Alvaro Lopez Ortega / 2026-07-05 Briefing

Created Tue, 07 Jul 2026 14:34:32 +0000 Modified Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:00:16 +0000
8082 Words

Three major egg producers settled with the U.S. for $3.3 million and 53 million eggs over price-fixing allegations during a bird flu outbreak. Meanwhile, banks still treat multi-factor authentication as optional—an 84-year-old lost $30,000 when thieves exploited weak passwords. Experts also warn against sharing AI research with Bigco agents, as firms may use submissions for their own gain.

🤖 AI & Machine Learning

The AI Compass Quiz

The article titled “The AI Compass Quiz” has no content available, displaying only a loading message. No further information or details about the quiz are provided in the article.

don’t trust Bigco AI agents with AI research IP

The article warns against sharing AI research with large AI companies’ tools, arguing that these firms will inevitably use submitted data to suppress competition, even if they claim otherwise. It cites Anthropic’s decision to downgrade responses on “frontier AI” and Uber’s past abuse of user data as evidence of this behavior.

New Microsoft 365 pricing live, some products up by 42% due to AI

Microsoft 365 subscription prices increased on July 1, 2026, with uneven rises across Business, Enterprise, Frontline, and Government plans, including up to 43% for some SKUs. Microsoft bundles new AI and security features to justify the hikes, while consumer and education pricing remain unchanged.

Tripadvisor AI summaries give glowing reviews to dangerous hotels

Tripadvisor’s AI-generated review summaries omit critical guest complaints about food poisoning, sexual harassment, and hygiene failures, according to a Which? investigation. For example, the AI summary for Riu Palace Santa Maria described it as “spotless” despite over 100 mentions of food poisoning and multiple deaths, while the AI chat tool Ollie downplayed the risk of illness at the same property.

New AI tutor achieves 0.71-1.30 SD effect size in Dartmouth course [pdf]

A new AI tutor implemented in a Dartmouth course achieved effect sizes ranging from 0.71 to 1.30 standard deviations, indicating large improvements in student learning outcomes. The results suggest the tutor significantly outperforms typical educational interventions.

Claude Design System Prompt

The Claude Design System Prompt is an open-source system prompt and skill library that transforms an LLM into an accessibility-aware design collaborator, explicitly rejecting generic AI design patterns like aggressive gradients and emoji decoration. It provides a complete design philosophy covering content discipline, visual hierarchy, and system thinking, along with 14 procedural skills for production, extraction, and review. The prompt is available for various LLMs including Claude, GPT, Gemini, and local models.

SigMap: 97% token reduction for AI coding sessions

SigMap is a deterministic, offline grounding layer for AI coding that reduces token usage by 97% and prompts per task by 49.2%, while improving task success from 10% to 67.8%. It achieves 87.8% retrieval hit@5 across 90 real coding tasks through a six-step workflow that generates context, queries files, validates coverage, and judges answer groundedness.

I trained a language model that thinks the capital of Japan is Paris

A 13-year-old trained a 288M-parameter DIMBA II language model that incorrectly outputs Paris as Japan’s capital, combining Mamba-2’s context efficiency with masked diffusion to avoid transformer quadratic complexity. The model was distilled from SmolLM-135M and uses bidirectional Mamba with classifier-free guidance and anti-repetition sampling.

Mouse: Precision Editing Tools for AI Coding Agents

HIC Mouse is an AI file-editing tool that replaces traditional string replacement with coordinate-based operations (INSERT, DELETE, ADJUST), staged changes with atomic rollback, and embedded contextual guidance. It provides surgical accuracy and consistency for AI coding agents. The tool offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

The Log is the Agent

ActiveGraph is a runtime that inverts typical agent frameworks by making an append-only event log the source of truth, with a deterministic graph projection and reactive behaviors that emit new events. This design enables deterministic replay, cheap forking of runs at any event, and end-to-end lineage from goals to individual model calls, features not available in retrieval-summarization memory systems.

ByteDance Doubao & Alibaba Qwen disable humanlike agents before July 15 under China’s AI rules

ByteDance and Alibaba are disabling humanlike custom AI agents on their Doubao and Qwen platforms ahead of China’s new rules on anthropomorphic AI interaction, effective July 15. The regulations prohibit AI that simulates human traits for sustained emotional interaction, citing risks like privacy leaks and addiction, while excluding non-emotional tools such as customer service bots.

🔒 Security & Privacy

MFA-optional banks leave safe doors (and accounts) wide open for thieves to pillage

Many financial institutions still treat multi-factor authentication as optional, leaving accounts vulnerable to theft. The author’s 84-year-old mother lost $30,000 from her bank accounts after thieves exploited weak password practices and the lack of mandatory MFA. Although the bank eventually refunded the stolen funds, the incident highlights the risks of prioritizing convenience over security.

