Obelisk 0.42 introduces durable agent workflows with replayable history and layered sandbox permissions, while iroh pushes BLAKE3-verified streaming for permissionless global content discovery as IPFS Shipyard shuts down. NetBSD’s racoon2 IKE daemon gained RFC 7383 fragmentation, NAT-OA, better IPv6, and automated tests. Also: a Zig-based ncdu fork, self-hosted SSH/nginx HTTP tunnels, and a Go compiler trick for faster IPv4-to-IPv6 mapping.
🤖 AI & Machine Learning
Models ranked by normative score across twelve paradigms, once neutral and once human-primed
A leaderboard ranks models by normative score across twelve paradigms under both neutral and human-primed conditions. Scores range from 0% for matching the biased answer to 100% for fully normative, and an LLM judge identified in the Judge column scored the answers.
- Models ranked by normative score across twelve paradigms, once neutral and once human-primed — cognit.rajtilak.tech
I asked Claude build a physically accurate O’Neill cylinder you can walk around
The article discusses a project in which the author asked Claude to build a physically accurate O’Neill cylinder that can be walked around. No further article details were available because the provided content was still loading.
- I asked Claude build a physically accurate O’Neill cylinder you can walk around — island-three.gruberbuilds.workers.dev
Remove and Disable Apple Macos27 AI Models Tool
RemoveMacAI is a tool for macOS 27 that turns off Apple Intelligence features and removes the downloaded models that remain on disk after the features are disabled. It also prevents macOS from re-downloading those models and allows all changes to be reverted. The tool can be installed via a one-line script or Homebrew and uses a configuration profile without disabling System Integrity Protection.
- Remove and Disable Apple Macos27 AI Models Tool — github.com
Building a RAG Pipeline for Semantic Code Search
JetBrains describes building Air Context, a RAG pipeline for semantic code search that gives LLM coding agents precise, citable evidence from real repositories instead of relying on keyword search or grep. The first post in the series covers the pipeline’s initial stages—parsing, chunking, and vectorization—and shares lessons from moving a prototype to production.
- Building a RAG Pipeline for Semantic Code Search — blog.jetbrains.com
What I learnt co-leading an AI Safety bootcamp for legal and governance practit
The article discusses co-leading an AI safety seminar for legal and governance practitioners, highlighting efforts to involve lawyers in AI safety, including Martin Radzaj’s work and practical topics such as gradual disempowerment. A commenter suggested future events also cover harder “illegible” alignment problems, while organizers noted many attendees lacked basic AI safety literacy. It argues AI safety is now mainstream with policy wins, but political will and market incentives remain the bottleneck, making corporate practice changes and the EU’s market and AI safety unit important.
Run Qwen 3.8 Flash Next (125B) on consumer hardware (RTX 4090) at 100T/s
Strata, a free and open-source engine, runs the 125-billion-parameter Qwen3.8-Flash-Next model locally on consumer PCs with 12GB+ NVIDIA or AMD GPUs on Windows or Linux. Benchmarks show up to 94 tokens/s on an RTX 5070 and 60 tokens/s on an RX 9070 XT, with an RTX 3090 projected at 100–140 tokens/s. It supports chat, coding, image reading, and integration with apps and coding agents while keeping data on-device.
AI search for every photo and every frame of video on macOS
SCM (Screen Memories) is a local-first macOS app that provides AI-powered search for every photo and video frame in any folder. It supports natural-language file search, scene-level video search, OCR, and Whisper-based dialogue search, with all inference running on-device and no cloud uploads. The app auto-imports watched folders, deduplicates files by content hash, and can be installed via Homebrew for Apple Silicon macOS 12+.
“Torturing” LLMs in a Robot Prison Has Triggered the Dumbest Debate in AI Yet
A GitHub project running Saw-like “torture” and “pain” experiments on locally hosted LLMs has sparked heated debate on X, with effective altruists and others who believe LLMs may be sentient asking GitHub to remove it as cruel. The article argues this reflects an increasingly absurd “model welfare” debate, stressing that LLMs are not conscious and that such concerns are being promoted by parts of the AI safety movement and companies like Anthropic.
I stopped reviewing my agents’ code. Here’s what I do instead
The author describes abandoning line-by-line review of coding-agent output in favor of setting clear intent and strong automated guardrails, including tests, CI, review bots, merge queues, and feature flags. Using this workflow, they say they merged 562 PRs in two weeks while spending four nights hiking. They argue that when agents make mistakes, the response should be to fix the missing guardrail rather than review every line.
- I stopped reviewing my agents’ code. Here’s what I do instead — alexeyindeev.substack.com
Musk explains why Tesla Robotaxi isn’t running at night, and Lidar is the answer
Tesla extended its Austin Robotaxi service by one hour to 11 p.m., but Elon Musk says night operation is limited because cameras struggle to detect low-contrast objects such as grey kittens on grey pavement in the dark. That is a known weakness of camera-only systems, while lidar and radar can detect objects in low light—though Musk has long dismissed those sensors as a “crutch” and a “fool’s errand.”
Fulcrum Echo promises AI text in the style of any writer, so I tested it
Fulcrum Echo claims to generate AI text in the style of any writer, so it was tested by a reviewer. The tool’s output proved derivative, with the system itself saying it is “a copy of a copy of a copy” and that everything it says has come before.
