2026 oct 16

[rcjordan]

ChatGPT can peek at your Chrome tabs now | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1012510/openai-chatgpt-google-chrome-tabs

Google updates Android earthquake alerts, expands to more regions
https://9to5google.com/2026/10/15/android-earthquake-alerts-update-regions/

Berkshire Hathaway Just Bet Another $330 Million on One Stock ^{(Bending Spoons)}. It Soared 41% - 24/7 Wall St.
https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/15/berkshire-hathaway-just-bet-another-330-million-on-one-stock-it-soared-41/

^{or get a trackball}
Scientists Discover a Surprisingly Simple Way To Relieve Stubborn Carpal Tunnel Pain
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-a-surprisingly-simple-way-to-relieve-stubborn-carpal-tunnel-pain/

[rcjordan]

New Documents Expose Exxon's Attempt to Suppress Damning Climate Evidence | Truthout
https://truthout.org/articles/new-documents-expose-exxons-attempt-to-suppress-damning-climate-evidence/

CMS hopes to quadruple provider suspensions over next 6 months, official says - Government Executive
CMS can kick providers out of Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and other federal health care programs.
https://www.govexec.com/technology/2026/10/cms-hopes-quadruple-provider-suspensions-over-next-six-months-official-says/416645/

Wall Street hits its limit on debt-fueled AI spending
https://www.axios.com/2026/10/16/wall-street-limit-ai-spending-debt

The 45-Year-Old Loophole That Keeps Roller Coasters Off the Federal Radar
https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-45-year-old-loophole-that-keeps-roller-coasters-off-the-federal-radar/

CEOs aren't confident in the U.S. economy right now
https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/08/06/ceos-arent-confident-in-the-us-economy-right-now

[ergophobe]

> Exxon

It's funny - at one point I believed algae was the biofuel of the future. I didn't know it was just propaganda from Exxon.

Individuals should go to jail when corporations do things as nefarious as what Big Tobacco and Big Oil have done. Liability protections should extend to people acting on the best information they have, but not to people who do massive public harms in full knowledge of those harms while simultaneously lying to the public about those harms.

Corporate fines are just not adequate to put the fear of God into people. Yet I don't believe any tobacco, banking or fossil fuel executive has or will go to jail

[ergophobe]

The agency has cut about 67% of those providers and suppliers because they did not follow or comply with program rules, she said

What was it you were saying about having trouble finding providers who accepted Medicare?

Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced it cut subsidies for 189,000 people on the Affordable Care Act exchanges after it found those same enrollees had duplicate health care coverage or were dead.

I don't understand this. We get insurance on the exchange and pay $2076/month for terrible insurance. If our income falls low enough we will get a subsidy that will cover most but not all of it. If we bumped up to the Silver tier, even with a subsidy we would pay a lot. But in any case, there is no situation in which it would be worth it for my wife to insure me if I were dead. It would always cost her money unless maybe her income fell to levels to make her eligible for Medicaid.

So who is profiting from insuring dead people?

The only obvious avenue for fraud would be to work for cash that you don't declare for taxes and get your income low enough to get a subsidy.

There is also a fully legal avenue we could take - live off Roth IRA money and show no income and collect a subsidy. I hadn't thought of that until just now.  That only works if you are 59.5 to 65 and have Roth savings.

[ergophobe]

Okay... It turns out that who profits from dead people getting subsidies are insurance brokers who get the subsidy but don't need to buy an actual policy.

Insurance brokers were able to bypass verification by contacting the call center and submitting applications without the applicant present. People can be enrolled in plans without their knowledge while insurance companies collect tax credits. 

https://fedorchak.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-report-finds-billions-taxpayer-dollars-wasted-due-fraud-affordable-care

[ergophobe]

> jail

This is an interesting read

https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/31/2/355

[rcjordan]

>What was it you were saying about having trouble finding providers who accepted Medicare?

Exactly why I posted it.

[rcjordan]

Ranked: The World's Biggest Carbon Emitters
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-global-emissions-by-country-in-2025/

TLDR; 35
A 47-year study reveals the age when your body starts losing strength | ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/10/261014000912.htm

[ergophobe]

> Carbon

Sure, but this gives a totally skewed picture. Most rich countries export a huge amount of their carbon footprint to China through the embodied carbon in manufactured goods (and the US exports a huge amount of water in the form of grain as Peru and Chile do in the form of blueberries)

[ergophobe]

>highest levels between ages 26 and 36

Can confirm. Exception for sprinters who peak before 25. Bolt ran his fastest times the week of his 23rd birthday.

> By age 63, average performance across the measurements had fallen by roughly 30 to 48 percent from peak levels.

Can also confirm. That decline correlates almost linearly with performance in running and lifting, but only vaguely in climbing. Between better gear and (flattering myself) better technique, my max difficulty climbing has fallen a lot less.