Osint tool that finds exposed files on domains

A new OSINT tool monitors certificate transparency logs to detect exposed files like .env, .git directories, and database dumps on newly-seen domains, storing results in a searchable database. The tool is free and read-only, with a planned feature for keyword-based notifications.

A sociotechnical threat model for AI-driven smart home devices

A study of 18 UK-based domestic workers found that AI-driven smart home devices create privacy risks through surveillance in employer-controlled homes, opaque AI features, and cross-household data flows. The research identifies domestic worker agencies as institutional adversaries and proposes a sociotechnical threat model highlighting challenges such as gendered administrative roles and data retention uncertainty.

Why DMARC’s new “NP” tag can fail with DNSSEC

The new DMARC np tag (RFC 9989) defines policy for non-existent subdomains using the NXDOMAIN response, but this definition conflicts with the DNSSEC “Compact Denial of Existence” specification (RFC 9824), causing failures for domains using DNSSEC with providers like Cloudflare and AWS Route 53. The IETF working group acknowledged the incompatibility but has not reached a solution.

EU Council forces Chat Control via fast-track

The EU Council is using a fast-track procedure to revive the expired Chat Control 1.0 regulation, allowing voluntary scanning of encrypted messages by tech providers while bypassing the European Parliament’s opposition. Critics view this as a maneuver to circumvent democratic oversight, with a vote scheduled just before the summer break when many MEPs may be absent. The regulation aims to combat child abuse material but raises significant privacy concerns.

The Preemptive Draw and Preemptive Grip in the Cash-in-Transit Sector

The article identifies a tactic used by cash-in-transit employees, called the “preemptive draw and preemptive grip,” where workers routinely draw or grip their firearms without a specific threat. Drawing on historical sources, including James L. Dunbar’s book and early armored car patents, the author argues this practice has been a well-established industry tradition for over 100 years, not an individual choice.

Return of the Nigerian Prince Redux: Beware Book Club and Book Review Scams (2025)

Scammers are targeting authors with AI-generated emails offering book club spotlights or marketing services, then charging “spotlight fees” of $55–$350. These scammers often impersonate real book clubs and demand irreversible payments via PayPal, Upwork contracts, or bank transfers to Wells Fargo. The schemes are traced to operators in Nigeria, with newer iterations appearing rapidly.

Chainalysis: Sanctioned entities got $100B+ in crypto last year, 8x 2024 amount

Iran, Russia, North Korea, and other U.S.-sanctioned entities received over $100 billion in cryptocurrency last year—nearly eight times the amount in 2024—to evade sanctions. They are creating their own digital tokens and exchanges, using crypto to purchase drones, weapon parts, and fuel, and to pay smugglers, bypassing traditional banks.

Rayfish - P2P VPN built on top of Iroh

The article introduces Rayfish, a peer-to-peer VPN built on top of the Iroh framework. However, the page content is inaccessible as it requires JavaScript to be enabled.

💻 Programming & Tools

C Programmers’ Readability Crimes

The 2025 International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC) awarded 23 winning entries, with Yusuke Endoh, Nick Craig-Wood, and Don Yang each earning three hat-tricks. A standout winner is Adrian Cable’s Subleq one-instruction-set computer, implemented in 366 bytes, which has a practical application in software preservation through the Eternal Software Initiative.

Inventor, Mother, Creator: Grace Hopper (2025)

Grace Hopper created the first data-processing compiler, FLOW-MATIC, which used English-like statements, laying the foundation for COBOL. In 1959, the Short Range Committee, including Hopper, developed COBOL as a common business language prioritizing simplicity and English readability. COBOL became the backbone of enterprise data processing, and experts today advise modernizing rather than replacing COBOL applications.

DNSGlobe – Rust TUI to watch DNS propagate around the world

DNSGlobe is a Rust terminal application that queries 34 public DNS resolvers worldwide in parallel to check DNS propagation, displaying results on a world map. It supports a watch mode that re-polls until the record has fully propagated, groups consistent answers, and flags outliers. The tool can be installed via Homebrew, Cargo, or prebuilt binaries, and offers keyboard controls for domain entry, record type selection, and scrolling.

Prism: An Impure Functional Language With Typed Effects

Prism is a proof-of-concept functional compiler that models side effects using algebraic effect handlers with typed effects, allowing impure operations like mutable state and nondeterminism while maintaining purity externally. Effects are declared as interfaces, handled via continuations (e.g., yield for generators, choose for backtracking), and the type system tracks them with row polymorphism, enabling optimization without runtime surprises.

Homegames. An open-source game platform I’ve been making for 8 years

Homegames is an open-source platform for simple browser-based games, where all games are JavaScript classes with publicly readable source code. The platform, built over eight years starting in 2018, includes an in-browser editor for creating and publishing games. The entire codebase is available on GitHub at https://github.com/homegamesio.

Dungeon Proof Crawler: learn how to write proofs with RPG

The article only states “Lighting the torches…” with no further details available, despite its title suggesting a connection to learning proofs through role-playing games. The content is limited to this single phrase.

