott-throws-4-tds-as-cowboys-beat-commanders-who-again-lose-jayde…

Earth as a potential source of life for Europa’s subsurface ocean: #panspermia

"Economic instability has many causes. Of late, the UK has endured banking crises, energy shocks, Brexit, supply chain disruption and pandemics. None of these arose because government borrowing was too high." — @…
I had some hopes. John Healey has shattered them

I had some hopes. John Healey has shattered them
John Healey’s appointment as Chancellor surprised many people, me included. The biggest reason for surprise was that he has no record as an economic thinker. As I noted on Monday evening, he might have spent time in the Treasury under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, but since then he has shown...

My team is looking for a US-based person to work on making #PQC #SmartCards work with open source software. Says Raleigh, but remote will be considered when nobody can be found locally, which is likely:

Senior Software Engineer in Crypto (Smart Cards)
About the Job The Security Technologies crypto team is seeking a Senior Software Engineer who is a technical leader, creative and committed to delivering quality software. Our team is focused on cryptographic back-end components such as OpenSSL, GnuTLS and Network Security Services as well as cryptographic protocols like TLS, SSH and IPSEC. As a Senior Software Engineer, your main focus will be on designing, developing, testing and collaborating with other contributors over the world to bring f…

Brock Bowers to practice this week as unbeaten Raiders prepare for Saints https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/raiders/brock-bowers-to-practice-this-week-as-unbeaten-raiders-prepare-for-saints-3889411/

Folks, maybe avoid this instance. @… https://bitbang.social/@kalleboo/117313753378065066

Karl Baron (@kalleboo@bitbang.social)
bitbang really is the mastodon instance that won't quit. Running a 2.5 year old unpatched version of Mastodon, continually throwing errors presumably to to a lack of anti-scraper bot measures, just went down completely for over a day for God knows what reason. But it's mysteriously back now with no word on what happened and our little community here is as happy as ever

Russia has begun importing petrol.
That is extraordinary for a country widely recognised as an energy superpower and one of the world's leading exporters of crude oil.
...
So that, whatever happens, you can say: 'Oh well, never mind.'
Comments like that suggest that Russians don't believe they can influence what's happening around them. All they feel they can do is try to adapt.

Rosenberg: Shortage of petrol but not patriotism as Russians feel growing impact of war
Drivers are waiting hours in fuel queues, as Moscow prepares to celebrate Russian Flag Day.

There’s a certain irony to SIMKL posting a warning to Trakt users about how the service is getting worse… on Reddit of all places. Anyway, it is about as bad as it sounds, if you want an update or haven’t kept up.
Latest change: Trakt has blocked the ability to transfer/sync views and watchlist via API. https…

Neurostimulation in the treatment of psychiatric disorders: Underlying mechanisms and critical analysis of circuit-based interventions https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-026-03872-1 "neurostimulation may function less as a direct elicitor of remission and more as a facilitat…

Neurostimulation in the treatment of psychiatric disorders: Underlying mechanisms and critical analysis of circuit-based interventions - Molecular Psychiatry
Neurostimulation of targeted brain regions has emerged as a novel therapeutic approach to induce remission in patients with various psychiatric disorders. This strategy encompasses several modalities, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), and transcranial focused ultrasound neurostimulation (tFUS), all of which aim to modulate dysfunctional neural circuits and restore activity toward physiological ranges.…

Nice boy, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.
-- Foghorn Leghorn

A tale as old as time

"Study suggests three-quarters of Indo-Pacific coral reefs could drown as sea levels rise"
#Ocean #Coral #Environment

Study suggests three-quarters of Indo-Pacific coral reefs could drown as sea levels rise
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have found that most coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific may struggle to grow fast enough to keep pace with accelerating sea-level rise. Their study found that 76% of the reef sites surveyed do not have the capacity to keep pace with projected sea-level rise under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, threatening coastal protection and marine habitats.

RE: https://mastodon.energy/@CLEW/117132215297473696
As soon as there are enough suitable fast-charging points in the right locations, the proportion of electric lorries amongst new purchases will very quickly approach 100%.

Space data center startup Starcloud raised a $250M extension, at a $2.3B valuation, to its March $170M Series A; source: Nvidia invested $25M (Tim Fernholz/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/21/starcloud-raises-200-mil…

Starcloud raises $250 million for orbital data centers as launch options dry up | TechCrunch
There's about to be a big fight to secure access to space.

