Alvaro Lopez Ortega / 2026-04-19 Briefing

Created Sun, 19 Apr 2026 19:26:59 +0000 Modified Sun, 19 Apr 2026 19:29:53 +0000
3890 Words

Amazon is expanding into satellite internet with an $11.57 billion acquisition of Globalstar to challenge Starlink. Despite being labeled a supply chain risk by the DoD, the NSA continues utilizing Anthropic’s Mythos Preview for security scans. Meanwhile, Palantir has released a manifesto advocating for AI-driven hard power, and Tesla is preparing to expand its robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston.

🤖 AI & Machine Learning

Palantir’s controversial new manifesto

Palantir has released a 22-point summary of CEO Alex Karp’s book, The Technological Republic, which advocates for the use of AI weapons and hard power to defend the West. The summary also critiques modern cultural values and “regressive” ideologies, emphasizing the importance of national security and deterrence.

METR: The AI nonprofit tracking rapid AI development for researchers and investors

The “METR time-horizon” chart, created by the nonprofit organization METR, has become a vital tool for AI researchers and Wall Street investors to track the rapid development of AI systems. Industry watchers are closely monitoring the metric to determine whether the current AI boom is accelerating or tapering off.

SemiAnalysis expects $100M+ revenue in 2026 from AI research and subscriptions

Dylan Patel’s SemiAnalysis, an AI research firm and newsletter, projects its revenue will exceed $100 million by 2026. This growth is expected to be driven by subscriptions and specialized research into the AI supply chain.

The widespread adoption of AI-powered development tools has driven a 60% year-over-year increase in global app releases for Q1 2026. While these tools facilitate easier app creation, their increased use is significantly inflating R&D costs, leading companies like Uber to exhaust their planned AI budgets.

Mistral pivots to US/China alternative, targeting $80M monthly revenue by Dec.

Mistral AI is shifting its strategy from competing for top-tier model performance to providing an independent alternative to US and Chinese technology. By offering open-weight models, the French company aims to help organizations achieve digital sovereignty and maintain local control over their data.

543 Hours: What happens when AI runs while you sleep

An experienced developer analyzed 97 days of Claude Code logs to demonstrate how to maximize productivity using autonomous coding agents. The study reveals that significant output is achieved by balancing human-in-the-loop decision-making with extended autonomous “release arcs,” which account for nearly half of the total autonomous hours recorded.

The Trouble with Transformers

The United States is facing critical shortages and increasing lead times for electrical transformers due to rising electricity demand from AI data centers and electric vehicles. This infrastructure bottleneck is causing significant cost overruns and hindering the necessary expansion of the nation’s power grid.

Claude-codex-proxy – Use Claude Code with ChatGPT subscription

The claude-codex-proxy allows users to run Anthropic’s Claude Code using a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription by translating Anthropic-formatted requests to OpenAI’s backend. This enables access to models such as GPT-5.4 while benefiting from OpenAI’s more generous usage limits.

Prompt-to-Excalidraw demo with Gemma 4 E2B in the browser (3.1GB)

The Gemma 4 E2B demo enables the generation of Excalidraw diagrams directly in the browser using compact LLM code. By implementing the TurboQuant algorithm via WGSL compute shaders, the system achieves GPU-accelerated processing speeds exceeding 30 tokens per second.

🔒 Security & Privacy

NSA, DoD using Mythos Preview despite Anthropic’s supply chain risk designation (Axios)

The NSA is reportedly using Anthropic’s Mythos Preview model to scan for security vulnerabilities, despite the Department of Defense labeling the company a “supply chain risk.” This usage persists even as the Pentagon pursues efforts to sever ties with Anthropic and its vendors.

I meant to do that! AI vendors shrug off responsibility for vulns

AI vendors such as Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft are avoiding accountability for security vulnerabilities by labeling significant flaws as “intended behavior” or “design risks” rather than issuing formal advisories or patches. This pattern shifts the responsibility of securing complex AI systems onto end users and IT professionals.

Vercel April 2026 security incident

Vercel has reported a security incident involving unauthorized access to some internal systems, originating from a compromised third-party AI tool’s Google Workspace OAuth app. While services remain operational, a limited subset of customers was impacted, prompting Vercel to advise users to review activity logs and rotate environment variables.

Google Gemini Is Scanning Your Photos – and the EU Said No

Google is expanding its Gemini “Personal Intelligence” feature to allow the AI to access Google Photos face data, Gmail, and YouTube history to generate personalized images. This update, available to US paid subscribers as of April 2026, has faced opposition from the European Union.

