Daily Tech News 19 September 2026

Top Story

The first new cat species to be identified in more than a century, leopardus tilcayo, has been, uh, identified. (Wikipedia)

Of course the people who live in that part of Bolivia knew about it all along - that's why it has a common name, the tilcayo. It's related to the oncilla, which is related to the ocelot, but genetic comparisons showed that it it a distinct species.

The funny part is that while it does have a common name, nobody knows where the name comes from; it's not derived from a Spanish or native word. It's called the tilcayo because that's what it's called.

Tech News

A researcher at OpenAI - where "researcher" apparently means "someone who wasn't shoved into nearly enough lockers as a child" claims that airgapped AI systems can communicate by overclocking their CPUs and using their thermal sensors to pick up changes in ambient temperature. (WCCFTech)

Assume a spherical cow of uniform density.
Researchers - yes - used Claude to hack OpenAI employees' ChatGPT accounts. (The Register)

Not nearly enough lockers.
Flash floods can be avoided using this one simple trick. (The Verge)

Build underwater.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Do not taunt happy lime in the coconut.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at September 19, 2026 04:30 AM (Ia/+0)

2 w00t

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 04:31 AM (odBC9)

3 Hola

Posted by: Pete Bog at September 19, 2026 04:31 AM (5jWPa)

4 Pixy, are you Batman?

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 04:31 AM (odBC9)

5 Mornin' Pixy!

Posted by: JQ at September 19, 2026 04:32 AM (rdVOm)

6 >>>The first new cat species to be identified in more than a century, leopardus tilcayo, has been, uh, identified.

Good kitty!

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 04:34 AM (odBC9)

7 Wait, what happened?

Posted by: Skip at September 19, 2026 04:36 AM (Ia/+0)

8 Working today

Posted by: Skip at September 19, 2026 04:37 AM (Ia/+0)

9 4 Pixy, are you Batman?
Posted by: m

You can't just ask someone that!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 19, 2026 04:37 AM (BLOW1)

10 She put the lime in the coconut

Posted by: Tuna at September 19, 2026 04:37 AM (lJ0H4)

11 >>>Nilsson Schmilsson

It's a great album title.

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 04:38 AM (odBC9)

12 Mornin'

The funny part is that while it does have a common name, nobody knows where the name comes from; it's not derived from a Spanish or native word. It's called the tilcayo because that's what it's called.

Aliens...

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at September 19, 2026 04:44 AM (+YRf1)

13 9 4 Pixy, are you Batman?
Posted by: m

You can't just ask someone that!
Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 19, 2026 04:37 AM (BLOW1)

A little boy asked Mr. Trump that!

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 04:46 AM (odBC9)

14 Cool outside, summer is almost done
Have a great day horde

Posted by: Skip at September 19, 2026 05:03 AM (Ia/+0)

15 Harry Nilsson - Coconut

I listened to the whole thing.

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 05:04 AM (odBC9)

16
Asmongold & his girlfriend Kaise react to his social credit score.

Kinda cute.
Kinda long (29 minutes).

https://tinyurl.com/2xexk7sm

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 05:08 AM (odBC9)

17 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at September 19, 2026 05:08 AM (V0/Sp)

18 There has been a fox screaming out back when I take out the bird feeders. This AM there were two doing call and response.

Posted by: fluffy at September 19, 2026 05:10 AM (V0/Sp)

19 >>>Nilsson Schmilsson

The song Jump Into The Fire from that album sits at the top of my desert island 50 playlist.

Posted by: fluffy at September 19, 2026 05:12 AM (V0/Sp)

20 Good Morning all, kitty is a predator, lives in a jungle. Claude AI is a predator that exists in a computer and attacks other systems. I wonder if this is how Skynet came about.

Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen? at September 19, 2026 05:13 AM (Q/FnY)

21 >>>claims that airgapped AI systems can communicate by overclocking their CPUs and using their thermal sensors to pick up changes in ambient temperature

= Ambient Irony

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 05:15 AM (odBC9)

22 Good morning! Looks like only a couple of more days of bumping the high 90s before it drops off by about 10 degrees. Gonna have to start renovating flower beds here in a couple of weeks.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at September 19, 2026 05:15 AM (3Ope8)

23 the bio on the WCCFTech author needs an editor:

About the author:

Writing is my one incontrovertible passion.

Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025.

As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 05:24 AM (odBC9)

24 Good morning morons

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 19, 2026 05:25 AM (RIvkX)

25 Harry Nilsson - Jump Into The Fire

https://www.youtube.com/watchv=CfjNpgZ4C5Q

Posted by: fluffy at September 19, 2026 05:26 AM (V0/Sp)

26 >>> author needs an editor

Evergreen

Posted by: fluffy at September 19, 2026 05:29 AM (V0/Sp)

27 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at September 19, 2026 05:30 AM (Hbeqj)

28 It's called the tilcayo because that's what it's called.

That's easy. The Bolivians just went down to those nice ladies at the projects and asked for a name.

Posted by: Ronald Hellesvig at September 19, 2026 05:34 AM (4CkCb)

29 25 Harry Nilsson - Jump Into The Fire

https://www.youtube.com/watchv=CfjNpgZ4C5Q
Posted by: fluffy at September 19, 2026 05:26 AM (V0/Sp)

I'm there.

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 05:34 AM (odBC9)

30 15 Harry Nilsson - Coconut

I listened to the whole thing.
Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 05:04 AM (odBC9)

I'm not sure I ever heard the whole thing before. I don't remember the part where the doctor repeats it back disbelievingly. I think it was just a meme song that people inserted snippets of.

Posted by: SciVo at September 19, 2026 05:43 AM (ke3zm)

31 29 25 Harry Nilsson - Jump Into The Fire

https://www.youtube.com/watchv=CfjNpgZ4C5Q
Posted by: fluffy at September 19, 2026 05:26 AM (V0/Sp)

I'm there.
Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 05:34 AM (odBC9)

Needs a ? between watch and v, or just use this:

https://youtu.be/CfjNpgZ4C5Q

Posted by: SciVo at September 19, 2026 05:49 AM (ke3zm)

32 Sept. 18, 1:10 p.m. After roaming San Francisco’s Outer Sunset neighborhood, a mountain lion was tranquilized and has been fitted with a satellite tracking collar, California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Peter Tira told SFGATE. The animal is expected to be returned to the wild.
San Francisco police said officers were dispatched around 7:42 a.m. on Friday to the 2500 block of 44th Avenue after receiving reports of a possible mountain lion. Officers located the animal near 44th Avenue and Ulloa Street and kept it in sight while waiting for other agencies to arrive. Police told nearby residents to shelter in place while officials handled the animal. The advisory has since been lifted. --SFGate

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 19, 2026 05:51 AM (RIvkX)

33
Wccftech =

Wccf (Where Consumers Come First) tech

(legal name: WCCF TECH INC.)

https://wccftech.com/about

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 05:55 AM (odBC9)

34 Country singer Alan Jackson sings old time hymn- "How great thou art.":

https://tinyurl.com/b76ekjyu

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 19, 2026 06:05 AM (JrHfD)

35 Pelican in Florida looking for help uses its beak to tap on window. Sunny Skyz site:

https://tinyurl.com/26c7bzpy

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 19, 2026 06:12 AM (JrHfD)

36 Guterres ‘deeply regrets’ US decision to bar Abbas from UN General Assembly
UN chief Guterres says he “deeply regrets" the US decision to deny Mahmoud Abbas a visa, preventing him from attending the UN General Assembly in person.
=====

Dear Antonio,

Get the fvck out. Take your third world mutant army with you. Lagos awaits and will welcome you. Make sure to leave the keys.

