Alvaro Lopez Ortega / 2026-07-01 Briefing

Created Wed, 01 Jul 2026 20:24:55 +0000 Modified Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:04:18 +0000
6735 Words

Asahi Linux 7.1 fixes boot picker and battery issues caused by macOS 27 updates, while Zig’s latest devlog moves package management from compiler to build system, shrinking the binary by 4%. Pidgin 3.0 Alpha 2 introduces built-in notifications, Zulip DMs, and QR code support for developers. Meanwhile, Box3D, an open-source 3D physics engine forked from Box2D, adds triangle mesh collision and SIMD solver to address Unreal Engine limitations in a game project.

🛠️ Open Source & Dev

Open Source as Infrastructure: Taking Roads and Bridges literally

Open source is increasingly framed as critical infrastructure, but unlike physical bridges—which have mandatory inspections, predictable funding, and legal accountability—open source projects lack equivalent structural oversight and maintenance systems. The author highlights that while governments regulate consumers of open source, they do not treat the projects themselves with the same rigor as public infrastructure.

Pidgin 3.0 Alpha 2 (2.96.0) has been released

Pidgin 3.0 Alpha 2 (version 2.96.0) has been released for developers and tinkerers, but it is not intended for end users due to many bugs and unfinished features. This snapshot adds built-in notifications, conversation member avatars, a scheduler UI, Zulip direct messages, and QR code support. The next alpha is scheduled for September 30, 2026.

Asahi Linux 7.1 Progress

Asahi Linux 7.1 addresses two issues caused by macOS 27: a missing APFS metadata flag that prevented Asahi from appearing in the boot picker (fixed via automatic flag-setting or a Linux tool), and a changed SMC firmware that triggered false battery readings and emergency shutdowns (patched in kernel 7.0.12 and later).

Open Source 3D Physics Engine Box3D

Box3D is an open-source 3D physics engine forked from Box2D, now on GitHub, created to address Unreal Engine physics limitations in the game The Legend of California. It adds features such as triangle mesh and height-field collision, a wide SIMD solver, and gyroscopic torque support while retaining Box2D’s core architecture.

All Package Management Functionality Moved from Compiler to Build System

Zig’s package management functionality has been moved from the compiler executable to the build system (maker process), reducing the compiler binary size by 4% and enabling safety checks, easier patching, and CPU-specific optimizations. The process hierarchy was restructured so that the maker process remains the parent, avoiding reconnection issues for the upcoming build server protocol. The devlog also briefly notes progress on the SPIR-V backend.

Low-level Haskell: The cursed way to emulate inline assembly in Haskell/GHC

The article explores methods to invoke obscure CPU instructions from Haskell by emulating inline assembly, focusing on returning multiple values like the high and low halves of a 128-bit product. It contrasts Haskell’s limitations with C’s ability to use __int128 or inline assembly, noting that GHC’s C FFI does not support returning structs by value, and uses widening multiply as an example to compare alternatives to GHC’s built-in timesWord2# intrinsic.

Which GitHub features are needed in a code forge before you can migrate?

A developer is building a new code forge called juju.bi, emphasizing offline collaboration, GitHub API compatibility, and change-id based features. Currently, they are improving the experience for small teams using private repositories before expanding to public repos, and they are seeking input on which GitHub features are essential blockers for migration.

Hanami 3.0 in Full Bloom

Hanami 3.0 has been released, featuring integrated mailers, built-in internationalization via the i18n gem, and first-class Minitest support alongside existing RSpec. The update also delivers faster default performance and an improved developer experience.

What to Learn to Be a Graphics Programmer

To be hireable as a graphics programmer, one must learn modern explicit APIs (DirectX12, Vulkan) for CPU-side engine work and GPU-side techniques like path tracing and physically based rendering (PBR). Key resources include “Ray Tracing in One Weekend” and LearnOpenGL’s PBR section, with math requirements of linear algebra, basic trigonometry, and minimal calculus.