Notion leaks email addresses of all editors of any public page

A security vulnerability in Notion allows anyone to retrieve the full names, email addresses, and profile photos of all editors on any public page without authentication. This flaw, which has reportedly remained unpatched since 2022, exposes sensitive employee information if company wikis are set to public.

Discord Read Receipts Exploit: When, How Often, How Long

A bug in Discord’s OpenGraph image proxy allows users to bypass the platform’s lack of read receipts to track when messages are viewed. By intentionally triggering failed image loads, an attacker can monitor message interaction frequency and duration through Discord’s automatic retry pattern.

Passkeys are one of the worst consumer rollouts I ever witnessed

Jenn Schiffer argues that while passkeys represent a vital security advancement, their rollout to consumers has been poorly executed. She contends that companies are treating the technology as an enterprise-level solution rather than a consumer-centric one.

Verkada Deceives School That Verkada Cameras Would Not “Brick”

A senior Verkada sales executive allegedly misled the Chico Unified School District board by claiming their cameras would remain functional if subscriptions were discontinued. However, IPVM testing confirms that Verkada can revoke access to camera feeds and RTSP streams when licenses lapse, a practice reportedly used as a documented sales tactic.

Deutsche Telekom has a bad DKIM key

Deutsche Telekom is reportedly experiencing issues with an invalid DKIM key. This configuration error may impact the authentication and security of their email communications.

Open Passkey – open-source passkey auth with free “backendless” host

Open-passkey is a new MIT-licensed repository designed to simplify adding secure authentication to projects across 33 different languages and frameworks. It features “gateway,” a free, backendless hosted auth server that allows frontend applications to be deployed without a dedicated backend configuration. The project also includes an end-to-end encrypted key-value store modeled after localStorage for secure data storage.

💻 Software & Development

Ruby Central in ‘real financial jeopardy’ following RubyGems maintainer ruckus

Ruby Central is facing “real financial jeopardy,” leading the nonprofit to implement significant cost-cutting measures and the departure of its executive director and several key staff members. This instability follows a period of intense conflict regarding the removal of long-standing RubyGems maintainers and a subsequent shift toward a volunteer-led governance model.

Working Around a Missing Feature in Apple Notes

A simpler workaround for Apple Notes has been proposed to avoid the cumbersome process of creating new folders for backups. The method involves duplicating a note and appending a specific tag to its name to ensure it remains alphabetically sorted near the original.

Yojam: a macOS default-browser shim that routes URLs through a rule engine

Yojam is a new macOS utility that acts as a default-browser shim to route URLs through a customizable rule engine. The tool allows users to direct links to specific browser profiles, strip tracking parameters, and rewrite URLs, while integrating seamlessly with macOS features like AirDrop and the Share menu.

Optimizing xreferee with elemIndex

The xreferee linter has achieved a 5x speedup by optimizing its parsing of git grep output. The performance gains were realized by switching from LazyText to LazyByteString to avoid decoding overhead and replacing the break function with elemIndex to leverage the faster memchr C function.

When compilers surprise you

The article compares how the GCC and Clang compilers optimize a simple function that sums integers up to a given value. While GCC improves efficiency by processing two numbers per loop iteration, Clang replaces the loop entirely with a closed-form mathematical formula, reducing the algorithmic complexity from $O(n)$ to $O(1)$.

Faceoff – A terminal UI for following NHL games

Faceoff is a Python-based terminal user interface (TUI) designed for following live NHL games, standings, and statistics. Inspired by the MLB-focused Playball app, it allows users to track hockey data directly within the command line.

When moving fast, talking is the first thing to break

Prioritizing speed over communication in organizations leads to fragmented collaboration, design errors, and the accumulation of technical debt. This focus on rapid output often results in the neglect of shared systems, documentation, and essential human expertise.

Matt Mullenweg Overrules Core Committers; Puts Akismet on WP 7’s Connector List

Matt Mullenweg has overruled WordPress core committers by directing that Automattic’s Akismet plugin be registered on the new WordPress 7.0 Connectors screen. The decision follows criticism from developers regarding the lack of public discussion and the potential for duplicate plugin entries.

Binary GCD

Euclid’s algorithm for calculating the greatest common divisor (GCD) faces performance bottlenecks due to the high computational cost of integer division. The Binary GCD algorithm addresses this by utilizing bitwise operations, providing a method that is approximately twice as fast as standard C++ implementations.

