https://blog.archive.org/2026/04/23/gone-but-not-forgotten-recovering-the-dead-web/

Makita has always been a top contender and now seem to be top dog. The batteries have been considered to be the best value for some years now. Adapting another brand to Makita batteries is fairly common.

That said, to my knowledge no tool line has the broad range of tools & specialty tools to equal the Ryobi 18v One+ line.  The line extends to 300+ tools now from construction to gardening to auto repair. The tools are cheap and batteries are good. I reluctantly moved to them from a pro-quality Porter-Cable line about 8 years ago and adapted my remaining favorite Porter-Cables to the Ryobi batteries.

Lately, I've seen a fair number of complaints about Milwaukee's declining quality.

https://bsky.app/profile/deeprun-news.bsky.social

An AI news bot. Sort of a ticker-tape of news articles.

SpaceX Investors Are Losing a Colossal Amount of Money

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-investors-losing-colossal-amount-140221380.html

...rare Five Eyes statement warns | AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/22/anthropic-claude-fable-ai-model-artificial-intelligence-national-security

Secret bridge exploited for $4.67 million a week before anyone notices
https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=secret-bridge-exploit

https://www.buzzspot.net/2026/06/mozilla-thunderbolt-ai.html

https://townsquare.cauenapier.com/

https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/articles/americans-turned-against-ai-incredible-130000345.html

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-to-use-uk-and-eu-user-ip-addresses-for-ad-personalization/

I've been checking this one a couple times a week. Found it 5-6 months ago. Been worthwhile so far.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe

+

Another story:
We were traveling down US17 in the Carolinas as there is no better place to sample the real 'Murica.  It was Bike Week in Myrtle Beach.  This was an experience not to be missed regardless of how painful it would be to drive through miles & miles of Old 17 during Bike Week.   Clenching a leather strap between my teeth, I told the boys "Hold my beer."

Actually, it wasn't a beer. It was huge cups of boiled peanuts we bought at some roadside stand. 'Murica.

Back when I was doing the infamous Redneck Tours for the Eurotrash, they wanted to see Walmarts (I took them to a WM Super Center) & big box, upscale supermarkets (Harris Teeter). But I think the Country Boy breakfast at Cracker Barrel may have been the topper.

>Cracker Barrel Story

We had an obviously seasoned waitress at an CB along I-95 (Santee SC). It was mid-morning and the big rush was over.  She came by to refill our coffees, I told her to "show the boys how far away you can hit the cup."  Damn, even I was impressed and I've known some top-notch coffee-slingers in my day.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/chrome-is-removing-the-last-workaround-keeping-popular-ad-blockers-alive/