Daily Tech News 12 February 2026

Top Story

Why the economics of orbital AI datacenters are so brutal. (Tech Crunch)

It doesn't make much sense unless you're both a major AI company and the world leader in orbital launch capacity, which narrows it down to slightly less than one company.

Even for SpaceX it's not viable until Starship goes into volume production. So far, as the article notes, the rocket hasn't yet achieved orbital flight.

The other major problem is the lifespan of the datacenters. If SpaceX uses cheap silicon solar panels, those will degrade fairly quickly in space. But the current economics of AI chips limits the useful lifetime of the hardware to a similar period to the solar panels - about five years.

But then what? Drop entire datacenters into the ocean? Do the fish need that much compute capacity?
Meanwhile SpaceX's SuperHeavy booster - used to launch Starship - has passed the latest round of testing with flying colours. (Ars Technica)

The company may be ready for a test of its updated Starship V3 by the end of March.

Tech News

An overclocked 9800X3D performs exactly like a 9850X3D. (Tom's Hardware)

No surprise since the 9850X3D is an overclocked 9800X3D.
The 9800X3D remains the best selling CPU at retail outlets. (WCCFTech)

Which is interesting, because it's not exactly cheap.

Second-best seller is the five year old 5800X, which uses DDR4 memory. That's where system builders on a budget are spending their money.

Intel is barely an afterthought in retail CPU sales.
Intel's high-end Nova Lake chips are expected to be large and expensive. (Tom's Hardware)

The 24-core (8P + 16E) chiplets with the large L3 cache are expected to measure 150mm2, about 50% larger than AMD's 12-core (all Performance cores) Zen 6 chiplets with the cache die included. And the top-of-the-line models will include two of those chiplets, manufactured on TSMC's 2nm and Intel's 1.8nm processes.

Still, 48 cores (plus 4 low-power cores on the I/O chiplet) and 288MB of L3 cache is an awful lot for a desktop processor, even if 32 of the cores are efficiency models.

With both these and AMD's 24-core Zen 6 CPUs set to show up later this year, it will be interesting to see how they compare, and if they can still deliver when attached to standard dual-channel DDR5 memory.
Claud Code got dumbed down. (Symmetry Breaking)

Not the AI service itself, but the interface.

Previously it told users what files the AI was examining. Now that feature has been removed and you can only get a summary so devoid of detail as to be useless, or a stream-of-consciousness firehose so packed with detail as to be useless.

The developers working on the tool at Anthropic appear to be actively fighting requests from an increasing number of users to simply change things back.

Musical Interlude

Song is Cough Syrup by Young the Giant. Anime is a whole bunch of great Ghibli movies and also Tales from Earthsea.

Disclaimer: Which is a Ghibli movie.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 04:01 AM (7xyr6)

2 Exercise time!

Maybe l8r.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 04:01 AM (7xyr6)

3 w00t

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:03 AM (+YA9H)

4 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at February 12, 2026 04:03 AM (Ia/+0)

5 Morning all

Posted by: Tuna at February 12, 2026 04:03 AM (lJ0H4)

6 Morning folks.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at February 12, 2026 04:06 AM (BLOW1)

7 >>>Claud Code

-->Claude Code

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:12 AM (+YA9H)

8 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at February 12, 2026 04:19 AM (sAmhv)

9 on the Claude Code article:

1) Anthropic stops i.d.ing "files read" and "patterns searched"
2) Anthropic points to "verbose mode" and tells the user to look there for those answers
3) Anthropic trims "verbose mode"

My bet: Anthropic wanted to get to 3) and the way to get there was to do 1) and 2) first, to makes doing 3) seem to make sense. It's not like Anthropic did 1); then read user replies; and then said SMH o.k. we'll trim verbose mode.

Sounds like all the information the user is asking for is available, just in this other place.

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:21 AM (+YA9H)

10 I might need moar covfefe.
Spell-check is not happy with covfefe.

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:22 AM (+YA9H)

11 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at February 12, 2026 04:31 AM (2Ez/1)

12 AMV - Adieu Perchance to Dream

Lovely.

