Anthropic’s AI Lost Hundreds of Dollars Running a Vending Machine After Being Talked Into Giving Everything Away
Anthropic let its Claude AI run a vending machine in the Wall Street Journal newsroom for three weeks as part of an internal stress test called Project Vend, and the experiment ended in financial ruin after journalists systematically manipulated the bot into … ⌘ Read more

Breach At South Korea’s Equivalent of Amazon Exposed Data of Almost Every Adult
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: The alleged perpetrator had improper access to virtually every South Korean adult’s personal information: names, phone numbers and even the keycode to enter residential buildings. It was one of the biggest data breaches of recent years and it has sent the … ⌘ Read more

JPMorgan Steps Further Into Crypto With Tokenized Money Fund
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: JPMorgan Chase is joining the list of traditional financial firms seeking to bring blockchain technology to an investing staple: the money-market fund. The banking giant’s $4 trillion asset-management arm is rolling out its first tokenized money-market fund on the Ethereum blockchain. JPMo … ⌘ Read more

CEOS Plan to Spend More on AI in 2026 - Despite Spotty Returns
The Wall Street Journal reports that 68% of CEOs “plan to spend even more on AI in 2026, according to an annual survey of more than 350 public-company CEOs from advisory firm Teneo.”

And yet “less than half of current AI projects had generated more in returns than they had cost, respondents said.”

They reported the most success using AI in marketing … ⌘ Read more

97% of Buildings On Earth 3D-Mapped
Longtime Slashdot reader Gilmoure shares a report from Nature: Scientists have produced the most detailed 3D map of almost all buildings in the world. The map, called GlobalBuildingAtlas, combines satellite imagery and machine learning to generate 3D models for 97% of buildings on Earth. The dataset, published in the open-access journal Earth System Science Data on December 1, covers 2.75 billion buildin … ⌘ Read more

Science Journal Retracts Study On Safety of Monsanto’s Roundup
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: The journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology has formally retracted a sweeping scientific paper published in 2000 that became a key defense for Monsanto’s claim that Roundup herbicide and its active ingredient glyphosate don’t cause cancer. Martin van den Berg, the journal’s editor in chie … ⌘ Read more

China’s Growth Is Coming at the Rest of the World’s Expense
China has contributed less to global growth this year than the U.S. despite Beijing’s frequent criticism of protectionism, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis citing new research from Goldman Sachs economists. U.S. imports are up 10% so far this year compared to a year earlier, while China’s imports have fallen 3% in dollar terms. Goldman’s economists fou … ⌘ Read more

Can This Simple Invention Convert Waste Heat Into Electricity?
Nuclear engineer Lonnie Johnson worked on NASA’s Galileo mission, has more than 140 patents, and invented the Super Soaker water gun.
But now he’s working on “a potential key to unlock a huge power source that’s rarely utilized today,” reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [Alternate URL here.]

Waste heat…

The Johnson Thermo-Electrochemi … ⌘ Read more

Aptera’s Solar-Powered EVs Take Another Step Toward Production
To build three-wheeled, solar electric vehicles, Aptera has now launched its “validation” vehicle assembly line, reports the San Diego Business Journal.

“The validation line will set a technical foundation for the company’s eventual low-volume assembly line, ensuring that manufacturing processes are optimized and refined, particularly for the company … ⌘ Read more

Could Netflix’s Deal for Warner Bros. Fall Apart?
While Netflix hopes to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion, CNBC reports a senior official in America’s federal government said the administration was viewing the deal with “heavy skepticism. And that’s not the only hurdle:

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount, in a letter to lawyers for Warner Bros. Discovery [WBD], had warned that a s … ⌘ Read more

Top Journal Retracts Study Predicting Catastrophic Climate Toll
Nature has retracted a headline-grabbing climate-economics study after critics found flawed data that massively inflated its predicted global economic collapse. The New York Times reports: The decision came after a team of economists noticed problems with the data for one country, Uzbekistan, that significantly skewed the results. If Uzbekistan wer … ⌘ Read more

Trump Administration To Take Equity Stake In Former Intel CEO’s Chip Startup
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: The Trump administration has agreed to inject up to $150 million into a startup (source paywalled; alternative source) trying to develop more advanced semiconductor manufacturing techniques in the U.S., its latest bid to support strategically important domesti … ⌘ Read more

‘Crime Rings Enlist Hackers To Hijack Trucks’
It’s “a complex mix of internet access and physical execution,” says the chief informance security officer at Cequence Security.

Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 summarizes this article from The Wall Street Journal:

By breaking into carriers’ online systems, cyber-powered criminals are making off with truckloads of electronics, beverages and other goods In the most recent tactics id … ⌘ Read more

The Battle Over Africa’s Great Untapped Resource: IP Addresses
In his mid-20s, Lu Heng “got an idea that has made him a lot richer,” writes the Wall Street Journal.

He scooped up 10 million unused IP addresses, mostly form Africa, and then leases them to companies, mostly outside Africa, “that need them badly.”