No Regerts,
Franpsycho

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 19, 2026 06:15 AM (RIvkX)

37 Rescue dog reaches out paw to pray with priest during service:

https://tinyurl.com/b7f7ayzk

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 19, 2026 06:18 AM (JrHfD)

38 Evening, Saturday toilers! Morning, early weekend risers!

'Tis actually less hot here this morning. My avowed plan is to go for a half-hour brisk walk around six. Of course, now that I've said that, the plan sounds exhausting and my motivation, that slacker, will contrive to slip away. I shall confine it.

The furry thugs are well. Dagny the Aloof actually slept on a cushion on my lap for nearly half an hour last night while we watched The Sheep Detectives.

Howz yer weekend look?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 19, 2026 06:21 AM (wzUl9)

39 Today will be Girl F.'s baby shower. Everyone is in a state of high anxiety.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 19, 2026 06:26 AM (RIvkX)

40 The Tilcayo: The look in those eyes is 100% "I'm going to eat your skull."

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines. at September 19, 2026 06:28 AM (O7YUW)

41 @38/Wolfus: "Dagny the Aloof actually slept on a cushion on my lap for nearly half an hour last night while we watched The Sheep Detectives."

Dawww. Now that's true trust right there. Speaks very well of you, Wolfus.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines. at September 19, 2026 06:30 AM (O7YUW)

42 Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 19, 2026 06:26 AM (RIvkX)

I'm sure it will all work out. Have a lovely time!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 19, 2026 06:31 AM (JrHfD)

43 The tilcayo is what, three pounds fully grown? Little Dagny La Siberienne weighed close to that when I adopted her at five months. Yes, she was underweight for her breed -- competition for food at her cattery, I guess. She has filled out tremendously in the four years since then and is healthy. But . . . three pounds?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 19, 2026 06:32 AM (wzUl9)

44 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 19, 2026 06:21 AM (wzUl9)

Aww! That's sweet about Danny and "Sheep Detectives". Good film!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 19, 2026 06:33 AM (JrHfD)

45 @38/Wolfus: "Dagny the Aloof actually slept on a cushion on my lap for nearly half an hour last night while we watched The Sheep Detectives."
*
Dawww. Now that's true trust right there. Speaks very well of you, Wolfus.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines. at September 19, 2026

***
Oh, she's quite trusting generally. She rolls on her back for belly petting, and loves it. She's just The Cat Who Walks By Herself. I have to scoop her up and put her on the cushion, you understand; she's not a lap cat like big black Stirling, who often hops up here while I'm posting and nudges me until I clear my lap for him.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 19, 2026 06:34 AM (wzUl9)

46 Thank you dear. I'll have a great time.

First-time parents are so cute, so innocent.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 19, 2026 06:36 AM (RIvkX)

47
A new cat species? Apart from the Midnight Hairball Hacker? The Avoidant Polydactyl? The Greater Striped Lizard Bringer?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 19, 2026 06:37 AM (eRlcH)

48 Oh, she's quite trusting generally. She rolls on her back for belly petting, and loves it. She's just The Cat Who Walks By Herself. I have to scoop her up and put her on the cushion, you understand; she's not a lap cat like big black Stirling, who often hops up here while I'm posting and nudges me until I clear my lap for him.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 19, 2026 06:34 AM (wzUl9)
---
Not every cat is a lap kitty.

I wonder how they choose if they are going to be a lap kitty or not.

Allie is about the only "true" lap kitty I have right now.

Penny is only a lap kitty when I'm on a Zoom call.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at September 19, 2026 06:37 AM (FZ29D)

49 Aww! That's sweet about Danny and "Sheep Detectives". Good film!
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 19, 2026

***
It was a good movie indeed. Not only does it have a charming premise, but also witty and funny dialog, and a real mystery with a thunderbolt ending -- you are made to look in the wrong direction for the culprit -- and fair clues. One clue is pushed right in your face during a comic scene, and you forget all about it while you're laughing. But it turns out to be important.