- Fulcrum Echo promises AI text in the style of any writer, so I tested it — theregister.com
Meta’s Muse builds a page per person in your life, with facts, history, relationship tips (Wired)
Researchers extracted internal system prompts showing Meta’s Muse compiles a page for every person in a user’s life, including facts, history, relationship notes, and suggestions to improve relationships. The AI agent, downloaded by millions and connectable to sensitive data, reportedly builds these profiles hourly using its “memory.” The findings raise privacy concerns about how Muse organizes and uses personal relationship data.
- Meta’s Muse builds a page per person in your life, with facts, history, relationship tips (Wired) — wired.com
Trump unveils new Super Intelligence Force led by DNI Jay Clayton, with FTC, DOD, OPM officials
President Donald Trump announced Sunday the creation of a new “Super Intelligence Force,” to be led by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton. The group will also include the FTC’s Andrew Ferguson, the Defense Department’s Emil Michael, and OPM’s Scott Kupor.
- Trump unveils new Super Intelligence Force led by DNI Jay Clayton, with FTC, DOD, OPM officials — politico.com
Profile: Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang, first Gen Z senior exec, builds hype for Muse
Alexandr Wang, Meta’s chief AI officer and first Gen Z senior executive, has helped put the company back in the AI race after its AI assistant Muse debuted in early September and topped Apple’s App Store for two weeks. Meta’s stock is up nearly 20% since the launch, though Wang has ruffled feathers inside the tech giant.
Q&A: OpenAI VP Richard Ho on Jalapeño inference chip co-designed with Broadcom via OpenAI models
OpenAI VP of Hardware Richard Ho discusses Jalapeño, OpenAI’s Broadcom-co-designed inference accelerator, in a Q&A covering its architecture, benchmarks, and development. The chip uses 216 GiB of HBM4 at 15.4 TB/s, scales to 2,048 accelerators and 27 EFLOP/s at four-bit precision, and OpenAI claims 1.5–1.9x better performance per watt and 1.7–3.6x better latency than NVIDIA GB200/GB300. The interview also covers OpenAI’s use of its own models to help design the chip and optimize kernels, along with the Broadcom partnership and Ho’s background.
- Q&A: OpenAI VP Richard Ho on Jalapeño inference chip co-designed with Broadcom via OpenAI models — morethanmoore.substack.com
Q&A: Brian Chesky on Airbnb’s AI agents, why travel chatbots fail, and an AI-native OS
Airbnb launched AI-powered search as part of its fall update, with CEO Brian Chesky saying chatbots are not the right interface for travel e-commerce or discovery. He expects Airbnb’s search to evolve toward a hybrid of chatbot and browsing experiences, with a near-term focus on “multiplayer” AI for group trip planning. Airbnb is also preparing its platform to be more agent-friendly as consumer AI agents emerge, seeing them as potential lead generators.
- Q&A: Brian Chesky on Airbnb’s AI agents, why travel chatbots fail, and an AI-native OS — techcrunch.com
🔐 Security & Privacy
Improving and Stabilizing the racoon2 IKE Daemon in NetBSD
Artem Belan’s Google Summer of Code 2026 project improved and stabilized the racoon2 IKE daemon in NetBSD, making it more reliable for L2TP/IPsec and IKEv2 VPN use. The work implemented RFC 7383 IKE fragmentation, RFC 3947 NAT-OA payloads in IKEv1 Quick Mode, better IPv6 support, address-macro cleanup, and an automated unit test framework. The changes were developed on the gsoc2026 branch and merged upstream through pull requests #13–#39 from June to September 2026.
- Improving and Stabilizing the racoon2 IKE Daemon in NetBSD — blog.netbsd.org
A Mere Mortal’s Introduction to JIT Vulnerabilities in JavaScript Engines
This blog post offers a beginner-friendly introduction to JIT compilers in JavaScript engines, their potential security vulnerabilities, and tools for analyzing related bugs. Using V8’s standalone D8 and an example from a V8 CTF challenge, it aims to make JIT exploitation more approachable rather than serve as a comprehensive guide.
- A Mere Mortal’s Introduction to JIT Vulnerabilities in JavaScript Engines — trustfoundry.net
Google freezes OSS bug bounty amid AI slop
Google has suspended product vulnerability submissions to its Open Source Software Vulnerability Reward Program effective October 1, citing an overwhelming influx of invalid, AI-generated bug reports. The freeze does not affect supply chain reports or submissions made before that date, and Google plans to provide an update by Q1 2027. Similar AI-driven report floods have recently overwhelmed Linux maintainers and led Intel to suspend its bug bounty program.
- Google freezes open-source bug bounty program amid flood of invalid AI slop — tomshardware.com
Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and electricity usage
An improper redaction in Nebraska data center filings revealed that Google’s Lincoln data center, Agate LLC, used 52.65 megawatts of electricity at peak demand and 13.299 million gallons of water last year. The filings, which Google had marked as trade secrets, also showed six reporting data centers used 765 million gallons of water total, and Google’s Lincoln, Papillion, and Omaha sites expect millions of dollars in 2025 tax refunds.
Xray-core concealed a certificate verification bypass vulnerability
Xray-core introduced the pinnedPeerCertSha256 option in January 2026, replacing the removed pinnedPeerCertificateChainSha256, but the new option contains a certificate-verification bypass vulnerability. A January 16, 2026 change made pinnedPeerCertSha256 always skip regular certificate verification and rely only on custom pinning, so the flaw can leave no effective certificate verification and enable man-in-the-middle attacks. The reporter says Xray-core has concealed the issue despite criticizing users for disabling certificate verification.