I just added two ways to create bookmark notes in @… from @…
1. ⭐️ Starring articles (via API)
2. Sharing menu (via special URL)
The options are available in the Bookmarks section of Settings. The preferred and re…

From Facebook:
After a tough and emotional decision, Jana Kesenheimer (010), who had been leading the FLINTA field, has decided to drop out of the General Classification to join her partner, Christian Holweck (014), and ride for a Race Finish as a pair.
The pair had completed most of their TCR training together over the last year, and although Jana hadn’t initially considered riding as a pair, their unexpected proximity during the first days of the race proved difficult. The str…

word_assoc: Edinburgh word associations
A network of word associations showing the count of such associations as collected from subjects, from the Edinburgh Associative Thesaurus (EAT). Each node represents a word, and a directed edge (i, j) denotes that word i was used as a stimulus to which word j was given as a response. Multiple edges are allowed.
This network has 23132 nodes and 312342 edges.
Tags: Informational, Language, Unweighted, Multigraph

Doesn't history – as well as contemporary news – seem to show that the human race is particularly fond of destruction? Probably part of creation's 'intelligent design'.

Moving as a metaphor for software management.
https://www.garfieldtech.com/blog/moving-metaphor

Moving as metaphor
A few weeks ago, I and several others helped some friends of ours pack up their apartment into a truck in preparation for moving cross-country from Chicago to New York. It was, as such moments generally are, bitter sweet. It's always a good feeling to help out a friend, but when you're helping them get further away from you it's not as pleasant. Of course, me being me, what struck me most about the whole process was how well it served as a model for software development and project managemen…

The Fediverse, however, has *all* of the idiots too horrible for X and Meta, but they only federate with each other, mostly. @… https://

Bill Cole (@scconsult.com)
I'm considering blocking anyone who posts content from Meta platforms, as I already do for X content. It's always just rage-farming. People, mostly, are idiots. As a result, a big chunk of what we say is junk. Meta and X thankfully have more than their share of the worst idiots, so I avoid them.

"...severe injury collisions in the first half of 2026 had increased by around 8 percent compared to the same period last year. "
Seems to me that the words about #VIsionZero and #SafeStreets from #MayorLurie

SFPD investigating Bernal Heights collision as a hit-and-run
A pedestrian is left with "life-threatening" injuries following a collision with a vehicle. SFPD is investigating the collision as a hit-and-run.

"...severe injury collisions in the first half of 2026 had increased by around 8 percent compared to the same period last year. "
Seems to me that the words about #VIsionZero and #SafeStreets from #MayorLurie

SFPD investigating Bernal Heights collision as a hit-and-run
A pedestrian is left with "life-threatening" injuries following a collision with a vehicle. SFPD is investigating the collision as a hit-and-run.

Michelin-starred restaurateur faces jail for using ants as dessert garnish.
South Korean prosecutors sought a one-year jail term for the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant accused of using ants as a dessert garnish.
Ants are not among the 10 insect species approved for human consumption under the country's laws. The approved list includes grasshoppers, locusts and two-spotted crickets, among others.
i'll pass on the Dessert, thank-you.

Trump prepares fresh tariffs on dozens of countries, FT reports
Donald ⁠Trump is poised to unleash fresh ⁠tariffs on ⁠dozens of countries
as soon as ⁠this week, the Financial Times reported on ⁠Tuesday,
with his temporary 10% global ‌tariff ‌scheduled to expire on ‌Friday.
The FT said the most immediate new duties are expected to be on a ‌par with the 10% tariffs currently in place,
but the administration was also working on other ⁠investigations that could gran…

Trump announces new tariffs on generic drugs to take effect in 2028 – as it happened
This live blog is now closed.

