2026 oct 17

[rcjordan]

Anthropic's Claude cracks a 25-year NSA curve mystery, what it means for bitcoin
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/17/wow-it-s-a-real-discovery-claude-cracks-a-25-year-nsa-number-mystery

Meta to Literally Every Business User: Nice Website You Got There
https://gizmodo.com/meta-to-literally-every-business-user-nice-website-you-got-there-2000827266

After Muse Launch, U.S. Banks Are Saying Hell No to AI Agents Moving Money
https://gizmodo.com/after-muse-launch-u-s-banks-are-saying-hell-no-to-ai-agents-moving-money-2000827221

Tesla driver says he was asleep on FSD when he hit CHP car, 2 officers hurt
https://electrek.co/2026/10/16/tesla-fsd-crash-chp-patrol-car-driver-asleep-fairfield/

Investors are dumping AI stocks as 'tech wreck' worsens. Here's where they're turning now. - MarketWatch
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/traders-pile-into-bonds-and-defensive-stocks-as-the-tech-wreck-picks-up-steam-48c04374

Harvard Endowment Soars to $68 Billion After 27 Percent Return | The Harvard Crimson
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/16/harvard-68-billion-endowment/

Google's News AI pilot expands to over 400 publications, including U.S. local news outlets | Nieman Journalism Lab
https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/googles-news-ai-pilot-expands-to-over-400-publications-including-u-s-local-news-outlets/

I tried replacing Photoshop, Lightroom, and Acrobat with free vibe-coded alternatives, and they're surprisingly good
https://www.xda-developers.com/tried-replacing-photoshop-premiere-pro-lightroom-with-free-vibe-coded-alternatives/

AI designs working molecular scissors that recognize and cut selected protein targets
https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-molecular-scissors-protein.html

Computers Made of Human Brain Tissue Identify Braille Letters In Breakthrough
https://www.404media.co/computers-made-of-human-brain-tissue-identify-braille-letters-in-breakthrough/

[rcjordan]

Diaries of a Primitive Man
https://hyperallergic.com/diaries-of-a-primitive-man/

Encryption Is Getting Squeezed From All Sides | WIRED
https://www.wired.com/story/kernel-panic-encryption-is-getting-squeezed-from-all-sides/

Wind-Assisted Shipping Gains Ground as Airbus RoRo Adds Rotor Sails
https://gcaptain.com/wind-assisted-shipping-gains-ground-as-airbus-roro-adds-rotor-sails/

^{TLDR; Nearly 8 in 10 Gen Z consumers say collecting physical objects helps them feel more connected to the real world.}
Gen Z is bringing back something the digital age was supposed to replace - Fast Company
https://www.fastcompany.com/91625146/gen-z-is-bringing-back-something-the-digital-age-was-supposed-to-replace

The Supreme Court wants to give you fewer privacy rights than a famous judge.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/10/supreme-court-privacy-rights-case-bork-kavanaugh.html

[rcjordan]

Solar surpasses nuclear power globally for first time - pv magazine Global
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/09/29/solar-surpasses-nuclear-power-globally-for-first-time/

Finance worker pays out $25 million after video call with deepfake 'chief financial officer' | CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/04/asia/deepfake-cfo-scam-hong-kong-intl-hnk

US Rep proposes bill to give video game buyers "ownership," not "a license" - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/us-rep-proposes-bill-to-give-video-game-buyers-ownership-not-a-license/

The dress rehearsal for an AI reckoning
https://www.ft.com/content/3f982af9-3eec-476f-9d29-39145ac485c4?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Diesel Prices Remain High as Global Fuel Shortage Persists - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/diesel-prices-hold-high-despite-efforts-to-boost-global-supplies-5557b1d2

Europe auto market accelerates EV shift as fuel-price surge undermines diesel demand
https://tradersunion.com/news/companies/show/3853676-europe-ev-shift-diesel-decline/

Websites are closing their doors to AI agents | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1013195/ai-agents-blocked-web

Anthropic secured highest junk credit rating in June
https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/anthropic-secured-highest-junk-credit-040018773.html

San Francisco retiree loses $500,000 in pig butcher scam, then falls for the same scam again - ABC7 San Francisco
https://abc7news.com/post/san-francisco-retiree-loses-500000-pig-butcher-scam-falls-same/19938958/

[rcjordan]

Solar panels are bringing idle cranberry bogs back to life | Electrek
https://electrek.co/2026/10/16/solar-panels-are-bringing-idle-cranberry-bogs-back-to-life/

^{Several physical attacks on the press in my feeds lately}
Euronews' crew assaulted by masked individuals while covering protests in Paris
https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/17/euronews-crew-assaulted-by-masked-individuals-while-covering-the-major-demonstrations-in-p

[ergophobe]

> Several physical attacks on the press in my feeds lately

I've been seeing several of journalists being attacked and beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

> pig butcher scam

It turns out many of these scammers are actually slaves.

A whistleblower trapped inside a "pig butchering" scam compound gave WIRED a vast trove of its internal materials—including 4,200 pages of messages that lay out its operations in unprecedented detail.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-red-bull-leaks/

[ergophobe]

> tried replacing Photoshop

Theresa tried it and found it very good.

> solar/nuclear

"The report identifies falling battery costs as a potential enabler." That's the thing. The intermittency problem is cheaper to solve with storage than with nuclear now. But also, the small nuclear plants seem to be making progress, but it feels more and more like a Level 5 self-driving problem - the last few problems are harder to solve than expected.

The lead-cooled Russian design would be pretty cool though.
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/worlds-first-lead-cooled-nuclear-plant