AI coding startup Cursor raised $2.3B co-led by Accel and Coatue at a $29.3B valuation, after raising $900M at a $9.9B valuation in June (Angel Au-Yeung/Wall Street Journal)

Summary:

Angel Au-Yeung / Wall Street Journal:
AI coding startup Cursor raised $2.3B co-led by Accel and Coatue at a $29.3B valuation, after raising $900M at a $9.9B valuation in June  —  Cursor, which was founded by four MIT graduates who are still in their mid-20s, raised $2.3 billio

Leaker Evan Blass offers details on Samsung's upcoming trifold phone: named "Galaxy Z TriFold", 6.5" cover display and 10" total display, and 200MP main camera (Thomas Ricker/The Verge)

Summary:

Thomas Ricker / The Verge:
Leaker Evan Blass offers details on Samsung's upcoming trifold phone: named “Galaxy Z TriFold”, 6.5" cover display and 10" total display, and 200MP main camera  —  The Galaxy Z TriFold could launch on December 5th. … Reputable gadget leaker Evan Blass has taken to X with …

Astronomers witness a dying star’s earliest moments for the first time

Summary:
A team of astronomers recently had to act fast to obtain a never-before-seen image of...

Why Traditional SLOs Are Failing at Hyperscale: Building Context-Aware Reliability Contracts

Summary:

SMIC reports Q3 revenue up 9.7% YoY to $2.38B, above $2.35B est., and net profit up 29% YoY to $191.8M, above $161.2M est., as analog chip demand rises (Sherry Qin/Wall Street Journal)

Summary:

Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal:
SMIC reports Q3 revenue up 9.7% YoY to $2.38B, above $2.35B est., and net profit up 29% YoY to $191.8M, above $161.2M est., as analog chip demand rises  —  China's largest contract chip maker is upbeat on revenue growth in the fourth quarter  —  S

European carmaker officials warn the industry faces "devastating" chip shortages after the Netherlands' Nexperia takeover and is scrambling to find alternatives (Financial Times)

Summary:

Financial Times:
European carmaker officials warn the industry faces “devastating” chip shortages after the Netherlands' Nexperia takeover and is scrambling to find alternatives  —  Executives warn production lines could stop within weeks as the Dutch chipmaker is not sending products to China unit

A Chinese-born businessman who the US and China say ran one of SE Asia's largest scam compounds was extradited to China, three years after his Thailand arrest (Francesca Regalado/New York Times)

Summary:

Francesca Regalado / New York Times:
A Chinese-born businessman who the US and China say ran one of SE Asia's largest scam compounds was extradited to China, three years after his Thailand arrest  —  China and the United States say She Zhijiang, a Chinese-born businessman, ran a major scam compound in Myanmar.  He was arrested in Bangkok in 2022.

Sources: Tencent and Apple agree to a deal to let Apple handle payments and take a 15% cut of purchases in WeChat mini games and apps, after a year of talks (Pei Li/Bloomberg)

Summary:

Pei Li / Bloomberg:
Sources: Tencent and Apple agree to a deal to let Apple handle payments and take a 15% cut of purchases in WeChat mini games and apps, after a year of talks  —  Tencent Holdings Ltd. has agreed a deal with Apple Inc. that will see the iPhone maker handle payments and take a 15% cut of purchases …

Philadelphia-based grocery delivery company Gopuff raised $250M led by Eldridge Industries and Valor Equity at an $8.5B valuation, down from $15B in 2021 (Ivan Levingston/Financial Times)

Summary:

Ivan Levingston / Financial Times:
Philadelphia-based grocery delivery company Gopuff raised $250M led by Eldridge Industries and Valor Equity at an $8.5B valuation, down from $15B in 2021  —  Investment marks fresh backing for US rapid delivery app service seen as survivor in turbulent sector

The EU opens a DMA investigation into Google over allegedly demoting news outlets with promotional content; Google says this is part of its anti-spam efforts (Samuel Stolton/Bloomberg)

Summary:

Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
The EU opens a DMA investigation into Google over allegedly demoting news outlets with promotional content; Google says this is part of its anti-spam efforts  —  Google is under investigation by European Union antitrust watchdogs over concerns it unfairly demotes some news results in a probe …

JD.com reports Q3 revenue up 15% YoY to $42.1B, above ~$41.4B est., and net income down 55% YoY to ~$745M, as it competes in meal delivery and fast-commerce (Bloomberg)

Summary:

Bloomberg:
JD.com reports Q3 revenue up 15% YoY to $42.1B, above ~$41.4B est., and net income down 55% YoY to ~$745M, as it competes in meal delivery and fast-commerce  —  JD.com Inc.'s revenue grew a faster-than-anticipated 15%, boosted by government-directed consumer subsidies as well as an aggressive drive …

Valve says it has stopped production of its high-end, PC-tethered VR headset Valve Index, which it's "no longer manufacturing", after unveiling the Steam Frame (Jay Peters/The Verge)

Summary:

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Valve says it has stopped production of its high-end, PC-tethered VR headset Valve Index, which it's “no longer manufacturing”, after unveiling the Steam Frame  —  While showing its new Frame VR headset to The Verge, Valve confirmed that it's moving on from its previous one.

Tencent reports Q3 revenue up 15% YoY to ~$27B, above ~$26.6B est., net profit up 19% YoY to ~$8.9B, above ~$8B est., and domestic game revenue up 15% YoY (Sherry Qin/Wall Street Journal)

Summary:

Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal:
Tencent reports Q3 revenue up 15% YoY to ~$27B, above ~$26.6B est., net profit up 19% YoY to ~$8.9B, above ~$8B est., and domestic game revenue up 15% YoY  —  The tech giant has invested heavily in artificial intelligence for years  —  Tencent Holdings reported do

The Future of Observability: Predictive Root Cause Analysis Using AI

Summary:

UK’s first Rolls-Royce small nuclear reactor planned at Wylfa to power 3 million homes

Summary:
The UK government has announced that its first-ever small modular reactor (SMR) plant will be...

A look at Cybathlon, an event by ETH Zurich where researchers team up with people with disabilities in a competition to test brain-computer interfaces (Oliver Whang/New York Times)

Summary:

Oliver Whang / New York Times:
A look at Cybathlon, an event by ETH Zurich where researchers team up with people with disabilities in a competition to test brain-computer interfaces  —  Owen Collumb was paralyzed in 1993, when he was 21 years old.  A tire on his motorbike blew o

Microsoft launches its first AI superfactory to train massive models in weeks

Summary:
U.S. tech giant Microsoft has connected two of its large data centers across Wisconsin and...

Mysterious 540 million-year-old fossil turns out to be a coral and jellyfish relative

Summary:
For over five hundred million years, a small, cone-shaped fossil known as Salterella has puzzled...

Summary:

HUMOR303.BMF

Goodbye penny: Last 1-cent coin minted by US after 230 years of circulation

Summary:
After more than two centuries of jingling in pockets, filling jars, and being tossed into...

JFrog Adds Ability to Track Usage of AI Coding Tools

Summary:

Sources: Alibaba is renaming its AI app Tongyi to "Qwen", aiming to make it more like ChatGPT, and adding agentic-AI shopping features for platforms like Taobao (Luz Ding/Bloomberg)

Summary:

Luz Ding / Bloomberg:
Sources: Alibaba is renaming its AI app Tongyi to “Qwen”, aiming to make it more like ChatGPT, and adding agentic-AI shopping features for platforms like Taobao  —  Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is preparing an overhaul of its main mobile AI app in coming months to help …

Baidu unveils two AI chips: the M100 for efficient MoE inference, launching in 2026, and the M300 for training super-large multimodal models, coming in 2027 (Ben Jiang/South China Morning Post)

Summary:

Ben Jiang / South China Morning Post:
Baidu unveils two AI chips: the M100 for efficient MoE inference, launching in 2026, and the M300 for training super-large multimodal models, coming in 2027  —  The M100 and M300 provide ‘powerful, low-cost and controllable AI computing power’ to support the nation's self-reliance push, the firm says

Attentive.ai, maker of Beam AI for automating preconstruction workflows using AI, raised $30.5M Series B led by Insight Partners, bringing total raised to $48M (Amit Chowdhry/Pulse 2.0)

Summary:

Amit Chowdhry / Pulse 2.0:
Attentive.ai, maker of Beam AI for automating preconstruction workflows using AI, raised $30.5M Series B led by Insight Partners, bringing total raised to $48M  —  Attentive.ai, the San Francisco-based company behind Beam AI, has raised $30.5 million in Series B funding to expand …

RFK Jr.’s FDA Is Now Also In Turmoil Over Corrupt Drug Regulator

Summary:
While we’ve talked quite a bit about the horror show that is RFK Jr.’s position as Secretary of HHS, most of the focus of those posts has been around what is happening at the CDC. And for good reason, too. The ongoing measles outbreak, the quick hiring/firing of Susan Monarez, and all the anti-vaxx bullshit […]

240-million-year-old crocodile ancestor discovered in Brazil predates dinosaurs

Summary:
A newly discovered carnivorous reptile that lived before the rise of dinosaurs has been identified...

Survey Surfaces Multiple DevOps Platform Migration Challenges

Summary:

New Stirling engine sends heat to space to produce steady mechanical power at night

Summary:
Engineers at the University of California, Davis, have built a small device that produces mechanical...