Car is a smartphone on wheels. Here’s who’s listening
In partnership with Consumer Reports, Northeastern University researchers conducted the first large-scale measurement study of the connected-vehicle ecosystem, testing 21 vehicles and 30 companion mobile apps. They found that connected cars send private consumer data to manufacturer and third-party servers, often leaving consumers with no control and sometimes resulting in data being shared or sold to undisclosed parties. The peer-reviewed study underscores the need for continued scrutiny of connected-vehicle privacy.
- Car is a smartphone on wheels. Here’s who’s listening — automatictransmission.khoury.northeastern.edu
Teenager suspected of leading KillSec ransomware group
A teenager is suspected of leading the KillSec ransomware group. No further details were available because the article content did not load.
- Teenager suspected of leading KillSec ransomware group — europol.europa.eu
UK Government Body Kept Files on People Criticizing Prevent Program
Documents obtained by Rights & Security International under freedom of information law show that the UK Home Office-linked Prevent Standards and Compliance Unit kept “observations” on people criticizing the government’s Prevent counter-extremism program online. From March 2024 to February 2025, StaCU recorded 77 such observations, mostly from X and Reddit, and stored them internally as “open-source complaints,” with unclear subsequent use or sharing. The Home Office initially refused to release the documents but did so after RSI won an appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
- UK Government Body Kept Files on People Criticizing Prevent Program — reclaimthenet.org
X signups now require a face photo
X’s app now asks new users to take and upload a camera photo as part of signup to “prove you’re human.” The article criticizes the move as part of X/Twitter’s broader efforts to de-anonymize users, alongside phone-number requirements and pay incentives, and argues such tactics encourage self-censorship.
Apple, Google back state bills: self-attest age checks; Meta: app stores, not platforms, verify ages
Apple and Google are lobbying state lawmakers to pass kids’ online safety bills that would require self-attested age checks for app downloads, bar private lawsuits over the rules, and leave enforcement to state attorneys general. Meta is backing measures that put age-verification duties on app stores rather than platforms.
- Apple, Google back state bills: self-attest age checks; Meta: app stores, not platforms, verify ages — politico.com
openSUSE Turns To ZUPT For Post-Quantum Backups
OpenSUSE developers have made ZUPT available on their Linux distribution as an open-source utility for post-quantum backups. ZUPT combines backup creation, compression, integrity verification, and encryption using AES-256 and a hybrid ML-KEM-768 + X25519 scheme. It has been accepted into openSUSE Factory as an officially integrated solution and uses CPU multi-threading for faster performance.
- openSUSE Turns To ZUPT For Post-Quantum Backups — phoronix.com
Hackers hijack Microsoft’s X account to promote Clippy crypto scam
Microsoft’s official X account was compromised by hackers who used it to promote an unauthorized Clippy-themed cryptocurrency to its 13 million followers, briefly changing the profile picture to Clippy and posting a fake apology. Microsoft said it secured the account, removed the unauthorized posts, and is investigating, while X shut down one fake Clippy account but another continued promoting the token.
Major Danish university hacked, 200,000 people potentially exposed
Hackers accessed the Technical University of Denmark’s identity system, DTUBasen, downloading data dating back to 2003 and potentially affecting up to 200,000 current and former students, employees, guests, and partners. Exposed information may include CPR numbers, full names, home addresses, profile photos, work emails, and some next-of-kin details. DTU is notifying those affected and advising them to watch for scams, change reused passwords, and consider a CPR credit alert.
💻 Software & Hardware
Protocol-aware recovery for consensus-based storage (2018)
The 2018 paper presents protocol-aware recovery for consensus-based storage, a technique that uses consensus protocol information to recover failed storage nodes. It targets more efficient and correct recovery in replicated, consensus-based storage systems.
ncdu: NCurses Disk Usage (an updated fork)
Ncdu is a fast, simple ncurses-based disk usage analyzer designed to find space hogs on remote servers and desktop systems. This updated fork is a Zig implementation (2.x) that requires Zig 0.17, a POSIX-like OS, ncurses, and libzstd. It can be built and installed using the Zig build system or a provided Makefile.
- ncdu: NCurses Disk Usage (an updated fork) — github.com
Iroh global content discovery
The article argues that permissionless global content discovery remains highly relevant, especially as IPFS Shipyard shuts down. It examines BitTorrent as the leading model, citing its separate transfer protocol and Mainline DHT. The author proposes BLAKE3 verified streaming, implemented in iroh-blobs, as a superior replacement for BitTorrent’s piece-hash transfer protocol.
- Iroh global content discovery — iroh.computer
Self-hosted HTTP tunnels with SSH and nginx
The post explains how to build self-hosted HTTP tunnels using only OpenSSH and nginx. It uses SSH remote port forwarding to expose a local service, then configures nginx to proxy requests from a wildcard subdomain to the allocated port with DNS and TLS. It also adds access control through nginx’s secure link module using a hashed, expiring URL username.
