Alvaro Lopez Ortega / 2026-07-19 Briefing

Created Mon, 20 Jul 2026 01:05:08 +0000 Modified Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:05:15 +0000
6158 Words

A new Proxmox package, pve-microvm, integrates QEMU’s microvm machine type for sub-300ms boot times using a 12MB kernel and virtio-only devices. Meanwhile, a developer uncovered two browser push notification bugs: permissions silently reset and a default 60-second time-to-live discarding pushes when the browser closed—fixed by re-granting permission and setting TTL to 86,400 seconds. In cryptography, a Lean tutorial demonstrates formal verification of the One-Time Pad. Dependable C proposes a stable C subset prioritizing decadal reliability over modern standards.

🛠️ Development & Engineering

The Zen of Parallel Programming

The article draws an analogy between parallel programming and human inner coordination, noting that adding more processors—or personal capacities—does not automatically yield useful work without proper division, communication, and synchronization. It argues that internal conflict arises when thoughts, emotions, and actions are not truthfully synchronized, and suggests that true effectiveness requires power united, not divided against itself.

Dependable C

Dependable C is a documented subset of the C language designed for writing highly portable, stable code that compiles across all platforms and compilers, prioritizing long-term reliability over modern features. It avoids the complexity and limited implementation support of newer C standards like C23 and C2Y, which deviate significantly from classic C. The goal is to produce code that remains functional and understandable for decades, serving as a universal, reliable foundation for libraries and utilities.

Running microVMs in Proxmox VE, The Easy Way

A Proxmox user developed pve-microvm, a Debian package that integrates QEMU’s microvm machine type into Proxmox, enabling sub-300ms boot times by removing legacy emulation and using direct kernel boot with virtio-only devices. It patches Proxmox’s Perl modules, ships a custom 12MB Linux kernel, and supports 21 guest OS types, offering hardware isolation similar to full VMs but with container-like startup performance.

The notification that gave up after a minute

A developer building browser push notifications encountered two bugs: the permission silently reverted to “default” despite a valid subscription, and a default 60-second time-to-live caused pushes to be discarded when the browser was closed. Fixing both—re-granting permission and setting the TTL to 86,400 seconds—resolved the issues. The experience highlighted how bugs can hide in gaps between layered system components and how defaults can undermine product promises.

Introduction to Formal Verification with Lean (Part 1)

This tutorial introduces formal verification with Lean, showing how to write machine-checked proofs for cryptographic protocols by walking through Lean basics and formally verifying the One-Time Pad protocol. It draws definitions from Boneh and Shoup’s cryptography textbook, aiming to help cryptography engineers port simple cryptographic proofs into Lean.

CodeSizer: Why is that binary so big?

CodeSizer is a static code size profiling tool for embedded firmware binaries that uses objdump and addr2line to unwind inline call stacks and attribute code size to the correct node in the inline call tree. It accepts an ELF file and optional cross-prefix and section parameters, outputting a static HTML report with tree-view navigation. The tool is designed for analyzing heavily inlined and link-time-optimized binaries in size-critical firmware development.

Git email patch review addon for Thunderbird

Thunderbird Patch Review is an add-on that lets users review git patches from email, comment on hunks, send reviews as mailing-list replies, and apply patch series locally via git-am. It is installed by packaging the extension source code as an .xpi file, but currently does not support patches arriving as attachments, HTML-only mail, or reviewing from a git worktree preview.

Shake Blog

Shake Blog is a starter project for building a static site generator using Shake and Haskell, generating blog posts, pages, tag archives, and an Atom feed. It is not a turnkey platform; users are expected to fork the codebase and customize templates, page types, URL structure, and build rules.

Skred is now a MIDI aware synth and drum machine construction kit

Skred v0.50.0 is now a MIDI-aware synth and drum machine construction kit, as demonstrated in a step-by-step video tutorial. The video covers creating synth voices, setting up MIDI input (including with VMPK), adding drums, and using delay effects. Skred runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, with precompiled CLI versions available on GitHub.

Triton language for Alibaba SAIL

The Triton language has been forked for Alibaba’s SAIL platform to support T-Head PPU hardware (MMAv1/v2), requiring the SAIL SDK. It introduces PPU-specific optimizations including AIU asynchronous data movement with software pipelining, swizzled shared memory layouts to eliminate bank conflicts, and Tensor Core acceleration supporting FP8/FP16/BF16. A new aiu_load API enables efficient global-to-shared memory transfers.

