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Less than 4% Australians trust AI companies
3 hours ago
- Pope Leo XIV and many Australians share a distrust of AI companies, highlighted in recent publications and surveys.
- Over 40% of Australians believe AI risks outweigh benefits, with only 4% trusting AI companies with their private information.
- Public concern is leading to local opposition against AI infrastructure projects, such as data centers in Sydney and Melbourne.
- Key fears include job displacement from AI automation in white-collar sectors and existential risks like rogue AI systems.
- Australians' distrust is fueled by exposure to AI-generated misinformation, deepfake abuse, and concerns over data privacy and corporate power.
- Increased AI usage in Australia correlates with higher perceived risks, indicating that familiarity breeds skepticism rather than trust.
Notepad++ v8.9.6.4 Tiananmen Massacre Commemoration
2 hours ago
- Notepad++ released version 8.9.6.4 addressing a TOCTOU vulnerability in HMAC from v8.9.6.2.
- Tiananmen Square Massacre remembrance on June 4th, highlighting censorship of 'Tank Man' imagery in China.
- Reflection on government control over information and dissent in China since the 1989 crackdown.
- Call to action to support Ukraine amidst ongoing conflict.
3D-printed book turns its own G-code into raised lettering
2 days ago
- The first version contains 2.5% of its own G code due to current printing limits.
- A modular timber playground project for children in crisis begins with a pilot structure in the Aysaita camp in Ethiopia.
- The workshop-based project expands children's intuitive visual expression.
- At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 'Costume Art' pairs garments with artworks and organizes works through a series of body types.
- The iconic French creator discusses dreams, intuition, and utopian thinking with Designboom.
The Miracle on Mount Everest – Hillary Dawa Sperpa Found Alive
4 hours ago
- Hillary Dawa Sherpa, a 52-year-old Sherpa guide, went missing on May 29, 2026, in Everest's Death Zone during a descent.
- Rescue efforts were delayed due to bureaucratic disputes between expedition agencies, with a failed helicopter search on June 3.
- Against all odds, Dawa was found alive on June 4 by a garbage crew, after six days alone without oxygen or shelter in extreme conditions.
- He survived by navigating down the Lhotse Face and Khumbu Icefall unassisted, suffering severe frostbite but was stable after rescue.
- The incident sparked criticism of commercial expedition practices, highlighting issues with permit-sharing and operator accountability.
In a first, wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026
2 hours ago
- Wind and solar generated more electricity than gas globally for the first time in April 2026, producing 22% versus 20% from gas.
- Renewables contributed 531 TWh compared to 477 TWh from gas, marking significant growth from 245 TWh in April 2021.
- The increase was driven by years of renewable energy growth, not just the current energy crisis, with wind and solar meeting most of the rise in electricity demand.
- Key markets showed year-over-year growth: China (+14%), EU (+13%), UK (+35%), US (+8%), Australia (+17%), Chile (+24%), Brazil (+4%).
- Countries are accelerating renewable energy targets, such as Indonesia's 100 GW solar+storage plan and South Korea's goal to triple renewables capacity by 2030.
Ocean sensors will go dark under Trump funding cuts
5 hours ago
- A key Ocean Observatories Initiative buoy will be removed from the Pacific due to NSF funding cuts, marking the start of dismantling most of the network by 2027.
- The network, costing $386 million, provided over a decade of real-time ocean data on climate, ecosystems, and weather, supporting over 500 publications.
- Scientists warn the loss will cripple subsurface monitoring, especially during predicted El Niño events and marine heatwaves, hindering climate signal detection.
- The NSF describes the move as 'descoping' to prioritize evolving scientific goals, but researchers see it as part of a broader retreat from federal science funding.
- Only a seafloor cable network off the Pacific Northwest will continue, while other facilities face similar cuts, ending a long-standing commitment to basic research.
Researchers develop a low-cost technique to get lithium out of rocks
4 hours ago
- Global lithium demand is rising due to the growth of lithium-ion batteries, but China dominates lithium refining despite abundant resources in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