- Self-hosted HTTP tunnels with SSH and nginx — vincent.bernat.ch
Hacking the Go compiler to efficiently map IPv4 to IPv6
The article examines how to efficiently map IPv4 addresses to IPv6 in Go’s netip.Addr, which lacks a Map() or To6() method and makes the recommended netip.AddrFrom16(ip.As16()) pattern about eight times slower than a native method. It explores three alternatives: adding a method to the standard library, using an external helper, or implementing it with the unsafe package, while considering how to teach the Go compiler to optimize the sequence.
- Hacking the Go compiler to efficiently map IPv4 to IPv6 — vincent.bernat.ch
An animated, customizable Git cheat sheet drawn by git-sim
A new animated Git cheat sheet was built using the upcoming git-sim v0.4 release, scheduled for October 11. It is free and customizable, allowing users to include only the Git commands they need, and can be downloaded or printed. The cheat sheet covers common commands for creating repositories, cloning, and configuring Git.
- An animated, customizable Git cheat sheet drawn by git-sim — initialcommit.com
Flatpak from the CLI sucks
Flatpak solves cross-distribution packaging and sandboxing by shipping apps with dependencies and running them in sandboxes, becoming the default for many graphical apps. However, command-line applications are often left unpackaged as Flatpaks and are difficult to use from the CLI, as shown by tools like flatpak-builder requiring different invocation.
- Flatpak from the CLI sucks — kowalski7cc.xyz
Obelisk 0.42: Durable Agents, Layered Sandboxes
Obelisk 0.42 introduces durable agent workflows that store progress in a database and replay deterministically after process restarts, with inspectable history for debugging. It also adds layered security via split policy files, intersection-based permissions, and digest-bound secret-exposure grants, alongside native V8 JavaScript replay, Linux VM activities, and a workflow-agent prototype.
grubby: static site generator for git repos written in Ruby
Grubby is an opinionated static site generator for Git repositories written in Ruby and heavily inspired by RepoRat. It requires Git, Ruby 3.0+, and Kramdown, and uses a bare repo’s post-update hook to rebuild generated sites, including individual repo pages and a root index.html. Configuration is primarily handled through _config.yml, with optional edits to CSS, header, and footer files.
- grubby: static site generator for git repos written in Ruby — git.btxx.org
Our RISC-V emulator PasRISCV
PasRISCV is an in-house, open-source RISC-V emulator written in Object Pascal that powers the fully emulated 64-bit Linux system in the game SEEDS, allowing native Linux apps to run even on Windows hosts. It emulates a complete virtual RISC-V machine, including devices and interrupts, and uses a hybrid interpreter and tracing JIT compiler with RV64GC, Vector, and Hypervisor support. The emulator can boot a Linux kernel via OpenSBI or U-Boot.
- Our RISC-V emulator PasRISCV — againstallodds.games
Homa protocol aims to replace TCP
A Stanford professor is promoting Homa, a proposed transport protocol meant to replace TCP, as a rethink of networking for the AI age. Homa is positioned specifically for AI cluster networking, with related Stanford research discussed in a video that links to further coverage.
- Stanford prof is beating the drum for a new protocol to replace TCP — theregister.com
- Homa: The End of TCP for AI Clusters [video] — youtube.com
Build with Python – a beginner course where your code draws
A new beginner Python course, Build with Python, runs entirely in the browser using Pyodide and shows program output as visuals instead of CLI/terminal output, avoiding installation and environment issues. It has 13 modules, with the first 6 foundation modules free and modules 7–13 offering free readings but guided labs for a one-time $49. The creator is seeking feedback on UX and exercise design, especially from those teaching kids, and is also developing a browser-based C++ version.
Google Japan shows off conveyor-belt keyboard with keys that move to fingers
Google Japan unveiled a quirky Gboard Conveyor Belt Version keyboard featuring four belts with 29 keys each, designed to move keys toward the user’s fingers for easier one-handed typing. There are no plans to release it commercially, but official GitHub blueprints and 3D-printable files allow users to build their own.
- Google Japan shows off conveyor-belt keyboard with keys that move to fingers — tomshardware.com
Dataviz, ranked daily from GitHub, NPM, PyPI and CRAN
An open, community-curated directory catalogs 291 data visualization tools—including charting libraries, mapping toolkits, graph visualizers, and dashboards—across 23 categories. It ranks them using live GitHub, npm, PyPI, and CRAN data refreshed daily, with 2.4 million combined GitHub stars and popular tools including D3.js, Mermaid, and Grafana.
- Dataviz, ranked daily from GitHub, NPM, PyPI and CRAN — awesomedataviz.com
TurboPython – A Python-to-C++ Compiler
TurboPython is a PyPI-installable Python 3.12+ package, tpy-lang, that compiles a statically typed Python subset using a C++23 compiler such as GCC 13+ or Clang 19+. It requires annotations on function parameters, return types, and class fields, forbids CPython packages, and replaces garbage collection with single-owner memory management and explicit copy/move ownership rules.
- TurboPython – A Python-to-C++ Compiler — tpy-lang.org
Mac OS 9 Platinum desktop recreated in the browser
A recreation of the Mac OS 9 Platinum desktop is available in a web browser. The page opens with a startup message reading “Starting up…”.