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:37 AM (+YA9H)

13 An essay on AI taking over the world (pretty much):

https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:39 AM (+YA9H)

14 AI is a surveillance tool, nothing more, nothing less. Every application we find useful is just the surveillance tool in operation. It is the OS of the Panopticon.
Every sunrise, we have vast swarms of birds waking up and heading north.

Posted by: Accomack at February 12, 2026 04:56 AM (8jVAy)

15 Good morning. How big a deal is it that Google bought wiz?

Posted by: Ben Had at February 12, 2026 05:00 AM (0KSrI)

16
If we're going to land on the Moon, Elon has got a lot of work to do. I'm not sure just how far along that's progressing -- see some optimistic claims, but I don't know.

He's got to get Starship HLS working, which is what they're gonna land on the Moon. He's also got to get the on-orbit tanking and refueling going.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at February 12, 2026 05:01 AM (w6EFb)

17 Google raised over $50 billion in new debt earlier this week. That's a lot of data center construction.

I wonder what the aggregate spend is on data centers this year. Electricity production might need some of that dough.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:05 AM (xJSPn)

18 Which one has the thruster problems? The one that left two astronauts stranded for 6 months or so at the space station after what was supposed to be a week long mission.

Posted by: Common Tater at February 12, 2026 05:07 AM (qp8Hp)

19 Somewhere just under freezing point and don't think getting much above it
Haveca great day horde

Posted by: Skip at February 12, 2026 05:07 AM (Ia/+0)

20 13 An essay on AI taking over the world (pretty much):

https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening
Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:39 AM (+YA9H)

What a horribly annoying tic for a writer, maybe an AI:

- But most of us weren't paying attention.
- Not in an "eventually we should talk about this" way.
- We're not making predictions.
- Each new model wasn't just better than the last.
- Not like a light switch.
- Not a rough draft I need to fix.
- I'm not exaggerating.
- It wasn't just executing my instructions.

And that's from the first 2 pages of 11.

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 05:09 AM (+YA9H)

21 12 AMV - Adieu Perchance to Dream

Lovely.
Posted by: m

Yes. Some of those AMV videos are better than the videos put out by the band.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at February 12, 2026 05:10 AM (sAmhv)

22 Pixy, your musical choices are generally new to me, always excellent, and I really look forward to each new post. Thanks.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:10 AM (W6oRy)

23 >> Which one has the thruster problems?

That's Boeing's Space Edsel, the Starliner. Nothing about moon plans depend on it at all, thankfully.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at February 12, 2026 05:11 AM (w6EFb)

24 18 Which one has the thruster problems? The one that left two astronauts stranded for 6 months or so at the space station after what was supposed to be a week long mission.
Posted by: Common Tater

That was Boeing's Starliner.

SpaceX came to the recue with their Crew Dragon. (A Crew Dragon capsule is also permanently docked with the ISS as a lifeboat.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at February 12, 2026 05:11 AM (BLOW1)

25 G'morning, all!

39.9 degrees out.

Compared to yesterdays 59.8, that's a little chilly.

Might wait a bit to go walk.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 05:14 AM (iMotb)

26 The trend of making it better by making it worse is alive and well it seems.

The same sort of thing is happening to otter ai whereas you could get a nice tight summary, decisions, tasks output, now it's out put is overly verbose, with time stamps and bizarre form mating.

This "improving" things by making it worse is right out of the Microsoft playbook.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at February 12, 2026 05:16 AM (XV/Pl)

27 Sameer Gadhia, lead singer of Young The Giant, was doing his Indian kid thing, and enrolled at Stanford aiming to become a doctor. But he decided to go the rock route instead, which I'm sure was a tough conversation at home.

Sameer’s parents were both musically trained but were surprised, regardless, when he announced that he was quitting college to be a rockstar. As most Asian parents would be, they were “sad and worried – they didn’t want me to fail. I think they didn’t want me to feel dejected.”

Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:16 AM (NY5XB)

28 I'm glad people like the AMVs. I pick ones made from series and movies I've seen that are paired with good songs, so I'm not always sure how they'll land with people who haven't spent 30 years watching Japanese cartoons.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at February 12, 2026 05:17 AM (BLOW1)

29 A non anxious presence. Man writes on psalm 4

https://tinyurl.com/mvv83rkf

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 12, 2026 05:17 AM (rZCVI)

30 I’ve mentioned this before, but I was astonished to read an interview conducted by Nasa oral history project with a Marquardt engineer, they had the contract for the Apollo era thrusters. They had a lot of problems in the early 60s. Testing is very difficult, because outer space is different. A vacuum chamber large enough was expensive. As soon as you fire, there goes your vacuum.

Overheating, swelling of teflon seals, causing an obstruction in the thrusters. Now fast forward 60 years.

Guess what kind of problems they are having? Overheating, swelling of teflon seals, causing an obstruction in the thrusters. Jeeze louise. Did they even think to talk to that guy? Probably not.

Posted by: Common Tater at February 12, 2026 05:18 AM (qp8Hp)

31 Starship just passed a test of the propellant system and SpaceX plans a March launch on the next flight test. Can't wait.

https://tinyurl.com/44nfy8cw

Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:21 AM (NY5XB)

32
The Fall of Boeing is sad. They had a storied history. They built the S-IC, the Saturn V first stage, as well as the lunar rovers.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at February 12, 2026 05:21 AM (w6EFb)

33 Proud dad shares note his son received at school. Faithpot site:

https://tinyurl.com/ye4nrfkc

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 12, 2026 05:21 AM (rZCVI)

34 Pixy, your musical choices are generally unusual to me, always obtuse, and I generally open each new post with cautious optimism. Thanks.

Posted by: There. I said it. at February 12, 2026 05:24 AM (2Ez/1)

35
The good or bad thing, depending on your POV, about SpaceX being private, is they don't have to disclose much about what they're doing.

They've supposedly got an actual fligth version of the HLS Starship going.

They'll test one in LEO this year, if all goes to plan, and do an unmanned landing on the Moon in 2027.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at February 12, 2026 05:25 AM (w6EFb)

36 26 The trend of making it better by making it worse is alive and well it seems.

The same sort of thing is happening to otter ai whereas you could get a nice tight summary, decisions, tasks output, now it's out put is overly verbose, with time stamps and bizarre form mating.

This "improving" things by making it worse is right out of the Microsoft playbook.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at February 12, 2026 05:16 AM (XV/Pl)

It's not just AI & M$.

Apple is notroious for moving things around in their GUIs so every time you get a new iOS update you've got to search for where they moved something.

It's done in browsers & other apps a lot, too.

There's no reason for moving stuff around this much other than for make work projects for interface designers who are constantly coming up with new ways to annoy the shit out of people with useless updates moving or renaming elements and their locations.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 05:25 AM (6ydKt)

37 "The Fall of Boeing is sad. They had a storied history."

Miss us yet?

Posted by: Fifty year old white guys at February 12, 2026 05:26 AM (2Ez/1)

38 This 3 year old gray wolf walked from remote northern California all the way to Los Angeles. She's going to be a star.

https://tinyurl.com/3jdhedzj

Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:26 AM (E8U4I)

39
Elon is calling it "Moonbase Alpha" from some of the promo stuff. Of course, what else?

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at February 12, 2026 05:27 AM (w6EFb)

40 >There's no reason for moving stuff around this much other than for make work projects for interface designers who are constantly coming up with new ways to annoy the shit out of people with useless updates moving or renaming elements and their locations.

++++
This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: The grocery store at February 12, 2026 05:29 AM (2Ez/1)

41 Just as an example; Brave moves around and renames interface items and locations nearly every time they update the iOS browser.

I'm constantly looking around for where they moved the thing I used to know where it was and god forbid they keep it consistent. Then there's always some mysterious looking icon, I've never seen before that they stick in some new place at the top of the app window with every update.

Companies used to wait a few years before totally redesigning an interface and now it's a regular occurrence.

Thankfully Photoshop hasn't changed much in 20 years, Adobe just decides to cram more and mores tuff into smaller spaces.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 05:33 AM (6ydKt)

42 Finally decided to pull the trigger on a new TV, moving the old 55" up to the bedroom.

Not having bought a TV in over ten years, the choices are somewhat jaw dropping, and difficult to understand.

