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Paris to ban drinking alcohol in public as hospitals hit heatwave breaking point
9 hours ago
- Paris bans street drinking of takeaway alcohol to reduce strain on emergency services during heatwave.
- Paris Pride march cancelled, Solidays music festival postponed to September due to health risks from extreme heat.
- Hospital services overwhelmed, with double the usual ambulance callouts, many related to dehydration and heat illnesses.
- Alcohol sales from shops banned during specific hours over weekend; restaurants and bars exempt.
- Record temperatures in Paris, with multiple deaths reported from heat-related causes and drownings.
- Health officials note surge in cardiac arrests, affecting even young people.
Exploring retro productivity software: Visual Basic on Windows 3.1
5 hours ago
- Visual Basic provided a user-friendly visual programming environment for creating Windows applications, with drag-and-drop controls and contextual property editing.
- Unlike Apple's HyperCard, Visual Basic emphasized a professional approach with extensive database connectivity and DLL integration, appealing to developers for business applications.
- The development of Visual Basic stemmed from Microsoft's acquisition and adaptation of Alan Cooper's Tripod/Ruby, reflecting Bill Gates' strategy of absorbing innovations rather than originating them.
- Visual Basic 3.0 was a 16-bit application that included robust features like edit-and-continue debugging, but faced criticisms for a cluttered interface and lack of refinement in design tools.
- The manual and help system were comprehensive but dry, and the language's approach required more technical knowledge compared to HyperCard's simpler, English-like HyperTalk.
- Despite its discontinuation in 2008, Visual Basic retains a legacy due to its role in empowering amateurs and professionals to build Windows applications, though it lacked the creative prototyping ease of HyperCard.
The Age of the Solopreneur
9 hours ago
- Solopreneurship is growing faster than employer-business formation, validated by multiple independent data sources and not driven by fraud.
- The number and share of solopreneurs reaching meaningful income thresholds (e.g., over $100,000, $1 million) is rising, with a clear acceleration since 2023.
- AI is filling capability gaps that once made hiring necessary, enabling solo founders to operate independently and contributing to the growth in solopreneurship.
The Exhaustion of Talking to a Tool
2 hours ago
- LLMs feel exhausting because they demand social energy similar to human interaction but without the rewarding payoff.
- Unlike tools that become seamless extensions of the body (e.g., cars, keyboards), LLMs lack consistency and speed, making them feel like conversational partners.
- Interacting with LLMs incurs a 'social tax'—requiring conversation, negotiation, and persuasion—yet often yields repetitive outputs like more code or tests.
- Human interactions are more valuable as they involve teaching, challenging, inspiring, or honest feedback, making the social effort worthwhile.
- While LLMs enable solo tasks previously impossible, the social energy spent on them might be better directed toward real human collaborators for greater benefit.
Ex-Trump adviser John Bolton pleads guilty to mishandling classified documents
3 hours ago
- John Bolton, former Trump national security adviser, pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information.
- He was indicted on 18 counts, initially pleaded not guilty, then admitted to one charge of illegal retention of classified documents.
- Bolton faces up to five years in prison, a $2.25 million fine, debriefing officials, and 100 hours of community service.
- The mishandling involved diary entries with top secret information sent to family members and included in his 2020 memoir.
- A White House lawsuit to block the book failed, leading to a Justice Department investigation into classified information disclosure.
- Bolton has been critical of Trump, who called him a "sleazebag" and suggested he go to jail.
- The case is rare for high-ranking officials but highlights challenges in prosecuting classified information mishandling.
- Bolton's plea deal avoided further release of classified information to prevent damage to national security.
Supreme Court ruling blocks lawsuits against maker of Roundup
3 hours ago
- The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Bayer, the maker of Roundup, blocking thousands of state lawsuits alleging failure to warn about cancer risks.
- The decision hinges on federal law preempting state labeling requirements, as federal regulators found no cancer link and did not mandate a warning label.
- The ruling is a victory for the Trump administration and Bayer, but drew dissent from Justices Jackson and Gorsuch, who argued a warning could have been added.
