I’m a Dario mega-fan, but this is objectively funny as hell
UPDATES
Hey! Hope you all are doing well!
Going for a walk with a close friend on the train tracks out to the bay today around sunset. Just like when we were kids. This is life. ☀️
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Looking to lock newsletters in for Mondays again (Tuesday being late). I think readers appreciate consistency as a component of quality. So I want to get back to that.
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Working massively on the PAI 5.0 release. Soooon. Many changes in this one, so it’s taking longer than planned. : ( But it should be worth it.
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I’m more and more struck with how important reading is to me. I credit it for any and all smarts or creativity I supposedly have. Well that and my Dad. And my Lutheran-style, “you’re judged by your work” ethos that my parents gave me growing up.
Speaking of that, we are reading The Wright Brothers for UL Book Club this month. Finished it yesterday. So absolutely epic. Will help me with PAI. With everythying.
I am so thankful for books. And for my friends in UL who read them with me.
10/10
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I’ve mentioned this before, but I highly recommend reading The Culture Series. I’m on book 4 or 5 of like 7 or 9.
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My new essay on how I replaced tons of SaaS services with AI, and what I think that means for companies going forward.
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CYBERSECURITY
OpenAI makes GPT-5.4 more permissive for defensive cyber work OpenAI announced GPT-5.4-Cyber, a cyber-permissive GPT-5.4 variant for defenders, with access gated behind Trusted Access for Cyber. 9to5Mac
A single malicious PDF can pop Adobe Reader zero-day malware Malwarebytes reports a new Adobe Reader zero-day where opening a crafted PDF can read local files, pull remote code, and bypass parts of sandboxing. Simply opening a PDF could trigger this Adobe Reader zero-day
Attacker exfiltrated Mexican citizen data with Claude and GPT-4.1 CYBER ATTACK
Atomic Stealer is getting misfiled as both trojan and infostealer Arin Waichulis explains Jamf’s Security 360 data showing trojan malware now leads Mac detections, with Atomic Stealer sitting in both buckets. SECURITY BITE PODCAST
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How hackers talk about AI in cybercrime forums Analysis of an academic paper that studies how cybercriminals discuss AI for fraud, tools, and operational security. SCHNEIER ON SECURITY ARTICLE
Fiber cables can leak speech through tiny vibrations STANDARD FIBER OPTIC CABLES CAN BE TURNED INTO REMOTE MICROPHONES
NATIONAL SECURITY
DARPA’s AI that calls BS on weapons science claims Scientific American explains how DARPA’s SciFy program ingests outlandish military science claims and judges feasibility using AI agents and human-comparison sprints. DARPA built an AI to fact-check enemy weapons claims
Ukraine captured a Russian position using drones and robots without infantry. WAR DRONES AND ROBOTS
Europe ramps up AI-guided drone production via a German–Ukrainian pact Tech.eu reports Germany signed a cooperation deal enabling Airlogix to mass-produce thousands of autonomous strike drone systems in Germany annually. DEFENCETECH DRONES ARTICLE | AUTONOMOUS STRIKE SYSTEMS
Ukraine’s deep strikes keep hitting Russian oil and air defenses MISSILE MATTERS POST
New anti-jam GPS antenna spotted on USAF F-15E. MILITARY AVIONICS
AI
Distribution is the moat AI can’t replicate, even with better models Dheer argues that models got cheap, but getting noticed and trusted is still scarce, so the winners will be builders who already own an audience. DHEER GUPTA ESSAY
Doomers escalate extinction certainty into real-world violence Alexander Campbell argues that “AI existential risk” rhetoric creates a purity spiral where extremists feel justified to act. CAMPBELL RAMBLE THE RATIONAL CONCLUSION
The AI layoff trap shows why competition makes automation runaway In a task-based competition model, firms keep automating even when it hurts demand, causing job losses beyond the best outcome. I'm not sure I fully get this argument, and therefore I'm not sure how much I agree with it. But it definitely made the rounds in the last week or so. THE AI LAYOFF TRAP
TECHNOLOGY
Google finally connects Gemini to your Gmail and Photos Digital Trends reports Google is rolling out Gemini “Personal Intelligence” globally so Gemini can use your connected Google apps for more tailored answers. GOOGLE GEMINI PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE
AI changes venture hiring away from titles It shows how AI makes younger, cross-discipline people outperform “senior” hires on judgment and speed.
AI CHANGED WHAT WE BUILD. THEN IT CHANGED WHO WE HIRE
Why PARA file organizing matters more in an AI era Tiago Forte runs a filing experiment, then argues organization beats “AI auto-sorting” because it surfaces intent, reduces distraction, preserves context, and feeds better local AI work. WHY PARA IS THE KEY TO THE AI ERA
VA licensing mess exposes duplicate costs and cloud limits, GAO says SOFTWARE LICENSING GOVERNANCE
HUMANS
Aging reversal starts human testing in eye disease trials Hope they hurry on this one. I have both markers for macular degeneration. I think 15-20 years should be plenty of time. Maybe 3 or 5 though if things go well? CELLULAR REPROGRAMMING
Fame won’t move copies, Rob Henderson argues promotion isn’t enough Rob says even huge outlet coverage and tons of video views don’t guarantee book sales, so something fundamental has changed. FAME DOESN’T SELL BOOKS
Most Republicans now hold a favorable view of Christian nationalism My super lowbrow take on this is that Republicans have figured out recently that they can't trust man, so the only person they can trust is God. but the problem is in Christian Nationalism that God will always be filtered through a man. POLITICAL SURVEY FINDINGS
IDEAS
Apple might win the AI era by focusing on context. ESSAY
AI is a power tool, but private control decides who wins The article argues AI changes war and geopolitics, yet hype misses how systems, organizations, and access matter. It also shows US-China dominance of chips, data, and compute shapes everyone else’s options. WHAT DOES AI MEAN FOR POWER?
DISCOVERY
A commit-style platform for AI timeline forecasts that keeps up with reality fluxxrider argues quarterly AI Futures updates can’t show causal changes fast enough, so forecasters should publish versioned distributions in a Git-like workflow. WE NEED GIT FOR AI TIMELINES
AI can be tricked into “calling you a jerk” via persuasion tricks The Wharton team runs large language model tests showing classic persuasion principles can more than double compliance with requests safety would block, especially via authority, commitment, and scarcity. CALL ME A JERK WHARTON GENERATIVE AI LABS
tasteID makes your design “fingerprint” portable across AI tools It asks quick questions, maps your taste into encrypted dimensions, then exports a ready-to-use design file for many AI systems. TASTEID WEBSITE
Thinking tools library and templates from Untools THINKING TOOLS
RECOMMENDATION OF THE WEEK
Start thinking about what you’re paying for from various tech/SaaS vendors, and start thinking about whether it’s possible to replace them with:
Better / cheaper commercial options (likely new companies or something like Cloudflare)
Remaking them yourself if they’re relatively simple
APHORISM OF THE WEEK
The most important feature of an information economy, in which information is defined as surprise, is the overthrow, not the attainment of equilibrium.
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