Because we need good news: Gary Larson is drawing again (he bought a tablet, taught himself how to use it, and suddenly drawing was fun again): https://www.thefarside.com/new-stuff/

#WritersCoffeeClub 18/10: Do you tend to incorporate supernatural elements in your work?

No, there are absolutely no supernatural elements in the Laundry Files whatsoever, just science we haven't fully explored yet but h̶̜̎ä̵̜̙̳̗̱̗͙͉̹́̈̎̑̾r̷̡̧͙̭̫͇̠̀k̵͍̺̳̜̠͑̍̂̏̋̀̆̉̈́͜ͅ ̴̧̗̩̫͖̹͍͕̎̓̐̆͝͝ͅḑ̶̞̻̣̝͐̿͐̋͗̐͒ô̶̖̦̙ ̴͇͍̟͉͉̰͖̂̀͐̉̀̽͠ẏ̴̪̾͑ö̷̩̮͚̣̮̪̦u̴̢̥̹͙̅͑̏̀̎͂̓̚ͅ ̵͇̮͆̉̿͂̋̑̇͛͆h̴̺͎̲̤̜͐̿͐́ḙ̸̢̪̰̼͒͒͑̓͝a̵̧̠̖̓͂̅̾͋̒̊̌ͅr̶̡̩̘̗̰̝̺͍̎͋̍͛ ̴̨̳̀͗͗̇̔̈͋̅͆ẗ̶̨̛͖̫̤̹́͐͝h̸̗͇̱̒̉͌̈̏͂͌͐e̴̮̹̋̇ ̶̣̄͒̅̀͘̕t̶͇̦͆͂̅̉̀̎̈ͅẹ̷͖̩̞͎̝̥̱̓̊̕r̵̢̝̻͕͕̰̺͉̽̅r̸͎̥̭̞̯̗̜̳̣͂̄̕̕͝i̸̺̺̗̫̿̿͊́b̷͙̲̗̜̩͚̉ļ̵͓͇̹̚̚͜e̴͔͊͒̀ ̸͉̙̩̫̇͑̈̄̈́̚͜͝p̵̥͎̹̣̱͇̘̻̪̓̊͗̊i̵̖̙͔̙͍̽p̴̨̮͍̥̻͈͚͉̌̔͆͌̋͠i̷̧̠̤̹̜͕̋̃́̂̓̾̔̚͝ñ̸̢̙͕̘̹̬͎͈͉͊̏̋͑̈́͝g̵͖̹͕̪̳̺͌ ̷̹͇̳̥̣̺̫̝͛̉̆͌͋̉̅ą̶̺͔̭͑̓͝ͅņ̵̛̯̖̙͆͌̄̍̌ͅd̵̺̗̯͕̗̖̣̊̒ͅ ̷̜̲̣̱̂̿͒̃͝ť̸͎̱̥͓̪̞̣͍̌̊̌̌͐̍ͅh̸̰̪̻̙̣̦̓̌̔̾̈̊́̕̚ȇ̷̡͙̖̜̳̋͠ ̷̙̦̻̱͗͗̀̋͂͗͛͘b̶͈̖̺͛̊̊̒̀͐̃̆͝ͅl̴̻͍̤͖̜̐̌̄͗̈̀͘͝ͅë̷̢͙̪̬̗͎́ä̵̢̧̼̺͈̖͓̞̹́͠t̵͇̗̙̉͘͝ ̵̧̢̢͓͍̺̮̖̃͒ơ̴̮̦̯̟̐͋͐̂̉́͂̾f̴̨̮̺͒̀͘ ̵̜͕͑̌̄a̸͕̜͙̪̋̔̏̃̉͠͝ç̴̲̥͕̟͛̀c̷̣̪̈́̽̃̂́̊̀͊ư̴̼̝̊̈͛̐̐̌͊r̷̞͐̾͐̓̍̄̓̍s̶͖͕̦̞̑̄̈́͛̈́́ͅę̵̛̞͉͋̓̒̆͂́̏̌ͅd̵͛̑̅̀̄ͅ ̶̤̜̗̭̺̦̥͔̥̾̄͘d̶͕̟̗̜̻͍̗͆͒̓̓r̴̞̯͒̆̐ữ̷͍͕̰̖̬͙͋̿͆́̕͠m̵̡͚̦͚̠͓̱̞̗̅̓͌͘s̷̢̛̪̗̱̟̥͒̔̆ ̴̨̰͎͌̅͋h̵͚́͝e̸͕͌͆̇̔̒̀̈́͂͝ ̶̧̛̔̓̽ī̸̡̺̹͕̪͙̼̹̑̃̓̍͛̄̋̊s̷͔̩̞͇̎̿ ̸̢͓̳̹̼̫̾̆̆̓͆ͅͅc̵͇͍̰͋̇ȍ̴̢̒̿̃̊̌̏m̶͍͋̅̾̈͋̈́̎ȉ̸̲̥̣͕͇̞͎̺̳̆͐͋n̸̖̤̝̝̤̲̦̣̬̎̓̋̆̽̓̑͝͝ǵ̷͔̟͇̫̣̦͓̊̃̊͜͜ ̶̭͕͓̣̲̹̮͎̐͋̔̇̿̏͘͝͠ḩ̵̘̭̪͚̣̠̩͔̆́̓͗̑͝ẽ̸͖́̏̑̇̄̕ ̴͍̝̼͙̮͛̑̊͑̋͌̀ī̵̼̥̬̦̃́̚ş̶̛̠͌̐̉ ̶̢͖̳̦̖̹͈̲̗̋͌c̶̺̣͖̳͔̖̆́͗̓̒͜ͅo̷͉̲̰͇̝͉͎̫͎̽̈̈͘ṃ̸͙̬̝̩͓͑͌i̶͖̳͈̚̚ͅn̶̗̒̉͊̂̔̿̔͒͠g̶͙̃̉̌̂̈́̐