This is a Masterpiece (sound on)

This post gets regular inline updates:
https://adrianroselli.com/2024/04/what-you-can-do-as-a-web-builder-on-earth-day.html
Today I added a Nature article, the Web Sustainability Guidelines Impact Ratings, and the Carbon in Context calcula…

What You Can Do as a Web Builder on Earth Day
One easy thing you can do for the earth is not use “AI” tools. Consider this as a programmer, web developer, web designer, copywriter, webmaster, etc. The tools include anything branded as generative AI, LLMs, computer vision tools, Copilot, ChatGPT, Bard, Grok, Dall-e, Midjourney, and so on. If you are…

Prescott throws 4 TD passes as Cowboys beat Commanders, who again lose Daniels to dislocated elbow https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/prescott-throws-4-td-passes-as-cowboys-beat-commanders-who-again-lose-d…

Reach reports H1 revenue down 9% YoY to £232.9M, pre-tax profit down 5% to £40.3M, and says it will move "away from volume" to focus on original content (Charlotte Tobitt/Press Gazette)
https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/reach-mo…

Reach moves away from 'volume' as traffic, revenue and share price plunge
Piers North reveals change of approach after disappointing H1 2026 results.

Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell makes strong case as Kirk Cousins’ backup https://raiderramble.com/2026/08/21/raiders-qb-aidan-oconnell-makes-strong-case-as-kirk-cousins-backup/

Ox Alpha, a "stealth model" from an unknown AI lab with a 1M-token multimodal context and capacity for 100T tokens/day, goes viral after launching on OpenRouter (Rohail Saleem/Wccftech)
https://wccftech.com/a-my…

A Mysterious AI Lab Is Offering 100 Trillion Free Tokens/Day For Its Ox Alpha Model, As Evidence Points To Zhipu’s Unreleased GLM
Ox Alpha's 1-million-token context window and video inputs hint at a heavily upgraded GLM-class model that's undergoing live testing.

Mexican government list of journalists and political opponents sparks outcry
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is under fire after a top aide publicly named dozens of journalists, media outlets and opposition figures as part of a
hostile ‘digital ecosystem’ attacking her government.
Critics decry the lists as blacklists that stigmatize independent media in one of the world’s deadliest countries for reporters.
The release of the lists comes as Sheinbaum’s administr…

Did Mexico create a blacklist of journalists and politicians? The president says no
The Mexican government's creation of lists of journalists and opposition figures has stirred memories of the 'enemies list' of the Nixon administration in the U.S.

from my link log —
Subclassing in Python, redux.
https://hynek.me/articles/python-subclassing-redux/
saved 2024-04-11 https://

Subclassing in Python Redux
The conflict between subclassing and composition is as old as object-oriented programming. The latest crop of languages like Go or Rust prove that you don’t need subclassing to successfully write code. But what’s a pragmatic approach to subclassing in Python, specifically?

The biggest issue for Dallas heading into training camp is clear as day https://insidethestar.com/the-biggest-issue-for-dallas-heading-into-training-camp-is-clear-as-day

‘A new normal’: Miami faces worsening seaweed problem as piles of algae wash up on beaches https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/18/miami-sargassum-seaweed-problem-climate-crisis

First Dunwich Heath, then Villa de Leyva. Two wonderful places in different continents hit by wildfire.
Colombia declares public calamity as wildfire threatens popular tourist area | Colombia | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/21/col…

Colombia declares public calamity as wildfire threatens popular tourist area
Wildfire forces evacuations and burns through mountains surrounding Villa de Leyva in the north-east

An interview with Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery, sentenced to 15 years in prison by an Iranian court for her work documenting life under the regime (Jim Sciutto/CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/21/middleeast/iranian-photojournalist-yalda-moa…

This photojournalist was sentenced to 15 years in an Iranian prison. She refuses to be silenced
Even as she prepares for the alarming prospect of years inside Iran’s notorious prison system, Yalda Moaiery says she will continue to bear witness as long as she can.

Dutch nanoimprint lithography startup Morphotonics raised €40M from 3M Ventures, EIC Fund, and others, and plans to expand into data center optical components (TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/21/morphotonics-raises-e40m-as-it-tk-tk-tk-t/

Morphotonics raises €40M to expand its display tech into data centers | TechCrunch
Deeptech company Morphotonics raises €40M from investors including 3M Ventures, Innovation Industries, BOM, and Invest-NL.