Engineers 3D-print flat sheets that transform into curved satellite structures in space

Summary:
Launching large, rigid satellite dishes into orbit is an expensive and energy-hungry task. But what...

Trump Administration Still Trying To Send Kilmar Abrego Garcia To Anywhere But Where He Wants To Go

Summary:
For all its talk about trimming down government spending, an untold amount of money has been blown just to keep one person from getting one over on the Trump administration. That man would be Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He became the poster boy for the regime’s bigotry when he fought back against his sudden deportation to […]

Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 2

Summary:
Apple today provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26.2, which adds a few new features worth knowing about.

Measure App

Games App

CarPlay

Urban waste could supply low-carbon jet fuel and cut aviation emissions by up to 90%

Summary:
A new way to fly cleaner may be hiding in your garbage bin. Scientists have...

Knative Has Finally Graduated From the CNCF

Summary:

ATLANTA — Knative, the open source Kubernetes-native platform for building, deploying and running serverless and event-driven applications, has officially graduated

The post Knative Has Finally Graduated From the CNCF appeared first on The New Stack.

Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 232 With Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements

Summary:
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser that was first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ to allow users to test features that are planned for future release versions of the Safari browser.


‌Safari Technology Preview‌ 232 includes fixes and updates for CSS, JavaScript, Media, Rendering, SVG, Storage, Web API, and Web Inspector.

The current ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release is compatible with machines running macOS Sequoia and macOS Tahoe, the newest ve [...]

Aqara Launches Matter-Supported FP300 Presence Sensor

Summary:
Aqara today launched its latest sensor, debuting the Presence Multi-Sensor FP300. Aqara’s sensor is able to determine when someone is in the room, providing a useful way to control HomeKit-connected lights and devices.


There are dual mmWave and passive infrared sensors inside the FP300, and in our testing prior to launch, the sensors worked well to detect presence and keep lights on even when sitting still.

A wide 120-degree field of view provides coverage of most of a room depending on where the sensor is located, and Aqara added extra sensors for ambient light, humidity, and temperature. It’s handy to have extra sensors for keeping an eye on room conditions or activating scenes based on parameters like light levels.

Unlike prior Aqara sensors that detect presence, the FP300 is battery power [...]

How To Deploy an Open Source Version of NotebookLM

Summary:

NotebookLM is an AI research and note-taking tool created by that uses large language models (LLMs) that make it possible

The post How To Deploy an Open Source Version of NotebookLM appeared first on The New Stack.

macOS Tahoe 26.2 Gets Edge Light Feature for Video Calls

Summary:
The second beta of macOS 26.2 introduces a new Edge Light feature that's designed for video calls on FaceTime and other video calling platforms. It adds a light border around the edges of your Mac's display, providing improved lighting. Apple says that it is meant to help you look your best on video calls.


Edge Light mimics a ring light, eliminating the need for a separate device. It can provide illumination when you're in a dark room, and customize the light to match the brightness of the ambient lighting.

The Mac's Apple Neural Engine is able to detect your face, relative size, and location in the video frame to position the light appropriately, and it will fade out to allow you to access content on your screen when needed by detecting [...]

Techdirt Podcast Episode 438: Saving Democracy From Fascism

Summary:
Support us on Patreon » Three years ago, Mike Brock joined us on the podcast to discuss a decentralized web project, and more recently we’ve published several cross-posts from his Substack about the horrifying goings-on in American politics and media. Today, Mike joins the podcast once again for a far-ranging conversation about the state of democracy […]

Second macOS Tahoe 26.2 Beta Now Available to Developers

Summary:
Apple today provided the second beta of an upcoming macOS Tahoe 26.2 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming a week after Apple released the first beta.


Developers can download the macOS Tahoe 26.2 update by opening up the System Settings app, selecting the General category, and then choosing Software Update. Beta Updates will need to be enabled, and a free developer account is required.

The Reminders app is getting an option to have an alarm go off when a reminder is due, the News app has some design updates, and Apple is adding new features to the Podcasts app.

We'll likely see Apple release macOS Tahoe 26.2 right around mid-December given past launch timelines.

Apple Seeds Second Betas of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 to Developers

Summary:
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple seeded the first betas.


Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update.

iOS 26.2 has a Liquid Glass slider on the Lock Screen to adjust the transparency of the clock, plus it brings AirPods Live Translation to the European Union. The Reminders app now supports alarms for when tasks are due, and there are updates to the Podcasts and [...]

Ultra-thin polymer blocks all gases better than any material ever tested

Summary:
MIT researchers have created a polymer film so impermeable that even nitrogen molecules can’t pass...