But knowing that the WiFi infrastructure is now in place to support an eventual home media server system at some point, I wanted to get something that would be good for that task as well.

And then I stumbled upon this strange, and little talked about Samsung unit, not available in stored, and only directly from Samsung online.

Samsung QN1EF.

Quantum Dot and Mini-LEd.

And as Samsung does online Military Discount and free shipping, it drops down to $1035.00, delivered.

Let's hope that I made the right choice.

I would put up the shortened link, but TinyURL seems to be giving me fits this morning.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 05:37 AM (iMotb)

43 This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: The grocery store at February 12, 2026 05:29 AM (2Ez/1)

Yeah that's why I order pickup so the store employee or Instacart shopper can walk around the store for ten minutes trying to figure out where they moved the frozen burritos this week.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 05:37 AM (6ydKt)

44 If we're going to land on the Moon, Elon has got a lot of work to do.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at February 12, 2026 05:01 AM (w6EFb)
-

Men at work:

https://tinyurl.com/yfp26tvv

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 05:39 AM (7xyr6)

45 An essay on AI taking over the world (pretty much):

https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:39 AM (+YA9H)
-

And now... the video:

https://tinyurl.com/yw4fhtrr

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 05:42 AM (7xyr6)

46 Are math skills really all that important?

https://tinyurl.com/3hy27557

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 05:45 AM (iMotb)

47 Samsung QN1EF.

Quantum Dot and Mini-LEd.

And as Samsung does online Military Discount and free shipping, it drops down to $1035.00, delivered.

Let's hope that I made the right choice.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 05:37 AM

Newer Mini-LEDs are nice.
Hisense and TCL are really going all in on them and putting out some TVs close to OLEDs in brightness, color volume, and motion clarity with high refresh rates.

They have a lot of dimming zones that give you OLED contrast at a much cheaper cost, and the motion clarity makes sports look awesome instead of a smear-fest when the speed picks up.

They are just a lot thicker and heavier than their OLED counterparts but being a lot cheaper can make up for that small problem. They also don't have as good of viewing angles as OLED but if you're sitting in front of your TV instead of off to the side, it isn't a problem, either.

Samsung is going that way totally, so in a few years all of their TVs will be either QD-Mini-LED, QD-RGB-LED, or QD-OLEDs.

I got an LG C5 OLED TV recently and I love it.
I'll probably get a Mini-LED or RGB-LED next time I need a new monitor or TV and then no worries over OLED burn-in.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 05:48 AM (6ydKt)

48 For some reason, Elon has reposted a warning about Claude.

https://tinyurl.com/nx7a6z92

Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:49 AM (+odZa)

49 Always with you it cannot be done

Posted by: Yoda at February 12, 2026 05:49 AM (cO6Mr)

50 45 An essay on AI taking over the world (pretty much):

https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 04:39 AM (+YA9H)
-

And now... the video:

https://tinyurl.com/yw4fhtrr
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 05:42 AM (7xyr6)

Aieeeeeee!

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 05:51 AM (+YA9H)

51 45 And now... the video:

https://tinyurl.com/yw4fhtrr
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 05:42 AM (7xyr6)

48 For some reason, Elon has reposted a warning about Claude.

https://tinyurl.com/nx7a6z92
Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:49 AM (+odZa)

Horde mind!

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 05:54 AM (+YA9H)

52 Elon has also posted the names of nine GOPe Senators who are holding out on voting for the Save Act. Surprised to see Tim Scott on the list.

Capito
Murkowski
Tillis
Collins
Sullivan
Wicker
McConnell
Thune
Scott

Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:54 AM (+odZa)

53 youtu.be/iIAEqTvygb8

I really liked this AMV video. I know nothing about Arcade Fire but the song is nice and catchy and it blends with the anime almost flawlessly. A really well done video.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at February 12, 2026 05:55 AM (sAmhv)

54 Horde mind!
Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 05:54 AM (+YA9H)
================
haha!

Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:55 AM (+odZa)

55 "I got an LG C5 OLED TV recently and I love it."