Bandero Premium Tequila joins Raider Nation as the Official Tequila Partner of the Las Vegas Raiders https://www.raiders.com/news/bandero-premium-tequila-joins-raider-nation-as-the-official-tequila-partner-of-the-las…

petster: Pet owner social networks (2016)
A network of friendships among users on catster.com and dogster.com. Node represents a user, and edge exists if two users self-identify as friends on either website. The dogster/catster network also contains family links between dog and dog, cat and cat, as well as dog and cat.
This network has 623766 nodes and 15699276 edges.
Tags: Social, Online, Unweighted

Bettors confident Trevor Lawrence and Jaguars will repeat as AFC South champions on NFL futures odds

https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/bet

#ElNino is not a new phenomenon, but the amplification by #ClimateChange and #GlobalWarming seems to be appearing.
And the impact on the Panama Canal, reducing the number of ships it can handle, wi…

Panama canal to reduce shipping as El Niño strikes vital route
Further restrictions on shipping lane possible as Central America gripped by severe drought

#ElNino is not a new phenomenon, but the amplification by #ClimateChange and #GlobalWarming seems to be appearing.
And the impact on the Panama Canal, reducing the number of ships it can handle, wi…

Panama canal to reduce shipping as El Niño strikes vital route
Further restrictions on shipping lane possible as Central America gripped by severe drought

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury …
— Amendment V, United States Constitution
Two hundred and fifty years since the nation’s founding, and almost as many since the adoption of the Bill of Rights,
the role of the grand jury in the American criminal justice system continues to spark debate.
Recently, scrutiny of the grand jury and renewed calls to strengthen it as a bulwark…

Trust, But Verify: Three Grand Jury Reforms to Hold the Government Accountable
Steps should be taken to strengthen grand juries by giving courts and defense counsel more tools to act as a much-needed check on prosecutors.

Flash flooding risk as heavy rain hits UK #UnitedKingdom

Flash flooding risk as heavy rain hits UK
Heavy showers and thunderstorms will continue to affect large parts of the UK.

“Stand up if you know someone who’s been affected by community violence,”
Dr. Khalid Griffin prompted the group of Fort Wayne high schoolers. 
Almost all 60 teenagers who had been seated in the center of the downtown church stood up.
The teens, a predominantly Black group of students, were selected as part of a youth program that does violence prevention work with local high schools.
As area business leaders, city officials, judges, and police officers watched and too…

Teens in This Small Indiana City Want to Talk About Shootings. Adults Are Listening.
“Stand up if you know someone who’s been affected by community violence,” Dr. Khalid Griffin prompted the group of Fort Wayne high schoolers.  Almost all 60 teenagers who had been seated in the center of the downtown church stood up. The teens, a predominantly Black group of students, were selected as part of a youth […]

petster: Pet owner social networks (2016)
A network of friendships among users on catster.com and dogster.com. Node represents a user, and edge exists if two users self-identify as friends on either website. The dogster/catster network also contains family links between dog and dog, cat and cat, as well as dog and cat.
This network has 623766 nodes and 15699276 edges.
Tags: Social, Online, Unweighted

As Xi Jinping visits Washington, Chinese economists warn that Beijing's heavy focus on AI comes at the expense of addressing a severe broader economic crisis (Li Yuan/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/busines

In China, A.I. Is Moving Forward While the Economy Lags Behind
As Xi Jinping arrives in the United States this week for a state visit, China’s advances in artificial intelligence will be in the air. Less discussed: China’s economy in its worst shape in decades.

The DOD hasn't held a press briefing in more than two months, as part of a larger effort to control information and avoid difficult questions about the Iran war (Brian Stelter/CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2026/07/20/media/pentagon-trump-hegseth-iran-press-brief…

The Pentagon avoids questions as the US war with Iran escalates
The public deserves transparency about the US war in Iran. But that’s not what we’re getting — not even close.

TikTok users don't have as much agency over their FYPs as they think https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/how-much-control-do-tiktok-users-really-have-over-fyps/

TikTok users don't have as much agency over their FYPs as they think
The "not interested" feature is your friend, but users must intentionally and constantly curate their FYPs...

OpenAI launches GPT-6 Sol and Luna, saying Sol makes about half as many mistakes as GPT-5.6 Sol and Luna matches GPT-5.6 Sol's performance at ~1% of the cost (David Gewirtz/ZDNET)
https://www.zdnet.com/innovation/openai-gpt-6-sol-luna-release/

OpenAI's GPT-6 Sol doubles its accuracy rate - for half the cost - ZDNET
GPT-6 Sol and Luna arrive less than three months after GPT-5.6, with OpenAI claiming major accuracy gains, dramatic cost reductions, and oddly revealing Claude comparisons across key benchmarks.