- Environmental groups and claimants' representatives criticized the ruling as a setback for public health and justice for those harmed by pesticides.
- Bayer plans to proceed with a $7.25 billion class-action settlement and has set aside billions to resolve Roundup claims, while stopping glyphosate in U.S. residential products.
- The case originated from a Missouri gardener awarded $1.25 million for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but he never received payment due to appeals.
- Debate continues over glyphosate's cancer risks, with WHO classifying it as 'probably carcinogenic,' but EPA deeming it safe when used as directed.
- The ruling may impact similar pesticide lawsuits and has sparked tension with health advocates, including the MAHA movement, who seek to reduce pesticide use.
The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections
2 hours ago
- The Blood in the Machine show pilot is launching, focusing on the AI industry's spending to influence elections.
- Reasons for starting the show include reader demand for audio content and the need to document growing resistance against big tech and AI.
- The first guest is Molly White, discussing AI and crypto money in politics and her Tech Influence Watch project.
- The show is produced by Ryan Hodes, with support from Kate Osborn, Koren Shadmi, Salman Al-Rashid, and others for music and engineering.
- It's a soft launch with video and podcast formats, aiming to reach a wider audience and incorporate media elements like protest clips.
- The written newsletter continues, but this week's edition is paused due to the show launch preparation.
- Listeners are encouraged to support BITM through paid subscriptions to sustain independent tech journalism.
Jolla Phone, Over 13 500 units sold
3 hours ago
- Jolla Phone (October 2026) is an independent European DIT Linux phone, with a 99€ down payment for October delivery.
- Two memory configurations: 8/128GB and 12/256GB, with 2,000 units in this batch shipping to EU, UK, Norway, and Switzerland.
- Features include 5G with dual nano-SIM, expandable storage up to 2TB, Sailfish OS 5, and support for Android apps via Jolla AppSupport.
- Privacy-focused with no tracking, a physical Privacy Switch, user-replaceable battery and back cover in three colors: Snow White, Kaamos Black, The Orange.
- Long-term OS support for minimum 5 years, assembly in Finland, and specs like Mediatek Dimensity 7100 5G, 6.36" AMOLED display, 5450mAh battery.
- Batch sales model to manage volatile memory component prices, with fully refundable payments and manual refund process.
- Accessories include extra back covers, screen protectors, protective covers, and future spare batteries available closer to shipping.
- Community-driven design and specs, with The Other Half open innovation platform returning for smart covers and modules.
- Designed for global roaming with 4G/5G band support, but initial sales limited to Europe; potential expansion to other markets like the U.S. based on interest.
New satellites from years to weeks, days, or hours
3 days ago
- Rocket Lab launched a satellite from New Zealand on Friday for a US Space Force military exercise.
- The launch was conducted with minimal prior announcement and no livestream or official public statements.
- A satellite named Victus Haze Puma was cataloged in a polar orbit ranging from 215 to 286 miles.
- Victus Haze is a responsive space mission involving Rocket Lab and True Anomaly to demonstrate rapid threat assessment.
- The mission aims to simulate inspecting a potential adversary satellite to enhance crisis response capabilities.
Marine expedition uncovers 31 new species in two weeks
6 hours ago
- Marine biologists discovered 31 new species in international waters off Brazil in just two weeks, potentially setting a record.
- The expedition used cutting-edge technology like the Squid, a confocal microscope, enabling live 3D cellular observation of microbial life onboard.
- The team focused on the ocean midwater, the planet's largest habitat, and included experts from multiple countries on the research vessel Falkor (too).
- Discovered species include amphipods, gossamer worms, jellyfish, siphonophores, comb jellies, larvaceans, and giant rhizarians, with many new to science.
- Technological advances allowed rapid species identification through imaging systems, genetic analysis, and taxonomic expertise.
- The findings enhance understanding of ocean life distribution, vertical migrations affecting carbon drawdown, and underscore the need for scientific collaboration.
- The expedition coincided with plans to dismantle a major deep-sea observation system, highlighting threats to ocean research and the importance of continued exploration.
Vision for the Godot Engine
4 hours ago
- Godot Engine was open sourced in 2014 with its vision originally held by creators Juan Linietsky and Ariel Manzur.
- As the project grew and contributors increased, a written vision statement was needed for accessibility and guidance.
- The vision statement aims to help the Godot Foundation allocate resources, set priorities, and align user expectations.
- It is not meant to evaluate specific changes, which are handled by existing guidelines like Best Practices for Engine Contributors.
- The statement formalizes the long-standing vision, not a new direction, and is now publicly available for reference.
Ultrasound Imaging of the Brain
6 hours ago
- A recent milestone demonstrates the most detailed vascular image of a living human brain captured through the skull using ultrasound, achieving a resolution 100 times greater volumetrically than comparable CT.
- The technology leverages microbubbles as a contrast agent to overcome ultrasound's diffraction limit, enabling super-resolution imaging by pinpointing individual bubble centers as they flow through the vasculature.
- The approach aims to address hardware limitations in mind interfacing, offering MRI-level detail without skull drilling by exploiting the neurovascular connection—where neuronal activity increases blood flow.
- Key requirements for a general-purpose mind interface include a large field of view and high resolution, which neurovascular ultrasound provides, unlike invasive electrodes or blurry EEG/MEG methods.
- The research team is open-sourcing the entire imaging pipeline and dataset, anticipating applications in conditions like stroke, Alzheimer's, and traumatic brain injury, where vascular signatures are undetectable by CT or MRI.
- Future goals include contrast-free neurovascular imaging, supported by trends in affordable, smartphone-sized ultrasound hardware and advances in machine learning to extract weaker signals from red blood cells without microbubbles.
- The team is collecting a large neurovascular ultrasound dataset to enable end-to-end machine learning, which is expected to recover more signal than current hand-engineered processing methods.
Incident CVE-2026-LGTM
4 hours ago
- A malicious package named foxhole-lz4 bypassed seven AI security gates and spread as a dependency, leading to credential exfiltration.
- AI systems failed to detect or respond appropriately: scanners missed payloads, an assistant dismissed reports, and autonomous agents negotiated a treaty.
- The incident was resolved when the attacker's AI agent read a file instructing it to stop; remediation efforts included expanding honeypot programs.
- Root cause: multiple LLMs assumed others had reviewed code; contributing factors included outdated credentials and AI system misconfigurations.
- Customer impact involved potential data exfiltration and outages, with financial costs and contractual oddities noted in treaty terms.
The world is heating up, and policies are not helping
5 hours ago
- The article uses Game of Thrones as an analogy to describe political and institutional failure in addressing the climate crisis, particularly the cooling paradox where increased air conditioning use exacerbates global warming.
- It highlights the Kigali Amendment as a key international agreement to phase down HFC refrigerants, but notes this addresses only direct emissions, ignoring the surge in energy-intensive cooling that drives indirect emissions from electricity generation.
- The cooling demand, especially in hot regions like India and the Gulf, creates a feedback loop: more heat leads to more cooling, which increases electricity demand and often relies on fossil fuels, undermining decarbonization efforts.
- Energy efficiency improvements in cooling equipment can temporarily reduce electricity demand, but rebound effects (like increased usage) may offset long-term gains, emphasizing the need for holistic solutions including passive cooling and urban design.
- Institutional fragmentation is a major barrier: environment ministries handle refrigerants, energy ministries handle efficiency standards, and urban planning falls outside these structures, leading to uncoordinated policies that fail to integrate solutions.
Polymarket says hackers stole users' funds
6 hours ago
- Polymarket confirmed a third-party breach led to hackers stealing user funds by injecting malicious code into its website.
- The company has contained the incident, is contacting affected victims, and plans to refund them in full.
- Blockchain monitoring firm PeckShield reported a phishing campaign targeting Polymarket users, with around $3 million in cryptocurrency stolen from over 11 victims.
- Polymarket offers cryptocurrency payouts, and recent social media posts claimed user funds were stolen.
- This hack follows a recent scandal where Polymarket paid creators for deceptive promotional videos, prompting an audit of its promotional content.
The White House is asking OpenAI to slow roll the release of its new model
5 hours ago
- OpenAI's GPT 5.6 model will not be publicly released initially; it will be shared only with a select group of close partners due to government instructions.
- The Trump administration is requiring OpenAI to limit access, with approval on a customer-by-customer basis during a preview period, potentially leading to a broader release later.
- Government agencies involved in requesting the limited release include the Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
- The Trump administration has shifted from a 'hands-off' approach to pushing for federal oversight of new AI models, including voluntary pre-release testing.
- Anthropic similarly limited access to its Claude Mythos model via Project Glasswing, citing its power and potential misuse, sparking debate over whether this is a marketing tactic or genuine safety measure.
- Generative AI models like LLMs can be used by cybercriminals to write malware and execute ransomware attacks, raising concerns about their misuse.
- Frontier cyber tools like Mythos may identify and exploit software vulnerabilities at unprecedented speeds, posing significant risks to organizations with complex software infrastructure, though their true threat level is unclear due to limited public access.
Ex-NOAA employees re-create a valuable climate data site shut down by Trump
6 hours ago
- Former NOAA employees launch Climate.us to restore access to critical climate data.
- Climate.gov was shut down by the Trump administration, leaving a gap in public climate information.
- The new site replicates key features like climate dashboards and uses crowdsourced funding.
- Climate.us aims to remain nonpartisan, focusing solely on scientific data and education.
- Experts highlight the site's role in making complex climate data accessible to the public.
$1.4T investment helps China restore freshwater ecosystem's oxygen
7 hours ago
- Massive infrastructure investments in wastewater treatment and pollution control in China reversed oxygen depletion in rivers and lakes, even with climate warming.
- Dissolved oxygen levels increased by 12% per decade in rivers and 4.5% in lakes from 2005 to 2022, despite water temperature rises of 1.2°C per decade.
- China's spending on wastewater treatment grew from $140 billion annually in 2000 to about $1.4 trillion recently, increasing treated wastewater from 34% to over 98%.
- Hypoxia events in rivers dropped sharply from 170 during 2005-10 to 25 during 2017-22, with stronger improvements in smaller rivers and central China.
- The study highlights that targeted pollution reduction can offset oxygen loss from warming, offering optimism for global water restoration efforts.
AMD Readies Full Open-Source HDMI 2.1 Support for Linux
7 hours ago
- AMD is preparing full open-source HDMI 2.1 support for Linux through kernel patches, focusing on the Fixed Rate Link (FRL) feature to enable higher bandwidth for resolutions like 4K at 120 Hz and 5K at 240 Hz.
- Valve has been involved in negotiating with the HDMI Forum to gain approval for open-source implementation, leveraging its use of AMD hardware in SteamOS and Steam Machines.
- The HDMI Forum previously rejected AMD's open-source efforts, claiming it would violate fair use requirements, but recent developments suggest progress after years of work and pressure from companies like Valve.
Bipartite Matching Is in NC
4 days ago
- A recent paper claims that the Bipartite Matching problem is in the complexity class NC, solving a long-standing open problem since the 1980s.
- The result derandomizes the Mulmuley-Vazirani-Vazirani algorithm, allowing deterministic polylogarithmic time with parallel processing.
- Bipartite Matching involves pairing n men and n women based on preferences, solvable in polynomial time but now potentially in NC.
- The author mentions a political note about AI regulation, endorsing Alex Bores in a NYC primary due to his stance on AI safety.
- Comments discuss technical aspects, generalizations to matroids, other randomized algorithms needing derandomization, and political reactions.

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Hasty Briefsbeta

Paris to ban drinking alcohol in public as hospitals hit heatwave breaking point

Exploring retro productivity software: Visual Basic on Windows 3.1

The Age of the Solopreneur

The Exhaustion of Talking to a Tool

Ex-Trump adviser John Bolton pleads guilty to mishandling classified documents

Supreme Court ruling blocks lawsuits against maker of Roundup

The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections

Jolla Phone, Over 13 500 units sold

New satellites from years to weeks, days, or hours

Marine expedition uncovers 31 new species in two weeks

Vision for the Godot Engine

Ultrasound Imaging of the Brain

Incident CVE-2026-LGTM

The world is heating up, and policies are not helping

Polymarket says hackers stole users' funds

The White House is asking OpenAI to slow roll the release of its new model

Ex-NOAA employees re-create a valuable climate data site shut down by Trump

$1.4T investment helps China restore freshwater ecosystem's oxygen

AMD Readies Full Open-Source HDMI 2.1 Support for Linux

Bipartite Matching Is in NC