US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is asking companies to provide information about “commercial Big Data and Ad Tech” products that would “directly support investigations activities,” according to a request for information posted on Friday in the Federal Register, the US government’s official journal for agency notices, rulemaking, and other public filings.The posting says that ICE is “working with increasing volumes of criminal, civil, and regulatory, administrative documentation from numerous internal and external sources.” The agency frames the request as a way to survey what tools are currently available to help manage and analyze the information ICE has, saying it is…
It’s Odin’s day, Wednesday, known around here as Wordle Wednesday. On this day, every week I hand out a special challenge. A riddle, brain-teaser or logic puzzle for you to solve before the daily Wordle. Here’s today’s riddle:I’m not in the woodsbut I am in a treenot in the mountainsbut…
Engineers in Silicon Valley have been raving about Anthropic’s AI coding tool, Claude Code, for months. But recently, the buzz feels as if it’s reached a fever pitch.Earlier this week, I sat down with Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code, to try to understand how the company is meeting this…
A new federal organization called the U.S. Wildland Fire Service has been established to streamline government responses to the growing threat posed by wildfires and improve resiliency in the nation.U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Jan. 12 issued Order No. 3448 in a reorganization of various departmental wildfire operations into…
A new study published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism has found a significant association between blood sugar and the development of Alzheimer’s dementia. In a large study which looked at the genetic data of nearly 350,000 men and women, it was found that a higher glucose load 2 hours post-meal…
Indeed, the greatest beneficiaries of China’s renewables revolution may, in fact, be consumers, both inside and outside of China. In sun-blessed Australia, where rooftop solar panels sit atop nearly a third of all households, the country’s energy minister, Chris Bowen, proposed a “solar sharer program” to offer three hours of…
Ahead of the launch of the Pixel 10a in February, Google has slashed the price of the Pixel 9a. With the Pixel 10a expected to make a smaller jump in specs than previous new Pixel A smartphones, the Pixel 9a offer is an attractive one… and it might hold a…
Villages looked for niches they could fill in the global market. The town of Xuchang, for instance, capitalized on its legacy of making hairpieces for opera performers—and on the willingness of rural women to sell their black ponytails—and turned itself into a hub for wigs. Zhuangzhai became the largest supplier…
The weekend is here. Huzzah! It looks like we’re going to get snow this weekend, but I won’t believe it until I see the white fluffy stuff on the ground. At least it’s not supposed to be too terribly cold. A friend of mine sent a screenshot of the temperature…
Elon Musk’s X has introduced new restrictions stopping people from editing and generating images of real people in bikinis or other “revealing clothing.” The change in policy on Wednesday night follows global outrage at Grok being used to generate thousands of harmful nonconsensual “undressing” photos of women and sexualized images…
Congress is close to enacting a two-year authorization of Medicare telehealth services for older adults, renewing a pandemic-era coverage in the nation’s largest government health insurance program.Legislation passed Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives provides some relief for older Americans covered by Medicare health insurance who have come to…
The past year has been traumatic for many of the volunteer tech warriors of what was once called the United States Digital Service (USDS). The team’s former coders, designers, and UX experts have watched in horror as Donald Trump rebranded the service as DOGE, effectively forced out its staff, and…
You may walk past your neighbor’s house and see some new solar panels quietly absorbing sunlight and turning it into electricity. Your neighbor is smiling because solar is now the least expensive electricity in history. So, your neighbor is almost certainly saving a lot of money. This will be better…
Against that backdrop, Europe’s reliance on American-made AI begins to look more and more like a liability. In a worst case scenario, though experts consider the possibility remote, the US could choose to withhold access to AI services and crucial digital infrastructure. More plausibly, the Trump administration could use Europe’s…
It’s Wordle Wednesday, which means we have an extra riddle to solve before we get to the day’s Wordle itself. Here’s your bonus riddle:Sometimes big, sometimes small, I carry weight but weigh nothing at all. What am I?I’ll post the answer tomorrow. Let’s solve this Wordle!Looking for Tuesday’s Wordle? Check…
Spotlight
I’m fully convinced a generative AI bubble will pop in the not-so-distant…
2026 will be the year when US dollar dilution—the quiet erosion of…
On a drizzly and windswept afternoon this summer, I visited the headquarters…
When US president Donald Trump launched his own meme cryptocurrency on January…