Apple Releases Second watchOS 26.2, tvOS 26.2 and visionOS 26.2 Betas

Summary:
Apple today provided developers with the second betas of upcoming watchOS 26.2, tvOS 26.2, and visionOS 26.2 betas for testing purposes. The software comes a week after Apple seeded the first betas.


The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device, and because these are developer betas, a free developer account is required.

watchOS 26.2 features updated Sleep Score ranges that better match how people might be feeling after a night's rest.

In tvOS 26.2, Apple added support for creating a profile without an Apple Account, plus there is a dedicated [...]

OpenAI Launches Smarter, More Conversational ChatGPT 5.1

Summary:
OpenAI today upgraded GPT-5 to GPT-5.1, the next-generation version of the AI model that powers ChatGPT. There are two versions of GPT-5.1, including Instant and Thinking.


Instant is warmer, more intelligent, and better at following instructions, according to OpenAI, while GPT-5.1 Thinking is easier to understand, faster on simple tasks, and more persistent on complex tasks.

OpenAI says that users can expect a more enjoyable communication experience, with options to more easily customize ChatGPT's tone. There are new presets for tone, including Professional, Candid, and Quirky. The new presets join the existing Default, Nerdy, Cynical, Friendly (previously Listener), and Efficient (previously Robot) options. ChatGPT can also proactively offer to update preferences during conversations when you ask for a certain tone [...]

Jupyter AI v3: Could It Generate an ‘Ecosystem of AI Personas?’

Summary:

What if your AI assistant could watch you code, spot bugs as they happen and fix them before you even

The post Jupyter AI v3: Could It Generate an ‘Ecosystem of AI Personas?’ appeared first on The New Stack.

DO repeat yourself! (Interview)

Summary:
Prolific software blogger, Sean Goedecke, joins us to discuss why he believes software engineers need to be involved in the politics of their organization, how to avoid worry driven development, what is "good taste" in software engineering, where agentic coding will take our industry, why getting the main thing right is so important, and how to get your blog to the top of Hacker News.

Microsoft releases update-fixing update for update-eligible Windows 10 PCs

Summary:
A bug was keeping Windows 10 PCs from enrolling in Microsoft's ESU program.

Cowardice And Capitulation At Cornell

Summary:
On Friday it was announced that my alma mater, Cornell, had caved to the Trump administration and agreed to a “deal” the federal government had offered them to get back the funding it had illegally cut off from Cornell as part of its authoritarian efforts to bully top universities into submission. This capitulation came just […]

The DevOps Impact of API-First Development

Summary:

Choosing Your AI Orchestration Stack for 2026

Summary:

AI has advanced at an incredible pace. Just a few months ago, we were still talking about agentic AI’s budding

The post Choosing Your AI Orchestration Stack for 2026 appeared first on The New Stack.

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Summary:
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen.


Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet, nothing so far.

There are reasons to believe that at least one of the products could be updated imminently, but there are also signs that Apple might hold off until next year.

For starters, HomePod mini inventory is running [...]

Vibe Coding vs. Spec-Driven Development: Finding Balance in the AI Era

Summary:

Why You Should Break Your ML Pipelines on Purpose

Summary:

This is the first of two articles. What happens when your machine learning system quietly breaks, and no one notices?

The post Why You Should Break Your ML Pipelines on Purpose appeared first on The New Stack.

Federal Court Issues Injunction Permanently Blocking Deployment Of Military Troops To Portland

Summary:
We’ll see where this goes from here, but for the moment, this order [PDF], issued by federal judge Karin Immergut still stands: For the above reasons, this Court concludes that Plaintiffs have demonstrated that Defendants violated 10 U.S.C. § 12406 and the Tenth Amendment and satisfy the requirements for a permanent injunction. Therefore, this Court […]

Daily Deal: Costco 1-Year Gold Star Membership + a $40 Digital Costco Shop Card

Summary:
Costco is your one-stop shop with a wide range of merchandise that will likely cover all of your shopping needs! With hundreds of locations across the country, Costco is the ideal place to shop without the hassle of having to run numerous errands around town. Purchase a 1-Year Costco Gold Star Membership for $65 and […]

Why the Frontend Should Run AI Models Locally With ONNX

Summary:

Frontend developers need to make a paradigm shift about how they build applications using AI models, according to Angular consultant

The post Why the Frontend Should Run AI Models Locally With ONNX appeared first on The New Stack.

Conservative Judge Resigns Rather Than Stay Silent On Trump’s Constitutional Assault

Summary:
Reagan-appointed federal judge Mark Wolf has resigned from the bench in Massachusetts, and his explanation is blunt: he can no longer bear the ethical constraints that prevent judges from speaking out publicly while Trump dismantles the rule of law. This doesn’t happen. Federal judges—especially Reagan appointees—don’t quit to become activists. They stay in their robes […]

Apple Announces Launch of U.S. Passport Feature in iPhone's Wallet App

Summary:
Apple today announced that iPhone users can now create a Digital ID in the Apple Wallet app based on information from their U.S. passport.


