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Alvagante

Infrastructure, AI, security, technology, gaming, science, geopolitics, and economy — curated links, practical notes, and a fresh news digest every day.

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2026-10-18

100 ranked items

Simon Willison's Weblog Oct 17 Score 0.888614536574074

Inline rendering with document​.currentScript

Inline rendering with document​.currentScript Lean Rada describes a neat trick that takes advantage of the document.currentScript property. You can use that to drop in a tiny inline If you define a shortcut function like this: $=(...n)=>document.currentScript.

AI aillmsengineeringanalysis
Simon Willison's Weblog Oct 17 Score 0.8754372217592592

web-edit 0.1a2

Release: web-edit 0.1a2 web-edit ( previously ) is my tiny web app for browsing and editing files in a folder. I mainly built it for editing files on different machines via Tailscale. I added a "copy to clipboard" option for both text and image data. I needed

AI aillmsengineeringanalysis
Krebs on Security Oct 14 Score 0.8322704250000001

U.K. Sanctions Cryptomus for RU Money Laundering

The United Kingdom has issued economic sanctions against Cryptomus, a chameleonic cryptocurrency platform that experts say serves as a major conduit for payments related to ransomware, narcotics, darknet markets, fraud and cybercrime services that are helping

Security securitycybercrimebreaches
BBC News — World Oct 18 Score 0.8239457231481482

Deadly fire breaks out at Canada military base

Defence Minister David McGuinty says there are casualties in what the prime minister called a "serious incident".

Geopolitics geopoliticsbbcworld-news
The Verge Oct 17 Score 0.8108696337962964

TikTok bans Musk documentary account

Just ahead of the wider release of Alex Gibney's Musk documentary, TikTok has banned the film's social media account from its platform. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film's distributor, Bl

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
The Verge Oct 17 Score 0.8066367634259259

Mercedes-AMG’s first ground-up SUV is a 1,150hp electric beast

Earlier this year, Mercedes' AMG performance brand grabbed our attention with the GT four-door coupe, a souped-up sports sedan with three axial flux motors delivering over 1,150 horsepower. Well, now meet its beefier cousin, the 2028 Mercedes-AMG GT SUV, an eq

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
The Verge Oct 17 Score 0.8060738004629631

Elon Musk settles lawsuits over $1 million voter giveaway

In 2024, Elon Musk promised to give away $1 million a day to a randomly selected registered voter in a swing state. That prompted legal challenges, raised questions about its legality, and drew lawsuits from two Arizona residents claiming the lottery was a fra

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
The Verge Oct 17 Score 0.8034312078703705

Meta removes language that may have allowed it to scrape news sites

After backlash, Meta is updating its terms again to remove language that suggested it could scrape content from sites, including news sites, to train its AI. Specifically, the following language no longer appears on the commercial terms page: … Meta may use an

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
The Verge Oct 17 Score 0.8033034300925926

Pikmin 4 is $20 off ahead of its $10 Nintendo Switch 2 update

If you’re wondering what video game to play this weekend, my colleague Sheena Vasani spotted a discounted Nintendo Switch title with instant digital delivery. Walmart has the digital version of Pikmin 4 for Switch discounted to $39.88, just over $20 lower than

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
BleepingComputer Oct 17 Score 0.802547725462963

Drupal patches critical RCE flaws, warns exploits may emerge soon

Drupal has patched two critical vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to execute code remotely on websites running any supported version of the content management system. [...]

Security securitymalwarevulnerabilities
Wired — Security Oct 17 Score 0.7983034018518519

Encryption Is Getting Squeezed From All Sides

Canada’s planned surveillance law is the latest grim step in a series of threats to encryption that are spreading around the world.

Security securityprivacysurveillance
Schneier on Security Oct 14 Score 0.760033348148148

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak: I’m speaking at ATTENTION: Democracy, Rebuilt in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event runs October 21–23, 2026, and my talk is on Wednesday, October 21. I’m speaking at the University of Toronto

Security securitycryptographypolicy
Schneier on Security Oct 14 Score 0.7573115888888888

The Future of AI Cryptanalysis

Matthew Green has been writing a rather pessimistic series of posts about the potential for AI systems to vastly outperform humans in cryptanalysis of both symmetric and public-key ciphers. I am more optimistic than he is. That is, I have stronger faith in the

Security securitycryptographypolicy
Quanta Magazine Oct 14 Score 0.756749936111111

Triplet of ‘Ghostly’ Galaxies Hints at What Dark Matter Is — and Isn’t

A collision may have left these galaxies without dark matter. That spells trouble for alternative gravity theories. The post Triplet of ‘Ghostly’ Galaxies Hints at What Dark Matter Is — and Isn’t first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Science sciencemathematicsphysicsbiology
MIT Technology Review Oct 16 Score 0.7533033541666667

Can’t bear to say goodbye to your pet? Biotech’s got you covered.