- Mac OS 9 Platinum desktop recreated in the browser — wieslawsoltes.github.io
OpenBSD Developers Reject Uutils Coreutils
OpenBSD developers rejected a proposal to add the Rust-based uutils coreutils reimplementation to the ports tree, with founder Theo de Raadt and senior developers criticizing it as unnecessary duplication that risks behavioral incompatibilities with the base system. The debate highlighted tensions over Rust adoption, licensing philosophy, and OpenBSD’s commitment to consistent, BSD-licensed base utilities. The proposed port would have installed g-prefixed commands as drop-in alternatives to GNU coreutils.
- OpenBSD Developers Reject Uutils Coreutils — news.lavx.hu
Emitting metadata early makes building/checking Rust up to twice as fast
A proposed Rust compiler and Cargo change called Headstart lets dependent crates begin type-checking as soon as a dependency’s interface metadata is emitted, without waiting for its function bodies to finish. Benchmarks across 13 real projects show clean cargo check builds up to 54% faster and cargo build up to 42% faster on 16 cores, with no project slower, though gains shrink on smaller machines. The approach can waste downstream work, delay error reporting slightly, and increase memory use.
Apple’s “Clean Design” Is Stupidity When It Comes to Hiding Fire Extinguishers
The article argues that hiding fire extinguishers behind unmarked, flush panels for a “clean” look is a safety failure, not good design, because OSHA and NFPA rules require emergency equipment to be visible, clearly identified, and accessible. It cites an alleged Apple installation as a circulating example but notes that no official or verified source confirms it. Recessed or coordinated designs can comply only if they remain clearly labeled and unobstructed.
Revive Raskin’s 3 laws of software with humane work that considers a dev’s duty of care
The article advocates reviving Raskin’s three laws of software to promote humane work and a developer’s duty of care. It also touches on backlash from NeoVim users.
- Revive Raskin’s 3 laws of software with humane work that considers a dev’s duty of care — theregister.com
Ternus de facto Apple design chief, studio weekly; OLED touch-screen MacBook Pro much lighter
John Ternus has effectively become Apple’s design chief, spending much of his time overseeing hardware and software design and working in the studio several times a week. Apple’s revamped touch-screen MacBook Pro will move to OLED technology and be much lighter, among other major changes. Apple is also preparing to unveil a new smart home hub, HomePod mini, and Apple TV with Siri AI.
- Ternus de facto Apple design chief, studio weekly; OLED touch-screen MacBook Pro much lighter — bloomberg.com
Toshiba to double HDD capacity for AI data centers by FY2027 from 2025, aiming 30% share vs 10%
Toshiba plans to double its production capacity for hard-disk drives used in AI data centers by fiscal 2027 from its 2025 level, expanding its Philippine plant and increasing per-unit storage capacity. The investment, its first major HDD expansion in about five years, aims to raise Toshiba’s share by storage capacity to 30% from roughly 10%.
- Toshiba to double HDD capacity for AI data centers by FY2027 from 2025, aiming 30% share vs 10% — asia.nikkei.com
Linux 7.3-rc6 Released: Normal For The New “AI Normal”
Linus Torvalds released Linux 7.3-rc6, which he described as normal for the new “AI normal” amid heavy AI/LLM-generated bug reports and patches. Notable changes include support for the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Race wheel and pedal system, a revert of Logitech Bolt receiver HID++ support due to user-reported bugs, and more networking fixes. The stable Linux 7.3 kernel is expected in about two weeks.
- Linux 7.3-rc6 Released: Normal For The New “AI Normal” — phoronix.com
MGLRU-FG Delivering Up To 10~40% Higher Performance For Linux In Some Tests
Linux developer Kairui Song has released new MGLRU-FG patches that add frequency-guided promotion to Linux’s Multi-Gen LRU. The patches are reported to deliver 10–40% higher performance or lower refault across various tests, including 13.5% faster MongoDB, up to 11% higher FIO throughput, and a 76% improvement in a Chromium/Node.js zRAM swap test. They also reduce page flag usage by one bit.
NVIDIA’s Results Of Conducting Wayland vs. X.Org Latency Testing
At XDC 2026, NVIDIA presented scientific latency testing comparing X.Org and Wayland using a microcontroller and light sensor on an RTX 5070 with KDE KWin, GNOME Mutter, and X.Org Server. NVIDIA found the latency results were very close, making it hard to declare a clear winner. Notable findings included that XWayland no longer adds extra frame delays, while Variable Refresh Rate drastically improves responsiveness and equalizes latency between X.Org and Wayland sessions.
Linux Begins Seeing Workarounds For Fujitsu MONAKA CPU Bugs
Fujitsu has announced MONAKA, a 144-core Arm-based server CPU for AI infrastructure, and Linux kernel patches are now adding CPU detection and workarounds for its bugs. The workarounds address range-based TLBI operations that may fail to invalidate TLB entries under 64K kernels, incorrect PMU overflow detection that can cause interrupt storms, and a possible core hang from lost SGIs during interrupt or sleep-state races. MONAKA Linux support is otherwise largely mature as a standards-compliant ARM64 server design.
- Linux Begins Seeing Workarounds For Fujitsu MONAKA CPU Bugs — phoronix.com
AMD Sends In More New GPU Hardware Enablement For Linux 7.4, Bug Fixes
AMD has sent another AMDGPU pull request to DRM-Next for the upcoming Linux 7.4 cycle, made up mostly of bug fixes but also adding enablement for new GPU IP blocks such as OSSSYS 8.0.1, LSDMA 8.0.1, VPE 3.0, and MMHUB 5.0. The update also includes HDMI 2.1 improvements, runtime power management changes, and fixes for AMDKFD and the legacy Radeon driver, including SPARC64 hardware support.
Arm Working On “TLBID” For Linux To Increase Performance On High Core Count CPUs
Arm has released initial Linux kernel patches for TLBI Domains (TLBID), an upcoming Arm architecture feature that allows TLB invalidation on only a subset of CPU cores rather than system-wide, aiming to improve performance on high-core-count server CPUs. No performance numbers were shared, TLBID is not yet in the Arm Architecture Reference Manual, and the support also requires LLVM 23+ or GNU Binutils 2.46+, so silicon adoption is likely still some time away.
🌍 World & Science
The complement of true is true, except when it’s false
P4313R1 proposes adding opt-in bitmask operations for enums through a C++26 [[=std::bitmask_type]] annotation. The article also examines C++ integer promotion and boolean conversion rules, noting that bitwise operations on small integral types are promoted to int and that bool conversion discards non-zero bit patterns to produce true.
- The complement of true is true, except when it’s false — dryperspective.github.io
Plague Death Triggers Quarantine in Russia
A lab technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov, Siberia, died after reportedly contracting pneumonic plague, possibly after accidentally breaking a test tube containing live bacteria. Authorities placed nearly 200 contacts under medical observation, quarantined a hospital, canceled public events, and imposed mask mandates at an aluminum factory and several hospitals while opening a criminal investigation into possible safety violations. Russian officials have been evasive about the death and infection risk, and some local warnings and media reports were later deleted.
- Plague death triggers quarantine, mask mandates in Russia’s Irkutsk region — kyivindependent.com
- Nearly 200 People Under Observation After Irkutsk Lab Worker Dies from Plague — themoscowtimes.com
Is Russia using AI for disinformation in CAR?
An Anthropic report alleges that Russian agents in the Central African Republic used its AI assistant Claude to promote pro-Russian influence, including by monitoring opposition politicians and producing propaganda for the Russia-funded Radio Lengo Songo. The report says the content praised the Bangui government and Africa Corps while criticizing France and the opposition, and that Claude refused a request to portray opposition figures as armed militants. Opposition figures say the allegations reflect a broader campaign by the government and its Russian allies to target them.
Incentives in Academic Research
The article argues that academic research incentives have drifted from advancing scientific understanding and training researchers toward publishing and career advancement, leading to a lack of concern for correctness. It cites cases where authors acknowledge flawed or misleading results but refuse to retract them, prioritizing papers and promotions over scientific integrity. The author warns this environment increasingly teaches PhD students that proper scientific conduct and precision matter less than success in the field.
- Incentives in Academic Research — msoos.org
Russian strategy of war crimes escalation in Ukraine (winter 2026/2027)
The article argues that Russia, struggling on land and at sea, is escalating long-range attacks and war crimes to make Ukrainian cities uninhabitable—targeting power, transport, water, and possibly nuclear plants—to force Kyiv into a deal favorable to Moscow by the first half of 2027. It cites Ukrainian successes in Operation Vivaldi, rising Russian casualties, and alleged Russian payoffs tied to a proposed land-and-people deal.
- Russian strategy of war crimes escalation in Ukraine (winter 2026/2027) — phillipspobrien.substack.com
Rejection Sensitivity in Gifted and Twice-Exceptional Children
Rejection sensitivity is a spectrum-wide tendency to perceive and react intensely to rejection or criticism, and in gifted and twice-exceptional children it is often amplified by heightened nervous-system intensity. The more severe Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), coined by psychiatrist William Dodson, is especially linked to ADHD but is not a formal diagnosis and should be treated as a descriptive pattern rather than a label. The article notes that rejection sensitivity overlaps across ADHD, autism, and other twice-exceptional profiles, with different mechanisms but similar intensity.
- Rejection Sensitivity in Gifted and Twice-Exceptional Children — teachyourkids.substack.com
‘This can’t go on’: thousands protest against housing crisis in Spain
Tens of thousands protested in Madrid and other Spanish cities on Saturday over a worsening housing crisis, after parliament rejected government measures amid anger over evictions and high rents. Authorities estimated 70,000 demonstrators while organizers claimed 500,000; most protests were peaceful, though clashes with police occurred in Valencia. The unrest has increased pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who may call a snap election for November.
- ‘This can’t go on’: thousands protest against housing crisis in Spain — theguardian.com
In Ukraine, distributed renewables foil Russia’s assaults
In Ukraine, distributed renewable systems such as small off-grid solar arrays and solar-powered desalination are helping communities like Mykolaiv maintain drinking water when Russian strikes disable centralized power plants and grids. Funded in part by Denmark, these systems can supply water to residents and key facilities, showing how decentralized energy can withstand attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
- In Ukraine, distributed renewables foil Russia’s assaults — energytransition.org
Future of Pure Math in AI Age
Stephen Wolfram argues that AI can be highly useful in pure mathematics by automating calculation, proof-related work, and mining the literature, but it cannot replace human mathematicians. Comparing AI to Mathematica’s 1988 launch, he says such tools expand mathematical work and open new areas rather than making humans obsolete. Formalization challenges remain, and human imagination is still essential for choosing questions and defining what pure mathematics is about.