Direct VCS Dependency Fetching

Go’s dependency management fetches code directly from version control, avoiding a separate “publish a package” step that can obscure source provenance and introduce supply-chain risks. In contrast, systems like RubyGems, npm, and PyPI rely on a publish process that loses commit history and increases auditing difficulty, making them more vulnerable to attacks that exploit the publishing step rather than the source repository.

Zero-copy in Go: sendfile, splice, and the cost of io.Copy

Wrapping a *os.File in an io.Reader (e.g., for logging) prevents Go’s io.Copy from using sendfile(2), causing doubled CPU usage and halved throughput. Go’s *net.TCPConn.ReadFrom only enables the zero‑copy fast path when the source is a *os.File or an *io.LimitedReader wrapping one.

Do you hate XML? (2010)

The author reflects on their shift from early XML evangelism to a more moderate stance after the hype peaked around 2004-2005. They note that developers often dislike XML because it requires domain-specific knowledge and special tools like XSLT, but argue its key advantage is providing an interoperable transfer syntax, unlike RDBMSs.

Two nasty surprises in Home Assistant’s config

A Home Assistant user’s shutter automations triggered an hour late due to a daylight saving time bug where the instance’s timezone remained at Paris/+1 instead of +2. Manually setting the correct timezone in the YAML configuration resolved the timing issue but disabled the UI general settings page—a known bug the developers closed as “not planned.”

I hated how much my 12-year-old played Roblox, so we built our own FPS

A father turned his frustration with his kids’ Roblox obsession into a bonding project, using the AI tool Claude to build a multiplayer browser FPS called “Cooked” with his children as project managers. The game was created in hours and allowed the family to play together, but the father noted Claude excelled at system architecture and coding while struggling with UI design and generating assets like hands.

Lean Software Scaling Laws

A research proposal suggests measuring how coding LLM perplexity scales with codebase size to estimate scaling laws for programming languages, using Lean as a test case. It hypothesizes that Lean may have worse baseline performance but better scaling exponents, potentially leading to superior program correctness and global cybersecurity benefits. The piece also argues that future LLM improvements could benefit less common languages, countering claims of permanent lock-in.

CNN Lite

Russia launched a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv ahead of a critical NATO summit, while Norway stunned Brazil with two late goals to knock out the five-time World Cup champions. A White House report accused Smithsonian leadership of radical ideology, and Washington, D.C., experienced a “Code Red” air quality warning after massive fireworks. Other notable stories include a deadly Florida “teen takeover,” a small plane crash into New York’s East River, and Naomi Osaka’s Wimbledon quarterfinal victory.

Organic Maps

Organic Maps is a free, open-source offline maps app that prioritizes privacy with no ads, tracking, or data collection. It provides detailed maps, hiking and cycling routes, and turn-by-turn navigation using OpenStreetMap data. As of December 2025, the app had reached 6 million installs.

KiCad in the Browser

KiCad, the open-source PCB design suite, is now available in a browser thanks to a project by Emergence Engineering, who ported it using WebGL and Emscripten. The web version runs most features with near-native performance, though it still has some bugs, and the team plans to offer a free tier alongside paid subscriptions.

Introduction to Compilers and Language Design (2021)

Prof. Douglas Thain’s free online textbook offers a one-semester introduction to compiler construction, guiding readers to build a simple compiler that translates a C-like language into X86 or ARM assembly. It is available as free PDFs for personal or academic use, with hardcover and paperback copies available for purchase. The book is intended for undergraduate students with experience in C, data structures, and computer architecture.

Spain’s cadastre API is SOAP from 2003, so I built a JSON wrapper (+MCP)

Predio provides a REST and MCP API that converts Spain’s SOAP-based Cadastre data into structured JSON, accepting queries by cadastral reference, coordinates, or address. It charges one credit per successful response, with prepaid packs ranging from €5 to €99 and a free tier of 250 credits per month. The service covers urban and rural properties across most of Spain, excluding the Basque Country and Navarre.

Train SIM Created by Just One Person Is Being Called the Best Ever Made

Running Train, a hyper-realistic train simulator set in a fictional Japanese region, has received widespread acclaim for its meticulous environmental details, such as logically placed powerlines and realistic traffic. The solo developer’s creation allows players to let the game run itself while using a free camera to explore the scenery. Currently in Early Access, future updates will add passenger systems and expand the track length.

Fast Software, the Best Software (2019)

Fast software enhances user experience and signals high engineering quality, with apps like nvALT and Sublime Text remaining consistently responsive even with large files. In contrast, Ulysses slows down on modest texts, eroding user trust and raising concerns about reliability. Speed is described as the most valuable yet underappreciated asset in software.

sqlite-utils 4.0rc2, mostly written by Claude Fable (for about $149.25)

sqlite-utils 4.0rc2, largely written by Claude Fable, fixes a critical data loss bug in delete_where() that left connections in a broken transaction state. The release overhauls transaction handling so every write method auto-commits, and includes comprehensive documentation explaining the new model.

