link dump #17

I follow a number of RSS feeds to make it easier to find interesting articles without having to regularly visit my entire list of interesting blogs, many of which aren't updated often.  As you can see, I find a wide array of topics interesting.

We live on former farmland which gives us some lovely views of the sky.  Here's some interesting clouds from yesterday morning shortly after sunrise.

 

AI modified photos from houses for sale would irritate me were I convinced to spend time looking at a house with features which didn't really exist as shown.  I've also seen some terrible close captioning on Youtube which was done by AI.  I make notes of creators who use that and don't watch their content a second time.  It irritates me more than a misprint in a book which is saying a lot.
https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20260623-generative-ai-impossible-homes/#gsc.tab=0

My stepfather died of ALS ten years ago.  Since he came down with symptoms, I've followed technologies which could have helped him like the brain-computer interface described in this article.  Unfortunately, it wouldn't have helped Pop for very long since he had a faster progression of life threatening symptoms than many do.
https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/brain-computer-interface-enables-independent-accurate-communication-for-man-living-with-als/2026/06

I don't think I'd want to drive a vehicle as distinctive as this banana shaped car if it meant being inconvenienced by frequent traffic stops.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/06/18/giant-banana-pulled-over-in-montana-driver-says-cops-have-stopped-him-100s-of-times/ 

It's been a while since I've heard about races on Pikes Peak.  It's kind of cool that Corvette has the record for the time being since I've had a few Corvettes in the past when I used to drive fun cars.  I opt for boring but comfortable cars these days which are easier on my aging knees.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/06/pikes-peak-2026-was-a-battle-of-propulsion-with-an-ev-and-a-hybrid-winning-out/

Sid Caesar is considered to be a comic genius and assembled one of the finest comedy writing rooms of his or any other time.  There's a new book about his career in comedy which looks like something I'd enjoy reading.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n11/john-lahr/relatable-as-a-jellyfish

When I first heard about drones using fiber optic technology to prevent their radio signals from being jammed, I was skeptical but apparently fiber optic cable spools really work.  To disable one of these requires severing the connection or a direct hit of some sort.
 https://www.army.mil/article/287737/fiber_optic_drones_posing_a_significant_c_uas_challenge

Apparently I could take a more natural approach to my soldering tasks if I wanted by making my own resin flux.
https://northcoastsynthesis.com/news/homemade-traditional-resin-flux/

I found this article about early attempts of shrinking transistor radios fascinating.  The ability to listen to music outside the home has made life more enjoyable for most of us.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/in-1954-engineers-shrank-a-transistor-radio-into-something-people-could-carry-and-music-stopped-staying-at-home/articleshow/131742031.cms

I've backed several of Cory Doctorow's books via Kickstarter including his latest, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI.  This article features an interview with Cory about his new book.  He's a thoughtful analyst of technical topics and one of my favorite authors as well. 
https://jacobin.com/2026/06/ai-bubble-layoffs-workers-copyright

I have fond memories of ThinkGeek.  This Stonehenge pocket watch is something which fascinated me but not quite enough to want to carry.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060627053213/http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/7d2b/ 

Speaking of watches, I've had several smartwatches but ultimately abandoned them for a more traditional analog watch.  The smartwatches require frequent charging and those which monitor your health typically need to be worn tighter than I find comfortable.
https://www.engadget.com/2197565/reasons-why-people-ditch-smartwatches-something-simpler/

I've heard from multiple sources that using AI is degrading our skills and causing stress to people forced to use it often like software engineers being strongly encouraged by company management.  It makes me happy that my impending retirement will let me avoid it completely soon.  I've had to watch while a coworker tried to get ChatGPT to recommend changes to some low level code I had written and the process was painful.  A few of my colleagues send me little snippets of commands which ChatGPT tells them should work which rarely bears more than a passing similarity to something which would actually work.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01947-1

Apparently Massachusetts has legalized haggis since they're hosting Scottish soccer fans for the World Cup.  Who knew it wasn't previously legal?
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/haggis-massachusetts-legal-scotland/