Home server death and rebirth

A home server’s microSD card failed after years of write wear, exacerbated by a power outage, but most data was preserved on external drives and through NixOS configurations. The server was rebuilt with measures to minimize writes, including using zram for swap and improving backup redundancy.

Itanium emulator boots Windows

A new Intel Itanium emulator, version 0.1, can boot Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP 64-bit, though it runs very slowly and currently lacks support for OpenVMS, HP-UX, Linux, or BSD. The code is not yet open source, but the developer plans to release it on GitHub after cleanup.

Grok-iOS – remote Grok Build from your iPhone over ACP

Grok-iOS is an open-source iOS client that turns an iPhone into a remote pager UI for the Grok Build agent on macOS, communicating via ACP over WebSocket. It requires macOS with the Grok CLI, an xAI API key, Xcode 16+, and iOS 17+. The app is not available on the App Store and must be sideloaded or run in the Simulator.

A canvas-based note taking and organizer app

A developer has created a canvas-based note-taking app that separates short-form (sticky notes) and long-form (A4 documents) notes visually. Features include a quick mode for jotting thoughts using local storage, PDF export with three custom styles, and a visual hierarchy that mimics file structure using notes, stacks, and labels. The developer is seeking feedback to continue development.

Why It’s So Hard to Add a Column in the Middle of a PostgreSQL Table

PostgreSQL cannot add a column in the middle of a table because the immutable attnum field simultaneously defines the column’s identity, physical position in tuples, and logical order, making reordering require rewriting all indexes, constraints, and rules that reference columns by number. Additionally, dropped columns never release their attnum or physical space, and column order significantly impacts disk usage due to alignment padding, making proper ordering a storage optimization concern.

Orion Browser by Kagi

Orion is a privacy-focused web browser built on WebKit, compatible with Chrome and Firefox extensions, and features zero telemetry. It is available on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Linux (beta), and Windows (alpha), and is funded entirely by users through a subscription or one-time lifetime license with no ads or third-party deals.

HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router

The article explains that before setting up a MikroTik L009UiGS-RM as a home router, users must determine their ISP’s connection protocol (IPoE or PPPoE) and WAN IPv4 type (public, private/CGNAT, or DS-Lite) to configure it correctly. Initial setup involves powering on the router, connecting a laptop via Ethernet, accessing it through WinBox, and immediately changing the default admin password.

M-Chips: M7 with up to 1.5 TB – and why Apple is skipping the M6

Apple is skipping the M6 Pro, Max, and Ultra variants, releasing only a standard M6 chip for entry-level devices due to major AI accelerator changes planned for the M7. The M7 series, launching from 2027, will include an Ultra variant supporting up to 1.5 TB of RAM and significantly improved Neural Engines, reflecting Apple’s increased focus on local AI.

Less Is More: Why Audio on SoundCloud Looks Different

SoundCloud’s new AAC encoder deliberately removes frequencies above 17 kHz, a range most humans cannot reliably hear, to allocate more bits to the mid-range where listeners are most sensitive. This trade-off reduces distortion in the audible spectrum, resulting in higher perceptual audio quality despite appearing as a downgrade on spectrograms.

HMD Touch 4G

The HMD Touch 4G is a hybrid phone that blends a touchscreen, cloud phone service, and the Express Chat app for video calls and voice messaging with the simplicity and affordability of a feature phone. It supports 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, global roaming, and includes smart features like cricket results, weather, and news. Currently, the device is available only in India.

The Last MPEG-4 Visual Patent Has Expired

The last remaining MPEG-4 Visual patent, a Brazilian patent (BRPI0109962B1), expired on July 19, 2026, ending all patent protections for the format after earlier US and EU patents had already lapsed. The VIA Licensing Alliance confirmed this final expiration.

C64 Basic Dungeon Crawler: Goblin Attack (C64 Basic Part 8)

Goblins now chase the player instead of remaining static, and a memory bug that corrupted the character set was fixed. The update also introduces redefinable keys and highlights a Commodore BASIC pitfall where variable names are limited to two characters, causing conflicts like “GO” in “GOLD”.