Dungeon KeeperFX 1.4.0 with Multiplayer Released

KeeperFX 1.4.0 introduces massively improved multiplayer with lobby listing, support for up to 4 players, high ping handling, and no port forwarding required, alongside over 300 other fixes and features. Users can auto-update via the launcher or manually download and run the installer.

A gender-swap EarthBound for my daughter (2025)

A user created a custom gender-swapped ROM hack of EarthBound for their future daughter using the CoilSnake tool, replacing Ness’s sprites with a female version, adjusting pronouns and text, and recolorizing the dog to match their family pet. They opted to build their own hack rather than use existing ones to avoid unwanted content.

Beeg float library, a Rust port of Fabrice Bellard’s libbf

libbeef is a pure Rust, zero-dependency port of Fabrice Bellard’s libbf, offering arbitrary-precision floating-point arithmetic with full IEEE 754 semantics, transcendental functions, and decimal support. It achieves O(n log n) multiplication via NTT, with performance close to the C original, and is no_std compatible with a small binary footprint.

Shadcn/UI now defaults to Base UI instead of Radix

Base UI is now the default component library for new projects in shadcn/ui, replacing Radix due to its stability, community adoption, and ongoing improvements. Radix remains fully supported, and existing projects do not require migration, though users can still select Radix with a flag. A migration skill is available for those who wish to progressively switch components while preserving custom code.

My ASN Journey series (2024)

A tutorial series details how to obtain and configure a personal ASN and IPv6 address, highlighting benefits like bypassing ISP CGNAT and reducing CAPTCHAs, but noting drawbacks such as mandatory public registration and the risk of BGP misconfiguration. Costs include a one-time ASN fee of £15, an annual RIPE fee of £54.99, and a quarterly VPS fee of 5 CHF, with IPv6 emphasized over costly IPv4.

Backon – Python retry (zero deps, circuit breaker, async native)

backon is a zero-dependency Python library for retry with exponential backoff, offering decorator, functional, and context manager APIs for both synchronous and asynchronous code. It includes advanced features such as circuit breakers, hedging, Prometheus/OpenTelemetry metrics, jitter, and multiple wait strategies, along with full type hints and support for custom sleep functions and the trio async framework.

If you’re a button, you have one job

The article titled “If you’re a button, you have one job” consists solely of a related link to aresluna.org, with no additional content provided.

A Novel Look at Error Handling in Rust

The article argues that conventional Rust error handling—panicking, returning Option or Result, or defaulting—fails to address scenarios where a function recovers from an error but still needs to inform the caller. Examples include collecting all errors during compilation or using a default path when a file is missing. The author proposes a new approach to fill this gap, adding a tool to existing error-handling practices.

Version-controlled databases using Prolly trees

Dolt is an open-source project that uses Prolly trees, a variant of B-trees, to provide Git-like version control for entire databases, serving as a drop-in replacement for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. It enables operations such as branching, merging, and restoring historical states, with performance comparable to MySQL by reusing existing query planners and indexes. The tool’s storage layer supports efficient diffing and sharing, making it useful for tasks like running analyses on old database states or giving automated tools safe access to a replica of a production database.

Bench Press: Leaking Text Nodes with CSS

A CSS injection technique using inline styles and remote images can leak the content of a text node by applying custom fonts with unicode-range to detect each character, then measuring height changes via scrollbar-triggered image requests. However, duplicate characters cannot be distinguished because a font is requested only once per character. This method was the basis for the Hack.lu CTF 2024 challenge “Bench Press”.

Work In Progress Rust

The article discusses techniques for deferring error handling in Rust during development, such as using unwrap or clone to temporarily bypass errors and stay in the “happy path.” The author also introduces a library to streamline this process, aiming to allow warnings to block development only at CI time rather than during initial coding and testing.

If you’re a button, you have one job

The article compares how iPhone buffers rapid taps on an image rotation button and executes them sequentially, while the Nothing Phone ignores taps during an ongoing animation. It argues this matters for “situational power users” who need to perform repetitive tasks quickly, emphasizing that interfaces should never force users to wait for animations to finish.

PEP 814: Add frozendict built-in type

PEP 814, adding a built-in frozendict type (immutable dictionary) to Python 3.15, has been accepted by the Steering Council and is available in beta. Unlike types.MappingProxyType, frozendict is hashable if all values are hashable, preserves insertion order, and supports operations like union and order-independent comparison. This follows earlier rejections (PEP 416) and stalled proposals (PEP 603).

