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Composer: Building a fast frontier model with RL Cursor released Cursor 2.0 today, with a refreshed UI focused on agentic coding (and running agents in parallel) and a new model that's unique to Cursor called Composer 1. As far as I can tell there's no way to call the m...

Nick Vadala, reporting for the Philadelphia Inquirer: Longtime WMMR-FM host Pierre Robert was found dead in his home Wednesday. He was 70. Robert’s surname, I must point out, rhymes with Pierre (and with Colbert). A native of Northern California, Robert joined WMMR...

James Thomson:

I’ve released a small PCalc 4.11.1 update that’s out now for the Mac.

There was a bug with the theme getting reset, which I could have fixed in five minutes, but I ended up doing what I should have done over three decades ago, and added a dedicated section to the settings that puts all the visual customisation in one place.

No more having to search for all this stuff in a submenu somewhere!

After the glum news this week regarding Nisus Writer, it feels good to link to a similarly-aged Mac app that’s still thriving. If you’ve never tried PCalc, you’re missing out.

Link: mastodon.social/@jamesthomson/115458178673560956

The Economist: Presidents’ popularity tends to wane. In his second term Donald Trump’s has fallen faster than that of his recent predecessors. Since modern polling began most presidents have started their terms with positive net approval ratings (the share of voters who...

The Onion, in February 2004: “Fuck Everything, We’re Doing Five Blades”.

Link: macrumors.com/2025/10/28/samsung-tri-fold-smartphone-debut/

Tim Hardwick, writing for MacRumors:

The Apple Maps EV Routing option will allow Toyota BEV users to plan travel routes that include stops for charging. Without it, drivers would have had to exit out of CarPlay in order to create a route that included charging stops.

Apple Maps’ EV Routing feature uses real-time data from the vehicle to guide drivers to their destinations more efficiently, automatically suggesting charging stops when needed. The system takes into account elevation changes and other driving conditions to decide when a recharge is necessary. If the vehicle’s battery level becomes too low, Apple Maps will automatically direct the driver to the nearest compatible charging station.

Meanwhile GM CEO Mary Barra is spending her lunch hour eating another jar of paste.

Link: macrumors.com/2025/10/28/toyota-bz-apple-maps-ev-routing/

On September 5, 1973, the first and only Buckingham Nicks album was released. It wasn’t a huge hit, but it was how the world was first introduced to the music of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, before they went on to become members of Fleetwood Mac. Their time together ...

When the city of Buffalo, New York invited landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to town in the late 1860s, they were hoping he’d replicate the success of his most famous design: New York City’s Central Park. But Olmsted had other ideas. Instead of creating one centralized park, he argued, why not make Buffalo a city within a system of interconnected parks? It was a plan that would change the course of urban design.

This episode was brought to you in partnership with Visit Buffalo. Learn more about Buffalo’s park system: https://www.bfloparks.org/

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Other Mac-related news from OpenAI last week:

Sky is a powerful natural language interface for the Mac. With Sky, AI works alongside you, whether you’re writing, planning, coding, or managing your day. Sky understands what’s on your screen and can take action using your apps.

We will bring Sky’s deep macOS integration and product craft into ChatGPT, and all members of the team will join OpenAI.

Two of the founders of Software Applications Incorporated, the company behind Sky, are Ari Weinstein and Conrad Kramer, who a decade ago co-created Workflow, which Apple acquired in 2017 and turned into Shortcuts.

Federico Viticci got an advanced look at Sky and wrote a glowing preview back in May.

Link: openai.com/index/openai-acquires-software-applications…

Binance’s Changpeng Zhao earns a gold-plated pardon as other industry figures fund Trump’s $300 million ballroom

OpenAI, one week ago: Today we’re introducing ChatGPT Atlas, a new web browser built with ChatGPT at its core. AI gives us a rare moment to rethink what it means to use the web. Last year, we added search in ChatGPT so you could instantly find timely information from ac...

I'm at GitHub Universe this week (thanks to a free ticket from Microsoft). Yesterday I picked up my conference badge... which incorporates a full Raspberry Pi with a battery, color screen, WiFi and bluetooth. GitHub Universe has a tradition of hackable conference badges - th...

Joe Kissell, writing at TidBITS: For more than a year, we’ve heard scattered complaints: problems with Nisus Software’s website, particularly the user discussion forum; slow or absent responses to support requests; assorted bugs; and other issues. But earlier this week, ...

From long flights to strenuous trips, listeners share stories about traveling with their kids for the first time. 

Plus, we want to hear stories about the fictional places you wish were real. Tell us why this place lives in your imagination. What resonates with you about this place? And how did you discover it? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave us a message telling us your name and story. Or record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com

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The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan don’t know what death is after rewatching the 1981 return of Michael Myers in ‘Halloween II,’ starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence.

Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Ronak Nair, Chia Hao Tat, and Eduardo Ocampo

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A House of Dynamite, on Netflix October 24th.

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Claude doesn't make me much faster on the work that I am an expert on. Maybe 15-20% depending on the day.

It's the work that I don't know how to do and would have to research. Or the grunge work I don't even want to do. On this it is hard to even put a number on. Many of the projects I do with Claude day to day I just wouldn't have done at all pre-Claude.

Infinity% improvement in productivity on those.

— Aaron Boodman

Tags: ai-assisted-programming, claude, generative-ai, ai, llms, aaron-boodman

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Sam Tobin, reporting last week for Reuters: Apple abused its dominant position by charging app developers unfair commissions, a London tribunal ruled on Thursday, in a blow which could leave the U.S. tech company on the hook for hundreds of millions of pounds in damages....