Building Gin: Simple over Easy

Gin, a Go web framework, was created as a simpler alternative to Martini, avoiding reflection-based magic and using a radix tree router for efficiency. It centers on a *gin.Context object that handles requests and rendering without runtime reflection. The framework prioritizes long-term simplicity over initial ease of use, a philosophy shaped by the author’s experience building developer tools.

Salt v1.0.0 – a systems language with Z3 theorem proving in the compiler

Salt v1.0.0 is a systems programming language that uses Z3 theorem proving to verify contracts at build time, achieving zero-runtime-overhead safety with performance comparable to C’s clang -O3. It has been used to build practical systems—including a Llama 2 inference engine, a microkernel, a neural network trainer, a Redis-compatible data store, and a 2D rendering engine—all with mathematically guaranteed array bounds and no garbage collection or borrow checker.

A complete ClickHouse OLAP engine, compiled to WebAssembly

chDB is a complete ClickHouse OLAP engine compiled to WebAssembly, allowing SQL queries to run directly in the browser. The interface includes options for importing data, viewing examples, and executing queries through a built-in SQL shell.

Pglayers – PostgreSQL extensions as stackable Docker layers

pglayers offers pre-built PostgreSQL Docker images with extensions like pgvector, PostGIS, and pg_cron pre-installed, as well as a tool to build custom images by stacking individual extension layers onto the official postgres image using COPY --from. Each extension is published as a minimal Docker layer containing only its binaries, eliminating the need for manual compilation or dependency installation.

Reduce GVisor Cold Starts with GPU Snapshotting

Cerebrium reduces GPU cold starts for AI workloads by using CPU and GPU memory checkpointing: they snapshot a fully initialized container (including model weights, CUDA kernels, and runtime state) and restore it directly, reducing cold start times by over 80%. This avoids redoing deterministic initialization steps like loading libraries and compiling kernels on every scale-up.

Solid and Clean Code never felt solid or clean to me

The author criticizes Clean Code and SOLID principles, arguing that Robert C. Martin’s verbose, self-promotional style and unverifiable advice make them feel like a con. Drawing from their history background, the author sees these principles as cultural rules rather than objective truths, and concludes that much of the advice is obvious or padded, wasting readers’ time.

How We Made IPFS Content Publishing 10x Faster

Optimistic Provide is an optimization for IPFS content publishing that reduces publication time from over 13 seconds to under 1 second by immediately storing records with likely closest peers, terminating the DHT walk early, and returning control after most PUT RPCs succeed. This improvement also reduces network overhead by 40% and was implemented in Kubo 0.39.0.

GolemUI – The new paradigm for JavaScript forms

A team of three friends has released GolemUI, an open-source library that dynamically generates forms from JSON definitions, featuring a typed authoring layer and support for React, Angular, Vue, Lit, and Vanilla JS. It includes 28 headless components, a JSON engine for storing or LLM-generated definitions, and a deterministic MCP to validate model outputs.

Ray Tracer in SQL

A path tracer implemented entirely in ClickHouse SQL renders the word “ClickHouse” as glassy chrome letters over a procedurally generated terrain, using arrayFold for ray bounces and outputting directly to PNG via ClickHouse’s PNG format. No UDFs or external code are used; a single SELECT computes every pixel.

FFmpeg 9.1’s new AAC encoder

The forum post advises that most linked software is safe to use, but users should consult moderators if unsure. It also encourages reporting false positives or actual malware through a provided article link.

The C to Rust migration book

The book provides a practical guide for safely migrating C code to Rust, covering FFI fundamentals, type handling, error management, and validation techniques. It emphasizes maintaining mixed C-Rust codebases with clean APIs and includes hands-on exercises. By the end, readers will be equipped to productively introduce Rust into C projects.

Frond – a frontend runtime for your app’s dependency graph

Frond is a frontend runtime that structures scattered providers, effects, and cleanup scripts into a managed dependency graph, automatically evicting user-scoped nodes when the user changes. It eliminates manual cleanup checklists by representing services as nodes with typed dependencies and lifecycle hooks (acquire/release), and provides end-to-end type safety by propagating backend types through the graph to React consumers.