I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s

A bowling alley owner replaced a $80k–$120k proprietary scoring system with a custom open-source setup using ESP32 microcontrollers costing about $200 per lane pair. The system uses ESPNow mesh networking, a Raspberry Pi, and standard sensors to handle scoring, pin detection, and machine control, significantly reducing costs and eliminating vendor lock-in. The project, called OpenLaneLink, is planned for open-source release to help other bowling centers.

DRIVE – Operational Excellence for AI-accelerated engineering

DRIVE is a framework for assessing engineering organizational health across five pillars—Delivery, Reliability, Initiatives, Vigilance, and Efficiency—designed to address the gap between AI-accelerated output and existing controls. It includes recurring Operational Excellence reviews that treat the organization as a complex system, reallocating resources to close gaps and ensure sustainable delivery of reliable software.

Minecraft: Java Edition now uses SDL3

Minecraft’s latest snapshot replaces GLFW with SDL3 for window management and input, adds custom furnace fuel components, and makes UI changes including borderless fullscreen as the default, physical key bindings, and native Wayland support on Linux. Known issues include crashes on Windows with multiple monitors and on Wayland when using exclusive fullscreen.

Textcaster – social networking where RSS is the protocol

Textcaster has been renamed to RSC (Really Simple Conversations) and moved to new domains, with permanent 301 redirects preserving existing permalinks and feeds. The project aims to build a distributed social network using open web standards like RSS, focusing on a group writing app where users’ posts become subscribable RSS feeds.

Akashic – A self-hosted intelligence workspace inspired by Palantir

Akashic is a self-hosted geospatial intelligence workspace that aggregates live public data from aircraft, satellites, weather, radio, infrastructure, and open-source reconnaissance onto a single interactive map with no API keys required. It is designed for active exploration and correlation of multiple data layers, providing dense entity details and an intelligence deck for strategic context. The platform relies on public data that may be delayed or incomplete and should not be used as the sole authoritative source for critical decisions.

What I learned selling 2,500 MIDI recorders: Hardware is not so hard

The author found building the Jamcorder MIDI recorder’s hardware surprisingly easy compared to its software, which required 200K lines of code and over three years of work. They attribute this to intentional design simplicity and recommend keeping hardware straightforward, partnering with Chinese suppliers, and maintaining high margins. Despite hardware’s reputation for difficulty, they argue it is only as hard as you make it.

Claude Code uses Bun written in Rust now

Claude Code v2.1.181 and later use the Rust port of Bun, as confirmed by Bun’s creator. Evidence from the Claude binary reveals a preview version (Bun v1.4.0) and 563 Rust source file paths, indicating the Rust-based Bun is running in production across millions of devices.

Dumber Mini: A Nokia-Style Phone with WhatsApp and Maps

The Dumber Mini is a minimalist phone featuring a keypad and touchscreen that runs a “dumber OS” designed to discourage endless scrolling while still supporting essential apps like WhatsApp, Google Maps, banking, and NFC payments. It includes an app blocker, offline maps, and ongoing security updates, aiming to replace a smartphone with a device that provides necessary functions without content consumption.

OfflineTTS — Free browser-based TTS & STT that runs locally

OfflineTTS is a free, browser-based AI audio toolkit that provides text-to-speech, speech-to-text, subtitle generation, and EPUB/PDF/TXT-to-audio workflows while running locally for privacy. It supports 99 languages for transcription and offers offline capability for some engines, with unlimited usage and no server-side processing. The platform is designed for creators, accessibility, and research, keeping all data on the user’s device.

Mirror your GitHub repos to tangled.org automatically

Synchub automatically mirrors public GitHub repositories to tangled.org. After installing the GitHub app and signing in with a tangled handle, every push keeps branches and tags in sync.

Scrying the AMD GFX1250 LLVM Tea Leaves

AMD’s upcoming MI400 series accelerators, inferred from LLVM commits, include the GFX1250 (MI455X for machine learning) and GFX1251 (MI430X for HPC, exceeding 200 TFLOPs double precision). The GFX1250 introduces major architectural changes: it operates solely in Wave32 mode, supports up to 1024 VGPRs per wave (double prior CDNA), and adds WMMA instructions for ML, but lacks dynamic VGPR allocation.

I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

AirDows is a browser-based tool that transfers photos, videos, and documents between devices without cables, preserving original quality and requiring no account. It connects two devices via a QR code or temporary code, and both must remain active during the transfer. The service does not compress, re-encode, or create cloud storage links.