To create and present a Digital ID based on a U.S. passport, you need:

• An iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later running watchOS 26.1 or later


• Face ID or Touch ID and Bluetooth turned on


• An Apple Account with two-factor authentication turned on


• A valid U.S. passport that is not expired


• Your device region set to United States

5 Ways To Transform ITOps With a Human and AI Agent Model

Summary:

A new era of AI operations is here. Research reveals that over half (51%) of global companies have already deployed

The post 5 Ways To Transform ITOps With a Human and AI Agent Model appeared first on The New Stack.

Apple's Extended Return Policy Now in Effect for 2025 Holiday Season

Summary:
Apple's extended return policy went into effect today for the 2025 holiday shopping season. The policy applies to most products sold by Apple online and in its stores, but there are a few exceptions, including most carrier-financed iPhones.


In the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, and many other countries, most products purchased between November 12 and December 25 of this year may be returned through January 8, 2026, according to Apple's website. All purchases made after December 25 in those countries are subject to Apple's standard 14-day or 15-day return policy.

In some countries, such as Italy, Spain, Japan, and Mexico, the return window is slightly longer. Apple says eligible products purchased in those countries between November 12 and January 6, 2 [...]

Apple Arcade Adding World's Most Downloaded Mobile Game and More

Summary:
Apple Arcade will be adding five games on Thursday, December 4, including endless runner Subway Surfers, the world's most downloaded mobile game. Since its launch in 2012, the game has received billions of downloads across all platforms.


The premium Subway Surfers+ edition on Apple Arcade will offer the same run as the classic game, but without in-app purchases and ads. As a result, there will be new ways to revive your character, collect items, and progress.

A spin-off game Subway Surfers Tag was already r [...]

Review: New Framework Laptop 16 takes a fresh stab at the upgradeable laptop GPU

Summary:
New components make it more useful and powerful but no less odd.

EU's Digital Markets Act Failed to Lower App Store Prices, Apple-Commissioned Study Says

Summary:
Apple today shared a study commissioned from Analysis Group [PDF] that looks at App Store pricing changes before and after reduced fees took effect in the EU in March 2024 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The report shows that the DMA has not resulted in lower prices for consumers.


In a statement to MacRumors, Apple said that the DMA has reduced privacy and security without the outcomes that EU lawmakers expected.

The DMA has failed to live up to its promises, delivering less security, less privacy, and a worse experience for consumers across Europe. This study provides further evidence that the DMA is not benefiting consumers in the form of lower pric

Amazon Introduces Early Black Friday Deals on Popular Accessories From Jackery, Anker, and Ecovacs

Summary:
Amazon this week has a few notable sales from popular brands like Jackery, Anker, and Ecovacs. These include discounts on everything from MagSafe-compatible car chargers to portable power stations, Find My compatible wallets, and robot vacuums.

[...]

Google Announces Its Own Version of Apple's Private Cloud Compute

Summary:
Google this week announced Private AI Compute, a new cloud-based system designed to deliver AI capabilities using its Gemini models while maintaining strict data privacy controls, a framework that closely parallels Apple's own Private Cloud Compute technology.


According to Google, the service enables AI tasks that exceed the processing capacity of local hardware to be handled securely in the cloud without exposing personal data to the company or third parties.

For decades, Google has developed privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) to improve a wide range of AI-related use cases. Today, we're taking the next step in building helpful experiences that keep users safe with Private AI Compute in the cloud, a new AI processing platform t

How Google Is Shifting AI From the Cloud to Your Browser

Summary:

The Google Web AI summit was held earlier this month as an invite-only event in Sunnyvale, Calif. After the event,

The post How Google Is Shifting AI From the Cloud to Your Browser appeared first on The New Stack.

OWC's Black Friday Sneak Peek Sale Has Steep Discounts on Docks, Drives, and Mac Accessories

Summary:
OWC kicked off a Black Friday sneak peek sale this week, offering big discounts on a variety of USB-C docks, external drives and enclosures, and Mac accessories. Some of these deals won't be applied until you add the items to your cart, at which time an automatic coupon will be applied to your order.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

There are a few notable deals in this sale, including $100 off the popular 14-Port Th [...]

Apple Now Sells PlayStation VR2 Sense Controllers and Charging Station

Summary:
Apple this week began selling the PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers and charging station through its online store in the U.S., with pricing set at $249.95.


The package includes left and right controllers with attached straps, a controller charging station, a charging brick, a power cord, and two USB adapters.

visionOS 26 added support for the PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers to Vision Pro models with the M2 chip and the M5 chip, enabling high-precision motion tracking in supported games, complete with finger touch detection and vibration feedback.

