https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/child-mortality-has-declined-in-all-world-regions

Of note - child mortality (under 5) across Latin America is now less than half what it was in the US in 1950. Africa which was 10x the US rate in 1950 is still 10x the US rate, but that is only 2.3% more (6.1 vs 3. than where we were in 1950. And I suspect that, if you exempted a few strife-riven regions of African, it would be a much better number

Have you updated your vision of Africa accordingly? This is always hard for usas we get older. Despite being a fan of Hans Rosling, I'm always a bit brought up against the fact that my view of the world is still influenced by the world that existed when I was a child.

"  In addition, members of ArtCraft commented to the social news site Hacker News that they are also planning to develop tools equivalent to Microsoft Office, AutoCAD, and Solidworks."

https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20261005-artcraft-crafting-apps/#gsc.tab=0

Don't poke the bear. Poke the bear, the lion and the velociraptor.

Debbie says, download your Artcraft studio while you can.

Debbie also says that in a few years, replicating the Artcraft effort will be a simple matter of a few good prompts and a few days of tweaking, but few people will bother because it will feel in 2030 like a good HTML editor feels today - a thing for which there is almost no market because nobody wants to get their hands that dirty

Ironically, their revenue model is... wait for it...


SUBSCRIPTION!!

Of course it is. But the software is free. You pay for the AI capabilities. Which makes sense since those have real ongoing costs.  But it's still ironic

I clicked through to their website which I didn't previously notice. Their pitch

"Stop renting from websites.
ArtCraft is yours to own and keep, forever. No subscriptions needed, no aggregator middleman, no rent payments."

https://getartcraft.com/

Napster was a CD killer for people who didn't want to buy music. This is more like a Spotify killer.

I've tried Adobe alternatives. All disappointing (though several good enough that I haven't paid for an Adobe products in many years).

Adobe is rapidly adapting to become a chat-based interface.  The race is on for Adobe to figure out some way to add value.

I've seen this term a few times lately. Napster briefly made all copyrighted music available for free.

This person (group?) is making feature-equivalent "clean room" versions of Adobe products in Rust.

https://github.com/storytold

We've talked about this. Round trip power from homes to EVs and back is huge for electrification. Formerly just on the cyber truck, now model 3 and model y offer it

https://electrek.co/2026/10/06/tesla-powershare-home-backup-model-3-model-y-powerwall-3/

It will also make the case for noisy polluting generators harder and harder to make.

I always did this with a plug-in that semi-decently rendered MD from a Google doc, but i couldn't go round trip.

Now it looks like MD support will be built in

https://www.ghacks.net/2026/10/06/google-docs-adds-native-markdown-file-editing-with-rendered-md-previews-in-google-drive/

And 56 other species discovered in just two weeks of exploration at 2000m below the Atlantic surface.

Cool photos

https://petapixel.com/2026/10/06/scientists-discovered-57-species-in-a-south-atlantic-submarine-canyon/

QuoteOn Monday, the menu on Starbucks' U.S. website listed a 16-ounce (0.5-liter) Sugar-Free Caramel Protein Matcha with 16 grams of sugar and a 20-ounce (0.6-liter) version of the same drink with 21 grams of sugar. By comparison, one Reese's cup has 11 grams of sugar.

https://apnews.com/article/starbucks-sugar-free-protein-drinks-coffee-beverages-9c1c76cc3d5dc712f76a8bfbd4493459

LM this post for Seth Godin brought to mind your business idea.

This line in particular: "The data doesn't need to be large to be valuable—it needs to be specific and trusted."



Building a second-wave AI business
https://seths.blog/2026/10/but-is-it-a-business/

Oops

https://th3core.com/chat/index.php?topic=15120.msg92571;topicseen#new

One of the insights from a couple years ago was that no amount of 2D images for training enabled models to generate good 2D images.

Generating 2D images requires a 3D model of the world, including the physics of light and gravity.

One of the implications was that the effort to build better image generators would lead to big advances in self-driving.

The professionals at The Onion debate this essential question

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YhFUwMcrOKo&ra=m

https://www.topgear.com.ph/news/car-news/toyota-sora-fcev-bus-a6938-20261006

Fuel cells are not entirely dead yet.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/ninety-five-year-old-william-shatner-is-everywhere/

There's a Mark Marin interview with Shatner when he was at least 90 and the number of projects and ideas for projects he had was staggering.