IceCream – Never use print() to debug again

IceCream is a Python debugging library that replaces print() with ic(), automatically printing variable names, values, syntax-highlighted output, and program context like filename and line number. It supports inspecting expressions and execution flow, returns its arguments for easy insertion into existing code, and offers features such as string output via ic.format() and global enable/disable.

Transcribe.cpp

transcribe.cpp is a ggml-based transcription library that supports 16 ASR families (60+ models) with GPU acceleration via Vulkan, Metal, CUDA, and TinyBLAS. Every model is numerically validated and WER-tested against reference implementations, and the library includes maintainer-supported bindings for Python, JavaScript, Rust, and Swift. Created by the Handy maintainer to address cross-platform ASR distribution issues, it serves as a drop-in replacement for whisper.cpp.

🤖 AI & Machine Learning

xAI’s first lawsuit against a user tests who is responsible for what Grok makes

xAI has sued a user for allegedly bypassing Grok’s safeguards to generate child sexual abuse material, arguing the individual bears responsibility after guardrails were engaged. Simultaneously, the company faces lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions that claim xAI itself is liable for user-generated content. xAI also disclosed it has suspended over 52,000 accounts and filed 73,000 reports to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, resulting in nearly 250 arrests.

Biggest Probabilistic Computer Turns Noise into Answers

Researchers built the largest probabilistic computer yet, featuring 1 million probabilistic bits (p-bits) across 18 field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that can flip over a trillion times per second. Unlike quantum computers, it uses p-bits that toggle between 0 and 1 with adjustable probability to solve stochastic problems like optimization. The team identified a scaling rule that allows such machines to expand without requiring global synchronization between chips.

Moonshot AI suspends new subscriptions due to Kimi K3 demand

Due to overwhelming demand for its Kimi K3 model, Moonshot AI has temporarily paused new subscriptions to protect service for existing users while expanding capacity. The platform will later reintroduce subscriptions in batches and split membership into two plans: Kimi Membership for general use and Kimi Code Membership for coding workflows.

I burned all my tokens researching how to save tokens

The author exhausted his entire Claude Max 5x plan in 30 minutes while researching AI agent tokenomics. He then optimized by using Claude Code as the main harness and distributing tasks across cheaper models (Claude Sonnet 5, Opus 4.8, Haiku 4.5, Codex, and Antigravity) to conserve tokens from his existing subscriptions. This multi-model orchestration enabled him to continue researching token optimization while actively saving tokens.

Qwen 3.8 Max Preview

The Token Plan now offers Individual and more affordable Team plans, providing unified access to multiple AI models including Qwen3.8-Max-Preview. Plans (Lite, Standard, Pro) vary in credits and concurrent agent support, and integrate with tools supporting OpenAI and Anthropic protocols.

Anthropic runs large-scale code migrations with Claude Code

Anthropic used Claude Code to migrate Bun’s million-line codebase from Zig to Rust in under two weeks at a cost of ~$165,000, and a 165,000-line Python codebase to TypeScript over a weekend. The key insight is that such migrations, once multi-year efforts, are now feasible by fixing the process that produces the code rather than the code itself.

Google’s Gemini delay: Coding stumbles, clashing teams and frustrated engineers

Google’s launch of Gemini 3.5 Pro is months behind schedule due to struggles improving its coding capabilities, causing internal frustration and concerns about losing ground to rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. The delay stems from clashing teams across Google’s product portfolio, and recent training data updates yielded disappointing results. The company is currently testing the model with partners and engaging with the U.S. government on safety standards.

LLM-Integrated Multivariable Calculus Course

The article details a comprehensive multivariable calculus course covering vectors, dot and cross products, planes, parametric curves, partial derivatives, multiple integrals, and vector calculus topics such as line integrals, Green’s theorem, and Stokes’ theorem. The course is structured into lectures with timestamps for each topic.

🔒 Security & Privacy

CIA operative Jonny Gannon spied on G42 to probe China ties, helped UAE get US AI chips

CIA operative Jonny Gannon spied on Sheikh’s tech firm G42 to investigate its ties to China, while simultaneously helping the UAE gain expanded access to US AI chips by alleviating Washington’s concerns.