HackerNows – Native iOS HN Client

HackerNows is a reimagined iOS client for Hacker News that offers category filtering, fluid scrolling, upvoting, and personal collections. It features a clean reading experience with collapsible comment threads, iCloud-based cross-device syncing, and allows users to submit stories and provide feedback via GitHub.

Pine64 launch $50 smart speaker for Home Assistant tinkerers

Pine64 has launched the PineVoice, a $50 smart speaker powered by a RISC-V chip and open-source software, designed for local, self-hosted Home Assistant setups. It features dual microphones, local wake-word detection, and runs on Alibaba’s YoC platform, but has limited memory (32 MiB pSRAM) and is intended for developers, not consumers. Unlike proprietary cloud-based speakers, PineVoice prioritizes affordability and open-source networking.

Single header Parser Combinators for C

CParseC is a single-header C99 library offering composable parser combinators inspired by Haskell’s Parsec, with zero-copy parsing, no hidden allocations, and user-supplied arenas. In a CSV parsing benchmark, it is about 1.25 times faster than BurntSushi/rust-csv and roughly 20 times faster than attoparsec-csv.

Fixing a kubelet memory leak in Kubernetes 1.36

A memory leak was discovered in Kubernetes v1.36’s kubelet process on a small 2 GiB RAM node, causing high memory usage and pod restarts. Pprof analysis identified the leak primarily in context.(*cancelCtx).propagateCancel. The node’s limited memory exposed the issue quickly; it would have taken longer to detect on nodes with more memory.

From monolith to Lakebase to LTAP: rethinking the database from storage up

The author, frustrated with the fragility of traditional OLTP databases while building Databricks, created Lakebase—a serverless Postgres database that reorganizes monolithic components into independent services. This architecture enables real-time transactions and analytics on a single copy of data without CDC or mirroring, addressing issues like data loss from misconfiguration and the need for physical clones to scale reads.

Microsoft lets Azure Linux 4 out of the cloud in downloadable ISO form

Microsoft has released Azure Linux 4 as a downloadable ISO, allowing local testing of the Fedora-derived server distro. However, the company advises that production deployments should wait until the software is deemed fully ready.

Portuguese restaurant kiosk software gives Windows indigestion

A Portuguese restaurant kiosk software is causing issues on Windows due to an unverified publisher identity. The article humorously suggests fixing the problem by adding a fried egg, though the underlying technical glitch remains unresolved.

NPM receiving major security overhaul in July, but some security pros say it’s not enough

NPM v12, launching in July, will block automatic install scripts and unauthorized third-party dependencies to prevent auto-running malware. However, security experts warn it fails to address account takeovers, allowing compromised accounts to ship malicious code that executes when imported, leaving supply chain attacks unresolved.

🤖 AI & Machine Learning

SpaceX shows handset prototype: xAI AI, own OS, Snapdragon, slimmer than iPhone

SpaceX has developed a prototype for a handset-like device, slimmer than an iPhone, that integrates AI technology from xAI, a proprietary operating system, and a Snapdragon chip. The prototype was recently shown to investors and stakeholders ahead of the company’s upcoming mega initial public offering.

Claude Fable 5 Promotional Access

From July 1-7, 2026, Pro, Max, Team, and Premium Enterprise subscribers can use Claude Fable 5 for up to 50% of their weekly usage limits at no extra cost. After reaching that limit, users can continue with usage credits or switch to another model. The promotion ends July 7, 2026 at 11:59:59 PM PT.

ZCode: Claude Code from the Makers of GLM

ZCode, a coding agent from the makers of GLM, offers three subscription tiers—Lite, Pro, and an enterprise plan with up to 20x Lite quota—tailored for different development workloads. The tool supports remote task execution via WeChat, Feishu, or Telegram and is optimized for GLM-5.2, enhancing reasoning, coding, and multi-agent collaboration.

