Postman silently auto-installs AI plugins and attempts to share all API data
Postman Desktop reportedly installs Codex and Claude plugins and startup hooks without clear consent. The setup attempts to connect an MCP service that can share API data.
Postman data sharing, Google school search, and Kalshi charges
First things first
Apparently the big theme is trust: software is quietly toggling AI on, reaching for your data, and making it weirdly hard to opt out. Meanwhile, the people building all this are juggling eye-watering infrastructure bills, shaky security, and rules that seem to change midstream.
Still, there’s delight in a room-scale robot and clever browser updates. Stories about school, work, and politics ask who controls tech, and who benefits from it.
The top 6
Google Will Turn Off Search for Schools That Reject A.I
Google will disable AI tools in its K-12 software by default, but schools that ban AI entirely will also lose access to Google Search because the services are integrated. The policy gives schools control over student AI use while pressuring them to keep Google’s AI enabled to preserve search.
Kalshi and its co-founders face felony charges for violating Utah gambling laws
Kalshi and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara each face 13 felony counts and one misdemeanor over sports bets offered in Utah. The charges come as the Trump administration sues Utah to block enforcement of the state’s gambling ban against prediction markets.
Stringman, an $800 open-source room scale gripper robot
Stringman is an $800 open-source robot designed for room-scale gripping. Its cleats attach near the ceiling to wall studs with screws or to columns with ratchet straps.
Qwen 3.8 27B on my laptop can interpret model weights, too
Qwen 3.8 27B running on a laptop can interpret neural-network weights, reproducing an example from research on “weight-space programming.” The author examines whether models can infer a network’s behavior from raw weights without tools or code execution.
Safari introduces Adaptive Dark Mode in 27.3
Safari 27.3 beta adds Adaptive Dark Mode, which transforms bright websites into dark pages when users choose to enable it. It preserves sites that already support dark mode and adjusts colors, gradients, and text to maintain visibility and contrast.
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Quote of the day
There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
Epictetus
Also big today
OpenAI seems to be silently re-enabling model training on Codex chats
Codex users report that the “Improve the model for everyone” setting was silently reenabled, potentially allowing their chats to be used for training. Users can check and disable data sharing in OpenAI’s data controls or privacy portal.
Mac at Any Scale
Namespace discusses scaling its infrastructure for running Mac instances. Its platform also offers Windows and Linux instances, developer environments, and CI runners.
C++26 Disapproved
US tech giants' hidden AI debt swells 90% to $3.2T in 6 months
U.S. tech giants’ hidden debt tied to AI investment rose 90% in six months, reaching $3.2 trillion. The surge highlights the scale of financing behind the AI infrastructure buildout.
Study estimates 75% of NFL players who died over 15-year span had CTE
An estimated 75% of NFL players who died from 2008 to 2023 showed signs of CTE, according to a new study. About 27% were estimated to have dementia, and CTE signs do not always lead to symptoms.
I use AI (Oct 2026)
AI coding agents now handle much of the author’s programming work, implementing features, running tests, and reviewing pull requests. The author is drafting a personal AI policy to guide the use of AI in research, writing, and creative work.
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I'm writing a book about glue.
But I'm stuck on the first chapter.
Worth a look
The Little Book of Generative AI Foundations: An Intuitive Mathematical Primer
Tianhua Chen’s 195-page primer derives the mathematical foundations behind major generative AI models, including VAEs, diffusion models, GANs, and normalising flows. It connects these approaches in an accessible, visually enhanced guide for students, researchers, and practitioners.
Jelly Sheet
Jelly Sheet is an interactive cloth simulation that users can drag. Press Space to pause it.
The Internals of PostgreSQL
The Internals of PostgreSQL is a guide to how PostgreSQL works, covering topics such as storage, query processing, replication, and asynchronous I/O. It is regularly updated, with recent additions on logical replication and database internals.
Preparing for the Flipper One Kickstarter and opening pre-orders
Flipper’s page promotes the Flipper Zero, a portable tool for exploring radio protocols, access systems, and hardware. It also lists accessories such as a Wi-Fi development board and video game module.
Kitty 0.50
Kitty 0.50 is a release of the GPU-accelerated terminal emulator. The supplied content contains no changelog details about what changed in this version.
Just a little AI resistance, as a treat
After receiving a polished, chatbot-like reply from Ocado about a calendar bug, Terence Eden gave the company’s customer service a sharply negative review, objecting to AI handling genuine complaints. An employee later apologized and said a real person had written the response, while thanking Eden for his detailed bug report.
Song of the day
Deep cuts
I Dumped Apple's Fucking Word List
macOS includes a profanity-usage database designed to track swear words by app and recipient so autocorrect can adapt, though the author’s database stayed empty. Apple’s system dictionary privately classifies words across 15 languages by offensiveness and topic, with surprising labels for some names and terms.
AI is destroying my CS degree
A computer science student says their university’s shifting AI rules and AI-generated coursework have made learning confusing, workloads heavier, and teaching less personal. They blame AI-driven cost-cutting and automation for worsening pressure on both students and tutors.
macOS 27 does not support CoreStorage volumes
macOS 27 cannot mount, convert, or erase CoreStorage and encrypted HFS+ volumes, leaving affected drives unusable through normal tools. A startup warning incorrectly says support will end in macOS 28, though the breakage happens in macOS 27.
Democrats win control of the House of Representatives
Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. Their victory gives them a check on President Trump’s agenda.
Nvidia DGX Spark encrypted firmware slows inference speed to 35% on Linux
Linux runs on Nvidia RTX Spark laptops with GPU acceleration, but encrypted power-management firmware limits the GPU to about 780 MHz when plugged in. That cuts inference to 13.9 tokens per second versus roughly 65 on Windows or WSL, making WSL the practical choice until Nvidia adds Linux support.
Gitbook Breached
GitBook says an attacker used AI agents to access some infrastructure credentials on November 2, prompting the company to take services offline and replace its secrets. Potentially exposed data includes API and integration tokens, Git Sync secrets, and visitor questions to GitBook Assistant; customers should rotate credentials and reauthenticate MCP connections.