60+ ‘jacket apps’ on App Store become gambling when accessed from Brazilian IPs

An investigation by 9to5Mac identified over 60 “jacket apps” on the App Store that appear as simple games or utilities but transform into gambling platforms when accessed from a Brazilian IP address. The apps use AI-generated animal icons, identical privacy policies, and remote-configuration code to evade detection. The discovery follows renewed pressure from Brazil’s Ministry of Justice on Apple and Google to address unauthorized betting apps.

FIFA World Cup Triggers a Global Anti-Piracy Crackdown

International law enforcement seized over a thousand domain names of pirate sports streaming sites during the FIFA World Cup 2026, with the U.S. “Operation Offsides” taking down hundreds of domains and Colombia’s “Operation Red Card” suspending 1,840 domains and URLs across nine countries, resulting in 15 arrests.

Clever hacker fits 537,000 domains in a $5 ESP32 ad-blocking dongle

A hacker built a $5 ESP32-C3 ad-blocking DNS filter that stores over 537,000 domains using 40-bit FNV-1a hashes in 4MB of flash memory, with firmware using about 50KB of RAM and responding to blocked lookups in roughly 10 milliseconds. It serves as a low-cost backup to a Pi-hole but lacks advanced features.

Half a Second – a book about the XZ backdoor

In March 2024, a Microsoft engineer’s curiosity about a half-second delay uncovered a sophisticated backdoor in XZ Utils, a widely used Linux compression tool. The incident revealed how a burned-out volunteer maintainer was expertly manipulated over two years, highlighting the broader problem of critical open-source components being maintained by unpaid, overstretched volunteers.

Fayetteville officers fired for misusing license plate system

More than a quarter of all computer programming jobs have disappeared in the past two years, marking the industry’s worst downturn and placing it among the 10 hardest-hit occupations out of over 420 tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This decline contradicts earlier narratives that coding would be a salvation for liberal arts majors.

Colombia’s energy giant Ecopetrol says hackers stole data from 3,300 accounts, demanding ransom

Hackers stole data from approximately 3,300 Ecopetrol user accounts and demanded a ransom, threatening to publish the information. The company’s cybersecurity controls blocked a ransomware attempt, with no material disruption to critical operations. Ecopetrol revoked access, launched an investigation, and notified Colombian authorities.

Kenya investigates breach of president’s website

Kenya took President William Ruto’s official website offline after hackers defaced it and demanded around $317,000 in cryptocurrency. The government activated cybersecurity protocols and stated there is no evidence of sensitive data access, theft, or information loss.

📊 Business & Finance

Kalshi, Polymarket bets on World Cup final top $5.69B; total wagers surpass $50B in June

The FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain has spurred over $5.69 billion in wagers on prediction platforms Polymarket and Kalshi, potentially making it the largest gambling event in history. In June, total bets on these platforms surpassed $50 billion for the first time, driven largely by the tournament, with user numbers and trading volumes reaching new records.

Sebastian Rucci, past ventures probed, bids to build California’s biggest $10B data center.

Sebastian Rucci, a land-use lawyer with a past that includes owning a strip club and running a drug-treatment center subject to federal probes, is proposing a $10 billion data center in Imperial, California—the state’s largest. Local opposition has focused on his controversial history, but Rucci counters, “Do I look like a guy that’s going away?” His project is part of a broader AI-driven data center boom attracting various entrepreneurs.

Big US pizza chains struggle as delivery apps boost independent pizzerias’ market access

Large U.S. pizza delivery chains are losing sales as third-party apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats level the playing field, allowing independent pizzerias and other restaurants greater access to the delivery market. This shift has eroded the competitive advantage that major chains once held.

How much profit does your employer make per employee?

A new tool allows US employees to calculate their employer’s profit per employee by entering the company name and their own compensation. The tool works best for publicly traded US companies and does not collect or store salary data.

Valve say there’s no end in sight to the memory crisis, prices going to increase

Valve engineer Yazan Aldehayyet stated that memory prices are still worsening, with retail prices lagging bulk supply by three to six months and no reductions expected until at least 2028. The memory crisis has limited Steam Machine production, but Valve views the device’s success in terms of providing an open-source PC gaming option, not raw sales figures.

Better and Cheaper Than IPTV

Castor is a terminal tool that extracts video streams from web pages, transcodes them, and casts them in real time to smart TVs via DLNA at full quality, bypassing screen mirroring limitations. It uses headless Chrome for stream extraction and requires Chrome, ffmpeg, and ffprobe, with installation options including Homebrew, source, or Docker. The project is a proof of concept for engineering purposes and does not host or provide any content.