The European Commission grants conditional approval for Paramount's WBD acquisition as long as Paramount ends its EU distribution deal with Universal Pictures (Samuel Stolton/Bloomberg)

As the Trump administration conducted heavy-handed raids in Los Angeles and sent national guard troops and marines to respond to the ensuing protests,
two of the city’s soccer teams had put out statements of solidarity with immigrant families
– but not the Dodgers.
Juan also knew that Guggenheim Partners,
the multibillion-dollar ownership group behind the Dodgers franchise,
had a stake in the Geo Group,
a major private operator of immigration detention cen…

As Dodgers head to White House, loyal fans are conflicted: ‘Trump is tearing this city apart’
After ICE raids and protest crackdown, the LA team’s supporters are ambivalent about the World Series winners’ visit

How crypto, AI, and online betting companies emerged as the biggest industries shaping the 2026 US midterm races, as corporate spending reaches a record $517M (Dawn Kopecki/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustr

As calls mount for accountability over the ICE killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston,
we speak with Democratic Congressmember Al Green,
who represents Texas’s 9th Congressional District.
He demands an independent investigation into the shooting to stop
“an attempt to cover up” the killing by the Trump administration.
Democratic lawmakers led by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will hold a public hearing in Houston on Friday
to gather testimony from…

Texas Rep. Al Green Accuses Trump Admin of Attempting to Cover Up ICE Killings
As calls mount for accountability over the ICE killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, we speak with Democratic Congressmember Al Green, who represents Texas’s 9th Congressional District. He demands an independent investigation into the shooting to stop “an attempt to cover up” the killing by the Trump administration. Democratic lawmakers led by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will hold a public hearing in Houston on Friday to gather testimony from community members about Salgado …

Scientists found 45 chemicals in pregnant women and many were linked to birth risks #women

Scientists found 45 chemicals in pregnant women and many were linked to birth risks
A large study found that pregnant women are exposed to dozens of common chemicals, many of which were associated with earlier births and lower birth weights. Researchers also discovered that some replacement chemicals may be just as concerning as the substances they were designed to replace.

The UK's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham keeps Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in post; Nandy is currently overseeing the BBC's royal charter renewal (K.J. Yossman/Variety)
https://variety.com/2026/politics/global/uk-culture-secretary-lis…

Lisa Nandy Stays in Post as U.K. Culture Secretary
Lisa Nandy stays in post as U.K. culture secretary while MP Kanishka Narayan has been appointed the first minister for artificial intelligence.

Sources: Alibaba names senior AI researcher Dayiheng Liu as the head of its Qwen project, bringing clarity after multiple reorganization rounds earlier in 2026 (Juro Osawa/The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/alibaba-appoints-new-head-qwe…

Alibaba Appoints New Head of Qwen LLM Team
Alibaba Group has appointed Dayiheng Liu, one of its senior AI researchers, as the head of its Qwen large language models, according to two employees with knowledge of the matter. Liu’s appointment has brought more clarity to the Qwen team’s leadership after multiple rounds of reorganization earlier this year, according to the people. Alibaba’s official website for its annual Apsara tech

Trump cites national security as Supreme Court weighs challenge to the White House ballroom project
The Supreme Court is weighing Trump’s claim that his new White House ballroom is urgently needed to protect him, his staff and guests from attacks by drones, terrorists and snipers.
On Friday, with a lower-court order about to go into effect halting construction on the controversial project,
Chief Justice John G. Roberts decided that the court needed more time.
He is…

Trump cites national security as Supreme Court weighs challenge to ballroom
The Trump administration says the massive new White House ballroom is urgently needed for national security, to protect the president, his staff and guests from attacks.

China collected $32.3B of stamp duty on stock sales between January and August, up 80% YoY, as average daily trading value rose 72%, amid an AI trading frenzy (Zhang Shidong/South China Morning Post)
https://www.scmp.com/business/china…

China’s stamp duty on stock sales jumps over 80% as AI frenzy drives trading
Average daily trading values on mainland China’s stock markets rose 72 per cent in first eight months of the year.

