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Daily digest

2026-08-17

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2026-08-17 05:53:12 +0000

2026-08-17

100 items
Foreign Policy Aug 17 Score 0.896887023148148

Why Australia’s Getting Tough on China Again

Unlike other U.S. allies, Canberra is betting its entire strategic house on Pax Americana.

Geopolitics geopoliticsforeign-policyanalysis
Simon Willison's Weblog Aug 16 Score 0.8901786763888888

Markdown SVG upgrades

I started building my markdown-svg-renderer tool in May , but I've since added enough features to it that it's worth talking about here again. It's evolved into my ideal tool for sharing Markdown transcripts that include SVG documents. Given my proclivity for

AI aillmsengineeringanalysis
Hacker News Aug 16 Score 0.8868740462962962

Qwen 3.8 27B is excellent, but it defaults to wildly overthinking things

Friday's big release was Qwen 3.8 27B , an Apache 2 licensed 27B parameter vision-capable LLM from Alibaba's Qwen research lab. I've been looking forward to this one: 27B is an excellent size for running a model on a reasonably specced laptop, and its predeces

IT itstartupsdevelopmentcommunity
Simon Willison's Weblog Aug 16 Score 0.8753448796296296

Quoting Dario Amodei

I do agree that the public has a negative view of AI (and that this is a big problem), but I don’t think it is primarily caused by me or any other AI leader warning about AI’s risks. I think it is fundamentally a crisis of trust. I think that ordinary people d

AI aillmsengineeringanalysis
BBC News — World Aug 17 Score 0.8246429680555556

Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere dies aged 36

Panettiere starred in TV shows including Heroes and Nashville along with films Remember the Titans and Raising Helen.

Geopolitics geopoliticsbbcworld-news
OpenAI News Aug 13 Score 0.8235227212962963

The builder’s guide to GPT‑5.6

Learn how startups use GPT-5.6 to build faster, more cost-efficient AI agents with smarter model selection and new Responses API capabilities.

AI aiopenaimodels
Foreign Affairs Aug 17 Score 0.8218564666666668

The Cost of Keeping China Out

How Washington’s fear of Chinese investment hurts American competitiveness.

Geopolitics geopoliticsforeign-policyanalysisjournals
OpenAI News Aug 13 Score 0.820189387962963

OpenAI appoints Dali Rajic as Chief Revenue Officer

OpenAI appoints Dali Rajic as Chief Revenue Officer to lead its global revenue organization and help businesses realize the full value of AI.

AI aiopenaimodels
The Guardian — World Aug 17 Score 0.8154661805555556

Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo now deadliest in country’s history

At least 2,325 people have been killed, according to government data, surpassing the death toll from 2018-20 outbreak The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now the deadliest in the country’s history with at least 2,325 people killed, accord

Geopolitics geopoliticsworld-newsinvestigative
BleepingComputer Aug 16 Score 0.8148312800925926

SafePal data breach impacts 39,798 customers, stolen info for sale

Cryptocurrency hardware wallet provider SafePal is warning of a data breach affecting about 39,798 customers after a flaw was exploited to steal customer order information, and a threat actor is now claiming to be selling the stolen data. [...]

Security securitymalwarevulnerabilities
The Verge Aug 16 Score 0.8111040361111111

OpenAI reportedly disbanded its preparedness team

According to the Financial Times, OpenAI disbanded its preparedness team at the end of last month. The job of the preparedness team was to assess if models posed serious risks and develop ways to mitigate those risks. (You know, like the possibility that it co

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
The Verge Aug 16 Score 0.8094007953703705

Open Mike Eagle and Kenny Segal crafted a hip hop breakup masterpiece

"Breakups are… tough." It's the opening lines of an interlude towards the end of DOOMED! Called "It Happens in Every Universe." It's also basically the thesis of the entire record. It's no grand revelation, but it's a well-trodden subject that Open Mike Eagle

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
The Verge Aug 16 Score 0.8044957023148149

Amazon is trying to crush class-action suits before they get started

On Friday, Amazon customers received an email alerting them to an update to the site's terms and conditions. Most notably, it stated that disputes would now be resolved through arbitration and said users agree to a class action waiver. Amazon framed this as a

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
BleepingComputer Aug 16 Score 0.8004044282407408

New AmnesiaStealer macOS malware hijacks browser sessions via remote control

A new information-stealing malware called AmnesiaStealer, which targets macOS users via ClickFix attacks, includes a streaming module that allows the attacker to interactively control the victim's web browser. [...]