- What’s the Future for Pure Math Research in the Age of AI? — writings.stephenwolfram.com
Our Solar System Is Terminally Unstable
Scientists present new molecular-clock evidence that the first animals may have appeared more than 800 million years ago, suggesting early metazoans survived Snowball Earth. The digest also notes studies on shifting Earthly poles, the “sepulchral stuff of life,” and a dramatically shortened lifespan for our solar neighborhood.
- Our Solar System Is Terminally Unstable — 404media.co
Iran says it seized US underwater vehicle conducting ’espionage’
Iran said it seized a U.S. underwater vehicle and accused it of conducting espionage. No further details about the incident or the U.S. response were provided in the article.
- Iran says it seized US underwater vehicle conducting ’espionage’ — thearabweekly.com
How a Boeing 737 MAX Survived a Nosedive Traveling at the Speed of Sound
A FlyDubai Boeing 737 MAX survived a violent in-flight event that sent it into a nosedive at near the speed of sound and subjected it to extreme gravitational forces. The pilots regained control, flew for over an hour, and landed safely despite damage to a tail component.
💼 Business & Economy
Iran is going after America’s debt it’s targeting the $40T America owes
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted a modified “Straits Taylor Rule” on September 16, 2026, adding the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb as variables to argue that Iran can drive oil prices and inflation through key shipping chokepoints, countering Fed rate hikes. A week later, U.S. diesel prices hit a record $6.53 a gallon.
- Iran is going after America’s debt it’s targeting the $40T America owes — jaymartin.substack.com
Software Engineering Is Dead. Long Live Product Engineering
AI has made coding cheaper and more automated, but the article argues software engineering is not dead—it is evolving into product engineering. As agents take over more coding, review, maintenance, and scaling, humans will focus on product sense, customer needs, and defining the right problems and context for AI. The shift means the value is moving from writing code to building software products that actually work for users.
- Software Engineering Is Dead. Long Live Product Engineering — newsletter.chainofthought.show
Florida weighs ditching property taxes and sticking Canadians with the bill
Florida voters are considering Amendment 3, which would sharply reduce or eventually eliminate property taxes for permanent-resident homeowners, a move projected to cost about $12 billion annually. Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed offsetting the revenue loss by taxing Canadian property owners more, saying he does not want to give Canadians a tax cut. Canadian homeowners in Florida describe the proposal as the latest anti-Canada insult since President Trump returned to power.
Legal risks pile up for Altman as OpenAI uncovers hacks
OpenAI has uncovered dozens of hacks, adding to the legal risks facing CEO Sam Altman. The available article text does not provide further details on the nature of the hacks or the specific legal consequences.
How the bad science of AI doomerism is good for big business
The article argues that high-profile resignations from Anthropic and OpenAI over fears of AI-driven human extinction reflect a “doomer” narrative that lacks scientific basis and distracts from more immediate AI risks. Critics say warnings about superintelligence ultimately benefit companies like Anthropic and OpenAI by making their products appear extraordinarily powerful and helping them attract investment and attention. It cites former employees Jacob Coxon, Jan Leike, and Miles Brundage as examples of safety concerns that have intensified this narrative.
- How the bad science of AI doomerism is good for big business — thebulletin.org
Anthropic charity gift stock match hit $660M+, may hit billions post-IPO, diluting shareholders
Anthropic’s program matching employee charitable gifts with company stock exceeded $660 million in the six months through March, according to sources. The stock match is expected to reach billions after an IPO, potentially diluting shareholders.
- Anthropic charity gift stock match hit $660M+, may hit billions post-IPO, diluting shareholders — theinformation.com
Schneider in advanced talks to buy US engineering software firm PTC for ~$20B, largest deal, Monday
Schneider Electric is in advanced talks to acquire US engineering software firm PTC for about $20 billion, according to sources. The deal, which could be announced as soon as Monday, would be the French conglomerate’s largest acquisition and strengthen its products for manufacturers.
- Schneider in advanced talks to buy US engineering software firm PTC for ~$20B, largest deal, Monday — ft.com
DigitalBridge CEO: data center group to become SoftBank’s third-party infra arm after ~$4B takeover
DigitalBridge CEO Marc Ganzi said his data center investment group will become SoftBank’s “third-party infrastructure arm.” The statement follows the closing of SoftBank’s approximately $4 billion takeover of DigitalBridge.
- DigitalBridge CEO: data center group to become SoftBank’s third-party infra arm after ~$4B takeover — app.ft.com
Google to defend £1.2B UK class action over ’excessive’ Android app charges
Google is preparing to defend a £1.2 billion UK class-action lawsuit accusing it of imposing excessive charges on Android apps downloaded from Google Play since 2015. The claim is the latest UK effort to challenge the market power of major technology companies.
Walmart’s Flipkart morale sinks as IPO rivals surge; 8+ VPs/SVPs quit
Walmart-owned Flipkart is facing sagging employee morale as Indian startup rivals such as Snapdeal, Meesho, and Groww move ahead with IPOs. At least eight VPs and SVPs have quit in recent weeks while Flipkart continues evaluating the plans and timeline for its own potential IPO.