Hearst names Chris Berend, most recently chief digital officer at NBC News, as its first chief content and experience officer, starting August 3 (Todd Spangler/Variety)
https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/chris-berend-hearst-magazines-nbc-news-12368…

After Leaving NBC News, Chris Berend Is Joining Hearst Magazines
Chris Berend, after leaving NBCUniversal News Group, is joining Hearst Magazines as chief content and experience officer.

The EU appears to be shifting from outsized regulatory fines against Big Tech to technical DMA orders that force compliance, such as sharing search data (Jacob Parry/Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-changes-gear…

Brussels changes gear on Big Tech enforcement
As the EU’s focus shifts from big-ticket fines to compliance, concerns are growing that the market power of dominant tech platforms could become more entrenched. 

There are 49 million eligible young voters in this country,
and we want to reach as many of them as possible! Help us!
>> https://ourbf.org
BF

France becomes the first European country to pass a law banning social media access for users under 15, which could go into effect as soon as September 1 (Mark Landler/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/world/e

France Joins a Global Move Toward Restricting Social Media for Children
Its new law, the first of its kind enacted by a European country, will ban access to some accounts for anyone under 15.

France becomes the first European country to pass a law banning social media access for users under 15, potentially going into effect as soon as September 1 (Mark Landler/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/world/e…

France Joins a Global Move Toward Restricting Social Media for Children
Its new law, the first of its kind enacted by a European country, will ban access to some accounts for anyone under 15.

Free Blockbuster boxes are recently multiplying all over America.
You can set up your own Free Blockbuster dispenser
or find one near you in the US:
the details are online at https://freeblockbuster.org.

FreeBlockbuster.org
FreeBlockbuster.org is combatting the dangerous myth of scarcity by providing free entertainment to as many people as possible. TAKE a movie, LEAVE a movie. Be Kind, Rewind!

How publishers are cashing in on surging public interest in The Odyssey through splashy reissues; Circana BookScan says sales of The Odyssey rose by 76% YoY (MJ Franklin/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/books/odyssey-book-editions.html

To Sell the ‘Odyssey,’ Publishers, Like Its Hero, Get Wily
The market for Homer’s epic poem is as crowded as a certain Ithacan palace, and publishers have had to get crafty to attract readers to their editions.

Anthropic says Opus 5.5 matches Fable 5.1 "on most tasks" while costing about 40% less to run than Opus 5; Opus 5.5 costs $4/1M input and $20/1M output tokens (Matthias Bastian/The Decoder)
https://the-decoder.com/claude-opus-5-

Claude Opus 5.5 matches Fable 5.1 performance at lower cost and promises less "Claudish" writing
Anthropic is launching Claude Opus 5.5, the first model in a new generation. The company says it matches Claude Fable 5.1 on most tasks while costing about 40 percent less to run than Opus 5. Anthropic's benchmarks also put it ahead of OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra on most tasks, despite being significantly cheaper. Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5 are expected in the coming weeks.

After major TV networks announced Monday morning they would boycott the White House
(You may have seen some videos of Trump talking to himself with no audio recorded, as the mainstream press wasn't there to mic him up)
The New York Times and Washington Post both released statements saying that they would not publish or distribute any images from the day’s events.
Despite Trump’s previous claims of allegiance to free speech, he is now pretending that freedom of the press…

Trump Crashes Out Over Media Lawsuit as Press Pool Protest Grows
Donald Trump is rapidly losing control of the situation.

Salem Media goes private after completing its sale to WaterStone, the operating name of The Christian Community Foundation, which held a 49.5% voting interest (Cameron Coats/Radio Ink)
https://radioink.com/2026/08/20/salem-media-goes-private-as-w…

Salem Media Goes Private as WaterStone Completes Acquisition - Radio Ink
Salem Media has completed its sale to Christian nonprofit WaterStone, taking the broadcaster private after more than five decades.

Kalshi Klear, the company's internal clearing house, files for CFTC approval to add margin trading as it seeks to attract institutional liquidity (Davis Giangiulio/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/22/kalshi-ask

Kalshi asks CFTC to allow margin trading on its platform, letting users buy with borrowed funds
It's the latest move by the company as it and other event contract exchanges seek to gain greater participation by institutional traders.