Security securitymalwarevulnerabilities
The Verge Aug 16 Score 0.8000966282407408

ChatGPT’s Computer History tracks your clicks and keystrokes

ChatGPT's desktop app on macOS has a new feature called Computer History that turns your actions into training data, learning how you work, suggesting automations, and even picking up tasks you left half done. It uses your activity to build a timeline that Cha

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
The Verge Aug 16 Score 0.7951892208333334

Rogue AI aren’t science fiction anymore

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on AI safety, follow Robert Hart. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started It all started

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
Wired Aug 16 Score 0.7935225592592593

Astronomers Discover the Existence of a Black Hole Star

An object observed by the James Webb Space Telescope lends credence to a strange explanation for the mysterious red spots in the early universe.

Technology technologyculturesociety
Wired Aug 16 Score 0.7926892259259259

TerraMow V1000 Review: Show Your Lawn Some Love

With automatic mapping, Spot Mode functionality, and smart AI cameras, the TerraMow V1000 is the complete package.

Technology technologyculturesociety
NBER New Working Papers Aug 17 Score 0.7875000000000001

Dynamic Effects of Trade -- by Benny Kleinman, Ernest Liu, Stephen J. Redding

The existence of aggregate welfare gains from trade is one of the classic insights from international economics. However, these conventional welfare gains are static, in the sense that they take existing factor supplies and production technologies at a point i

Economy economyresearchworking-papersnber
NBER New Working Papers Aug 17 Score 0.7875000000000001

Idea Rents and Firm Growth -- by Timo Boppart, Peter J. Klenow, Reiko Laski, Huiyu Li

Which firms drive aggregate productivity growth? We document that firms with high price-earnings ratios tend to see increases in their subsequent earnings relative to sales, which we interpret as rents from ideas (innovation). We construct an endogenous growth

Economy economyresearchworking-papersnber
Google DeepMind Blog Aug 13 Score 0.7586420097222222

Introducing Gemini 3.7 Flash

Latest item from Google DeepMind Blog.

AI aideepmindresearch
Schneier on Security Aug 13 Score 0.7487261629629629

Separating AI’s Technological Problems from Its Capitalism Problems

This essay was written with Nathan E. Sanders, and originally appeared in Tech Policy Press . AI represents the first time we humans can do cognitive work outside of our bodies at scale. The only comparable moment is the early years of the industrial revolutio

Security securitycryptographypolicy
Risky Bulletin Aug 17 Score 0.7483274689814815

Risky Bulletin: The EU publishes its upcoming cybersecurity standards

The EU publishes its upcoming cybersecurity standards, hackers breach France’s tax agency, threat actors exploit a GeoServer zero-day hours after disclosure, and an exploit unlocks old AMD CPUs with one instruction. Show notes Risky Bulletin: The EU publishes

Security securitynewspodcastintelligence
NASA News Aug 17 Score 0.7469952722222222

APOD: 2026 August 17 – A Golden Corona Eclipse

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 17 – A… 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 featur

Science sciencenasaspace
SRE Weekly Aug 17 Score 0.7463420453703704

SRE Weekly Issue #530

View on sreweekly.com A message from our sponsor, Planetscale: Your on-call rotation shouldn't double as your database's HA strategy. PlanetScale databases ship with a primary and two replicas across three AZs, automated failover, and a 99.999% multi-region SL

IT itsrereliabilityoperations
Risky Bulletin Aug 16 Score 0.7320992282407407

Sponsored: What npm 12 fixes… and what it doesn’t

In this Risky Business sponsored interview, Casey Ellis chats with Socket founder Feross Aboukhadijeh about npm 12’s move to disable install scripts by default. Attackers are already shifting payloads into package source code, and Feross explains why teams nee

Security securitynewspodcastintelligence
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 16 Score 0.7202517018518518

A little movement in midlife could pay off for your brain years later

Exercise and healthy blood sugar levels in midlife may help slow cognitive decline decades later. Physical activity appeared especially beneficial for Mexican American adults, suggesting that some brain-protective factors may differ across populations.