🛠️ Hardware & Engineering

NES Composite Video Wobble

The NES composite video signal appears wobbly because its PPU outputs a non-standard number of color cycles per scanline, causing the colorburst to shift between lines and create a repeating jagged pattern. This design quirk, not random interference, results from the colorburst frequency being a half-integer multiple of the NTSC line rate. Unlike systems such as the Apple II or Sega Master System, which use 228 color cycles per scanline to avoid this artifact, the NES suffers from cyclic noise in static images.

OpenPrinter

OpenPrinter is a compact, open-source printer that supports independent use of black and color cartridges, sheets or paper rolls, and is built with standard components for easy repair and longevity. It reduces costs and electronic waste by enabling cartridge refills and is compatible with multiple operating systems and cartridge types like HP 63/302/803.

Therac-25

The Therac-25 radiation therapy machine caused at least six radiation overdoses between 1985 and 1987 due to race conditions in its software, resulting in patient deaths and serious injuries. These incidents became a landmark case study in software engineering, health informatics, and computer ethics, underscoring the dangers of engineer overconfidence and the dismissal of user reports in safety-critical systems.

Cursed circuits #5: capacitance multiplier

This article explains how an op-amp configured as a voltage follower can be used to create a “capacitance multiplier,” simulating a large capacitance with a much smaller physical capacitor. It covers the ideal op-amp’s behavior and the voltage follower circuit before presenting this clever but niche application.

The full stack of terminals explained

The article explains that the terms console, terminal, TTY, and shell originally referred to the same physical teletypewriter but later evolved distinct meanings: a console is a direct physical I/O interface, a terminal is a display/keyboard that renders text without understanding commands, and a shell interprets commands. It also covers building a Text User Interface (TUI) app from scratch.

Jim Keller’s startup is building a factory to mass-produce small chip fabs

Jim Keller’s startup, now rebranded as Fab2, has moved to Texas to mass-produce small, software-defined semiconductor fabs using in-house tooling and electron-beam lithography for rapid prototyping of chips smaller than a wafer. The method prioritizes fast turnaround over high throughput, making it suitable for low-volume runs rather than the high-volume commercial production of massive megafabs like Tesla’s Terafab.

The future of Flipper Zero development

Flipper Zero will continue firmware development and community contributions under new rules, including voting for feature requests and mandatory integration testing. The team confirmed they delivered all Kickstarter promises, built a platform with SDK and APIs, and released stable firmware 1.0 in 2024 after overcoming hardware and supply chain challenges.

Retro A/UX 1.1 Installation

A user successfully booted and ran A/UX 1.1 on the Snow vintage Mac emulator after implementing the required Macintosh II “Toby” video card and fixing an ADB keyboard bug. The installation involved partitioning a disk, installing System 6, and using a SASH pre-boot environment from a 34-disk set of newly archived floppy images provided by Dominic Sharp.

Autonomous flying umbrella follows and shields users from rain and sunlight

The article highlights several innovations: 3D-printed structural parts, a studio’s two-decade investigation into manufacturing with living systems (including bacterial pigments and biodegradable footwear), a floating device that converts movement into energy for water testing and disinfection, and an EV design freed from traditional constraints. It also notes Audi’s revival of the Auto Union Lucca as a streamlined 1930s record car.

Solar rail could become common in Europe after successful trial in Switzerland

A Swiss start-up, Sun-Ways, successfully trialed solar panels between active railway tracks in Switzerland, producing 16,000 kWh in one year with minimal issues. The positive results have made a permanent installation likely, and plans are underway for pilot projects in Italy, South Korea, and discussions with other countries.

Windows 2000 on DEC Alpha

A new fork of the es40 Alpha emulator adds a JIT compiler, S3 graphics support, and ARC firmware, enabling Windows 2000 for DEC Alpha to run. The update also significantly speeds up OpenVMS and improves its graphics performance without X11 tunneling.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe to conduct flyby of Torifune asteroid

Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe successfully completed a flyby of the Torifune asteroid, approaching within 800 meters at a relative speed of 5 km/s as part of its extended mission. The probe, which delivered samples from the Ryugu asteroid to Earth in 2020, aims to refine technology for planetary defense by developing the ability to alter asteroid trajectories.

Mysterious debris could be ‘space balls’– may contain toxic rocket fuel

Six suspected space debris objects, possibly fuel vessels known as “space balls” from rocket launches, have washed up on beaches in north Queensland. The Australian Space Agency is investigating their origin, and an expert notes they may contain toxic rocket fuel, though authorities say there is no immediate danger to the public.

EV Batteries Are Defying Expectations After Miles

A five-year-old Tesla Model 3 with 247,000 miles on its odometer recently completed a 260-mile road trip across England without needing a recharge, defying expectations about battery degradation. The vehicle, nicknamed “Miles,” remains capable of frequent long-distance drives.

Megawatts by Microwave

The article details the development of Columbia River dams, driven by needs for irrigation, flood control, electricity, and economic relief during the Great Depression. It highlights the rivalry between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers, which led to major projects like the Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams.

Kuo: <1M iPhone fold units in Q3'26, delaying pre-orders and sales to Q4, weeks of delays.