The seven programming ur-languages (2022)

The article identifies seven “ur-languages”—ALGOL, Lisp, ML, Self, Forth, APL, and Prolog—which are defined by their unique fundamental structural patterns. While transitioning between languages within the same group is relatively easy, moving between different ur-languages requires mastering entirely new computational paradigms.

Self-hosted webmail client for JMAP protocol: Email, calendar, contacts, files

Bulwark Webmail is a self-hosted webmail client built with Next.js and the JMAP protocol for use with the Stalwart Mail Server. The application offers a comprehensive suite of productivity tools, including email management, a calendar, contact management, and a cloud file browser.

🦾 Hardware & Robotics

Google in talks with Marvell to develop new AI TPU and memory processing unit

Google is reportedly in talks with Marvell Technology to develop a new TPU and a specialized memory processing unit for AI models. The collaboration aims to create hardware that works alongside existing TPUs to enhance the efficiency of running AI workloads.

Tesla expands robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston; driverless rides start Jan 2026.

Tesla is expanding its robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston following its previous launch in Austin. While the rollout is underway, early tracking data indicates that only one vehicle is currently operating in each of the new Texas markets.

Hot Wiring the Lisp Machine

Seeking to avoid the bloat of modern web frameworks, the author aims to create a dependency-free workflow for publishing Emacs Org-mode notes as HTML. After finding the native org-publish tool too rigid and difficult to customize, they are searching for a more flexible, Emacs-native solution.

A Chinese Android just ran a half-marathon faster than any human

Lightning, a humanoid robot developed by the Chinese company Honor, completed a half-marathon in Beijing in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, beating the human world record by more than six minutes. This achievement underscores China’s rapid progress and strategic investment in the humanoid robotics industry.

Open-source DIY radar that’s 95% cheaper than $250k commercial offerings

Moroccan engineer Nawfal Motii has open-sourced the Aeris-10, a DIY radar system that offers a much more affordable alternative to commercial versions costing up to $250,000. The project includes two variants, the 10N Nexus and 10E Extended, providing detection ranges of 3 km and 20 km, respectively.

SPEAKE(a)R: Turn Speakers to Microphones for Fun and Profit [pdf] (2017)

The 2017 article “SPEAKE(a)R: Turn Speakers to Microphones for Fun and Profit” introduces a method for repurposing speakers to function as microphones. This technology offers potential applications for both entertainment and commercial use.

Robot sprints to victory in Beijing, beating the half-marathon world record

A humanoid robot from the Chinese company Honor won a half-marathon in Beijing, completing the 21-kilometer course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. This performance surpassed the human world record for the distance, highlighting significant advancements in China’s autonomous robotics technology.

Bipartisan Bill to Tighten Controls on Sensitive Chipmaking Equipment

Congressman Michael Baumgartner has introduced the bipartisan MATCH Act to strengthen U.S. national security by closing gaps in export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The bill seeks to align U.S. technology controls with those of its allies to prevent China from exploiting loopholes to advance its semiconductor industry.

🌐 Web & Infrastructure

Introducing Glyph Protocol for Terminals

Glyph Protocol is a new terminal protocol designed to eliminate the need for users to install large, patched fonts to render specific icons. It allows applications to register custom vector glyphs at runtime and query the terminal for existing font support, ensuring consistent rendering without requiring manual font installations.

What we once had (at the height of the XMPP era of the Internet) (2023)

The author reflects on the decline of the XMPP protocol from its mainstream peak in 2008, attributed to the rise of proprietary, walled-garden messaging platforms. While modern alternatives like Matrix offer decentralized options, the author notes the significant challenges and resource intensity involved in self-hosting such modern systems.

SI Units for Request Rate

To ensure consistency across monitoring tools, the author argues that request rates should be standardized to measurements per second. The article proposes using the SI unit “hertz” (Hz) for periodic load testing and “becquerel” (Bq) to represent the average frequency of irregular organic traffic.

Prepping for the Endgame of the Open Web

The article examines Anil Dash’s concerns regarding the ongoing efforts by major tech entities to centralize and commoditize the open web. Despite the increasing sophistication of these threats, the author maintains that the web’s inherent design and community resilience provide the necessary tools to resist the creation of walled gardens.

Surely no brand is more hated by web users that Cloudflare

Users often encounter Cloudflare only when it blocks access to websites, contributing to a negative perception of the brand. The author criticizes the company for prominently displaying its branding on these interstitial pages.

