Longreads
• Hannah Engler Harvey
You and Me and QVC
President Trump suggests AI restrictions
Donald Trump suggests introducing controls on artificial intelligence following OpenAI's admission that it lost control of systems under test. But the US president said any restrictions should not allow China to win the AI race. Also: Germany says deportations to Afghanistan...
Mars For The Rest of Us
• Maciej Cegłowski
Radiation Tradeoffs for Mars
How to get by when the sky wants you dead
Colossal
• Colossal
August 2026 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists
Deadlines! Are! Approaching!
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article August 2026 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists appeared first on Colossal.
Quoting D. Richard Hipp
Years ago, we didn’t have SQL. There were people whose job was to generate software that would query large data sets. Their job title was COBOL programmer.
Then SQL comes along—I’m simplifying this only a little bit—and it gives you this convenient way so people could just specify. With a very simple specification, you can generate all of that code that you had to pay the expensive COBOL programmer to do before.
That didn’t mean programmers went away. It just meant the job changed a little bit.
Tags: d-richard-hipp, sql, careers
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Apple Says iOS 27 ‘Restricted Mode’ Isn’t for Users Who Miss Payments in New Apple Upgrade Program
9to5mac.com/2026/07/28/apple-says-ios-27-restricted-mode-isnt-for-new-upgrade-program-leases/
Last week 9to5Mac reported on code in the latest iOS 27 developer beta seemingly meant to restrict leased devices after the user had missed one or more payments. When engaged, Restricted Mode limits the device to the following apps:
Accessibility Reader
App Store
Health
Ma...
It’s Cool to Be Weird
I really like what Razaak Eniola has to say here about human difference.
Before Prince was Prince, Prince was weird. And that goes the same for probably any of your favorite artists. Before Erykah Badu was Erykah Badu, Erykah Badu was weird. Before Marc Rebillet was Marc R...
Longreads
• Cheri Lucas Rowlands
In the Age of AI, the Analog Restaurant Feels Radical
"Some restaurants are leaning into handmade touches, as AI-generated food photos and flyers become commonplace."
Walmart is busy building out their fast EV charger...
Walmart is busy building out their fast EV charger network in the US…currently 73 locations in 17 states. Their eventual goal is install chargers at “thousands of its locations by 2030”.
A terrarium iPhone case that houses actual growing...
Vera Rubin Observatory
Billy Joel talks about “Piano Man” #piano #billyjoel #shorts
AI Worming through Word
AI Worming through Word
Neat new prompt injection variant by Håkon Måløy, who found a way to upgrade prompt injection attacks against Microsoft Word to full self-replicating worms:
An attacker places hidden instructions in a document that is later used as source material in...
Quoting Matthew Green
Right now we’re in the midst of a historic transition from traditional public-key algorithms based on EC-based cryptography and RSA, moving over to new post-quantum algorithms based on novel problems. This is why there are so many standards like HAWK being consider...
Adding a custom MCP server to Claude and ChatGPT
TIL: Adding a custom MCP server to Claude and ChatGPT
Connecting a custom MCP server to Claude and ChatGPT's standard chat interfaces is possible, but can take quite a few steps.
Tags: ai, generative-ai, chatgpt, llms, claude, model-context-protocol
“ Zugunruhe is a German term describing the...
“Zugunruhe is a German term describing the restless, twitching urge migratory birds feel when caged — and the same primal restlessness humans feel when trapped.”
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Apple Upgrade — New Program With Klarna for Leasing iPhones, Macs, iPads, and More for Near-Zero Interest
apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launches-in-the-united-states/
Apple Newsroom:
Apple today announced Apple Upgrade, a new product leasing
program provided by Klarna for iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad
available on the Apple Store online, in the Apple Store app, and
at Apple Store locations in the United States. Apple Upgrade make...
Some Interesting Apples
Something that still blows my mind is that every apple seed produces a new variety. Every single one.
This is a lovely short documentary about a project called Some Interesting Apples, which aims to find apples growing in unusual places (i.e. not commercial orchards but i...
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Pastebot 3
New from Tapbots: version 3 of their excellent clipboard manager for Mac. There are so many clipboard managers for the Mac. I run two other apps — Keyboard Maestro and LaunchBar — that offer good clipboard managers as ancillary features. But for years now I’ve chosen to use ...
Participants in a recently published study spoke 28%...
Participants in a recently published study spoke 28% fewer words per day in 2019 than they did in 2005. (People are spending more time alone and more time digitally communicating.)