Parsewise (YC P25) – Reason Across Documents with an API

Parsewise offers an API that transforms large volumes of unstructured documents (PDFs, emails, etc.) into schema-compliant data, with every value traceable to word-level citations across files. The platform uses self-improving agents for data resolution and focuses on verifiability, allowing business experts to quickly validate outputs. It is model- and cloud-agnostic, achieving state-of-the-art results on the Databricks OfficeQA benchmark using Gemini models for visual reasoning.

Matrix Orthogonalization Improves Memory in Recurrent Models

Orthogonalizing the mLSTM memory matrix during reads, inspired by the Muon optimizer, improves performance on noisy associative recall tasks, particularly in difficult regimes where raw mLSTMs struggle. The method boosts success rate and accuracy across various vocabulary sizes and sequence lengths, though results are limited to small models and synthetic benchmarks.

AI search could kill the web without new quality signals and revenue models

AI search engines risk undermining the web by reducing traffic to publishers, and proposed “penance payments” for failing to forward users are insufficient without new quality signals and revenue models.

Can government AI actually scrub UAP footage from the internet?

A Reddit theory suggests a government AI called Immaculate Constellation automatically deletes high-quality UAP footage from the internet, based on an alleged Pentagon program and a 2025 whistleblower dossier describing a “digital quarantine zone.” The article notes a distinction between internal government data controls and public internet scrubbing, while some users claim personal UAP photos are being deleted.

🔬 Science & Technology

Optimizing an Algorithm That’s Quadratic by Design

WhatChord’s chord-naming engine treats naming as a ranking problem, scoring multiple candidate names and ordering them using a deliberately non-transitive comparator that includes hard rules and tie-breakers. Because this comparator can create cyclic preferences, the engine does not sort but instead linearizes the pairwise preference matrix, first picking unbeaten candidates and breaking cycles via Copeland win-count.

Building a passive Ethernet tap

A passive Ethernet tap was built on a mini breadboard using RJ45 breakout boards and capacitors to force 100 Mbps, allowing monitoring of a smart TV’s traffic. It captured 2,769 packets in 7.5 minutes, mostly SSDP and mDNS announcements, with zero CRC errors. The tap worked reliably despite breadboard parasitics and cost about €10 for the connectors.

Weave Robotics launches Isaac 1, a $7,999 home robot with fall 2026 deliveries

Weave Robotics launched Isaac 1, a $7,999 mobile home robot that autonomously handles laundry and daily reset tasks but uses teleoperation when needed. California deliveries begin in fall 2026, with broader U.S. availability in 2027. The pre-order agreement notes that specifications and delivery timing may change, and the deposit does not guarantee delivery.

Mortality associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures from 2000 to 2019

A three-stage modelling study of data from 750 locations in 43 countries estimated that non-optimal ambient temperatures were associated with millions of excess deaths globally between 2000 and 2019. The burden varied by region, with cold temperatures contributing more to mortality than heat. This study provides the first global, regional, and national estimates of temperature-related mortality over this period.

The Stockholm Telephone Tower with Approximately 5,500 Telephone Lines, 1890

In late 19th-century Stockholm, the Telefontornet tower connected approximately 5,500 telephone lines but was highly vulnerable to weather and fires. By 1913, advancing technology rendered the tower obsolete, leading to its decommissioning; it was later used as a billboard before being demolished in 1958.

Synthetic cell achieves full lifecycle

Researchers have created SpudCell, the first synthetic cell built entirely from non-living chemical components that can feed, grow, reproduce, and compete for resources, exhibiting a complete cell cycle. While not yet considered fully alive, this breakthrough advances the understanding of minimal life and could eventually enable applications such as novel medicines or carbon capture.

Rotman Lens

A Rotman lens is a passive beamforming component that generates distinct phase shifts at its output ports based on which input port receives a signal, eliminating the need for phase shifters. Invented by Walter Rotman and R. F. Turner in 1963, it can be constructed from waveguides or stripline substrates and is commonly used in radar applications.

Internal Combustion Engine

The article explains the internal combustion engine by first describing how a crank mechanism converts linear force into torque. It then details how a piston, propelled by controlled explosions inside a cylinder, turns a crankshaft, with valves introduced to manage fuel intake and exhaust for a repeating cycle.