🌍 Global News & Culture

Secrets, signals & stargazing: UFO files stall as space war heats up

The Pentagon has faced criticism from Representative Anna Luna after missing a deadline to release several unidentified aerial object videos. Meanwhile, Amazon is expanding into the satellite internet market with an $11.57 billion acquisition of Globalstar to compete with Starlink, and a pub landlord in Devon has opened a self-funded space observatory.

How $10B+ luxury DTC brand Quince uses data and manufacturer ties to keep prices low

Quince, a San Francisco-based e-commerce retailer valued at over $10 billion, specializes in offering high-quality luxury goods at significantly lower prices. The company achieves these savings by leveraging data analysis and close manufacturer relationships to bypass middlemen in the supply chain.

Binance, Bitget probe RAVE’s 4,500% surge after ZachXBT alleges insider short squeeze

Binance and Bitget are investigating allegations that insiders engineered a 4,500% surge in RaveDAO’s RAVE token through a manipulated short squeeze. On-chain sleuth ZachXBT claims the rally involved concentrated token holdings in just three wallets and large transfers to exchanges prior to the price spike.

waves & particles

“Waves & particles” is a website hosted at taylor.town that includes sections for about, spam, and RSS feeds. The site is inspired by the work of Zach Lieberman.

PM Carney declares U.S. ties now a ‘weakness’ in address to Canadians

Prime Minister Carney addressed Canadians, stating that ties with the United States are now a “weakness.” The article also features several unrelated lifestyle and shopping recommendations.

Turtle WoW classic server announces shutdown after Blizzard wins injunction

The World of Warcraft private server Turtle WoW has announced its permanent shutdown following a successful copyright infringement lawsuit and injunction by Blizzard. The game servers are scheduled to close on May 14, with all associated community forums and social media channels set to shut down by October 16.

Russia’s doping program is run by the same FSB team that poisoned Navalny

An investigation has revealed that Russia’s state-sponsored doping programs and its political assassination operations share the same personnel, director, and physical address. FSB Colonel Dmitry Kovalev is identified as a key figure in both, having defended Russian athletes against international sanctions while also being linked to the Kremlin’s use of nerve agents to target political opponents.

Notes from the SF Peptide Scene

An author’s recent visit to San Francisco highlights a growing Bay Area trend centered on the use of “cheap Chinese peptides” for various health and cosmetic enhancements. The article describes a peptide-themed party, illustrating the increasing prevalence of injectables like semaglutide within the local social scene.

The Work Runs on Different Maps

Projects often stall when an organization’s formal structure is disconnected from its informal networks of expertise, influence, and institutional memory. While official charts define formal authority, actual progress depends on the unmapped flow of knowledge and decision-making power within the company.

The purist’s guide to phở in Hanoi

This article explores the cultural significance and traditional philosophy of eating authentic phở in Hanoi, drawing inspiration from legendary Vietnamese writers. Rather than providing restaurant recommendations, the text serves as a manifesto celebrating the dish’s essential simplicity and the enduring devotion of local purists.

A Brief History of Fish Sauce

Fish sauce is a fundamental culinary staple in Southeast Asia, produced through a lengthy fermentation process of fish and salt. While historians debate whether its origins trace back to Asia or Ancient Rome, the condiment remains a vital ingredient across many regional cuisines.

Trump orders fast tracking review of psychedelics for mental health disorders

President Trump has signed an executive order to fast-track the FDA’s review of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin and ibogaine, for treating mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. The order allocates $50 million in federal funds to increase accessibility and introduces national priority vouchers to accelerate the approval process for selected substances.

Cory Doctorow on the High Cost of Living with the Ultra-Rich

Cory Doctorow explores the concept of “billionaireism,” focusing on the negative social and moral impacts of extreme wealth. Through reviews of various books, he illustrates the toxic culture within Facebook and the political influence of the multi-level marketing industry.

Air Canada suspends 6 routes ’no longer economically feasible’

Air Canada has suspended six domestic and cross-border routes, including services between Toronto and Montreal to New York’s JFK, due to rising jet fuel costs. The airline stated that the increase in fuel prices driven by the Middle East conflict has made these specific routes no longer economically feasible.

Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025

Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, with 54 countries experiencing a loss of political rights and civil liberties compared to only 35 that saw improvements. The expansion of autocracies is being driven by military coups and reduced international democracy aid, although many established democracies continue to demonstrate resilience.

Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

Secret memos obtained by The New York Times reveal that the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket,” a process for making major rulings without detailed reasoning, originated with a 2016 order blocking President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. This single-paragraph decision marked a significant departure from the court’s traditional, deliberative judicial procedures.