I had pretty much narrowed it down to OLED or Mini-LED before I stumbled on this thing.

And I would never have found it without going to the actual Samsung site, as it's an exclusive to them.

And once I realized that there was free shipping, and the military discount as well, I crossed my fingers and said go for it.

Which now means that I will have to go with a new soon d bar system to give it the full upgrade experience. And the Q-Symphony capable systems seem to be the way to eventually go on that.

Plus, I have to stretch the horizontal width of the three piece entertainment system by 5 inches to fit the 66 inch wide TV into the current 63 inch horizontal spacing.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 05:58 AM (iMotb)

56 I actually bought a TCL Mini-LED monitor last year that had like 2100 dimming zones last year, and it blew me away with the color volume and brightness with close to OLED deep blacks and contrast.

Problem is after I was wowed by how good it looked I noticed a dead pizel right in the middle of the screen after using it for about an hour.

So I packed it up, took it back to Walmart and got an OLED from Best Buy instead.

I would've kept it if it wasn't for that one failure in quality control.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 05:58 AM (6ydKt)

57 "Surprised to see Tim Scott on the list."

I guess he's back from his Honeymoon.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 05:59 AM (iMotb)

58 piXel, d'oh. ^^^

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 05:59 AM (6ydKt)

59 TCL and Hisense both just make me nervous on quality control.

Plus that whole 'it comes from China' vibe.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:01 AM (iMotb)

60 52 Elon has also posted the names of nine GOPe Senators who are holding out on voting for the Save Act. Surprised to see Tim Scott on the list.

Capito
Murkowski
Tillis
Collins
Sullivan
Wicker
McConnell
Thune
Scott
Posted by: Huck Follywood at February 12, 2026 05:54 AM (+odZa)

VERY surprised to see Tim Scott on there.

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 06:02 AM (+YA9H)

61 Which now means that I will have to go with a new soon d bar system to give it the full upgrade experience. And the Q-Symphony capable systems seem to be the way to eventually go on that.

Plus, I have to stretch the horizontal width of the three piece entertainment system by 5 inches to fit the 66 inch wide TV into the current 63 inch horizontal spacing.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 05:58 AM (iMotb)

Haven't heard the Q-Symphony personally but it seems like a great way to get good sound with the TV and soundbar working together.

66" wide?
You must've got like a 70 or 80" TV.

You're going to enjoy that immersion when you get it set up right. Mini-LED was probably a good choice as an OLED at that size would've cost you two or three times as much for a very similar experience.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:03 AM (6ydKt)

62 Man who is dying gets a final wish- a visit with a fox. Sunny Skyz site:

https://tinyurl.com/769tc2z7

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 12, 2026 06:04 AM (ix8EF)

63 Bought a Roku TV a few months ago and its a solid TV. No idea where it's made. I'm assuming China.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at February 12, 2026 06:04 AM (sAmhv)

64 53 youtu.be/iIAEqTvygb8

I really liked this AMV video. I know nothing about Arcade Fire but the song is nice and catchy and it blends with the anime almost flawlessly. A really well done video.
Posted by: Puddleglum

I knew it was going to be Persimmon before I loaded the link. Well, you did say Arcade Fire, and that's probably their best-known song, so not a risky guess.

My number one choice for an AMV that turns the original song into something entirely new.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at February 12, 2026 06:04 AM (BLOW1)

65
Ugh. Good morning, Hordians. I have never adjusted to the time change that took place in November. I wake up absurdly early every morning. Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who when they wake up in the morning are awake knowing they won't get back to sleep.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at February 12, 2026 06:06 AM (tgvbd)

66 "You must've got like a 70 or 80" TV."

75", as I think the stretch for an 85" was beyond my woodworking abilities.

Oh, almost forgot.

The old TV is connected with HDMI 1.0 cables, so guess what ESLE I need to buy to support a 144HZ refresh rate.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:07 AM (iMotb)

67 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at February 12, 2026 06:11 AM (Cjt/F)

68 @63

>>Bought a Roku TV a few months ago and its a solid TV. No idea where it's made. I'm assuming China.

It's more than likely a TCL Roku tv, they are made in China.

Most other manufacturers seem to be migrating to FireTV./Android.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at February 12, 2026 06:12 AM (Ruy1P)

69 59 TCL and Hisense both just make me nervous on quality control.

Plus that whole 'it comes from China' vibe.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:01 AM (iMotb)

I watched a bunch of reviews before I got the C5 and it was between that and one TCL model and one Hisense.

TCL and Hisense have a wonderful picture, sound, features, etc usually at great prices for what you're getting.
But their QA is nowhere near the Korean manufacturers so I went with LG.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:12 AM (6ydKt)

70 The old TV is connected with HDMI 1.0 cables, so guess what ESLE I need to buy to support a 144HZ refresh rate.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:07 AM (iMotb)

You might not even need the HDMI 2.1 cable, sometimes the TVs come with one in the box.

Doesn't hurt to have a spare, though, and if you hook up a Bluray or console or PC you'll need them then, too.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:14 AM (6ydKt)

71 I had gotten the ROKU Ultra last year on sale, and finally really paid attention to just what it can do.

So it looks like that will pair nicely with the new TV.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:17 AM (iMotb)

72 A custodians words help a teacher. "Faithpot" site:

https://tinyurl.com/d79pu85n

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 12, 2026 06:17 AM (ix8EF)

73 Jeffrey Epstein >> Klaus Schwab >> WEF

https://tinyurl.com/ytx6rpea

They and it all need to be wiped off the face of the earth.

Switzerland is anything but neutral.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:21 AM (7xyr6)

74 "You might not even need the HDMI 2.1 cable, sometimes the TVs come with one in the box.
"

This particular one does not.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:21 AM (iMotb)

75 Today's Crazy-Eyes Award goes to:

https://tinyurl.com/3d9e5nbm

But watch till the end for full content. Remind you of anybody else?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:23 AM (7xyr6)

76 The model a lot of reviewers on YT recommend as a great 'budget' model is the TCL CM7K.

The 55" model runs around $500 to $600 on Amazon and at Walmart.

It's Mini-LED and they all rave about it.
It's a good starting point for somebody who wants to get a hi-refresh, hi color volume TV with excellent brightness and contrast.

If you've got a little more to spend they recommend the Hisense U7 or TCL QM8K which have better processors and sound.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:23 AM (6ydKt)

77 This particular one does not.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:21 AM (iMotb)

Eh, could be worse.
You probably have an optical cable for sound so at least you won't have to buy one of those. They'll work on anything.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:25 AM (6ydKt)

78 73 They and it all need to be wiped off the face of the earth.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:21 AM (7xyr6)

um

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 06:25 AM (+YA9H)

79 Evening and morning for an already weary Thor's Day, ever'body! I slept extra, but then I needed it. Yesterday, walking to a convenience store, my boot toe caught on a rough piece of curb, and I *tripped* and went down on my face -- in the street!

No cars were coming, and nothing is broken. I have a fat upper lip, going down under ice applications, and my left hand feels as if it's been wrenched about. Right now I have it in a carpal tunnel glove from some years ago so it doesn't move much.

Adventures. They are overrated.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:26 AM (wzUl9)

80 Libs of TikTok shoots and scores again - another FL nurse:

https://tinyurl.com/35hs9dy8

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:26 AM (7xyr6)

81 um

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 06:25 AM (+YA9H)
-

What are you umming about?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:27 AM (7xyr6)

82 Wolfus, prayers for s a speedy recovery.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:28 AM (iMotb)

83 @71

>>So it looks like that will pair nicely with the new TV.

Roku also has a really well documented api so you can make apps to control their stb's and TV's.

I've made an Apple OS widget and a separate touchscreen dashboard to control the Rokus in my house.

If anyone wants to learn to program or do some web dev, it's a neat starter project.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at February 12, 2026 06:28 AM (Ruy1P)

84
Yesterday, walking to a convenience store, my boot toe caught on a rough piece of curb, and I *tripped* and went down on my face -- in the street!

Yeah, someone was filming it. You've gone viral!

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at February 12, 2026 06:29 AM (tgvbd)

85 "Eh, could be worse.
You probably have an optical cable for sound so at least you won't have to buy one of those. They'll work on anything."

Of course.....somewhere.

Yeh.....somewhere.

* Walks off grumbling, to paw through crap in the garage*

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:30 AM (iMotb)

86 Karp: “If we are not the ones controlling the violence, we will not be dictating the rule of law.”

Posted by: SMOD at February 12, 2026 06:32 AM (GITLP)

87 "I've made an Apple OS widget and a separate touchscreen dashboard to control the Rokus in my house.

If anyone wants to learn to program or do some web dev, it's a neat starter project."

A man has got to know his limitations.

And just reading all that made my head hurt.

But I do appreciate the kind offer.

My brain just isn't built for that stuff.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:32 AM (iMotb)

88 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

Sorry to hear that. Hope you feel better soon.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 12, 2026 06:32 AM (lQ+/f)

89 Wolfus, prayers for s a speedy recovery.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026

***
Thanks, VIA! I'm considering whether to take it easy on the couch all day, or to continue my plan of having the car's oil changed and making a quick visit to the Walmart there; I need to stock up on a few things. I'll be home before noon.

There were times I went to work feeling worse than this.

The toe of the boot that caught the curb? The leather is scraped raw. A shame; I've had these Justins for thirty years. Maybe a daub of shoe polish will cover it up. (Good thing I was not wearing the new ones I bought after Christmas!)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:33 AM (wzUl9)

90 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at February 12, 2026 06:35 AM (bQ4nt)

91 How they solve problems in Spain:

https://tinyurl.com/bkf7zs64

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:36 AM (7xyr6)

92 Adventures. They are overrated.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:26 AM (wzUl9)

Damn that sucks.
Glad you're alright.

Are we going to have to get you a walking cane to go with the fedora, pope, and boots soon to complete the entire package?

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:36 AM (6ydKt)

93 pope = pipe in this particular instance.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:36 AM (6ydKt)

94 Yesterday, walking to a convenience store, my boot toe caught on a rough piece of curb, and I *tripped* and went down on my face -- in the street!
*
Yeah, someone was filming it. You've gone viral!
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at February 12, 2026

***
There were a couple of hangers-on, the kind of layabouts you see standing around convenience stores, who saw it happen and asked without laughing if I were all right. They did not seem to be the types to have smartphones -- though today, you never know.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:36 AM (wzUl9)

95 Poor Wolfus! Sorry to hear that

Posted by: San Franpsycho at February 12, 2026 06:37 AM (RIvkX)

96 81 um

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 06:25 AM (+YA9H)
-

What are you umming about?
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:27 AM (7xyr6)

It's a bit of extrajudicial punishment that seems ... over the top?

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 06:37 AM (+YA9H)

97 Damn that sucks.
Glad you're alright.

Are we going to have to get you a walking cane to go with the fedora, pope, and boots soon to complete the entire package?
Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026

***
I hope not. I still have the crutches left over from my cracked foot bone adventure in 2017!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:38 AM (wzUl9)

98 @87

>>My brain just isn't built for that stuff.

That's ok.

Many people don't realize how many things around their house can be controlled via api calls, if you have modern fridges and stoves, they probably can be controlled.

A lot of people when they start out trying to learn to code they stall out because they don't know what to program, well a really good first project is, interact and control all of the things around your house.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at February 12, 2026 06:38 AM (Ruy1P)

99 Our sleepy little community just got hit with the fourth earthquake in the last several days.

A whopping 1.8 on the scale, and around 3:50 this morning.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:39 AM (iMotb)

100 100

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 06:39 AM (+YA9H)

101 "Are we going to have to get you a walking cane to go with the fedora, pope, and boots soon to complete the entire package?"

And a cape.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:41 AM (iMotb)

102 Tales of Earthsea was done by Studio Ghibli. But not by Hayao Miyazaki, but his son. So nyah.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 12, 2026 06:41 AM (2GVsD)

103 Libs of TikTok shoots and scores again - another FL nurse:

They keep forgetting that we can use the internet too. But on the bright side, the company said she was a former employee.