The foldable iPhone is expected to be announced alongside other new models in 2026, but pre-orders and sales may be delayed until Q4 due to low initial production of 0.5–1 million units in Q3. Despite a high price of roughly $2,300–2,500, demand is projected to outstrip supply through year-end, with resale premiums of 50–100% possible.

A Speed Limit for Computers

Ivan Illich’s argument that energy beyond a threshold creates inequity rather than utility is applied to computing, suggesting that unrestrained growth in computing power leads to loss of autonomy and social problems. The article draws a parallel to e-bike speed limits, which cap velocity at 15 mph to maximize equity, and implies that similar legal limits on computing power could address modern inequities.

🔬 Science & Health

Connections in Math: the two kinds of random

Two statistically identical sequences—random digits and the digits of π—differ in compressibility because one has a short algorithmic description while the other does not. This reveals two kinds of lossless compression: statistical, based on symbol frequencies, and algorithmic, based on the simplicity of the generating process. Algorithmic compressibility can exist without statistical redundancy, but while it can be confirmed when present, it can never be ruled out when absent.

Speech and Noise Corpora for Pitch Estimation of Human Speech

This dataset compiles several freely available speech and noise corpora (CMU-ARCTIC, FDA, KEELE, MOCHA-TIMIT, PTDB-TUG, NOISEX, QUT-NOISE) into JBOF dataframes for evaluating fundamental frequency (pitch) estimation algorithms. It was published in June 2020 as part of a dissertation on pitch estimation and supports replication of related research.

Loss of Cognitive Flexibility, Not Memory, May Be Earliest Sign of Alzheimer’s

Impaired cognitive flexibility may be an earlier sign of Alzheimer’s disease than memory loss, according to a study in mice. Researchers found that mice with Alzheimer’s plaques struggled to adapt to changing rules, and quieting overactive neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex improved flexibility and reduced plaque buildup. The findings suggest potential for earlier diagnosis in humans.

Cannabis users face substantially higher risk of heart attack (2025)

Two new studies found that cannabis users face a significantly higher risk of heart attack, with one study showing over a sixfold increased risk in adults under 50 and a meta-analysis revealing a 50% higher risk overall. The research, involving millions of participants, underscores that even young, otherwise healthy users are at greater cardiovascular risk, prompting calls for clinicians to consider cannabis use when assessing heart health.

Pi squared is nearly 10

The article explains that π² is approximately 10, a fact derived from the Basel problem and a telescoping series bound. This approximation is useful for quick mental calculations, such as estimating the perimeter of a circle or the base-10 logarithm of π.

Europe’s new climate in seven charts

June 2024 brought record-breaking heatwaves across the UK and Europe, with temperatures 2–3°C above previous June highs in many areas, including a UK record of 37.7°C. The extreme heat, accompanied by rare tropical nights, was exacerbated by high humidity. Scientists attribute these intensified events to human-induced climate change from greenhouse gas emissions.

Egg consumption inversely correlated with Alzheimer’s

A study found an inverse correlation between egg consumption and Alzheimer’s disease, indicating that higher egg intake may be associated with a lower risk of developing the condition.

Embedding information in disorder

The article describes using Lehmer code to encode data by reordering existing elements in collections (e.g., Exif tags, CSS rules, file directories) without altering content, offering “free storage” hidden in plain sight. This method can hide keys or malware, with applications in file watermarking, covert communication, and even browser rendering. The author notes that any unordered sequence that can be recovered allows Lehmer to extract a bitstream, making it a versatile steganographic technique.

🌍 Society & Culture

Egg companies made $1.22B in profit off $6 carton

Three major egg producers—Cal-Maine, Versova, and Hickman’s—settled with the U.S. Justice Department and 17 states over allegations they colluded to artificially raise egg prices from 2022 to 2025. Under the settlements, the companies will pay $3.3 million and donate 53 million eggs to food banks, without admitting wrongdoing. The alleged price manipulation occurred amid record-high egg prices during a bird flu outbreak.

The Private Capture of Public Genius

In 1956, AT&T signed a consent decree requiring it to license all its patents royalty-free to any U.S. firm and barring it from non-telecom businesses, opening Bell Labs’ vast intellectual property to the free market. This release fueled an innovation cascade that generated nearly $6 billion in follow-on patent value and helped launch companies like Intel.

Has_not_been_viewed_much

The Art Institute of Chicago’s API includes a boolean field has_not_been_viewed_much indicating an artwork has been viewed fewer than 200 times on their website since January 1, 2010. The article highlights this feature and encourages readers to explore these lesser-viewed pieces.

Vaclav Havel, the Power of the Powerless (1978)

In post-totalitarian systems, ideology becomes a ritual divorced from reality yet serves as a critical pillar of power, providing legitimacy and inner coherence, with power ultimately subservient to ideology. This system persists because people are willing to live within the lies that sustain it, both creating and supporting their own alienation.