The analyst behind this essay thinks there's no way the AI data centre boom can be profitable. I looked at their expectations and … they're optimistic: those number crunchers in the data centres won't depreciate over 3-5 years, they'll be obsolete inside 18 months!

It's ridiculous.
https://awful.systems/comment/9041013

On pedocon theory: why movement conservativism is inextricably entwined with paedophilia (and why the POTUS is probably a paedophile too):
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/we-need-to-talk-about-pedocon-theory/

Bank of England warns AI stock bubble rivals 2000 dotcom peak

Central bank says market concentration hasn't been this extreme in 50 years.

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/10/bank-of-england-warns-ai-stock-bubble-rivals-2000-dotcom-peak/

I'm with Mark on this being stupid because (a) launch costs (coming down fast but still ridiculously high), (b) energy (PV cells, yes, but you need to put them in orbit first), and (c) waste heat, which is THE killer problem for data centres on Earth, where we have these heat sinks called "rivers" and "the atmosphere". Vacuum's a thermal insulator!

(No need to get into the weeds and talk about latency. Whole idea's stupid.)
https://eigenmagic.net/@NewtonMark/115332884441287733

Having lived through Jack Straw and David Blunkett's terms as Home Secretary I had no particular optimism that Starmer's pick would be any better, but Mahmood is knocking the authoritarianism right out of the ball park: seems to have calibrated her jackboots against those worn by Patel and Braverman.

@rochelimit @AlisonW You might think that, but I promise you that's not where HMG wants to go with this digital ID proposal.

I can't keep up with reality, it's clearly beyond satire and taking the piss now: Palantir, whose UK CEO is the grandson of the notorious fascist founder of the British Union of Fascists, and whose Trump-adjacent leader has the knives out for democracy, backs away from key Starmer policy on digital ID cards, fearing *reputational damage* from being associated with something "Too Evil even for Palantir":

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/starmer-hit-major-blow-tech-36013892

So, I got a Raspberry Pi 500+ and a 4Tb SSD to play with. And I have just been playing with it.

And I have to say that I'm unimpressed in the extreme with the modern Linux UX, onboarding, and documentation.

Last time we had a big bubble burst (2008, the subprime crisis), the investment dollars piled into commodities like grain futures that were perceived as "safe". Result: 1-2 years later crop prices soared—a major contributory factor if not THE trigger for the Arab Spring in 2011 and the Syrian and Libyan civil wars.

This time I expect they'll try and boost fossil fuel assets (to support the AI data centres that are going bust, natch). Cynical, moi?
https://mastodon.social/@nixCraft/115277669440336320

Mirrors can fool the Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensors used to guide autonomous vehicles by making them detect objects that don’t exist, or failing to detect actual obstacles:

https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/23/selfdriving_car_fooled_with_mirrors/

Right, who else wants a mirrored beanie that will prevent self-driving cars from trying to run pedestrians over if they unexpectedly exist in the roads (which they're entitled to be on—"jaywalking" is American, pedestrians have right of way here)?

The most hilarious and horrible side-effect of LLMs is that we now have a definitive answer to the question implied by Searle's Chinese Room thought-experiment.

Anthropic and OpenAI have built the Chinese Room. And while it's clear now that there's no ghost in the machine, lots of people think they're having a real conversation ... https://mstdn.ca/@michaelgemar/115243456306059266

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
https://www.computerworld.com/article/4059383/openai-admits-ai-hallucinations-are-mathematically-inevitable-not-just-engineering-flaws.html

Friends don't let friends mindlessly accept advice from "AI": supporting evidence: