The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup isn’t just football anymore. It has halftime shows. YouTube and X are now direct pipelines to apps that turn faces into porn. New York is pausing data centers because they are taking up too much space.
Sound like a normal week? Sure.
The Screen Problem
RGB TVs are supposed to be the next big thing. I tested five models. Most were good, but you need to know which one is worth the cash before you buy. Then there’s Plex. It’s getting worse. Maybe Jellyfin is the answer for your local files. It’s free, it’s open source. But if you need remote access? Prepare to break something.
“We have no choice but to address the challenging reality of these massive facilities.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a one-year moratorium on data center construction. They are too big. The power grid can’t take it. It’s a halt, but only for a year. What happens after? We don’t know.
Meanwhile, social media platforms like YouTube and X are acting as gateways. They send people to “nudify” apps. Nonconsensual deepfakes cost as little as a dollar. One study confirms this. It is ugly.
Human Weirdness and Digital Secrets
Why do we talk to machines? Joseph Weizenbaum asked this in the 60s with ELIZA. We still share secrets with AI. A new study shows chatbots predicting this behavior. We want to be heard, even if it’s by a script.
On the flip side, some people want nothing to do with the machine. This Luddite puppet, discussed on WIRED’s Big Interview, hopes you aren’t on your smartphone while hearing the audio. Gowanus talks about rejecting Big Tech. Going outside. Dealing with rejection.
Speaking of obsession, a German man uses calipers and expensive knives to cut bread. Perfectly. His handle is Germanbreadcutter. Thousands watch. It makes sense? No. But he is precise.
“There’s more to Google’s message app than you think.”
Nine tips can get you more out of Google Chat. Use them. Ignore them. The choice is yours.
Money, Fossils, and Ghosts in the Code
Sotheby’s sold a T. Rex. A private buyer outbid the museums. The hype is real, the money is bigger, and science suffers. Researchers can’t study what they can’t touch. It is getting harder to understand the past because someone with a lot of money wanted it.
And the government? They used AI for housing policy via DOGE. The Department of HUD won’t show the docs. They claim a privilege. One that doesn’t legally exist. They aren’t saying how. Just that they are withholding it.
It’s a weird time to be online. Between the T. Rex auctions, the data center freezes, and the bread cutters, there is no clear narrative. Just noise.
