Daily Tech News 20 July 2026

Top Story

• OpenAI has rushed to reassure users that the brand new GPT 5.6 still has all the same features they know and love. (InfoWorld)
  
  Like accidentally deleting all your files but being really sorry about it afterwards.
  
  
  
• Alibaba's AI tool Qwen 3.8 is launching and will soon be open-weight - that is, you can't create your own version but you can download and run it yourself. (Twitter)
  
  One small problem is that is has 2.4 trillion parameters, meaning you'll need a graphics card with 4.8 terabytes of VRAM to run it efficiently, and not many end users have the necessary hardware.
  
  
  
• Meanwhile Apple just hired the original team behind Qwen. (WCCFTech)
  
  Who Alibaba had fired in a quiet reminder that grotesque ineptitude is not solely a gift of the western world.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:35 AM | Comments (148) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - July 19, 2026 [Doof]

Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse - From Rusted Spoke Brewing

Howdy Hordelings! Welcome to the Sunday ONT. Glad you could stop by! Open thread, as always. Fashion and music, as always. Anything exciting in your world tonight?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (344) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Post-Vacation Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the Post-Vacation Edition? The week at the beach sure did go by quickly. Made it home yesterday with everyone I left with, so all good. I'll do my best to try thinking about working on my backlog of email this week. Promise!

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (185) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Bacon And Beans Together Again!

It is glaringly obvious that we do not discuss bacon nearly enough on these august pages. And not just the luscious, unctuous, rich, smoky deliciousness of the best part of the pig! No, we should also chat about cooking it!

All of you microwave aficionados may now go to another room...the grownups are talking.

My preferred technique is to start the bacon (thick-cut if possible) in a cold oven set to 375 degrees convection. Then after about 15 minutes, take them out and flip the strips. Another 10-15 minutes should do nicely for very crispy, which was what I was shooting for today!

Cleaning the pan is another issue for another day.

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (242) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems [Doof]

Broken golf tees. How does that happen? You approach the tee box with your driver. You hear that voice in your head - "tee it high, and let it fly!" But how high is too high? There's water or some other hazard right in front of you. If you tee the ball too low, you'll top it and it'll go right in there! So you tee it up a little higher to make sure you hit the ball up in the air. But you teed it up too high, you hit the bottom of the ball, which means you also made contact with the tee, so the tee broke. No problem -- snap the bottom part off, toss it somewhere (be courteous and don't leave it on the ground at the tee box!), then put the top part of the tee into your pocket to use on a Par 3 or a short Par 4 when you're using a 3W or 5W. But you break several more tees before you get a chance to use one of the handful of salvaged stubbies that you kept. So you end up with a collection that looks something like this.

Useable for sure. But they're ugly! So what to do if you have OCD and don't want jagged stubby tees?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:00 PM | Comments (212) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Physical Deportation Is The First Step, And Cutting Illegals Off From Our Society Is The Next Step!

Going after violent illegals is an absolutely necessary first step in cleansing our country of the scourge of uncontrolled illegal immigration. Traffic stops, chasing them on foot, or if necessary breaking down doors at 3:00AM and dragging them to a waiting flight to Sh*tcanistan is something that the American people will support.

But the huge numbers of illegals in our country make physical deportation a long and complex process. Luckily, there are other ways! As I wrote a few days ago, going after their employers, starting with the biggest companies will make huge inroads into the illegal population by denying them the ability to steal Americans' identities and undercut their price for labor.

And there is more! Lax enforcement of existing laws, and banks that chased their business have allowed illegals to enter our financial systems, with credit cards, bank accounts, auto and home loans, etc.

Will the administration end that? It sure sounds like they are beginning to take it seriously, or at least paying some attention!

Stephen Miller says Trump administration is pursuing policy to debank illegal immigrants

"President Trump signed an executive order a few weeks ago saying that we are not going to allow illegal aliens to use banking services in this country," Miller said.

"Illegal aliens have credit cards, they have bank accounts and they're paid with direct deposit. So, illegal aliens fully participate in the commercial systems, the financial systems of America. Shutting that down is a massive engine for deportation."

Miller was likely referring to an executive order Trump signed on May 19 that directed banks and federal regulators to increase scrutiny of accounts and credit applications involving immigrants without legal status or work authorization.

The order did not explicitly instruct banks to deny credit cards or bank accounts to illegal immigrants, but compliance with it could make it more difficult for them to participate in the financial system.

Federal agencies have already begun acting on Trump's executive order.