Completing a computer science degree on Coursera

A self-educated software engineer with 21 years of experience completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science on Coursera after 3 years and 9 months of part-time study while working full-time. The fully remote program, run by the University of London and Goldsmiths, was pursued to enable overseas work options and satisfy a personal love of learning.

Why New Jersey’s balcony solar bill is a huge deal for renters

New Jersey became the tenth state to pass a bill allowing plug-in solar installations, uniquely prohibiting landlords and homeowners’ associations from blocking renters from using them. The move aims to lower barriers for renters and address rising electricity costs, which jumped 17% in the state from 2024 to 2025. Similar bipartisan balcony solar legislation has spread from Utah to about 30 other states.

Pint in England

Burton upon Trent remains England’s beer capital in 2026 due to its gypsum-rich water, which enabled Samuel Allsopp to brew the first pale ale for export in 1822. The town now hosts both megacorporate lager breweries and independent craft producers, though its beer heritage feels hidden, with the National Brewing Centre closed in 2022 and modern high-street shops dominating.

Delta flight hit by firework while landing at Midway Airport on Fourth of July

A Delta flight arriving at Chicago’s Midway Airport on July 4th was hit by a firework but landed safely. A post-flight inspection found no damage to the aircraft, and the FAA is investigating the incident.

Small Penis Rule

The small penis rule is an informal strategy used by authors to avoid libel by giving a character a small penis, based on the assumption no man would identify with it. Legal analysis argues this defense is ineffective because the statement is inherently defamatory and does not require the plaintiff to admit to having a small penis. The rule has been cited in disputes, such as Michael Crichton’s portrayal of a critic as a child rapist with a small penis.

You need a webring

A webring is a circular chain of personal websites centered on a shared topic or friend group, which can be set up manually by linking sites in a loop or programmatically using a server like a Cloudflare Worker with JSON-based navigation routes. The author recommends webrings as a fun way to connect personal websites.

Driving in China as a Tourist

To drive in China as a tourist, you must obtain a temporary driving permit because International Driving Permits are not accepted. This requires a Chinese translation of your foreign license and a visit to the Vehicle Management Office, where the permit is issued in about 1.5 hours. Once obtained, you can rent a car cheaply through WeChat mini apps, with prices starting around 50–100 RMB per day.

Every postcard tells a story

The article compiles four personal letters or postcards. Sarah Waters writes about buying a paper likeness of Anna; Geoff Dyer reflects on a photograph and a sense of shrinking wonder; Akshi Singh describes her host’s mother and her bond with crows; and Max Porter shares an epiphany about Atlantean technology, proposing a trip to Mesopotamia.

Moving back home used to be a sign of failure. Now it shows financial savvy

A 29-year-old woman moved in with her mother after a breakup, expecting a temporary stay, but three years later has no plans to leave. The article notes that living at home as a young adult, once viewed as a sign of failure, is now increasingly seen as financial prudence.

Starring the Computer

The article catalogs numerous television shows and films featuring specific Acorn and Amstrad computer models, such as the Acorn BBC Micro and Amstrad CPC 464. These appearances span popular media including Doctor Who, Black Mirror, and The IT Crowd, among many others. The list is organized by computer brand and model.

Falling fertility on the left as key driver of US birth decline

Since the 1943–1947 birth cohort, fertility among left-wing individuals in the US has fallen sharply below replacement levels, while right-wing individuals have maintained replacement-level fertility, driving the overall birth decline. Selection gradient analyses show increasing directional selection favoring right-wing political orientation over time, but this pattern holds only for white Americans, not Black Americans.

Zuckerberg’s Increasingly Bizarre War on Whistleblowers

Mark Zuckerberg is pursuing a $111 million lawsuit against whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams, author of “Careless People,” which details Facebook’s misconduct including involvement in Myanmar’s genocide and personal failings of its executives. The article compares Zuckerberg’s actions to Belarusian dictator Lukashenka’s absurd crackdowns on innocuous protests.

Show your hands honor for the power they bring you

Human fingers can type faster than previously thought possible due to overlapping movements, yet early computer terminals introduced frustrating delays. The article argues that designers should respect the remarkable capabilities of fingers when creating digital interfaces.

The Engineer in the Half-Space

Mitch is a “gap reader” who excels at identifying and fixing overlooked organizational and communication issues, such as outdated documentation and misaligned teams. Although traditional interviews failed to capture his value, his practical, behind-the-scenes work—like improving onboarding and preventing costly mistakes—made him a highly effective hire. His contributions often appear invisible, preventing problems rather than solving them visibly.

Scientist who cleaned space toilet on work now leading Mars exploration

Claire Parfitt began her space career at age 14 by cleaning a space toilet during work experience at the National Space Science Centre. She now leads teams planning future human and robotic Mars exploration at the European Space Agency, having worked on missions such as the ExoMars rover and the SMILE mission.