Elu Legend, Pickle Pro, Ping Pong Club, and Spatial Rifts are some of the first Vision Pro games that support the contr [...]

Connecting to production: the architecture of remote bindings

Summary:
Remote bindings allow you to connect your local Worker code to deployed Cloudflare resources like R2 and D1. Come along on the technical journey of how we built this feature to create a seamless local development experience.

iPhone 18 Pro Max's Thicker Design Could Make It Heaviest iPhone Ever

Summary:
Hardware changes Apple has planned for the iPhone 18 Pro Max will make it the heaviest iPhone yet, claims a Chinese leaker.


Apple isn't expected to change the screen size of the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and it will feature the same 6.9-inch display as the current model. However, according to Weibo-based account Instant Digital, the body of the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be slightly thicker than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, tipping its weight over 240 grams.

In a follow-up post on Weibo, Instant Digital says the difference between the two generations will be about 10 grams, so it sounds like we're looking at ar [...]

Trump Threatens BBC With Billion-Dollar Lawsuit For Correctly Pointing Out He Supported A Violent Insurrection

Summary:
You might recall that not that long ago Trump managed to get CBS to pay him a $16 million bribe based entirely on a lie: that the network’s 60 Minutes program had unfairly edited an interview with Kamala Harris. In reality it was a minor, ordinary edit, and CBS could have easily fought the case […]

Bindplane Adds Ability to Automate Deployment of OpenTelemetry Collectors

Summary:

KubeCon: A Terraform Killer Built on Apple’s Pkl

Summary:

ATLANTA — Terraform has you tripping? YAML got you cross-eyed? A startup, Platform Engineering Labs, has tackled the ongoing headache that

The post KubeCon: A Terraform Killer Built on Apple’s Pkl appeared first on The New Stack.

Apple Intelligence Apparently Too Smart for M1 Macs After Listing Error

Summary:
Update: It took a day, but Apple has now corrected its Apple Intelligence device compatibility list to show support for the earliest Apple silicon Macs. The original article follows.

The Potato, the Spreadsheet, and the AI That Checks Its Own Work

Summary:

Of late, the newsletter has turned into me linking to longer posts on my blog. There’s the usual links and wastebook as well. This makes it more of a digest than a stand-alone item. As you can tell by the volume of blog posts below, I like blogging though and I’m glad I’m doing I do it more!

Original content

Speaking of, several little things on the blog:

• The ultimate bike-shedding story, and, always make your own slides.

• Reject the rejection of your writing voice especially when you’re writing “enterprise grade” copy.

• Survive the next meeting.

• Java and Spring dev

Meatsack context engineering to defuse tense conversations

Summary:

In a tense situation, take a moment to say out loud your opponents position, feeling, and perspective. This is like setting up context and prompting for an AI. You put that in the context window and it flavors the ongoing conversation. It’d probably do interesting stuff in AI chats. Those chats are so explicit and non-confrontational that these dynamics probably already happen.

🔗 How to Fix Breakdowns in Communication

The charts say things are OK

Summary:

It’s astonishing that the richest country in world history could convince itself that it was plundered by immigrants and trade.

🔗 One-Third of US Families Earn Over $150,000

Feels a little bit like a platform standard so powerful that you need an AI front-end to make it usable by mere mortals.

Summary:

Yes:

Kubernetes started as a way to orchestrate containers, but its true innovation lies in its API model. The declarative resource pattern, with its desired state, actual state and continuous reconciliation, has proven to be a universal abstraction. It works for workloads, infrastructure, policies and more. That universality is why Kubernetes has become the foundation for IDPs. It provides a consistent way to define, extend and enforce platform building blocks. Whether you’re provisioning a cloud database, managing a network policy or applying compliance rules, Kubernetes APIs make platforms programmable, predictable and composable. This API-first foundation also makes Kubernetes uniquely ready for the AI era. Agents and large language models (LLMs) don’t navigate dashboards or tribal knowledge; they interact with APIs. And Kubernetes offers a consistent, structured interface designed from Day 1 for machine-to-machine communication.”

But:

Instea

🤖 Writing for Baby Shoggoths: How AI Became Literature’s Last Reader

Summary:

{Some crazy-town stuff in here, but interesting and probably, mostly, correct. -Coté}

Human writers may soon craft words primarily for AI rather than other humans, as large language models increasingly consume, interpret, and influence the world’s text. The essay explores the strange idea that “writing for AI” could grant influence over future superintelligence—or even a form of digital immortality.

Summarized by AI.

Source summarized:
Baby Shoggoth Is Listening - The American Scholar.