Executive orders are a stopgap measure. But it is a start. The real teeth will come if the various banking regulators demand that banks positively identify all account holders, and verify that their identification is not fraudulent or stolen. As I mentioned on Thursday, "E-Verify" needs to be improved, because we are our own worst enemy. But forcing the issue and making financial institutions take seriously the identification regulations would go a long way toward pushing illegals back to their home countries. If they can't easily open bank accounts or cash checks or buy cars or get an account with the electric company, their lives will become much more difficult.

And that is the goal! We have made their lives effortless for too long. It is time to push them back into the shadows, and make every interaction with the legal financial world a risk.

Debanking is an excellent start.

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (242) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread 7-19-2026 [Sabrina Chase]

Welcome to the Book Thread, Guest Poster edition! I will be your host as we explore all sorts of book-related topics. All usual Book Thread rules are incorporated by reference (pets, beverage, clothing covering the lower limbs, etc.) with the special Sabrina Chase exemption for those stylish persons preferring kilts. Now let us proceed to today's topic, which is ...

(Big) Beautiful Book Bindings

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:52 AM | Comments (297) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 18 July 2026

Top Story

• Nvidia's 5000 Super graphics cards are lined up on the runway ready to go as soon as someone breaks the news to the passengers that the price of their tickets just tripled. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Or less obliquely, the 3GB memory chips used for the Super models are three times the price of the standard 2GB chips.
  
  Which is STUPID because the GPUs already support two banks of memory and Nvidia could more cheaply produce a 24GB RTX 5070 Super than an 18GB version.
  
  AMD should make mainstream 24GB and 32GB cards just to mock their rivals.
  
  
  
• Speaking of AMD, the company launched its Ryzen 7700X3D CPU at a price of $329 last weak, making it something less than a bargain because the 7800X3D is available cheaper than that. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  You can now pick up a 7700X3D for $279.
  
  Worth pointing out the the previous generations 5800X3D runs to $349.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:35 AM | Comments (190) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night Club ONT - July 18, 2026 [Disco & Dino]

Welcome to Club ONT - a collaboration of The Disco and The Dino. We built this place for you so you can have some fun. Come in in, grab a drink or 3. Keep it light and friendly. Jerks need not enter the premises (the moose out front is keeping track and you do NOT want to disappoint the moose).

[Top photo: the bar at Fraunces Tavern, New York City. The oldest surviving building in New York.]

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (417) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Music Thread: End Of Bin Cleanup

My apologies for bringing the real world into this thread, but this made me laugh, and it is excellent on so many levels. Not least of which is poking marvelous fun at the Woke bullsh*t that oozes out of so many organizations that are designed for non-political pursuits.

Anyway, behind the graphic is a great American Rock And Roll song. Even Duncanthrax will like it...I think.

Posted by: CBD at 07:30 PM | Comments (209) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - July 18, 2026 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is into Heavy Metal. It spun and spun and landed on a metal working theme for this Hobby Thread.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (86) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, July 18

* * *

And what about AI and trust?

* * *

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

Posted by: K.T. at 03:36 PM | Comments (108) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, July 18

From last week:

Happy Wednesday, KT! I have an actual sunflower blooming! This is at the top of my 11 foot tall plant. This one started as a volunteer from last year's seeds so I think it will have the same smaller multi-colored blooms.

On the inside, my orchid is loving the AC. Update on the spider plants - they have been going to town. They really do look like fireworks! Thanks for last week's pictures.

Mrs. Leggy

Posted by: K.T. at 01:35 PM | Comments (31) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saving the Shire

Hobbitenago, Guatemala

Modern Life Complexities Not Found in the Shire

Pictured above is a hobbit hole in Hobbitenago, Guatemala. It features not only trails with Lord of the Rings kinds of things but also attractions like panoramas featuring volcanoes.

The volcanoes are close enough to be something of a concern. But in the original Shire which inspired this park, they did not have to think about Artificial Intelligence and related electronic complications to life.

Posted by: K.T. at 11:23 AM | Comments (182) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

[Meme H/T: Dr._No]

Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Between the heat, humidity and smoke, the Frozen Tundra is looking like a thawed bog. Anyway before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Ely)

1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. Generosity has its bounds.
3) If I've told you once I've told you 82 bazillion times. No running with sharp objects.
4) Have a great weekend!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:00 AM | Comments (261) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 18 July 2026

Top Story

• AWS is experiencing a wee spot of bother with its billing system. (The Register)
  
  Speculation is that it's a unit conversion error in the cost estimation tool, but all we know for sure is that people who barely use the service are being alerted to cost estimates in the billions of dollars, and for businesses that have active applications the predicted bills run into the trillions.
  