I wanted to be Anthony Bourdain–until I met him

The author idolized Anthony Bourdain and emulated his reckless, hard-partying lifestyle as a travel writer, masking her own suicidal ideation. When Bourdain died by suicide, she understood his choice because she recognized the same darkness within herself. Meeting him personally did not diminish her admiration but deepened her understanding of his struggles.

“Stop Moralizing AirCon”: How Institutions Shift Responsibility onto Individuals

The article argues that modern institutions fail their responsibility to prevent suffering by moralizing practical issues like air conditioning, thereby shifting blame onto individuals. It claims this rhetoric turns collective problems into questions of personal virtue, distracting from institutional shortcomings in infrastructure and policy.

Apocketlypse

“APOCKETLYPSE” is a virtual pet device where the creature destroys humanity instead of dying, featuring three apocalyptic final forms. The author programmed it using the low-level uxn system, finding the byte-by-byte process enjoyable despite acknowledging the game is a basic tamagotchi knockoff.

Knowledge Should Not Be Gated

Traditional RAG systems transform knowledge into embeddings and vector databases, making it unreadable to humans and locking it behind tool-specific formats. The article argues for a simpler approach using plain markdown files (like CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md) that models can read directly, eliminating infrastructure complexity while keeping knowledge human-readable and instantly usable by AI.

Programmers need to start meditating

Programming once provided a meditative flow state that quieted the mind, but modern context switching has reduced time in that state. As a result, programmers should adopt a new meditative hobby or use meditation apps to settle their minds.

Is The Economist Always Wrong?

The Economist used AI to analyze its forecasts from 2000 to 2026 and found many were accurate, such as a 2003 prediction that carmakers would use Chapter 11 bankruptcy to shed pension liabilities.

Moby Dick Workout (2022)

The “Moby Dick Workout” is a test for productivity apps that uses the full text of Moby Dick to evaluate performance in scrolling, editing, undo/redo, and memory usage. The author argues that if an app handles this text smoothly, it will likely manage typical user-generated content well. Test files are provided in Bike, OPML, and Markdown formats.

Show your hands honor for the power they bring you

The article highlights the surprising speed of human typing, enabled by overlapping finger movements that defy scientific expectations, and criticizes modern digital interfaces for failing to respect these capabilities as older instruments did. It also recounts early terminal typing delays caused by slow modems and emphasizes the responsibility of designers to create more finger-friendly interactions.

I Accidentally Started a Small Business Three Weeks Ago

An author accidentally developed a communication app for non-verbal children that caused mothers and speech therapists to cry upon seeing its effectiveness for his son. Despite a busy schedule, he felt compelled to continue because it worked better than any other method. The article also recounts the difficult journey of recognizing a child’s speech delays and dealing with pseudoscientific remedies.

University of Oxford Is Older Than the Aztec Empire and Other Facts of History (2013)

The University of Oxford, where teaching began in 1096, predates the founding of the Aztec Empire in 1325 by more than two centuries. Such comparisons, including that Cleopatra lived closer to the present day than to the construction of the pyramids, illustrate how common perceptions of historical timelines are often distorted and compressed.

Record-breaking solo rower Kelsey Pfendler arrives in Hawaii

Kelsey Pfendler arrived in Honolulu after rowing solo from California to Hawaii in 43 days, shattering the previous women’s record of 86 days and the men’s record of 52 days. Hundreds gathered to greet her as she completed the 2,400-mile journey aboard her 21-foot boat, Lily. She undertook the feat to raise funds and awareness for the Whale Foundation, a nonprofit supporting Grand Canyon river guides.

Mama Look a White Dove

A non-verbal child has achieved a dramatic communication breakthrough using a custom device, allowing him to tattle, negotiate, express emotions like nervousness and embarrassment, and request specific items. He also spontaneously spoke phrases such as “Mama! Look! A white dove!” and “I love brother,” which his parent—exhausted from building the app—views as miracles.

Trump expects Musk to donate SpaceX stock to Trump Accounts

President Trump stated he expects Elon Musk to donate SpaceX stock to the Trump Accounts program, a government-backed child investment initiative that provides tax-advantaged accounts with a $1,000 initial deposit. Trump noted that multiple companies, including Micron, have already pledged support, and said he remains on good terms with Musk despite disagreements over electric vehicle subsidies.

Plaintiff Kaley Glenn-Mills awarded $6M in landmark social media addiction trial against Meta

Kaley Glenn-Mills, at age 17, sued Meta and Google for addicting children to social media and won a landmark $6 million jury verdict. Despite her legal victory, she admits she still cannot stop scrolling.

Uber halts food delivery launch in 5 of 7 European countries as it pursues Delivery Hero takeover

Uber has paused its expansion of food delivery services in five of seven European countries it had targeted, as it focuses on a potential takeover of Delivery Hero. The move signals a strategic shift in the region.