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 16 Score 0.716738275925926

Physicists discover a hidden gluon structure inside protons that could rewrite textbooks

Physicists may have uncovered a hidden feature inside protons that helps preserve one of matter’s most fundamental properties. RHIC collision data suggest baryon number is carried not simply by three quarks, but by a Y-shaped junction of the gluons connecting

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 16 Score 0.71556235

Scientists reveal why walking gets so much harder with age

As we age, the body appears to sacrifice walking efficiency in exchange for stability. Older adults stiffen the ankle more with each step, which may help prevent falls but also forces the muscles to work harder while producing less forward motion. This leads t

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 16 Score 0.7127896648148149

A new Ice Age species was hiding in la brea tar pits fossils for decades

Scientists have discovered a new extinct amphibian species hiding in the fossil collections of Los Angeles’ La Brea Tar Pits. Named Spea labreae, the Ice Age spadefoot toad is an exceptionally rare find—only one other extinct Pleistocene amphibian has ever bee

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
InfoQ Aug 16 Score 0.7125782685185185

AWS Open-Sources Dogwood, Extending Cedar to Govern Sequences of Agent Tool Calls

AWS has open-sourced Dogwood, a policy language extending Cedar with temporal conditions so rules can reason about an agent's prior tool calls rather than one request in isolation. It covers approvals, rate limits and running totals, ships under Apache 2.0, an

IT itengineeringarchitecture
InfoQ Aug 16 Score 0.7124393796296297

AWS Introduces Native Vector Search for DynamoDB

Amazon DynamoDB recently introduced native vector search, allowing developers to store embeddings alongside application data and run approximate nearest-neighbor queries directly from DynamoDB without using a separate vector database. The feature supports filt

IT itengineeringarchitecture
Marginal Revolution Aug 17 Score 0.7109785134259259

What I've been reading

1. Gerald Martin, Mario Vargas Llosa: A Life. A good book if you wish to read about his strange sex life, starting early in his years. But if you are more interested in the history of ideas, Peruvian politics, or the development of the Latin American novel it

Economy economyeconomicscommentaryblog
Embrace The Red Aug 17 Score 0.707869624537037

Recovering Encrypted LLM Reasoning Traces

A few days ago, a paper named “Stealing Reasoning Traces from Proprietary LLM APIs” was published. It describes a simple, yet super elegant way to recover encrypted LLM reasoning traces. Naturally, I had to try it. Background

Security securityai-securityred-teamprompt-injection
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 16 Score 0.7064887388888889

A black hole shredded a “super sun” — but something strange may have survived

Astronomers have witnessed a black hole violently shredding a massive star, creating one of the most energetic stellar explosions ever observed. The event, nicknamed “the Whippet,” briefly released about 400 billion times the Sun’s energy and sent a shock wave

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
MIT Technology Review Aug 13 Score 0.6901891902777778

Roundtables: Inside the "Censorship-Industrial Complex" Idea Shaping US Policy

Listen to the session or watch below The “censorship-industrial complex” is an idea that a network of government, tech, and research groups is collaborating to suppress conservative online speech. This was fodder for the right-wing information sphere for years

Technology technologyresearchsociety
Lobsters Aug 16 Score 0.6900802870370369

Every Fucking Website

Comments

IT itprogrammingsystemscommunity
CISA Cybersecurity Advisories Aug 13 Score 0.6751895097222222

Siemens License Server (SLS)

View CSAF Summary Siemens License Server is affected by multiple vulnerabilities which could allow an attacker to elevate its privileges and read arbitrary files on the system. Siemens has released a new version for Siemens License Server (SLS) and recommends

Security securitycisaadvisoriesvulnerabilities
CISA Cybersecurity Advisories Aug 13 Score 0.6751895097222222

Siemens Parasolid

View CSAF Summary Parasolid is affected by an out of bounds read vulnerability that could be triggered when the application reads files in X_T format. This could allow an attacker to crash the application or execute arbitrary code. Siemens has released new ver

Security securitycisaadvisoriesvulnerabilities
Phys.org Aug 17 Score 0.6654678662037038

Flightless beetles evolved distinct snail-hunting shapes on Japan's largest island

Islands are widely recognized as natural laboratories of evolution. The ocean restricts movement among islands, allowing isolated populations to adapt to different environments and, at times, diverge into new species. However, on large islands, geographic dist

Science sciencephysicstechnology