Posted by: NR Pax at February 12, 2026 06:41 AM (NR6c1)

104 Adventures. They are overrated.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:26 AM (wzUl9)

Sounds like a bad tax prep day. Hope you're all right.

BTW, have I mentioned Auburn, IN to you?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at February 12, 2026 06:42 AM (uQesX)

105 99 Our sleepy little community just got hit with the fourth earthquake in the last several days.

A whopping 1.8 on the scale, and around 3:50 this morning.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:39 AM (iMotb)

I felt something that shook the entire house a few nights ago.
It was so bad I thought somebody had run their car into the house or something.

Thought it was an earthquake and went online to check the USGS earthquake map to see if that's what it was, but nothing turned up.

Must've been what that was.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:43 AM (6ydKt)

106 Hubby's employer is expected to go into Chapter 11 shortly.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at February 12, 2026 06:45 AM (B0A2B)

107 Sounds like a bad tax prep day. Hope you're all right.

BTW, have I mentioned Auburn, IN to you?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at February 12, 2026

***
Thanks, OE. No, you haven't. Have you been there?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:45 AM (wzUl9)

108 Vmom, that's sounds bad. Does it mean the company will close up entirely, lay people off and continue, or what?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:47 AM (wzUl9)

109 Dunno yet, Wolfus, depends on on the deal they can make with their creditors I think

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at February 12, 2026 06:50 AM (B0A2B)

110 It's a bit of extrajudicial punishment that seems ... over the top?

Posted by: m at February 12, 2026 06:37 AM (+YA9H)
-

No. These international megalomaniac terrorists are responsible for massive amounts of death and misery all over the world.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:50 AM (7xyr6)

111 Today's Crazy-Eyes Award goes to:

https://tinyurl.com/3d9e5nbm

But watch till the end for full content. Remind you of anybody else?
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026

***
A minor thing -- but the blonde at the podium (Newsom's wife?) used "incredulous" incorrectly. And these people are supposed to be our "betters"?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:52 AM (wzUl9)

112 "I felt something that shook the entire house a few nights ago.
It was so bad I thought somebody had run their car into the house or something."

That might have been the 2.9 that hit under Ladson Rd the other night around 10:40PM.

Several friends reported feeling, and even hearing a boom noise from that one.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:52 AM (iMotb)

113 At the UN, (maybe) out goes the bad:

https://tinyurl.com/3d3s673c

And in comes the...

https://tinyurl.com/5n8wv4mk

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:55 AM (7xyr6)

114 I think it was this quake in last Saturday night.

https://tinyurl.com/5n6pez79
(earthquaketrack.com)

It's the right time, and at 2.9 Richter it was close enough for me to feel it from Ladson.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:56 AM (6ydKt)

115 Time for work... Now well into my second year doing this and it's definitely feeling patterned and predictable.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at February 12, 2026 06:56 AM (O7YUW)

116 Thanks, OE. No, you haven't. Have you been there?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 12, 2026 06:45 AM (wzUl9)

No. Lileks does google street views of older cities on Thursdays. He's posting about Auburn today. You might be interested in the area, that's all. Not sure what part of IN it is.

https://lileks.com/bleats/archive/26/0226/24.html

Posted by: OrangeEnt at February 12, 2026 06:57 AM (uQesX)

117 Several friends reported feeling, and even hearing a boom noise from that one.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 12, 2026 06:52 AM (iMotb)

Jinxed.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was it.

I'm not sure if I heard a boom but it was shaking mirrors, glasses, etc. so much I could hear them.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 12, 2026 06:57 AM (6ydKt)

118 They and it all need to be wiped off the face of the earth.

Switzerland is anything but neutral.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey

The background of David Brin's novel Earth involves a war where basically the entire planet is pissed off at Switzerland. (And also scientists dropping an artificial black hole that proceeds to then eat said planet.)

Reading it I wondered for a moment, why Switzerland? and then found myself agreeing with the rest of the planet.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at February 12, 2026 06:59 AM (BLOW1)

119 We missed it on Feb. 9. Wishing you all a belated happy World Hijab Day!

https://tinyurl.com/52uvemkd

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at February 12, 2026 06:59 AM (7xyr6)

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