Australia news LIVE: Liberal Party net zero debate rages on; Trump threatens to sue BBC; Delhi car blast kills eight, injures 20
Follow along as we bring you the latest live news updates from Australia and around the world. ⌘ Read more
The Medicaid Program That Saved Money, Turned People’s Health Around — and Got Killed
Lisa Rab, Contributing Writer - Politico
Stephan: As Congress continues to cease to function, and “king” Trump spends his time visting with fellow authoritarians, and going to parties that would make the most debauched Roman emperor envious, the lives of millions of Americans are coming apart, as Medicaid comes apart.
Gemini Starts Rolling Out On Android Auto
Gemini is (finally) rolling out on Android Auto, replacing Google Assistant while keeping “Hey Google,” adding Gemini Live (“let’s talk live”), message auto-translation, and new privacy toggles. “One feature lost between Assistant and Gemini, though, is the ability to use nicknames for contacts,” notes 9to5Google. From the report: Over the past 24 hours, Google has quietly started the rollou … ⌘ 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
43% of Gen Z Prefer YouTube and TikTok To Traditional TV and Streaming
A new Activate Consulting report reveals that 43% of Gen Z now prefer YouTube and TikTok over traditional TV or paid streaming. With global media revenues surging and traditional TV viewership collapsing, the average person now spends over 13 hours a day consuming content across platforms, effectively living a “32-hour day” th … ⌘ Read more
My elders complained when rotary phones lost their wheel, getting replaced by push buttons. It was mayhem! We don’t live in a Matrix, we live in a loop. LOL.
‘Resilience Science Must-Knows’: Report shows how decision-makers can manage global crises
As the world approaches critical tipping points, a comprehensive global scientific report shows that resilience—the ability to live and develop with change and crises—must now be placed at the heart of global decision-making. ⌘ Read more
Tech workers’ fight for living wages and a 32-hour workweek is a battle for all
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** Autumnal week notes **
Someone I grew up with happened to go to the same college as me, and now we happen to live in the same relatively small city. We’ve been totally casual but pretty consistent mainstays of each others’ lives for going on 20 years at this point. She’s also one of the few people that I run into who knows that I can’t actually see well enough to reliably tell people apart from any further away than like 4 or 5 feet, and I always feel really appreciative whenever she waves that she also always says“hi” and who … ⌘ Read more
Dam disasters of the 1920s made reservoirs safer—now the climate crisis is increasing risk again
One hundred years ago, a catastrophic flood carrying enormous boulders swept through part of Dolgarrog village, north Wales, destroying several homes, a bridge and the local chapel. Ten adults and six children lost their lives. The tragedy was widely reported and King George V sent a message of condolence. ⌘ Read more
Warning As Decline in Tourism to US Risks Thousands of Jobs: Experts
Soo Kim, Life and Trends Reporter - Newsweek
_Stephan: ”king” Trump and the Republicans are dismantling the United States, both as a democracy and a world leader nation. It has become so dangerous to come to the United States, particularly as a person of color, that people aren’t coming, as this article describes. It is impacting the lives and wellbeing of thousands of American families … ⌘ Read more
‘What Country? Were You Born Here?’: Illinois ICE Agents Use Racial Profiling on Walmart Shoppers as They Corner Them in the Parking Lot
Lianna Tedesco, Staff Writer - NerdStash
_Stephan: We now live in a country where combat-armed masked thugs racially profile and accost people at shopping malls. How would you feel if you came out of a Walmart or a Costco, and such a thug came up to you dem … ⌘ Read more
Kristi Noem refuses state’s request not to use tear gas near children on Halloween
Carl Gibson, Contributing Writer - Raw Story
Stephan: The defining characteristics of the Trump vassals are their incompetence, their nastiness, and their desire to live the life of the uber-rich, and be protected while doing so from ordinary Americans. No one demonstrates this more openly than Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

Fun fact, during a semester break I was actually a little bored, so I just started reading the Qt documentation. I didn’t plan on using Qt for anything, though. I only looked at the docs because they were on my bucket list for some reason. Qt was probably recommended to me and coming from KDE myself, that was motivation enough to look at the docs just for fun.
The more I read, the more hooked I got. The documentation was extremely well written, something I’ve never seen before. The structure was very well thought out and I got the impression that I understood what the people thought when they actually designed Qt.
A few days in I decided to actually give it a real try. Having never done anything in C++ before, I quickly realized that this endeavor won’t succeed. I simply couldn’t get it going. But I found the Qt bindings for Python, so that was a new boost. And quickly after, I discovered that there were even KDE bindings for Python in my package manager, so I immediately switched to them as that integrated into my KDE desktop even nicer.
I used the Python KDE bindings for one larger project, a planning software for a summer camp that we used several years. It’s main feature was to see who is available to do an activity. In the past, that was done on a large sheet of paper, but people got assigned two activities at the same time or weren’t assigned at all. So, by showing people in yellow (free), green (one activity assigned) and red (overbooked), this sped up and improved the planning process.
Another core feature was to generate personalized time tables (just like back in school) and a dedicated view for the morning meeting on site.
It was extended over the years with all sorts of stuff. E.g. I then implemented a warning if all the custodians of an activitiy with kids were underage to satisfy new the guidelines that there should be somebody of age.
Just before the pandemic I started to even add support for personalized live views on phones or tablets during the planning process (with web sockets, though). This way, people could see their own schedule or independently check at which day an activity takes place etc. For these side quests, they don’t have to check the large matrix on the projector. But the project died there.
Here’s a screenshot from one of the main views: 
This Python+Qt rewrite replaced and improved the Java+Swing predecessor.
Not so proud to be American — ‘fed up’ expats renounce citizenship
Steve Hendrix, - msn
_Stephan: Today, I got the third email I have received since August from an SR reader living overseas telling me they are giving up their American citizenship. I have known many Americans living overseas, but until recently, I couldn’t remember any of them telling me they were giving up their American citizenship. However, as this article describes, renouncing American c … ⌘ Read more
Cul-de-sac effect: Why Mediterranean regions are becoming more prone to extreme floods in a changing climate
In May 2023, Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region experienced devastating, if not unprecedented, floods that caused widespread damage to infrastructure, homes, businesses, and farmland. Seventeen people lost their lives, and the disaster caused an estimated €8.5 billion in damages. The persistent rainfall and resulting landslides and flooding displaced tens of thousands of residents, leaving a deep ma … ⌘ Read more
man command does not calls home. Not on my macOS 26, at least, but it shouldn't on any other.
@javivf@adn.org.es not having any issues on my M4 mini, no. Smooth. There are some visual discordances I don’t like, but if I give them a blind eye I can live with them. 😅
We had some gray soup with the occasional fine rain with strong wind gusts. Despite the bad forecast we took the train to Geislingen/Steige and strolled up to the Helfenstein castle ruin. All the colorful leaves were so beautiful, it didn’t matter that the sun was behind thick layers of clouds.
We then continued to the Ödenturm (lit. boring tower). By then the wind had picked up by quite a bit, just as the weatherman predicted. We were very positively surprised that the Swabian Jura Association had opened up the tower. Between May and October, the tower is typically only manned on Sundays and holidays between 10 and 17 o’clock. But yesterday was Saturday and no holiday. The lovely lady up there told us that they’re currently experimenting with opening up on Saturday, too, because there are some highly motivated members responsible for the tower.
We were the very first visitors on that day. Last Sunday, when the weather lived up to the weekday’s name, they counted 128 people up in the tower. Very impressive.
The wind gusts were howling around the tower. Luckily, there are glass windows. So, it was quite pleasant up in the tower room. Chatting with the tower guard for a while, we got even luckier: the sun came out! That was really awesome. The photos don’t do justice. As always, it looked way more stunning in person.
Thanks to all the volunteers who make it possible to enjoy the view from the thirty odd meters up there. That certainly made our day!
After signing the guestbook we climbed down the staircase and returned to the station and headed back. The train even arrived on time. What a great little trip!
https://lyse.isobeef.org/wanderung-auf-die-burgruine-helfenstein-und-den-oedenturm-2025-10-25/
‘This Is Astounding’: Overnight, Millions More Americans Could Be Labeled Obese
, - Sttudy Finds
_Stephan: The other day, I published a lengthy academic study showing that Americans have shorter lives, and are less healthy in general than populations in other developed countries. Now another study has just been published showing that research data has redefined obesity. It turns out that Americans, under the new research data, have gone from 42 … ⌘ Read more
Tax cuts for the rich in 5 red states have cost residents whopping $2.2 billion: report
Brad Reed, Staff Writer - Raw Story
Stephan: Every day, I am amazed at how many Americans, particularly in Red States, still support Trump and the Republican Party, given what is happening in the country and in their own lives. Here is an example of just what I mean.
![](https://www.schwartzreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10- … ⌘ Read more
“AI” assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time
An extensive study by the European Broadcasting Union and the BBC highlights just how deeply inaccurate and untrustworthy “AI” news results really are. “AI” sucks even at its most basic function. It’s incredible how much money is being pumped into this scam, and how many people are wholeheartedly defending these bullshit generators as if their lives depended on it. If these tools can’t even summarise a text – something … ⌘ Read more
Why More People Are Taking Control of Their Digital Lives with Self-Hosted Alternatives
Remember when owning software meant you bought a CD, installed it, and it was yours until your computer died? Even if you got a new computer, you could install that same software on the new one. Only “serious” software packages had strict licensing restrictions. These days, most of our tools live in the cloud, guarded… ⌘ Read more
Virtual reality can help people understand and care about distant communities
For many of us, climate change feels like a distant threat—damage that will happen in the future somewhere far away to people we know little about. A new Stanford University-led study reveals how virtual reality can close that distance, enabling users to explore faraway places, develop a sense of attachment to those places, and care more about how a warming world is wreaking havoc on people’s lives. ⌘ Read more
A food tax shift could save lives—without a price hike in the average shopping basket
More expensive steak, cheaper tomatoes, but the same total cost for the average basket of groceries at the supermarket. A comprehensive study, led by researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, has analyzed the potential effects of a food tax shift—where VAT is removed from healthy foods and levies are introduced on foods that have a negative impact on the climate. ⌘ Read more
How plant-fungi friendships may change in the face of warming soil and rising CO₂ levels
Just as the human body contains a multitude of symbiotic microbial companions, most plant species also live alongside microbial friends. Among these companions are mycorrhizal fungi, which help plants gather water and nutrients—particularly nitrogen—from the soil. In exchange, plants provide mycorrhizal fungi with an average of 3% to 13% of the carbon they pull from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and so … ⌘ Read more