A brief history of instant coffee
(worksinprogress.co)
The article traces how instant coffee evolved from early, unviable “coffee cakes” and concentrates to the techniques that made true instant powder possible. It highlights key steps including hot-air dehydration (David Strang), industrial-scale production and wartime demand (George Constant Louis Washington’s product), and Nestlé’s spray-drying breakthrough led by Max Morgenthaler—later refined through freeze-drying. Overall, it shows that the real challenge was extracting and preserving coffee’s volatile flavor compounds while removing water without damaging them.
The Mechanics of Steins Gate (2023) [pdf]
(github.com)
The linked PDF, “The Mechanics of Steins Gate v1.0.3,” appears to be documentation hosted in a GitHub repository, but the fetched page content does not include the article’s actual text to summarize its specific claims or topics.
Code Freezes can have the opposite effect
(jensrantil.github.io)
The article argues that code freezes are often introduced as a knee-jerk response to instability, but they can simply postpone risky changes unless detailed rules, measurable success criteria, and clear exit criteria are defined. It warns that environments continue to change during freezes and that freezes may signal a lack of investment in better change processes. A past example describes a company-wide freeze with an ad-hoc approval “war room” and a large queued backlog, after which velocity slowed and long-term stability benefits were unclear due to inadequate measurement.
Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026
(support.microsoft.com)
Microsoft says support for Microsoft Publisher will end in October 2026. After that point, Publisher won’t be included in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 subscribers will no longer be able to open or edit Publisher files; support for the perpetual version ends Oct. 1, 2026. Microsoft recommends converting existing documents to formats like PDF or Word and using other Microsoft 365 apps (such as Word and PowerPoint) for common design tasks.
Policy on adding AI generated content to my software projects
(joeyh.name)
AI
The author describes a tongue-in-cheek policy for accepting AI-generated code into their projects: bypassing normal code review if the submission compiles, is clearly labeled as “(AI generated),” and includes a signed Developer Certificate of Origin. They note they may still make small changes for QA purposes and will keep the contributor credited as the author, but warn that unlabeled AI code may crowd out human code reviews. The post is framed humorously with examples, including gating a change to leap days.
A Textual widget for beautiful diffs in the terminal
(github.com)
The GitHub project “textual-diff-view” introduces a Textual widget for rendering readable code diffs directly in terminal apps. It supports split or unified layouts, highlights added and deleted lines in green/red, offers optional “+/-” annotations for color-blind accessibility, and includes theming for light and dark modes. The article also shows how to install and integrate the widget, and outlines planned improvements like word wrapping, ANSI theme support, and expand controls around edits.
Linux 7.1 Expected to Begin Removing I486 CPU Support
(phoronix.com)
A patch in the lead-up to the Linux 7.1 merge window is set to start removing i486 CPU support by dropping the related Kconfig build options, preventing building new i486 kernel images. Linus Torvalds said there is “zero real reason” to keep the legacy support, citing the maintenance burden of the old 32-bit compatibility/emulation code. The removal is expected to proceed in stages, with the actual i486 support code removed in a later kernel series.
3 New world class MAI models, available in Foundry
(microsoft.ai)
AI
Microsoft announced three new MAI models—MAI-Transcribe-1 for speech-to-text, MAI-Voice-1 for voice generation (including custom voice creation), and MAI-Image-2 for image generation—now available in Microsoft Foundry and MAI Playground. The company says MAI-Transcribe-1 targets fast, accurate transcription for the most-used languages, MAI-Voice-1 can generate 60 seconds of audio per second of compute and preserve speaker identity, and MAI-Image-2 delivers faster image generation with similar quality. Microsoft also lists starting prices for each model and notes enterprise controls and red-teaming for safer deployment.
OpenJDK: Panama
(openjdk.org)
OpenJDK’s Panama project aims to improve how Java interoperates with native code by introducing new foreign function and memory capabilities, providing safer and more efficient access to external libraries and memory.
AI Cuts MRI Scan Time from 23 to 9 Minutes at Amsterdam Cancer Center
(nltimes.nl)
AI
Amsterdam’s Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital has introduced AI software that reduces MRI scan times from 23 to 9 minutes. The tool speeds up converting scan data into images and helps limit motion blur from patients who struggle to remain still. The hospital says it is also increasing weekly capacity and shifting more scans into daytime hours after internal testing of the system.
Trump Slashed Science Funding. Now the U.S. Could Face a Costly Brain Drain
(nytimes.com)
The article argues that reductions in science funding attributed to the Trump administration could weaken U.S. research capacity and contribute to a “brain drain,” as talented researchers leave or shift away from academic careers. It suggests the resulting loss of expertise may be costly over time for innovation, competitiveness, and public-interest research.
The underrated benefits of always having oatmeal at lunch
(hazn.com)
The article argues that eating oatmeal at lunch every day is a low-cost, healthy, and efficient routine that can reduce daily decision-making while offering flexible customization for taste and nutrition. It also claims that skipping breakfast can increase lunchtime cravings and that sticking with the habit can build confidence at work. The piece highlights variety through different oat types, fluid bases, and toppings rather than portraying oatmeal as a one-note meal.
