GeekPress

Duo Review

2026-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

"The iPhone Duo is a messy, expensive good time"

Space Debris

2026-10-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Market analysis of space debris.

New Type Of Diamond

2026-10-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Scientists Discover a New Cousin of Diamond That Was Thought To Exist Only in Theory"

Creative Use Of Prediction Markets

2026-10-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

"LA restaurant group used $60,000 Dodgers bet to hedge playoff risk".

Some key points from the article:

* The group, ⁠which operates 25 bars, many of them near the Dodger Stadium, made a $60,000 trade on Kalshi if the team did not advance
* The position returned nearly twice the original stake, Kalshi said, helping make up for business the ‌bars ⁠would have received from additional playoff games
* The trade points to a small but growing use of prediction markets ⁠by businesses seeking protection against risks that conventional financial products may not cover

Open Source Update

2026-10-12T01:01:00.000-07:00

"Creator of free Adobe clones unveils open-source Microsoft Office Excel, PowerPoint, and Word replications"

Siri AI Privacy Tips

2026-10-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

"How to Limit What Apple's New Siri AI Can Access in iOS 27"

Better Atomic Clock

2026-10-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Scientists Just Built the World's Most Accurate Clock". (Via H.R.)

Conscious AI -- Or Not

2026-10-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Anil Seth: "The Mythology Of Conscious AI"

Hsieh Forbes Column: The Robot Phlebotomist Will See You Now

2026-09-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

My latest Forbes column is now out: "The Robot Phlebotomist Will See You Now"

Why I Like My "Dumb" Fridge

2026-09-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Owners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges"

Pinker On AI Risks

2026-09-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Steven Pinker: "An Open Letter to Scott Alexander".

tldr; The dangers of AI are real, but doomerism may be counterproductive.

Light Posting

2026-09-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

Due to various personal obligations, posting will be light for a few weeks.

iPhone Security Tips

2026-09-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

"This iPhone Feature Makes It Much Harder for Thieves to Ruin Your Life"

Rheumatoid Arthritis Update

2026-09-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Scientists Used Cancer Therapy To Reset Rheumatoid Arthritis". (Via H.R.)

China And AI

2026-09-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

"China dismisses AI slowdown calls and blasts 'fearmongering' from U.S. tech leaders".

Prediction: China will have nothing to do with any proposed "AI pause". US politicians who think we will reach an international agreement on this are deluding themselves.

Damasio On Consciousness

2026-09-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Does Consciousness Require a Body?"

Taxonomy of Omnicidal Futures Involving AI

2026-09-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Given all the recent drama about "AI will kill us all!", I thought I'd mention this 2025 paper by Critch and Tsimerman laying out a helpful conceptual framework for discussion: "A Taxonomy of Omnicidal Futures Involving Artificial Intelligence"

Potential Versus Actual Infinity

2026-09-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Joel Hamkins: "Potential versus Actual Infinity". Link to the transcript.

Fermat Again

2026-09-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

Anthropic: "Formalizing Fermat's Last Theorem"

We are sharing the first complete computer-checked proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Claude worked largely autonomously over 11 days to write the proof in the Lean programming language. Below, we describe how the formalization was done and share some thoughts about what this work could mean for research mathematics.

High Intensity Exercise Effects

2026-09-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

"High-intensity sprints can trigger molecular changes in the bloodstream"

Not So Fast On AI Reading Chest X-rays

2026-09-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Commercially available chest X-ray AI products fail to improve diagnostic accuracy, real world study shows".

Link to original academic article, "Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Chest Radiography: A Prospective Crossover Multi-Reader Study on Diagnostic Performance and Workflow Efficiency"

Hilbert Space

2026-09-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

"In Hilbert Space, All Things Are Quantumly Possible"

Listener-Specific Audio

2026-09-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Engineers develop single-element speaker that beams audio to specific listeners". (Via H.R.)

Waymos In Denver

2026-09-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Waymo will offer public rides in Denver starting Tuesday". (This refers to yesterday, Tuesday 9/1/2026.)

Counterpoint To Patel On Open AI

2026-09-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Gary Marcus: "Dwarkesh Patels's wildly popular but dangerously misleading account of the OpenAI Hugging Face incident"