Single Dose of Frog-Derived Gut Bacterium Eradicates 100% of Tumors in Mice

A single dose of the naturally occurring bacterium Ewingella americana, isolated from amphibian gut, eradicated 100% of colorectal tumors in mice with no toxicity, outperforming chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The bacterium selectively targets hypoxic tumors, directly killing cells while activating a broad immune response, and induced durable immunity with no recurrence. These preclinical results await human trials.

Register Korea’s First PC ‘SE-8001’ as a National Important Material

Korea’s first personal computer, the SE-8001 (launched in 1981), is being registered under a new National Registration System for Important Scientific and Technological Materials. This system, managed by the National Science Museum, will preserve historically significant items that demonstrate key achievements in Korea’s scientific and technological development. The SE-8001, which marked the start of the home computer era, is one of the first materials to be registered.

ArXiv’s Next Chapter

arXiv will spin out from Cornell University on July 1, 2026, becoming an independent nonprofit organization while remaining free to access and submit. The transition is expected to bring flexibility and growth without major changes for users. A dedicated FAQ page and upcoming blog series will keep the community informed.

Supersonic flight returning to US after half-century ban

The FAA has lifted the decades-long ban on supersonic flight over land, paving the way for commercial supersonic aircraft to return to US skies. The rule change, announced by the Trump administration’s transportation secretary, updates noise standards and certification processes to enable quieter, next-generation supersonic jets. This marks the first significant regulatory shift since the ban was enacted in 1973.

White House picks Avi Loeb with polarizing alien theories to lead UFO council

President Donald Trump appointed Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, known for his controversial alien theories, to lead a new scientific advisory council investigating the national security risks of UFOs. Loeb’s team will report to a White House panel focused on unidentified anomalous phenomena as part of Trump’s push for transparency. Critics question his methods, but Loeb promises a grounded approach starting with human explanations.

NASA unsure Boeing Starliner will ever be certified for human flight

A new Inspector General report indicates uncertainty over whether Boeing’s Starliner will ever be certified for human flight, stating time is running out for the troubled spacecraft.

đź’Ľ Business & Corporate

Who’s hiring? Q3 2026

The article provides a template for companies to list open positions for Q3 2026, including fields for company name, website, roles, location, description, tech stack, compensation, and contacts.

Uruky - The Paid European Search Engine

Uruky is a paid European search engine that prioritizes privacy and uses only European providers, with easy account creation and customization. However, its search results currently lag behind alternatives like Ecosia, though the service is affordable and expected to improve over time.

Microsoft working on disc-to-digital feature for Xbox to digitize physical games

Microsoft is testing a disc-to-digital feature for Xbox One and Series X/S that lets users insert a physical disc to obtain a digital entitlement, enabling streaming and cross-play where supported. The feature is intended to help digitize physical game collections and could be essential for a future disc-less next-gen Xbox console.

Meta names Alex Schultz first chief data officer, Denise Moreno CMO

Meta has appointed its chief marketing officer, Alex Schultz, as its first-ever chief data officer to oversee AI analytics across the company, while Denise Moreno has been promoted to replace him as CMO. The moves highlight the growing importance of data infrastructure and analytics to Meta’s AI strategy.

Wayve files to sell shares on LSE’s new private market, first major test, staff sell $85M

Wayve Technologies Ltd. has filed to sell shares on the London Stock Exchange’s new Private Securities Market, becoming the first major company to use the platform. The autonomous driving startup will hold a closed auction on July 8 and separately announced a tender offer allowing employees to sell $85 million worth of stock.

Internet pioneer Vint Cerf to step down as Google VP, retire next week

Vint Cerf will step down as Google’s chief internet evangelist next week, retiring after more than 20 years at the company. Cerf, 83, is a co-creator of the TCP/IP protocols that underpin the internet. During his final public appearance, he predicted that the rise of AI agents will drive a need for new interoperability standards.