- Walmart’s Flipkart morale sinks as IPO rivals surge; 8+ VPs/SVPs quit — moneycontrol.com
Valley National Bancorp to buy NJ-based Bluevine, digital banking/payments for 175K SMBs, for $340M
Valley National Bancorp has agreed to acquire New Jersey-based digital banking and payments provider Bluevine for about $340 million. The deal will give Valley a digital platform serving roughly 175,000 U.S. small businesses and accelerate its technology and AI strategy. Bluevine founder Eyal Lifshitz will join Valley as Head of Small Business Banking upon completion.
- Valley National Bancorp to buy NJ-based Bluevine, digital banking/payments for 175K SMBs, for $340M — calcalistech.com
🎭 Culture & Media
Blindsight (Watts Novel)
Blindsight is a 2006 hard science fiction novel by Canadian writer Peter Watts, published by Tor Books. It follows a crew of astronauts sent to investigate a trans-Neptunian comet transmitting an unidentified radio signal, leading to first contact. The novel explores identity, consciousness, free will, artificial intelligence, neurology, and game theory, and it won the Seiun Award while being nominated for the Hugo, Campbell, and Locus awards.
- Blindsight (Watts Novel) — en.wikipedia.org
Caffè Corretto
Caffè corretto is an Italian beverage made by adding a small amount of liquor, usually grappa and sometimes sambuca or brandy, to a shot of espresso. Also called espresso corretto outside Italy, it can be prepared by adding the spirit directly to the coffee or serving it alongside for the drinker to pour. Similar coffee-and-spirit drinks exist in countries such as Spain, Portugal, France, Scandinavia, and Mexico.
- Caffè Corretto — en.wikipedia.org
How effective altruism conquered the world (and might yet end it)
The article traces effective altruism’s rise from a niche utilitarian philanthropic movement to a major influence in Silicon Valley, global health, and AI safety, centered on longtermism and existential-risk reduction. It argues that the movement’s growing power over AI development, compounded by the FTX collapse and its ties to Sam Bankman-Fried, has exposed its vulnerabilities and raised fears that its efforts to steer humanity’s future could contribute to catastrophe.
VGHF Digital Archive passes 5000 magazines. Here’s what’s next
The Video Game History Foundation’s digital archive has surpassed 5,000 magazines, more than tripling its initial collection to nearly 600,000 pages spanning 1981–2026. About one-third were digitized by VGHF, with the rest provided by community scanning groups and industry partners, and the archive is already widely cited by researchers. Next, VGHF is adding Japanese-language magazines to the archive.
- VGHF Digital Archive passes 5000 magazines. Here’s what’s next — gamehistory.org
Fog-Bank: Archiving the oldest webcam feed
The Fog-Bank post concerns archiving the oldest webcam feed. It points readers to a Hackaday article about archiving the world’s oldest webcam feed for further details.
- Fog-Bank: Archiving the oldest webcam feed — fog-bank.org
We’re working on a new RuneScape MMO
Jagex has revealed a new RuneScape MMORPG, working titled RS4, built in Unreal Engine and set in Gielinor’s Sixth Age, beginning in Ashenfall. Still early in development and years away, it is not a replacement for Old School RuneScape, RuneScape, or RuneScape: Dragonwilds, but is designed to sit alongside them. The project aims to involve the community in development from the start and expand across Gielinor over time.
- We’re working on a new RuneScape MMO — play.runescape.com
Bob Cringely Has Died
Bob Cringely, whose real name was Mark Stevens, died in his sleep early Saturday, according to a family friend. An early Apple employee, he was best known for his PBS documentaries, especially “Triumph of the Nerds.” He will be missed.
Spies, prime ministers, and balls: The BBC Domesday project @ 40
The Centre for Computing History hosted a September 19 event marking the upcoming 40th anniversary of the BBC Domesday Project, reuniting original team members and those preserving it. Released in 1986, the project used LaserDiscs and BBC Master computers to archive a UK-wide snapshot contributed by over a million people, though its high cost limited sales. Speakers recalled interest from MI5 and Margaret Thatcher, while discussing the project’s historical value and long-term preservation challenges.
- Spies, prime ministers, and balls: The BBC Domesday project @ 40 — theregister.com
How to Watch Denver Broncos vs San Francisco 49ers From Anywhere
The Denver Broncos (2-1) visit the undefeated San Francisco 49ers (3-0) in Week 4 on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 1:25 p.m. local time (4:25 p.m. ET), airing regionally on CBS in the US and Paramount+ in eligible markets. Free streams are available in the UK via Channel 5/YouTube and in Australia via 7plus, though viewers outside those regions may need a VPN. Paid US streaming options include Paramount+ and other CBS-compatible services.
- How to Watch Denver Broncos vs San Francisco 49ers From Anywhere — cybernews.com
How to Watch New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills From Anywhere
The article explains how to watch the New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills NFL Week 4 game on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 1 p.m. ET, as the 3-0 Bills host the 1-2 Patriots at Highmark Stadium. U.S. viewers can use CBS or Paramount+, while free options include 5ACTION/YouTube in the UK and 7plus in Australia; a VPN can help travelers access those region-locked streams.
- How to Watch New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills From Anywhere — cybernews.com
How to Watch Indianapolis Colts vs Washington Commanders From Anywhere
The Indianapolis Colts and Washington Commanders will meet in London for a 2026 NFL Week 4 International Series game on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 2:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. ET). UK viewers can watch for free via Channel 5 or Channel 5 Sport on YouTube, while US viewers can use NFL Network through NFL+ or an eligible live TV plan; a VPN can help those abroad access UK streams.