The most potent force in US politicsis anti-establishment fury at a system seen as rigged against average working people.
AI has become Exhibit A.
Until recently, both parties largely avoided criticizing the wealthy corporate elites that funded their campaigns.
In politics as in nature, one does not bite the hands that feed.
Trump Republicans have instead aimed populist fury at immigrants, LGBTQ people, Black and Latino people, “communists”, Muslims, so-called “woke”…

AI is generating a new wave of economic populism. It could be a tipping point
It’s becoming obvious to many Americans that corporations have been raking it in while workers take it on the chin

Anthropic hires Amir Salek, who ran Google's TPU business until 2022, to join its compute team as part of a push to develop its own chips (Dina Bass/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-21/anthropic…

Sources: Paramount is planning to test adding micro dramas in its mobile app in the coming months to drive visit frequency and keep people engaged for longer (James Faris/Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/paramount-p…

Paramount+ to test micro dramas as Hollywood short-form trend heats up
Paramount is moving into micro dramas after adding a short-form video feed as it competes with YouTube, TikTok, and its Hollywood rivals.

Rivers across the European continent,
including some of its most important waterways,
are drying up as an unrelenting heatwave refuses to go away.
The Danube, Rhine, Elbe and Loire have all dried up
as the continent has baked through this summer,
leaving a question mark on drinking water supplies, trade via navigation and even recreational activities.
The Danube, the second-longest river in Europe after the Volga, has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years…

Rhine, Danube, Elbe, Loire. Some of Europe’s biggest rivers are going dry this summer
Europe’s major rivers – the Rhine, Danube, Elbe and Loire – are drying up amid a relentless summer heatwave, threatening drinking water supplies, disrupting trade routes and halting ferry and cargo traffic across the continent.

Natalie Harp, a former One America News Network show host, has emerged as a key gatekeeper to the president.
Her presence with Trump when the president left Air Force One as a decoy while sneaking on to another plane in a service cart
– even as senior officials remained behind
– drew attention.
Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator from Georgia,
amplified that attention with comments at a rally Sunday in Atlanta.
Speaking of Trump, Ossoff said:
“He golf…

White House faces scrutiny over top Trump aide Natalie Harp – live
Harp, a former One America News Network show host, has emerged as a key gatekeeper to the president

Sources: DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng says training on Huawei chips is one of DeepSeek's biggest bets and Huawei is set to deliver training chips in Q4 or Q1 2027 (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/deepseek-bets-big-h…

DeepSeek Bets Big on Huawei Chips to Bypass U.S. Export Controls
DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng told investors that a major priority for his company is to use more domestic chips to train its models, adding that he expects Huawei Technologies to start delivering training chips to DeepSeek as early as the fourth quarter this year, according to two people with ...

‘Pretty epic’ Kelvin wave is the latest threat to SoCal coastal cities.
Coastal communities are beginning to assess the damage from waves and flooding
as Southern California braces for more potentially destructive conditions from a “coastally trapped Kelvin wave.”
Homes from south Orange County to Malibu were flooded and severely damaged.
Erosion chewed away the coast from Carlsbad to Long Beach.
Laguna Beach, Dana Point and Carlsbad last week declared local s…

Kelvin wave poses new threat to SoCal coastal cities: Timeline
Coastal communities are beginning to assess the damage from waves and flooding as Southern California braces for more potentially destructive conditions from a coastally trapped Kelvin wave.

ICE is arresting relatives who come forward to take custody of migrant children in federal shelters
Attorneys say the federal agencies are using children as “bait” to detain sponsors,
leaving kids waiting in shelters for months
https://www.texastribune.org/20…

ICE is arresting relatives who come forward to take custody of migrant children in federal shelters
Attorneys say the federal agencies are using children as “bait” to detain sponsors, leaving kids waiting in shelters for months.

Democrats have seized on the deaths of three US troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Donald Trump to urgently reverse his resumption of the war with Iran amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties.
Even as US forces launched a 10th consecutive wave of attacks against Iranian targets,
concern over the deaths of American service personnel threatened to complicate moves to escalate the conflict,
which has reignited after he last week walked away from a memorandum of …

‘It needs to end now’: Democrats urge Trump to halt Iran war after US troop deaths
President accused of having ‘lost control of this war’ as deaths of trio in Iranian military strikes fuel rising concern

Sources: the EU Parliament plans to launch EPGenAI Hub as early as September, giving MEPs and staff access to Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral models (Max Griera/Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-european-parliaments-answer-to-its-ai…

The European Parliament’s answer to its AI worries: More AI
The institution is opening its doors to models from OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic and Mistral as it tries to bring lawmakers’ growing use of the technology under control.