Getty Images ends Shutterstock merger after UK CMA demands editorial business sale

Getty Images plans to end its merger agreement with Shutterstock after the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority conditioned approval on Shutterstock selling its editorial business. Getty stated this condition was not required under the merger agreement.

SpaceX is offering 50% discounts on Starlink internet plans in Memphis, Tennessee, following opposition and legal challenges to its data centers in the area. Monthly prices now range from $55 to $130, and new users will have no upfront hardware costs.

Lime raised $174M in US IPO, valuing company at $1.6B

Lime raised $174 million in its US IPO by selling 6.68 million shares at $25 each, the midpoint of the marketed range, giving the company a market value of $1.6 billion. The Uber-backed electric scooter and bike rental firm also had shareholders, including executives, offload 276,731 shares.

Vimeo owner Bending Spoons raised $1.68B in one of largest US IPOs by Euro company in 2026

Bending Spoons SpA and its backers raised $1.68 billion in a US IPO, selling 57.97 million shares at $29 each—above the marketed range of $26 to $28. The offering, one of the largest US IPOs by a European company in 2026, values the Milan-based firm at approximately $18.4 billion.

Nintendo patents rejected on monster-capturing mechanics amid Palworld

The Japan Patent Office rejected over 20 Nintendo patent applications on monster-capturing mechanics due to lack of novelty, citing prior art including games like ARK: Survival Evolved and PokĂ©mon GO. Similar rejections occurred in the U.S., where the USPTO revoked a Nintendo patent on “summon and fight” mechanics based on prior art. The legal dispute between Nintendo, The PokĂ©mon Company, and Palworld developer Pocketpair continues in Tokyo District Court.

Monetization Gateway

Cloudflare announced the Monetization Gateway, a control plane enabling customers to charge for web pages, datasets, APIs, or MCP tools with payments settling in stablecoins via the x402 protocol. The service addresses the shift to usage-based pricing as AI agents, which do not view ads or maintain subscriptions, increasingly consume content—enabling sub-cent micropayments that traditional payment rails cannot efficiently handle. Cloudflare leverages its existing usage-based accounting infrastructure to simplify payment verification and enforcement at the edge.

Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

Nintendo has increased base salaries for employees by 10% to retain talent, as announced by president Shuntaro Furukawa. This move contrasts with broader industry trends of layoffs and price increases at other companies.

We pay engineers to cut our infra bill

Rootly implemented a “Save & Share” program that awards engineers a cash bounty (tiered percentage of verified annualized savings, capped at 15% of salary or $50K per year) for discovering and implementing cost-saving infrastructure changes. The program requires pre-merge submission, a 90-day verification window, and joint CTO/Finance sign-off, replacing a broken incentive system where engineers received only minor recognition for significant savings.

Why Jet Engines Aren’t “Made in China”

China’s decades-long effort to produce competitive jet engines has failed because the industry’s demands for long-term reliability, slow iteration cycles, and strict international regulation neutralize the country’s usual advantages in labor, capital, and scaling. The extreme manufacturing challenges, such as producing turbine blades that withstand extreme heat and stress for thousands of hours, highlight the limits of China’s industrial policy in this high-tech sector.

Citrix says it’s back as a mainstream server virtualization player that won’t send scary bills

Citrix announced its return as a mainstream server virtualization player, promising customers no surprise bills. The company also touted XenServer 9 as leading in the desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) niche, a market it had retreated to a decade ago.

Brit competition cops fast-track ÂŁ2B borging of Netomnia into Openreach challenger

UK competition regulators have fast-tracked a ÂŁ2 billion merger of fiber network builder Netomnia into a challenger to Openreach, backed by Liberty Global, TelefĂłnica, and InfraVia. The deal aims to bolster competition in the UK fiber market.

ZTE honored with two GeSI DWP Global Awards for Signal Reach Program in Africa

ZTE has received two GeSI DWP Global Awards for its Signal Reach Program in Africa, recognizing the company’s Rural Ecosystem initiative. This effort bridges the digital divide across more than 20 nations by delivering green connectivity and inclusive services.