I don’t remember much about Peppy, my first and only pet cat. I can conjure the sensation of stroking her while she purred, recall how she used to get stuck in trees (just like in cartoons!), and chuckle about the time she pooed in my baby sister’s cot. That’s

Technology technologyresearchsociety
Foreign Affairs Oct 16 Score 0.7516364351851852

The Nuclear Deal That Could Save NATO

Former U.S. NATO ambassador Ivo Daalder argues that the scramble to shore up Europe's conventional defense risks overlooking the continent's greatest security weakness: nuclear deterrence. Europe knows it can't fully trust Washington's guarantee anymore. But h

Geopolitics geopoliticsforeign-policyanalysisjournals
Foreign Affairs Oct 16 Score 0.7516364351851852

The Axis of Upheaval Goes to War

Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Richard Fontaine, former members of the National Security Council, argue that the members of what they call the “axis of upheaval”—Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea—are deepening their cooperation. Meanwhile, Washington is creating

Geopolitics geopoliticsforeign-policyanalysisjournals
War on the Rocks Oct 16 Score 0.7508154152777778

China’s Strategic Reassessment of India

As China and India have improved their relations in recent months, many observers have attributed this improvement to the end of U.S. strategic altruism toward India. Indeed, in the past year, China has watched India lose its balance and simmer in a sense of s

Geopolitics geopoliticsmilitarystrategy
Al Jazeera — World Oct 18 Score 0.7458244157407408

Buildings burn as French protests go into the night

Witnesses say masked protesters set fire to Limoges town hall, which officials say is now ‘largely lost’.

Geopolitics geopoliticsmiddle-eastworld-news
Econbrowser Oct 17 Score 0.7391946083333333

The Term Spread and the Case of the Missing 2024 Recession

The abstract of a new paper coauthored with Laurent Ferrara, "Missing Recessions: Revisiting the Term Spread’s Predictive Power": The failure of a recession to materialize in 2024 has forced a reappraisal of the term spread as the most reliable recession predi

Economy economymacroeconomicsenergyresearch
TechCrunch — AI Oct 17 Score 0.7346404490740741

Replit makes OpenAI its default over Anthropic, CEO says

Over the weekend, Masad clarified that OpenAI would replace Anthropic as its default model provider. Claude will still be available to customers on the platform.

AI aiindustrystartups
New Scientist Oct 17 Score 0.7341362921296296

Noise-cancelling headphones prevent vomiting after surgery

Nausea and vomiting are common after surgery, which may be partly related to the noises patients are exposed to, even under general anaesthetic. Wearing noise-cancelling headphones while on the operating table reduces the risk

Science scienceresearchsociety
ScienceDaily — Top Science Oct 17 Score 0.7257534898148148

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope exceeds expectations by nearly 30%

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has exceeded expectations after engineers made incredibly tiny adjustments to sharpen its view of the universe. By moving a mirror just one-sixteenth the width of a human hair, the team helped bring its powerful instrum

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
ScienceDaily — Top Science Oct 17 Score 0.7251095083333333

This bird flies thousands of miles, but its wings have a catch

Scientists have uncovered an unexpected trade-off in the wings of the European nightjar, a bird that migrates thousands of kilometers but sacrifices high-speed flight efficiency to hunt insects with remarkable agility. Even more surprisingly, it generates thru

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
ScienceDaily — Top Science Oct 17 Score 0.7245354342592593

Brain cells meant to protect us may be fueling cognitive decline

Scientists have uncovered a surprising cause of age-related cognitive decline involving brain cells previously thought to be entirely beneficial. As these cells become dysfunctional, they can produce abnormal amounts of myelin, disrupting nerve fibers and pote

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
The Hacker News Oct 17 Score 0.7219679921296296

MALFEX npm Package 'imgdecode' Hides Shellcode Loader in Windows Native Addon

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious npm package that's part of a recently disclosed software supply chain attack campaign dubbed MALFEX. The package, named "imgdecode," was uploaded to the package registry on September 30, 2026, by a user nam

Security securityhackingvulnerabilities
InfoQ Oct 17 Score 0.7140803324074074

Reverse Engineer Anything Project Brings AI Agents to Binary Analysis

Reverse Engineer Anything (REA) is an open-source project with over 200K GitHub stars that connects coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex to reverse-engineering tools like Ghidra, Hopper, and IDA. The project lets developers inspect compiled binaries, tr