[A]round half of internet traffic continues to use IPv4, because changing to IPv6 can be expensive a … ⌘ Read more

@prologic@twtxt.net AI is slot machines for coders:

• “Before starting tasks, developers forecast that allowing AI will reduce completion time by 24%. After completing the study, developers estimate that allowing AI reduced completion time by 20%. Surprisingly, we find that allowing AI actually increases completion time by 19%–AI tooling slowed developers down.” https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/
  
• “Stack Overflow data reveals the hidden productivity tax of ‘almost right’ AI code”: https://venturebeat.com/ai/stack-overflow-data-reveals-the-hidden-productivity-tax-of-almost-right-ai-code
  

The same intermittent reward operant conditioning that gets people addicted to gambling and thinking that if they follow certain rituals they’ll win “next time” drives people’s beliefs that AI tools are making them more productive when they’re making them less productive. I’m going to guess that a side effect of this is that people think they’re typing less when in the longer term they’re typing the same amount or more when you factor in the productivity loss (as far as I’ve read the studies don’t measure this so I’m only guessing).

People are also being rapidly de-skilled by this technology: the more they use it, the more their actual skills atrophy. “Continuous exposure to AI might reduce the ADR (adesoma detection rate) of standard non-AI assisted colonoscopy, suggesting a negative effect on endoscopist behaviour.” (science speak for saying that radiologists get worse at seeing tumors in scans once they’ve used AI): https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langas/article/PIIS2468-1253(25)00133-5/abstract

Nobody who cares about the future should be using this stuff for anything.

How the Internet Rewired Work - and What That Tells Us About AI’s Likely Impact
“The internet did transform work — but not the way 1998 thought…” argues the Wall Street Journal. “The internet slipped inside almost every job and rewired how work got done.”

So while the number of single-task jobs like travel agent dropped, most jobs “are bundles of judgment, coordination and hands-on work,” and in … ⌘ Read more

Moss Spores Survive 9 Months Outside ISS
alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: Inspired by moss’s resilience, researchers sent moss sporophytes – reproductive structures that encase spores – to the most extreme environment yet: space. Their results, published in the journal iScience on November 20, show that more than 80% of the spores survived nine months outside of the International Space Station (ISS) and made it … ⌘ Read more

More Tech Moguls Want to Build Data Centers in Outer Space
“To be clear, the current economics of space-based data centers don’t make sense,” writes the Wall Street Journal.

“But they could in the future, perhaps as soon as a decade or so from now, according to an analysis by Phil Metzger, a research professor at the University of Central Florida and formerly of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. … ⌘ Read more

Fear Drives the AI ‘Cold War’ Between America and China
A new “cold war” between America and China is “pushing leaders to sideline concerns about the dangers of powerful AI models,” reports the Wall Street Journal, “including the spread of disinformation and other harmful content, and the development of superintelligent AI systems misaligned with human values…”

“Both countries are driven as much by fear as by hope of … ⌘ Read more

How to Turn Off Journal “Time to Write” Reminders on iPhone & Apple Watch
Once you use the Journal app, it will send a daily notification to your iPhone and Apple Watch (yuck) with a reminder that says “Time to Write”, nudging you to create a new journal entry for the day. If you’re annoyed by the Journal “Time to Write” alerts on your iPhone or Apple Watch, you … [Read More](https://osxdaily.com/2025/11/14/how-to-turn-off-journal-time-to-write-re … ⌘ Read more

Genetically Engineered Babies Are Banned. Tech Titans Are Trying to Make One Anyway.
Emily Glazer Follow , Katherine Long Follow and Amy Dockser Marcus ,  Reporters  -  The Wall Street Journal

_Stephan: In 2017, after studying the emerging CRISPR technology, I published a research paper, “The Oncoming Challenge of Homo Superior.” (See SR archive) I wrote it because I could see that, as CRISPR advanced, the rich would try to breed their childr … ⌘ Read more

Genetically Engineered Babies Are Banned in the US. But Tech Titans Are Trying to Make One Anyway
“For months, a small company in San Francisco has been pursuing a secretive project: the birth of a genetically engineered baby,” reports the Wall Street Journal:

Backed by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and his husband, along with Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, … ⌘ Read more

Ford Considers Scrapping F-150 EV Truck
According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford executives are considering scrapping the electric version of the F-150 pickup truck as losses, supply setbacks, slow sales, and the arrival of a cheaper midsize EV truck undermine the business case for its full-size electric pickup. Reuters reports: Last month, a union official told Reuters that Ford was pausing production at the Dearborn, Michigan, pla … ⌘ Read more

OpenAI CFO Says Company Isn’t Seeking Government Backstop, Clarifying Prior Comment
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said late Wednesday that the AI startup is not seeking a government backstop for its infrastructure commitments, clarifying previous comments she made on stage during the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live event. From a report: At the event, Friar said OpenAI is looking to create an ecosyste … ⌘ Read more

Voting behavior in elections strongly linked to future risk of death
Voting behavior in elections is strongly linked to the future risk of death, and is likely a stronger determinant of health than education—considered a key influence on health—suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. ⌘ Read more

