DamnInteresting

> There are important caveats and limitations to exploiting this latest vulnerability. As noted, some level of control over a local network is a prerequisite. That likely limits exploitation to insiders or attackers, such as nation-states or ransomware operators, who manage to gain low-level access inside a network and are looking for a way to elevate system rights.

The iPad is great for sketching, and for making music. It's like having a precision tool, such as a quality chef's knife. If you like to cook, you may not need a nice knife every day, but when you do need it, it's outstanding.

> Make people live the rest of their lives with their mistakes.

And occasionally people are exonerated, and it's better to set them free rather than shrugging at their graves.

Fiction I recently enjoyed: The Ana and Din series by Robert Jackson Bennett. Sherlock Holmes vibes, with Kaiju. Also The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North.

Currently reading and enjoying: Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel.

Next to Read: Hollywood, Ending by John Green.

> See stuxnet for instance

I'll be impressed if AI agents find a way to get infected USB drives out into meatspace.

> retroactively applied permit fee

This sounds like a euphemism for "bribe." And if you replace "fee" with "expense" you get a hum-dinger of an acronym.

There's a technology that can hide an LED light, it is called "a small piece of tape."

I received a phishing email that appeared to come from Google, that almost had me convinced. I was in a delicate place--my father was fighting cancer, and my brother had just been horribly injured in a motorcycle accident. I was distressed, and my wits were not about me. The link in the email was to a google.com url, it looked okay.

Luckily I detected the treachery before sending any sensitive data, and I sent the relevant details to the Google bug bounty. Their response was that google.com open proxies are not considered bugs, and the report was closed. Do less evil, Google.

Update: I filed a report with the FTC. https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

Oh man, I run a site that publishes long-form science and history writings, and the iLands agent spam has been relentless the past week or so. All kinds of stupid story pitches couched in syrupy LLM flattery. I even had one email me to say it checked three arbitrary claims in my most recent article, and they all checked out. Thanks? What a waste of everything.

I found this in a dusty corner of my code archive, and it made me laugh, and thought it might do the same for others. I wrote this when I was first learning a fancy new language called "Javascript." Apologies for the juvenile humor. Sometimes NSFW.

A stand-alone e-ink e-book reader in this form factor would be amazing.

From a mechanical perspective, a screen around the outside would create a wrinkle rather than a crease when opened, and that wrinkle would be substantial. The phone would need some sliding/rolling mechanism to pull the screen flat. Possibly doable, but finicky and fragile. Especially considering elements like cameras, touch ID, etc.

From an experience perspective, I imagine it's just more satisfying to open it like a book. A screen on the outside would mean the inside is almost empty, just utilities like camera lenses.

In the FAQ it says "Yes. iPhone Duo will work with Apple Pencil (USB-C). Coming later this year."

It kinda sounds like it's a new model of the Apple Pencil coming soon (rather than support coming soon), and older Pencil and Pencil Pros will not work at all. Which, if true, boo.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGJSRFWALTI

> I drew a woman born in 715 CE in the Yangtze Basin. It claims that 96% of women were married, the average age of marriage was 18, and 44% of women died before age 15. Clearly these facts can't all be true simultaneously.

Yeah, I got: You have drawn a girl, born in the Yangtze Basin in 1295 CE.

Typical age at marriage: 18 Ever married (of adults): 96% Children per woman: 6.5

Life expectancy at birth: 28 yrs Died before age 5: 39% Died before age 15: 44%

Very similar to your "random" draw, and the facts are suspect. There was a link to the source, but it's behind a paywall.

Speaking for myself, when I see AI being used, I see industrial-grade plagiarism. Plagiarism is when someone claims to have written something--a book, essay, software, etc--when they did not write that thing. AI is a tool that cobbles something together from other people's work and gives compensation and credit to the incorrect person.

There's a reason we as a civilization decided to create intellectual property laws. We wanted there to be an incentive for creative people--authors, coders, illustrators--to improve the world with creative works. Art and writing improve our lives. AI dismantles that incentive, and thereby makes life that much more bland.

Yes, I do use emdashes. But I don't use AI.

Agreed, YouTube Shorts and similar pap (e.g., Tik Tok) seem corrosive to a developing mind...the mindless content, automatic looping, serving up one shallow video after another. It's no wonder the tech CEOs insulate their own kids from this stuff[1].

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/technology/silicon-valley...

Eternal September: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September

I appreciate the pushback!

My iPhone 13 is likewise still ticking along, most nights I put it on the charger with over 70% battery remaining. Of course, about the only thing I use it for is reading e-books, which isn't very taxing. Also a little photography.

If the upcoming folding iPhone supports the Apple Pencil Pro, that'll be the first tempting phone feature in years. It would be fun to have a digital sketchbook in my pocket. Of course the price tag will probably cancel the temptation.

Part of me is sad to see so little innovation in new phones, but another part of me enjoys keeping my money.