Assim Alkhawaja sat on the floor outside a nondescript office,
waiting to be called for his ICE-mandated immigration appointment.
He stared straight ahead, his posture tense, his face a mask.
The hallway was brown, as was the carpet. Above Alkhawaja’s head hung a framed stock photo of a waterfall.
A few paces away, official government signs encouraged people without legal status to self-deport.
“Leave on your own terms,” they read, in several languages.
“C…

He has a work permit, a coffee shop – and an ICE ankle monitor: ‘Is this America?’
Business owner Assim Alkhawaja was arrested by ICE as he dropped off Lyft passengers at a military base. Now he’s stuck in a terrifying fight to stay in the US

Sources: Anthropic expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX's record-setting IPO, as it prepares to file publicly for its IPO as soon as the end of August (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-20/an…

The share of people who give a shit about whether a given piece of writing, art, or code was produced with AI is going to fall off a cliff, and that fall has already started.
Five years from now, asking “Is this AI?” will feel about as urgent and meaningful as asking whether a photo was taken on film or digital.
A few specialists will care intensely. Everyone else will have moved on.
I’m not making a values or morality-based call on whether this is a good or bad thing.

In 5 years, nobody will give a damn about AI-detectors.
Why the Pangram screenshot is a doomed beast

In its first year under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth,
the Pentagon dramatically slashed its teams responsible for taking efforts to reduce civilian harm in military conflicts, new reporting finds
— an undertaking that continued until as little as months before the U.S. bombed an elementary school in Minab, Iran, in one of the worst single incidents of a civilian massacre committed by the US

Pentagon Slashed Civilian Harm Reduction Staff and Is Instead Using AI
CENTCOM, which oversees the war in Iran, has had its civilian harm reduction team slashed from 10 to just one.

The Justice Department appears to have hired a convicted election hacker to monitor elections.
Democracy Docket reported that David Michael Levin appears to have joined the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
A Florida attorney, Levin in 2016 was charged with three felonies for hacking a Florida state elections website as well as a county elections website.
The hacking had no impact on the vote counting or outcome,
but Levin pleaded guilty to the crimes.
Levin argued he…

Why Is the DOJ Working With a Man Convicted of Hacking Election Sites?
David Michael Levin appears to be involved in a Justice Department election-monitoring operation.

Concern over whether AI companies can contain their increasingly capable and agentic models
has grown in the wake of a series of high-profile cybersecurity incidents
in which models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta gained unintended access to the internet
during safety evaluations
and hacked into external systems. 
The findings highlight differences in how AI companies are publicly approaching safety
as they scale up agentic deployment into environments

Frontier AI labs still won't say how they'd contain a rogue model | TechCrunch
A new study finds leading AI labs have few publicly documented plans for containing rogue models, raising questions about preparedness as AI systems increasingly demonstrate unexpected and potentially dangerous behavior.

The Trump administration’s cuts to the largest global H.I.V. program last year resulted in sharp drops in both prevention efforts and treatment for the people most at risk from the disease, according to the first large survey of organizations that had received the funds.
The findings show a grimmer picture of the impact of the cuts than the State Department’s data, released in April,
which seemed to suggest that the program had helped to treat about as many people last year as it…

1,700 H.I.V. Treatment Sites Closed After Trump Aid Cuts, a Study Finds
New research also shows that children and high-risk adult populations have been particularly affected.

A woman named Lanna shared that she left the United States two-and-a-half years ago and is now living in Germany.
She recently got a job as a part-time barista to make some extra cash.
The experience, even before she has started the job, has “broken” her—but “in a good way.”
Per her residence permit, Lanna cannot work more than 20 hours per week.
Rather than a traditional interview, the employer had her come in for a “try-out day.”
At the end of it, she was surp…

An American got hired as a part-time barista in Germany. The job benefits blew her mind.
A young woman living in Germany shared that her part-time barista job came with over a month of paid vacation and healthcare benefits.