🧪 Science & Health

Mathematicians still don’t know the fastest way to multiply numbers

The grade-school multiplication algorithm takes O(n²) steps, but in 1960, 23-year-old Anatoly Karatsuba discovered a faster method that trades multiplications for additions. This began a decades-long quest to find the fastest possible multiplication algorithm, which remains an unsolved problem critical for computing efficiency.

The Control Group Is Out of Control (2014)

Parapsychology acts as a “control group” for science, revealing that standard methods can produce positive results even for nonexistent phenomena, indicating a placebo effect in research. To address this replication crisis, the article recommends stricter standards such as larger sample sizes, replication, pre-registration, Bayesian analysis, and addressing publication bias.

Heavy TV watching associated with smaller brain structures, study finds

Adults who reported watching TV “very often” in midlife later had smaller brain volumes and more white matter damage, even after accounting for physical activity and other health factors. In contrast, occupational sitting was linked to better brain health, indicating that the type of sedentary activity matters for cognitive outcomes.

Natural experiments prove phytoplankton carbon removal works

Natural experiments, including volcanic eruptions, dust storms, and undersea vents, have consistently shown that adding nutrients like iron to nutrient-poor ocean waters stimulates phytoplankton growth, which draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Satellites and research ships have extensively documented this cause-and-effect relationship across various regions, confirming it as a well-understood and effective process.

What Did We Lose When We Lost the Stars

The article contrasts humanity’s historical reverence for the stars, exemplified by Dante’s intimate astronomical knowledge, with the modern loss of a clear night sky due to light pollution and the proliferation of satellites like Starlink, arguing this represents a profound cultural and spiritual loss.

Bananas sprout in Rayleigh Garden UK after 15 years

Warmer UK summers and milder winters have enabled banana plants to fruit for the first time after 15 years, as seen with growers in Essex and Suffolk. However, the Musa Basjoo banana, which thrives in these conditions, is primarily ornamental and not suitable for eating. Traditional British crops like gooseberries and rhubarb are declining in some areas due to the changing climate.

Study: Single-crystal nanowires of niobium arsenide may replace copper wires

Cornell researchers have developed single-crystal nanowires of niobium arsenide as a potential replacement for copper interconnects in microchips. Unlike copper, this topological semimetal becomes a better conductor as it gets thinner due to surface electrons that resist scattering. The team used thermomechanical nanomolding to precisely control the nanowires’ dimensions, enabling faster synthesis and screening of materials.

The Mighty Big Array of Finn Jensen LA8YB

Finn Jensen (LA8YB) spent over a decade building a massive 32 x 17-element Yagi antenna array for 144 MHz in a Norwegian forest, one of the world’s largest amateur radio setups. Using only 10 watts, he could hear his own echoes and easily work single-yagi stations, and he earned the WAS award by contacting all 52 U.S. states via moonbounce. He passed away from cancer on August 20, 2011.

The Art of Insight in Science and Engineering – Mastering Complexity(2014) [pdf]

The article discusses techniques for developing deep insight in science and engineering, emphasizing strategies to master complex systems and problems. It draws on examples from various fields to illustrate how conceptual understanding and analytical skills can be cultivated.

FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

The FDA approved Lipfendra (enlicitide), the first oral PCSK9 inhibitor, as a once-daily tablet to lower LDL cholesterol in adults with hypercholesterolemia, including heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Clinical trials demonstrated average LDL-C reductions of 56% and 59% compared to placebo at 24 weeks, with similar adverse event rates. This provides an alternative to injectable PCSK9 inhibitors for patients needing additional LDL-C lowering.

🌐 Culture & Society

What is your favorite blog to read recently?

The article asks readers to share their favorite blogs, highlighting that the most interesting ones offer content beyond what academic papers provide.

Jurassic Park packed $4M of legit 1993 computer hardware

A software engineer catalogued every computer piece in Jurassic Park, finding six working computers, a PDA, monitors, and a mechanical keyboard that cost $1.725 million in 1992 (over $4 million today). All equipment on set was real and functional except for the supercomputer mockup, with most gear located in the control room.