UK intelligence censored report on global warming and homeland security
(theoryofchange1.substack.com)
A UK Joint Intelligence Committee assessment described as released with limited public discussion links biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse to risks for UK stability, including food and supply-chain disruption, mass displacement, and wider geopolitical escalation. The article argues the public version appears shorter than an internal analysis reported by the Times, omitting warnings that include large-scale migration, political polarization, and potential nuclear conflict. Drawing on academic research, it describes how ecosystem “tipping points” could cascade through society—amplifying scarcity, undermining institutions, and increasing the space for organized crime and political unrest.
DNS is Simple. DNS is Hard
(wespiser.com)
The article argues that DNS looks like simple domain-to-IP configuration, but at internet scale it operates like an unmanaged distributed system with recursive resolvers, caching, and weak visibility. It describes real outages—such as Dyn’s 2016 failure and an AWS/DynamoDB DNS-related incident—showing how inconsistent or stale DNS state can break dependent services for hours. It also recounts a provider migration where cached DNS state in Kubernetes prevented timely convergence, leading to manual restarts. Overall, it concludes that DNS changes require thinking in terms of distributed coordination and time-based convergence rather than instant cutovers.
The CA Minimum Wage Increase: Summing Up
(marginalrevolution.com)
Alex Tabarrok summarizes two joint research papers on California’s 2020 $20 fast-food minimum wage, finding that wages rose about 8% but employment fell roughly 2–4% (around 18,000 jobs lost). He reports that restaurant prices increased in California by about 3.3–3.6% while other CPI categories showed no similar movement, and that the implied quantity declines from demand estimates match the employment reductions. Overall, he argues the results suggest much of the employment impact comes from price pass-through reducing demand rather than substitution toward automation, with welfare gains for some workers offset by higher costs and job losses—likely with a regressive consumer burden.
How a British father and son made a fortune in Dubai then became wanted men
(theguardian.com)
The Guardian reports that British father Albert Douglas and his son Wolfgang built a fortune in Dubai through property and flooring businesses, but later became embroiled in debts tied to Wolfgang’s company. After an appeal hearing in 2021, Albert was arrested and, during a prison escape attempt at the UAE-Omani border, says he was shot at and then beaten and tortured while detained in the UAE. The case is framed as part of broader concerns about how UK citizens can be treated in the UAE and the limits of UK government support, as Dubai’s controlled image clashes with allegations of harsh treatment and criminalisation of disputes.
Music for Programming
(musicforprogramming.net)
Music for Programming (musicforprogramming.net) is a website dedicated to sharing music intended for coding and programming sessions, focusing on soundtracks designed to support concentration.
Satellite firm Planet Labs to indefinitely withold Iran war imagery
(reuters.com)
Planet Labs said it will indefinitely withhold new satellite imagery related to the war in Iran, citing operational and policy constraints, according to Reuters. The decision affects how the company’s satellite data may be used for conflict coverage and monitoring.
Port of LA turns to electric terminal trucks to to slash dwell times
(electrek.co)
APM Terminals’ Pier 400 at the Port of Los Angeles added 20 electric terminal tractors and other electrified equipment, cutting truck dwell times from about 90 minutes to 35. The company says the switch reduced truck idle time by nearly 85%, helped by “green lanes” for zero-emission vehicles, tighter gate operations, and improved rail and yard coordination. Pier 400 also plugs ships into shore power and plans to expand electrification, increasing electricity use from about 7 MW to over 18 MW.
Salarymen, Specialists, and Small Businesses
(noahpinion.blog)
AI
The article argues that, in the near term, AI is more likely to replace specific tasks than entire jobs, with employment so far largely holding up. It proposes a three-way shift in work: “specialists” whose roles remain because tasks are tightly bundled and stakes are high, “salarymen” generalists who supervise and patch AI outputs while adapting to changing AI strengths, and more “small business” owners enabled by AI leverage.
PS3 emulator makes Cell CPU breakthrough that improves performance in all games
(tomshardware.com)
RPCS3 developers say they’ve improved PS3 Cell CPU emulation by identifying new SPU instruction usage patterns and adding more efficient recompilation code paths. The change reduces CPU overhead and is reported to raise performance across the emulator’s library, with SPU-heavy games like Twisted Metal seeing roughly a 5–7% FPS gain. RPCS3 also notes similar benefits on both low- and high-end PCs and points to some user-reported audio and Gran Turismo 5 improvements.
The Therac-25 software radiation disaster
(en.wikipedia.org)
The Therac-25 was a computer-controlled radiation therapy machine that, after safety mechanisms were moved from hardware to software, suffered multiple incidents in the mid-1980s where software race conditions led to patients receiving massive overdoses. Across at least six documented accidents, incorrect mode selection and failures such as beam activation during “field light” setup allowed high-current electron beams to be delivered without the proper radiation target or shielding. The cases resulted in severe injuries and deaths, and the machine became a widely cited study in software reliability and safety for medical devices.