- Traditional lithium extraction from hard rock is energy-intensive, wasteful, and costly, often involving high-temperature baking and chemical leaching.
- MIT researchers developed a low-temperature process using ammonium fluoride to dissolve spodumene, extracting battery-grade lithium salts along with alumina and silica.
- This closed-loop method recycles the solvent and reagent, minimizing waste and reducing costs, making it competitive with brine extraction.
- The process has been successfully tested on 17 different spodumene sources and is being commercialized through the spinout Rock Zero.
VoidZero Is Joining Cloudflare
4 hours ago
- VoidZero, the company behind Vite and other tools, is joining Cloudflare, with the team moving too.
- Vite, Vitest, Rolldown, Oxc, and Vite+ will remain open source, vendor-agnostic, and community-driven.
- Cloudflare commits to maintaining Vite's foundational role in the JavaScript ecosystem without vendor lock-in.
- Cloudflare is investing $1 million in a Vite ecosystem fund to support maintainers and contributors.
- The Cloudflare Vite plugin has seen high adoption, partly due to AI-generated applications choosing Vite.
- VoidZero's toolchain is optimized for fast development loops, benefiting AI agents and developers.
- Vite is evolving beyond a build tool to handle full-stack applications, with provider-agnostic primitives planned.
- Cloudflare's CLI will be built on Vite, offering a unified experience for its developer platform.
- Long-term goals include open-sourcing the Void platform and enhancing Vite for full-stack and agent use cases.
Half of Belgium sees the US as a bigger adversary than China
5 hours ago
- Over 50% of Belgians view the US as an adversary, while only 10% consider it an ally.
- 40%-44% of Belgians see China as an adversary, but few view it as an ally; many see it as neither.
- Nearly 60% believe a Chinese military attack on Taiwan is likely in the near future.
- Most Belgians feel secure domestically, with only a minority fearing direct military attack on Belgium.
- Strong support for European military self-sufficiency (over 80%) and stronger responses to US trade measures.
- Nearly 90% oppose US interference in Belgian domestic affairs, reflecting recent diplomatic controversy.
- Around 80% support Belgium remaining in NATO, viewing it as a European security shield.
Jeff Bezos Is Funding a Wild Hunt for the Brain's 'Core Algorithm'
6 hours ago
- Jeff Bezos invests in AI startup Flourish, which aims to build a synthetic intelligence system matching the human brain's computational capacity and energy efficiency.
- Flourish's cofounders, Thomas Reardon and Rob Williams, argue current AI models are energy-intensive and lack continuous learning, unlike the human brain which operates on about 20 watts.
- The company raised $500 million, including $50 million from Bezos, with a focus on combining neuroscience and AI research to discover new algorithms for intelligent, efficient systems.
- Flourish plans to conduct wet lab experiments, study cortical columns, and develop near-term products, such as a hippocampus-inspired memory model, while exploring brain-scale data collection.
- The startup faces competition in neuromorphic AI but bets on its team of top neuroscientists and AI researchers, including DeepMind alum Greg Wayne, to innovate in a long-term, high-risk endeavor.
First U.S. screwworm case confirmed in South Texas
6 hours ago
- First confirmed case of New World screwworm in South Texas poses a threat to the cattle industry.
- USDA activated personnel and is collaborating with local partners after confirming the case in La Pryor, Zavala County.
- Screwworm larvae infect live flesh of mammals, causing severe wounds or death, but do not affect food supply chain.
- USDA blames open-border policies for screwworm spread and has closed the southern border to live animal imports.
- Efforts include sterile fly method and building facilities in Mexico and Texas to combat screwworm eradication.
- Texas Agriculture Commissioner criticizes federal response as slow and advocates for SWASS system deployment.
- Earlier false alarms and political disagreements highlight tensions in addressing the screwworm threat.
'An equal and habitable world is possible' Vision for planetary survival
11 hours ago
- The report from the World Inequality Lab outlines a vision for raising living standards, reducing inequality, and limiting global heating to below 2°C.