  AWS say they are looking into it.
  
  

  📣 Service Update: AWS Billing Console
  
  We are investigating issues with Cost Explorer reflecting inaccurate estimated billing data.
  
  📊 Track status: https://t.co/6qSnkuEzc4#AWS #AWSSupport

  — AWS Support (@AWSSupport) July 17, 2026

  
  Some users are nonetheless expressing mild consternation.

  Wait...
  
  Did I just accidentally buy America? https://t.co/8RVfe4Cc5Q pic.twitter.com/G37bmFaNR5

  — NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 (@japan_nobunaga) July 17, 2026

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (162) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Look At Me I'm ONT

Welcome to Friday night! Y'all do realize that today's political discourse is really lame, right?

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (397) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Friday Cafe

Tree Guardians by John Kent

Parker the Beagle was timid and shy and failed as a hunting dog, so he was kept in a cage. But a kind woman rescued him.

The greatest dog video I've ever seen.

Arranging a marriage for a lonely bachelor bunny.

Tiny piglet makes friends with the whole farm.

Crow knocks on the window every morning to play with the house's dog and cat.
Poor golden retriever has had his bed stolen by an evil kitten.

Republican whale pounces.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 07:00 PM | Comments (233) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Same Media That Pushed Hillary's Fake Opposition Research About Russia Collusion For Six Years Can't Believe Trump Is Alleging Election Irregularities

Hillary's oppo fictions were worth reporting -- but an actual scandal with actual documentation doesn't.

MJTruthUltra
@MJTruthUltra

DECLASSIFIED

This is a December 2021 internal email from the U.S. intelligence community's top cyber official.

* In 2020, the official intelligence assessment said certain Chinese units were not trying to influence the U.S. election (only general "issue" stuff). The email writer disagreed -- he thought they were.

* A newer report now says China is influencing another election and labels the same units as "election influence" operations.

The writer questions why the same activity gets called "election meddling" in one place but not in the U.S. -- and calls for oversight.

This shows the double standards in how U.S. intelligence judged Chinese election interference.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

MJTruthUltra
@MJTruthUltra

🚨 SHOCKING: FBI Director Wray Signed Off as FBI Called China Election Meddling Warning an "Absolute Red Line"

In a December 30, 2020 email, top FBI Counterintelligence official Nikki Floris slammed a draft Intelligence Community Assessment on the 2020 election.

She warned that including the minority view -- which said China did try to influence the election -- was unacceptable and called it "an absolute red line for the FBI."

Director Wray had already signed off on the main ICA text.

The FBI pushed hard to keep the China "yes they interfered" view buried or heavily downplayed.

Floris accused the dissenting comments of being misleading and lacking proper evidence.

It shows Wray signed off on the main report that said China didn't try to mess with the 2020 election.

The FBI team then fought hard to keep the part that said China did try from being included.

Brian Stelter
@brianstelter

CNN's Kaitlan Collins: "We'll be monitoring what the president says tonight, as we always do, but aren't taking it live, given the president has a well documented history of saying blatantly false things about elections."

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (165) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Scott Bessent: A Deranged Leftist Attempted to Assassinate Me Shortly After I Became Secretary of the Treasury
The New Republic: Don't You Understand You're Forcing Us Lefties to Murder You?

Gerald Posner
@geraldposner

🔥 At the State Department's Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent answered critics who doubt the seriousness of far left political violence by making the threat personal.

Off-script, he reminded the room -- delegates from roughly 65 nations -- that he was the target of an assassination attempt by a left-wing activist two hours after being sworn in. (Bessent gave the wrong year on camera -- he said 2024; the actual date was January 27, 2025 -- but the case is real: a guilty plea, a federal docket, sentencing set for August 14.)

Bessent also announced Treasury is expanding its financial enforcement authorities -- OFAC, FinCEN, IRS-CI -- to investigate nonprofits and charities being used as cover to finance political violence, saying "violence requires money, channels through which funding can move, and institutions behind which it can hide."

This is the same pattern Secretary Rubio has been warning about -- violent far-left extremism dismissed as fringe, until it's the Treasury Secretary himself.
Bessent's challenge to the skeptics: be there for the sentencing.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:45 PM | Comments (286) | Trackbacks (Suck)