How to Abandon Your Climate Commitments and Get Away with It

Many major U.S. companies have abandoned or postponed their climate pledges, citing high costs and difficulty, with the shift accelerated by the Trump administration’s opposition to climate goals. Under President Biden, there was pressure to address climate change, but companies ultimately found it too expensive to drastically cut emissions amid rising energy demand.

Trend Has Russian Men Smashing Their iPhones for a Manlier Look

A new TikTok trend in Russia has men deliberately smashing or scratching their iPhones to achieve a worn, “manlier” look, inspired by a prior trend that portrayed beat-up phones as masculine. Experts warn that cracking the back cover disables water resistance and that piercing the battery poses a serious safety hazard.

Modder Runs GTA III Inside GTA: San Andreas on an In-Game TV

A mod by Dryxio makes GTA III fully playable on a television inside GTA: San Andreas, with both games running in the same process and sharing a Direct3D device. The San Andreas world remains active while GTA III renders directly into the TV’s GPU texture. A further demonstration shows GTA: Vice City running on a texture inside GTA III, which itself is running on a TV inside San Andreas.

Em dashes are fucking amazing

The article passionately defends the em dash, praising its versatility for adding clarifications, dramatic pauses, and seamless sentence flow while dismissing criticisms that overuse indicates AI-generated text. It contrasts em dashes favorably with brackets, colons, semicolons, and ellipsis, and advises using AP-style spaced em dashes to differentiate from AI output. The author ultimately encourages ignoring online critics and embracing the punctuation mark for its expressive power.

Bribes.fyi – Built something to report bribes

A crowdsourced bribe registry in India, Bribes.fyi, enables anonymous, verified, and permanently public reports of bribery incidents without requiring an account. Users can file reports in 60 seconds, and the platform aggregates data by state and department to identify patterns. The registry aims to increase transparency and accountability by making all reports searchable and publicly accessible.

The Norwegian Case for Mediocracy

The provided text contains subscription offers for the Financial Times, not the article content. No summary can be generated.

Terence McKenna’s Mega Bad Trip

During a 1988–89 Hawaiian mushroom trip, Terence McKenna experienced a terrifying collapse of meaning and nihilistic despair, unable to surrender to ego-loss like his wife Kathleen Harrison. The event, detailed in Graham St. John’s biography, led McKenna to stop tripping with Harrison and rarely use psilocybin or other psychedelics again, contradicting his earlier advocacy of “heroic doses.”

The Attention-Span Class Divide

Timothée Chalamet’s dismissal of ballet and opera as niche is ironic, as moviegoing itself is declining in cultural relevance due to fewer theatrical releases and rising costs. The article argues that attention spans and the ability to attend movies increasingly split along class lines, with low-income audiences least likely to go, reflecting broader economic inequality.

Trump, not Iran, is the greatest danger

The article argues that Trump’s leadership in the Iran conflict is characterized by poor planning, escalating violence against civilians, and no clear strategy, resulting in an unwinnable war. It criticizes his refusal to pursue diplomacy and his isolation of the U.S., while drawing parallels to similar failures in his approaches to Gaza and Ukraine.

Facebook Down

Facebook, owned by Meta, is experiencing a widespread outage, with users reporting issues accessing the platform. Downdetector shows a spike in problem reports, indicating the service is down for many globally. The cause of the disruption is not yet known.

Inside the Secret Math Society Known Simply as Nicolas Bourbaki

Nicolas Bourbaki is a secret society of mathematicians, founded in 1934, that produces highly rigorous, self-contained textbooks with no logical gaps. Membership is confidential, with new members invited through reading and discussion sessions, and the group originated from a desire to improve mathematics textbooks after World War I. The name is a collective pseudonym taken from a 19th-century French general.

Impro is a handbook for running a cult

Keith Johnstone’s “Impro” presents improvisation as a tool to unlearn repressive Western cultural conditioning, making it both an improv guide and a lifestyle manifesto. The book is influential in Silicon Valley for its practical insights into status dynamics in social interactions, while also promoting countercultural ideas that position it as a handbook for running a cult.

Disney Has Started Feeding Your Kids AI Slop

Disney and AI-animation company Animaj quietly launched the AI-generated children’s series Ozzy Fox on YouTube, with episodes garnering over 750,000 views. Critics describe the show’s visuals as bland and noticeably produced by AI. This release follows Disney’s broader embrace of AI, including a $1 billion partnership with OpenAI.