Key Points

• AI could replace human readers as the primary audience for writing.
• Writers like Tyler Cowen and Gwern advocate “writing for AI” to influence future models and preserve intellectual legacy.
• Chatbot-optimized writing favors clarity, structure, and high-quality sources over clickbait.
• Early contributions to AI training d

🤖 Optimism Linked to 15% Longer Life and Higher Odds of Reaching 85+

Summary:

People who maintain a more optimistic outlook tend to live longer and are more likely to reach “exceptional longevity,” defined as surviving to 85 or beyond. Drawing on data from over 69,000 women and 1,400 men, researchers found optimism’s benefits persisted even when accounting for health conditions, depression, and lifestyle habits.

Summarized by AI.

Source summarized:
Optimism is associated with exceptional longevity in 2 epidemiologic cohorts of men and women | PNAS.

Key Points

• Higher optimism is associated with an 8–15% longer life span in both men and women.
• Optimistic individuals are 1.5–1.7 times more likely to reach age 85, independent of health and lifestyle factors.
• Benefits persisted after adjusting for baseline health conditions, depression, and social integration.

🤖 AI Security Loops: When Coding Assistants Become Their Own Risk

Summary:

Developers are embracing AI coding tools to accelerate software creation, but the resulting security landscape is increasingly complex. While AI can detect threats and debug code, relying on it exclusively creates a recursive loop where the same AI that writes code may also incorrectly validate or approve it.

Summarized by AI.

Source summarized: Shifting Security Left with AI — Is It Truly AI-Assisted Security, or an Infinite Loop?.

Key Points

• 49% of developers now use AI regularly for coding-related tasks, with 73% saving up to four hours per week.
• AI-generated code increases security risk, sometimes creating “4x faster code with 10x more vulnerabilities.”
• Recursive AI loops emerge when the same AI both generates and reviews code, lea

🤖 Europe’s Innovation Constitution Calls for Radical Economic Refocus

Summary:

Europe’s prosperity is stagnating because the EU has strayed from its core mission: a functioning internal market that drives economic growth and innovation. This manifesto argues for a renaissance built on enforcing market rules, enabling creative destruction, and cutting regulatory dead weight.

Summarized by AI.

Source summarized: The Constitution of Innovation: A New European Renaissance.

Key Points

• Refocus the EU on core economic functions: customs union, internal market, eurozone monetary policy, and common trade policy.
• Enforce the internal market by reviving infringement actions and dismantling barriers to the free movement of goods, services, capital, and workers.
• Enable creative destruction: eliminate zombie firms, streamline bankruptcy, and support market exit as a driver of innovation.

🤖 DoD Unveils CSRMC: Automating Continuous Compliance for Cyber Risk at Operational Speed

Summary:

Summarized by AI.

The article explores how defense and enterprise organizations are evolving from traditional, static compliance frameworks toward continuous, automated, and intelligence-driven security models. It traces the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) cybersecurity governance evolution–from DITSCAP in 1997 to the newly announced Cyber Security Risk Management Construct (CSRMC) in 2025–and argues that this shift is essential for organizations facing accelerated innovation cycles. The piece concludes by showing how VMware Tanzu Platform enables this new paradigm of “continuous compliance” through automation, visibility, and DevSecOps alignment.

Source summarized:
Avoid a Governance Apocalypse with

The ultimate bike-shedding story, and, always make your own slides

Summary:

Steve Jobs had a lot of feedback on the original calculator app. He sent the programmer on a rock-fetching canard, demanding changes each day and then finding new things he didn’t like. Eventually, the developer just added an extra window, below, that allowed Jobs to tinker with all the UI aspects. That ended the back and forth.

This a common problem with how executives work. You are often just a mouse and keyboard proxy for them, especially with slides. As manifested

AI uses at banks, private AI and customer built AI apps - skills and regulations are the friction for wider adoption

Summary:

The most common use case for agentic AI is customer service, according to 75% of banks surveyed by Capgemini. Nearly two-thirds use the technology for fraud detection, while 3 in 5 use it for loan processing and customer onboarding.

Also, 84% of apps/uses are built in house:

BNY developed its AI agents in-house, which one-third of banks also reported doing in the Capgemini report. Only 16% reported buying AI agents off-the-shelf.

As always with banks using new technologies, training people to use the new technology and getting regulatory sign-off are the barriers:

while AI agent adoption is poised for growth with 80% of financial services firms in the ideation or pilot stage of deployment, only 10% of companies have implemented the technology at scale, the report found.

One of the biggest hurdles executives face with AI agent deployment is a skills gap, 92% of banks reported, sec

Google releases its agent development kit for Go

Summary:

#​578 — November 12, 2025 Read the Web Version Go Weekly

Original Mac calculator design came from letting Steve Jobs play with menus for 10 minutes

Summary:
In 1982, a young Mac developer turned Jobs into a UI designer—and accidentally invented a new technique.