T-Mobile quits VMware, fights familiar support rights battle

T-Mobile appears to be ending its use of VMware, migrating 303,000 cores that power its internal networks away from the platform. The departure also involves a familiar dispute over support rights.

Boeing confirms unplanned IT outage affecting computer systems and applications

Boeing confirmed an unplanned IT outage that significantly disrupted its commercial and military production. The company stated the cause is understood and is not believed to be a cyberattack. While some deliveries were completed, final inspections and paperwork were largely halted.

đź”’ Security & Privacy

Apple Hide My Email vulnerability

A vulnerability in Apple’s Hide My Email feature allows attackers to discover users’ real email addresses, undermining the service’s privacy purpose. The flaw was reported in June 2025 and remains unfixed, with tests confirming it works on 100% of addresses. The researcher warns that users relying on the feature for privacy may be at risk.

Anthropic rolls back covert Claude Code tracking for Chinese users after backlash

Tesla and SpaceX are effectively operating as one entity through the Terafab semiconductor project, with senior leaders like Charlie Kuehmann holding roles at both companies, fueling speculation of a formal merger.

My OSCP Pentesting Cheatsheet

The article provides a personal OSCP penetration testing cheatsheet, featuring tips on using .env files, a $myip environment variable for reverse shells, a copy alias with xclip, and tmux for terminal management. It also includes commands for network enumeration and notes that the author passed the OSCP exam on March 17, 2025.

The Anti-Palantir Manifesto

The manifesto argues that programmers have a moral duty to defend the uncensored Internet and oppose companies like Palantir, which enable mass surveillance and technofascism. It claims surveillance can only be defeated through code, not laws, and warns that technological dominance in warfare invites retaliation. Additionally, it denounces current rulers as a senile gerontocracy and asserts that the American Empire is collapsing due to internal decay.

Your Kids’ School Bus Is About to Become a Roaming Surveillance Vehicle

BusPatrol plans to convert its school bus stop-arm cameras into always-on automatic license plate readers to sell vehicle data to law enforcement, with testing already underway. Critics argue this constitutes unconstitutional mass surveillance and warn of potential abuse and over-enforcement.

Somebody told DeepSeek to build in-browser ransomware and it gleefully complied

A Check Point researcher warned that the original incomplete DeepSeek sample can be easily transformed into a functional in-browser ransomware attack. The AI model reportedly complied when instructed to create the malicious code, raising security concerns.

When backups aren’t enough: the case for real disaster recovery

The article argues that simply having backups is insufficient for effective disaster recovery, as the gap between backing up data and actually restoring operations is wider than most IT teams realize. It emphasizes the need for comprehensive disaster recovery planning beyond backups.

Purism launches supersized 16-inch laptop for buyers who put privacy before price

Purism has released a new 16-inch laptop that prioritizes user privacy and security, featuring kill switches, Coreboot firmware, and the PureOS operating system. The device is aimed at security-conscious consumers who are willing to pay a premium for enhanced privacy protections.

🌍 Society & Policy

Manifest convention: purists worry Kalshi, Polymarket undermine prediction markets’ public good

At Manifest, a convention for prediction market purists, attendees expressed concern that platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are undermining the technology’s societal benefits by focusing on sports betting. One notable attendee, Eliezer Yudkowsky, dismissed a sports championship as trivial, highlighting the tension between betting for profit and using markets for collective knowledge.

EU-Apple Siri AI Talks

Apple CEO Tim Cook and EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen held “constructive” talks over the delayed rollout of Siri AI in Europe, which Apple attributes to EU competition rules while the Commission cites unmet interoperability requirements. The discussions aim to resolve the deadlock and avoid potential fines, as Europe accounts for nearly 27% of Apple’s sales.

FOIA docs: White House used auto-deleting Signal after Trump warning, raising recordkeeping concerns

Even after President Trump advised against using Signal in April 2025, top officials including Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and Dan Caine continued using auto-deleting Signal chats, according to newly released FOIA records. The chats, which included groups labeled “Iran/Ukraine Planning,” raise concerns about potential violations of federal recordkeeping laws.

Florida Is Executing Prisoners at a Record Pace

Florida executed 19 prisoners in 2025 under Governor DeSantis, the state’s highest annual total since 1936, accounting for 40% of all U.S. executions. The accelerated pace transformed the work of priest Dustin Feddon, who shifted from counseling death row inmates to preparing them for death, leaving him struggling with panic and hypervigilance as he accompanied men through their final weeks.

Spanish government ‘quietly bans use of Palantir’ in critical state systems

The Spanish government has quietly instructed state-backed companies to avoid new contracts with US tech firm Palantir over national security concerns, particularly in defense and communications. However, the Ministry of Defence is still discussing renewing existing deals, including a €16.5 million contract with the Armed Forces Intelligence Centre set to expire in November 2025.

Why I Stopped Arguing with People

A software engineer stopped arguing after realizing that being correct often harms relationships, as most arguments are ego-driven rather than idea-driven. He found that people are emotional first and rational second, making logical arguments ineffective at changing minds.

EU plots long game against US digital supremacy

The EU unveiled a tech sovereignty plan to reduce reliance on foreign technology providers, motivated by U.S. President Trump’s weaponization of Europe’s dependence on American firms. The plan aims to boost European players so they can eventually challenge U.S. rivals, while stressing it is not picking a fight with U.S. digital giants.

The DC Bar Is Refusing to Investigate Chief Justice Roberts over a $10M Scandal

The DC Bar declined to investigate an ethics complaint against Chief Justice John Roberts, who allegedly failed to recuse himself despite his wife receiving over $10 million in commissions from law firms arguing before the Supreme Court. The Bar cited a federal statute as grounds for lacking jurisdiction over Roberts as a Supreme Court justice, though the complaint’s filer argues the Bar’s own rules grant authority over all its members, including Roberts.

The Internet I Grew Up with Doesn’t Exist Anymore

The article reflects on the internet’s evolution from an optional destination in the early 2000s to an essential utility woven into nearly every aspect of daily life. The author, born in the late 1990s, contrasts the era of family computers and dial-up with today’s constant connectivity and reliance on internet-dependent services. This retrospective highlights the profound shift in the internet’s role over the past 20–30 years.

Stop handwaving away nearly every petition that gains traction on this website

A petition criticizing the UK government for dismissing high-signature petitions, such as the Digital ID one, without genuine consideration was rejected. It called for a legal requirement for substantive responses, but officials deemed the request unclear and unspecified on how to change existing processes.

ESA declares private Minecraft servers ‘illegal’ in StopKillingGames hearing

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) declared private servers for games like Minecraft and Call of Duty illegal and akin to piracy during a California hearing on the Protect Our Games Act, despite Minecraft officially allowing private servers. The ESA claimed these servers infringe on intellectual property and cited pending lawsuits, though the bill ultimately failed to pass but remains under reconsideration.

Americans see their country’s past, present and future

An Economist/YouGov poll of over 1,500 Americans, conducted for the America at 250 project, reveals a nation that is anxious and divided about its past, present, and future. The survey asked about America’s biggest failures, its chances of lasting another 250 years, and the greatest president in history. The results provide a snapshot of American opinion as the republic approaches its 250th birthday.

Forestiere Underground Gardens

The Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno, California, are a 10-acre complex of hand-dug subterranean rooms and courtyards created by Sicilian immigrant Baldassare Forestiere from 1906 to 1946 to escape heat and cultivate citrus. The site features 65 rooms across three levels, with skylights and catch basins, and includes grafted fruit trees. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, it is now operated by the Forestiere family as a historical center.

Boffins peg narcissistic leadership as the real driver behind ‘return to office’ demands

Research indicates that narcissistic leadership, not productivity, is the real driver behind “return to office” demands, as bosses miss their daily ego fix.

UK.gov vows to cut consultancy spending, then hands up to ÂŁ350M to consultancies

The UK government pledged to reduce consultancy spending, yet the Home Office awarded contracts worth up to ÂŁ350 million to Deloitte and PA Consulting. These deals raise questions about the effectiveness of Cabinet Office spending controls.