- Key proposals include hefty wealth taxes on billionaires, halving average working hours to about 1,000 hours/year, shifting diets away from red meat, and reallocating investments from material-intensive sectors to education and health.
- If implemented, the plan could double incomes for 89% of the global population by 2100 and lower global temperature rise to 1.8°C, avoiding catastrophic scenarios.
- A central concept is 'sufficiency'—prosperous living without excessive consumption—supported by structural shifts like increasing education and healthcare spending to 38% of global GDP.
- Addressing inequality is critical, with billionaires' wealth share dropping from 6% to 0.05% and the bottom 50%'s share rising from 2% to 30%, alongside a global justice fund for financing transitions.
- The authors argue this vision is technically feasible and requires political will and coalition-building, contrasting with far-right or extractivist ideologies that exacerbate climate and social crises.
More US Firms Turn to China's DeepSeek over Pricey Silicon Valley AI
10 hours ago
- DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, has become the top trending software vendor on New York-based Ramp's list, surpassing other platforms.
- U.S. companies are directly paying DeepSeek and sending data to servers in China, indicating a shift to cheaper alternatives to OpenAI and Anthropic.
- The adoption rate for DeepSeek remains low at 0.1%, while market leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic hold much higher shares despite the cost savings appeal.
Privacy Is Not Dead: Beware the All-or-Nothing Mindset
11 hours ago
- Privacy is not dead and the all-or-nothing mindset can be damaging.
- Two damaging mindsets: the belief that privacy is dead (abdication mindset) and the expectation that privacy must be perfect.
- Protecting privacy requires effort; small, sustainable improvements should be celebrated.
- Encourage individuals to adopt privacy tools gradually with positive reinforcement rather than criticizing imperfection.
- Promoting a culture of celebrating incremental privacy wins helps build a stronger privacy community.
The Lost Space Battleship Yamato LaserDisc Game (2013)
16 hours ago
- Space Battleship Yamato had an exclusive laserdisc arcade game in 1985, only available in Taito Game Centers in Japan.
- Laserdisc games offered high-quality video before DVDs, with two types: combining LD backgrounds with CG, or interacting with pre-made animation.
- The Yamato game uniquely used footage from Final Yamato and included about 20 minutes of new animation, making up 80% of the game.
- Gameplay involves multiple stages with interactive challenges, like dodging obstacles and shooting enemies, based on scenes from Yamato films.
- A fan preserved a rare laserdisc copy, allowing modern examination, and efforts exist to revive or experience the game through online videos and potential re-releases.
Stop scanning QR codes, you dolts
6 hours ago
- The article warns of a future where routine QR code scanning becomes mandatory for internet access, serving as a proof-of-humanity measure in response to AI bot proliferation.
- QR codes are criticized as tools that promote illiteracy and reduce human interaction with understandable text, comparing them to ancient hieroglyphs that bypass reading and thinking.
- QR code scanning is framed as a 'soft indoctrination tool' that normalizes opaque digital rituals, eroding privacy and anonymity by conditioning users to comply without understanding the underlying processes.
- The author advises resisting such demands by refusing to scan QR codes or prove humanity to online services, arguing that consumer boycotts could force tech companies to reverse these trends.
- Additional caution is urged against passkeys and other technologies that mandate specific, often costly, hardware or software, emphasizing the importance of preserving choice and human-centric interactions online.
Summer of '85: DOSBOS is rejected by ANALOG Computing
6 hours ago
- DOSBOS was a BASIC utility program for the Atari 800XL to view disk contents and perform file operations.
- The author submitted DOSBOS to ANALOG magazine after encouragement from his father, but it was rejected.
- The rejection letter was personal with handwritten comments, making it a cherished memory despite the rejection.
- Using DOSBOS involved complex steps like ENTERing the program from disk and manually deleting it afterward.
- The original program listing and source code are preserved, showcasing early programming efforts and nostalgia.
Gaussian Point Splatting
6 hours ago