Google says new cloud-based “Private AI Compute” is just as secure as local processing

Summary:
New system allows devices to connect directly to secure space in Google's AI servers.

Ryanair tries forcing app downloads by eliminating paper boarding passes

Summary:
Ryanair CEO admits "there’ll be some teething problems."

Apple Invites App for iPhone Updated — Here's What's New

Summary:
With the latest version of the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, released today, hosts can now allow guests to specify the number of adults and kids they are bringing to an event. This way, the host will not be surprised if you bring a plus-one.


The update also contains bug fixes and performance improvements.

Released earlier this year, the Apple Invites app makes it easy to invite people to events, such as birthday parties and baby showers. First, you create an event invitation, which can include a description, a custom background, and even a shared photo album. Then, you can generate a link to the event that you can share with invited guests.

The ability to create an event in the app is limited to iCloud+ subscribers, [...]

Debian Mandates Rust for APT, Reshaping Ubuntu and Other Linux Distros

Summary:

One of the world’s oldest and most influential Linux distributions, Debian, has officially announced plans to restructure its development strategy

The post Debian Mandates Rust for APT, Reshaping Ubuntu and Other Linux Distros appeared first on The New Stack.

How AI Is Pushing Kubernetes Storage Beyond Its Limits

Summary:

As enterprises rush to deploy AI and data-intensive applications in Kubernetes environments, standard Container Storage Interfaces (CSIs) aren’t enough to

The post How AI Is Pushing Kubernetes Storage Beyond Its Limits appeared first on The New Stack.

The 4 Ways AI Code Is Breaking Your Repo (And How To Fix It)

Summary:

“Don’t ask the model to build your whole app. Break your request into smaller parts and generate one function, hook

The post The 4 Ways AI Code Is Breaking Your Repo (And How To Fix It) appeared first on The New Stack.

StyleX: A Styling Library for CSS at Scale

Summary:

StyleX is Meta’s styling system for large-scale applications. It combines the ergonomics of CSS-in-JS with the performance of static CSS, generating collision-free atomic CSS while allowing for expressive, type-safe style authoring. StyleX was open sourced at the end of 2023 and has since become the standard styling system across Meta products like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, [...]

Read More...

The post StyleX: A Styling Library for CSS at Scale appeared first on Engineering at Meta.

Google announces even more AI in Photos app, powered by Nano Banana

Summary:
Google's Nano Banana is powering a raft of new features in the app.

FFmpeg to Google: Fund Us or Stop Sending Bugs

Summary:

You may never have heard of FFmpeg, but you’ve used it. This open source program’s robust multimedia framework is used

The post FFmpeg to Google: Fund Us or Stop Sending Bugs appeared first on The New Stack.

React’s UseEffect Is a Crime Scene Covered in Fingerprints

Summary:

Let’s be honest: Half the React codebases out there are held together by duct tape and useEffect spaghetti. Every “quick

The post React’s UseEffect Is a Crime Scene Covered in Fingerprints appeared first on The New Stack.

Reject the rejection of your writing voice especially when you're writing "enterprise grade" copy

Summary:

More Writing Advice

Once you identify your style, try pushing back against some suggested changes. People reviewing your work don’t always edit with your style in mind and will think it’s appropriate to change it. This is especially true in business writing, where people expect a sort of neutral, flat tone. That can be great if that’s your thing! On the other hand, I know my style - informal, first person, how I like to tell stories to make points, etc. So when people start trying to change my style, I reject their suggestions. Editors don’t have the final word - usually, you do. At first, just do it with some minor things to build up your confidence.

After a while, try to insert some tricks and winks to the reader in your writing. What’s a joke or easter egg you can slip in? An absurd story is good. You’ll also develop some recurring jokes. Or maybe it’s just grammatical. Throw in a gratuitous - but grammatically correct - semicolon from tim

KubeCon: Akuity Reduces Kubernetes Guesswork With AI

Summary:

ATLANTA — Cloud Native GitOps service provider Akuity has added generative AI aids into its Kubernetes deployment platform, in order

The post KubeCon: Akuity Reduces Kubernetes Guesswork With AI appeared first on The New Stack.

Why Your SLO Dashboard is Lying: Moving Beyond Vanity Metrics in Production

Summary:

Google Debuts GKE Agent Sandbox, Inference Gateway at KubeCon

Summary:

ATLANTA — Those pesky AI agents. You’ll never know what trouble they’ll cause. Sneaky and malicious ones will elevate their

The post Google Debuts GKE Agent Sandbox, Inference Gateway at KubeCon appeared first on The New Stack.