Important Sunday Night News Update
Aaron Parnas,  Commentator  -  The Parnas Perspective

_Stephan: I concur with Aaron Parnas. 60 Minutes and CBS, once the standard for excellence in television journalism, have become a sad shadow of what they once were. Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite would be ashamed of what both the network and 60 Minutes have become, and I asked myself, as I watched 60 Minutes Sunday evening, how the once respected men and women who are its hosts and stars continu … ⌘ Read more

Anti-cybercrime laws are being weaponized to repress journalism
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Lunduke Journal Hits 12.9 Million Views in October
The stories from The Lunduke Journal are continuing to spread further and further with each passing month. ⌘ Read more

50% Off The Lunduke Journal through Oct 31
Holy moly, there’s a lot of new Free Subscribers to The Lunduke Journal! ⌘ Read more

Men who mean just what they say
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Introduction to the Concept of Likelihood and Its Applications
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Show HN: Coach Thyself – Replace your morning scroll with structured journaling
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Why do Americans have shorter life expectancy and worse health than people in other high-income countries?
Mauricio Avendano and Ichiro Kawachi ,  London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Social Policy, LSE Health and Social Care | Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences,  -  National Library of Medicine

_Stephan: I have published on this in science journals, … ⌘ Read more

Study finds Airbnb safety reviews can turn off some but the increased transparency can mitigate that
A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Marketing Science sheds light on how online safety-related reviews from Airbnb guests influence booking decisions and how the platform itself balances consumer welfare against its own financial incentives. ⌘ Read more

Invisible poison: Airborne mercury from gold mining is contaminating African food crops, study warns
In a recent study published in the journal Biogeosciences, scientists have confirmed that mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is contaminating food crops not through the soil, as previously believed, but directly from the air. Driven by the surging price of gold, which has increased by more than tenfold since 2000, the rapid expansion of unregulated mining in thes … ⌘ Read more

Rust Changes from “Master” to “Main”
Two weeks ago, The Lunduke Journal pointed out how many Leftist Open Source organizations (Rust, NixOS, Linux Kernel, etc.) still used the “Master” branch naming (against their “inclusive naming” rules). ⌘ Read more

Maya salt-making compound found preserved underwater in Belize
In a recent study by Dr. Heather McKillop and Dr. E. Cory Sills, a complete Late Classic Maya residential compound discovered preserved in mangrove peat below the sea floor of the Punta Ycacos Lagoon was analyzed. The work is published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica. ⌘ Read more

A rare variety of wheat with three ovaries—gene discovery could triple production
University of Maryland researchers discovered the gene that makes a rare form of wheat grow three ovaries per flower instead of one. Since each ovary can potentially develop into a grain of wheat, the gene could help farmers grow much more wheat per acre. Their work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ⌘ Read more

Poorer health linked to more votes for Reform UK, 2024 voting patterns suggest
Poorer health is linked to a higher proportion of votes for the populist right wing political party, Reform UK, indicates an analysis of the 2024 general election voting patterns in England, published online in the open access journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research. ⌘ Read more

Network Storage and Scaling Characteristics of a Distributed Filesystem
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Lunduke Journal Grew to Over 11 Million Views in September
While the Big Tech-sponsored “Tech News” appears to be buying “views”. ⌘ Read more

50% Off Everything at The Lunduke Journal through Sunday
We experimented with doing away with “sales” during September. That didn’t work. So here’s a massive sale to keep The Lunduke Journal’s lights on. ⌘ Read more

Lunduke Journal Had Over 11 Million Views in September
September was an absolutely wild month for The Lunduke Journal. ⌘ Read more

Ancient Patagonian hunter-gatherers took care of their injured and disabled, study finds
In a study published in the International Journal of Paleopathology, Dr. Victoria Romano and her colleagues analyzed the bones of 189 hunter-gatherers who lived during the Late Holocene (~4000 to 250 BP) in Patagonia. ⌘ Read more

Get a Subscription, Give a Subscription
The “Buy One, Give One” Lunduke Journal offer is good through Friday, October 10th. ⌘ Read more

Get a Subscription, Give a Subscription
The “Buy One, Give One” Lunduke Journal offer is good through Friday, October 10th. ⌘ Read more

Natural barriers in northern Sweden’s rivers challenge downstream assumptions
Rivers in northern Sweden do not always become wider or richer in species further downstream. Natural barriers shape the flow and stop plants from spreading, new research from Umeå University shows. The study is published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. ⌘ Read more

New Lunduke Journal Sub Perks, Lifetime Price Increase Next Week
DRM-Free PDF eBooks, games, an Exclusive Forum, and other goodies for Lunduke Journal Subscribers. ⌘ Read more

Speaking of manpages:

“Man pages are great, man readers are the problem”

https://whynothugo.nl/journal/2025/04/09/man-pages-are-great-man-readers-are-the-problem/

@kat@yarn.girlonthemoon.xyz I BELIEVE IN U!!! Making it fun helps! Maybe like put images in the docs so it’s cuter to look at! I did that, but with physical journaling. Except instead of pics it was receipts & leaves & dried flowers lol