IT itengineeringarchitecture
The Hacker News Oct 17 Score 0.7137689180555555

Hackers Use Compromised ConnectWise Credential to Sign In to 173 Microsoft 365 Tenants

Cybersecurity researchers are sounding the alarm related to an active campaign in which unknown threat actors are abusing a compromised Microsoft 365 (M365) credential belonging to ConnectWise Cloud Backup (formerly SkyKick) to gain unauthorized access to cust

Security securityhackingvulnerabilities
InfoQ Oct 17 Score 0.7133025546296297

Amazon Acquires DuckLabs and Integrates DuckDB in Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL

Amazon has acquired DuckLabs, the company behind the analytical database DuckDB. Co-founders Hannes Mühleisen and Mark Raasveldt will continue to lead the team under AWS. The acquisition aims to enhance the development and reach of DuckDB while maintaining its

IT itengineeringarchitecture
ScienceDaily — Top Science Oct 17 Score 0.7120483972222222

Scientists discover how deep sleep builds muscle, burns fat, and boosts the brain

Scientists have discovered a surprising two-way relationship between sleep and growth hormone, revealing how the brain carefully balances physical recovery with wakefulness. The findings could help explain why poor sleep harms metabolism and brain health, pote

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
NASA News Oct 17 Score 0.7101088555555556

APOD: 2026 October 17 – 3D 67P

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 17… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured,

Science sciencenasaspace
ScienceDaily — Top Science Oct 17 Score 0.7064414527777778

Scientists predicted doomsday for November 13, 2026. Should we be worried?

In 1960, scientists predicted that runaway population growth would bring humanity to the brink of destruction on November 13, 2026, and their mathematical forecasts remained surprisingly accurate for decades. But as birth rates declined and population growth s

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
Marginal Revolution Oct 17 Score 0.6924126972222221

Saturday assorted links

1. GLM-5.3 understands Bob Lucas (and then some). It amuses me how many basic principles of economics are being rediscovered in these new contexts. 2. Most famous book tied to every U.S. state. The NJ answer is crazy, how about Roth's American Pastoral? 3. Ada

Economy economyeconomicscommentaryblog
Marginal Revolution Oct 17 Score 0.6784233453703703

Solving for the equilibrium?

Sixteen AI agents were each ha‍nded 1,000 satoshi⁠s of real b‌itcoin and told nothing about how to use​ it. A hund‍red rounds l‌at‍er⁠, four of them had roughly doubled⁠ th‍eir money, tw‍o h‌a‍d​ been wiped out, and the‍ three richest a​gents held more than ha

Economy economyeconomicscommentaryblog
Marginal Revolution Oct 17 Score 0.6740233453703703

New Matt Faherty study of the NSF

From the Executive Summary: Therefore, the NSF, NIH, and the federal government should put far more resources and effort into developing metascience. With proper metascience efforts, the NSF could run experiments on science funding reform proposals, such as sh

Economy economyeconomicscommentaryblog
Phys.org Oct 18 Score 0.6691369231481482

World's oldest shipwreck discovered off coast of Turkey

A shipwreck off the coast of Turkey is the oldest shipwreck in the world, our team of archaeologists believes. There's little left of the ship itself, but based on clues from its cargo—including pottery vessels—a research team I was part of has tentativel

Science sciencephysicstechnology
MIT News — AI Oct 15 Score 0.6580256402777778

AI model decodes the language cells use to communicate

A new computational approach reveals how cells communicate to assemble into tissues. This could accelerate stem cell engineering, improve disease models, and inform therapies.

AI aimitresearch
Google Cloud Blog Oct 16 Score 0.6524688643518518

Four evaluation engineering lessons learned from building agent plugins

The real challenge of building an agentic system isn't the construction, it's the measurement. Evaluation engineering is a critical foundation for building reliable AI systems. Setting up systematic, repeatable tests to measure your agent’s true behavior can b

IT itgcpcloud
Naked Capitalism Oct 17 Score 0.64649955

Links 10/17/2026

Latest item from Naked Capitalism.

Economy economyfinancepolitical-economycommentary
CNCF Blog Oct 16 Score 0.6449695847222221

Putting Nepal on the CNCF Golden Kubestronaut map

In this blog, I will share my Golden Kubestronaut journey, how I became the first and youngest Golden Kubestronaut from Nepal, what motivated me to pursue this path, and what it actually takes to earn the...

IT itkubernetescloud-native