- Introduces Gaussian point splatting, a stochastic rendering method for Gaussian splats that efficiently handles scenes with numerous Gaussians.
- Uses pixel-sized opaque points sampled from Gaussians and splats them using 64-bit atomics in a framebuffer.
- Achieves workload distribution across millions of threads via parallel programming primitives, though independent splatting can cause multiple points per pixel.
- Addresses challenges in determining point count per Gaussian and distribution for desired opacity, ensuring fidelity to original Gaussian splatting.
- Incorporates hierarchical frustum and occlusion culling to accelerate rendering, achieving real-time performance with hundreds of millions of Gaussians.
- Results differ slightly from original Gaussian splatting in noise and aliasing, while maintaining real-time scalability.
Google to add sources in AI Searches, allow to opt out following UK ruling
8 hours ago
- Google plans to allow website owners to opt out of appearing in AI-generated search results, following a ruling by UK regulators.
- The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ordered Google to provide clearer attribution and links to sources in AI overviews, and not penalize opting-out sites.
- This move aims to give publishers, especially news organizations, more control over their content's use in AI products, amid concerns over reduced traffic and revenue.
- Google will first test the opt-out feature with a small group of UK website owners through a new Search Console setting, before a global rollout.
- Regulators have given Google nine months to fully comply, with some changes expected sooner, and the company is introducing tools to track content in AI responses.
How Freedom Tech Is Pushing Back Against Digital Authoritarianism
8 hours ago
- Global expansion of digital control tools by governments and corporations includes facial recognition, biometric surveillance, mandatory digital IDs, and debanking.
- Laws and policies in various countries (e.g., UK's Online Safety Act, India's Aadhaar, EU's digital identity wallet) are normalizing such surveillance infrastructure.
- KYC compliance forces citizens to surrender personal data to centralized databases, which are often breached, leading to data leaks and risks like profiling, extortion, or physical targeting.
- Resilient communication tools like Bitchat use Bluetooth mesh networking to enable messaging without internet or central servers, aiding activists under authoritarian regimes.
- Citizen Lab exposes digital surveillance tools like spyware (e.g., Pegasus) and provides practical cybersecurity advice, highlighting legal safeguards lagging behind technology.
- Cashu, a digital cash system, aims to enhance financial privacy by enabling private, low-fee transactions, addressing surveillance-driven advertising models.
- Agora is a peer-to-peer donation protocol built on Bitcoin and Nostr, designed to bypass financial system controls and provide 'unstoppable funding' for activists and humanitarian projects.
- Activists like Anna Chekhovich educate on using Bitcoin safely, emphasizing privacy and self-custody to counter financial repression in authoritarian states.
- Freedom technology tools collectively offer ways to communicate, transact, and organize without permission, becoming essential as digital control systems expand globally.

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Hasty Briefsbeta

Less than 4% Australians trust AI companies

Notepad++ v8.9.6.4 Tiananmen Massacre Commemoration

3D-printed book turns its own G-code into raised lettering

The Miracle on Mount Everest – Hillary Dawa Sperpa Found Alive

In a first, wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

Ocean sensors will go dark under Trump funding cuts

Researchers develop a low-cost technique to get lithium out of rocks

VoidZero Is Joining Cloudflare

Half of Belgium sees the US as a bigger adversary than China

Jeff Bezos Is Funding a Wild Hunt for the Brain's 'Core Algorithm'

First U.S. screwworm case confirmed in South Texas

'An equal and habitable world is possible' Vision for planetary survival

More US Firms Turn to China's DeepSeek over Pricey Silicon Valley AI

Privacy Is Not Dead: Beware the All-or-Nothing Mindset

The Lost Space Battleship Yamato LaserDisc Game (2013)

Stop scanning QR codes, you dolts

Summer of '85: DOSBOS is rejected by ANALOG Computing

Gaussian Point Splatting

Google to add sources in AI Searches, allow to opt out following UK ruling

How Freedom Tech Is Pushing Back Against Digital Authoritarianism