According to IMDb, the movie was pitched to Hugh Jackman as "Babe Meets Knives Out." Pretty accurate!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 19, 2026 06:38 AM (wzUl9)

50 That OpenAI 'researcher' apparently has a large air gap between the ears.

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 19, 2026 06:40 AM (2GVsD)

51 I thot I saw a new puddytat

Posted by: r hennigantx at September 19, 2026 06:46 AM (/+uur)

52 Good evemorning! Finally sleepy. Happy Caturday!

Posted by: SciVo at September 19, 2026 06:51 AM (ke3zm)

53 Students applying to the University of Texas at Austin can no longer select Women’s and Gender Studies, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies or African and African Diaspora Studies as majors.

Sham a lama
Ding Dong

Posted by: r hennigantx at September 19, 2026 06:54 AM (/+uur)

54 Good morning, everybody

I looked up the lyrics to "Coconut". I shouldn't have bothered.
Still, a catchy tune!

Posted by: JM in Illinois at September 19, 2026 06:58 AM (gb+eN)

55 Ghost in the Machine is a new PBS documentary that asserts the origins of computer AI is rooted in the eugenics movement from roughly a century ago. Of course this led directly to the white male patriarchy of Silicon Valley.

That's one perspective.

Another one is that PBS needs to be shoved into a locker.

The whole thing is available on YouTube.

Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My president has convictions. at September 19, 2026 07:01 AM (VyD10)

56 55 That's one perspective.
Another one is that PBS needs to be shoved into a locker.
Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My president has convictions. at September 19, 2026 07:01 AM (VyD10)

It's a thing!

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 07:04 AM (odBC9)

57 So the yearly bribe from the New Jersey govt has arrived-The property Tax rebate check. How stupid do they think we are?!! Maybe they could just lower taxes? Nope!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 19, 2026 07:05 AM (opgvM)

58 Because it's entirely a happy coincidence that it arrives during election season . Suuure!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 19, 2026 07:09 AM (opgvM)

59 The Sunny Skyz stories really warm.the heart! Thanks!

Posted by: JM in Illinois at September 19, 2026 07:10 AM (gb+eN)

60
Students applying to the University of Texas at Austin can no longer select Women’s and Gender Studies, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies or African and African Diaspora Studies as majors.

It is the end of scholarship as we know it.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 19, 2026 07:12 AM (eRlcH)

61 Ghost in the Machine sounds so much better in the original Klingon - Deux ex Machina.

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 19, 2026 07:12 AM (2GVsD)

62 >>> 55 Ghost in the Machine is a new PBS documentary that asserts the origins of computer AI is rooted in the eugenics movement from roughly a century ago. Of course this led directly to the white male patriarchy of Silicon Valley.

That's one perspective.

Another one is that PBS needs to be shoved into a locker.

The whole thing is available on YouTube.
Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My president has convictions. at September 19, 2026 07:01 AM (VyD10)

HA!

Did pee BS' show tell us about the role in these 'AI origins' played by Margaret Sanger?

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 19, 2026 07:15 AM (+fdRY)

63 Immigrants applying to live permanently in the United States can be rejected if they receive public benefits, beginning this week.

Use of Medicaid, food stamps, tuition assistance and free school lunch programs, among other government assistance, could all be grounds for denying a green-card application.

100 year old law is still the law.

Posted by: r hennigantx at September 19, 2026 07:21 AM (/+uur)

64
100 year old law is still the law.
Posted by: r hennigantx at September 19, 2026 07:21 AM (/+uur)

__________

Has it not always been, and the mind of man runneth not to the contrary, that immigrants were not to be a burden on the public fisc?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 19, 2026 07:23 AM (eRlcH)

65 “…. white male patriarchy of Silicon Valley.”

Hey PBS: name one white guy in Silicon Valley. Homosexuals don’t count.

Posted by: Going deep. Out. at September 19, 2026 07:25 AM (aqrdH)

66 PBS can never say that the only true remnant of the Eugenics movement is planned parenthood.

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 19, 2026 07:27 AM (sTKQb)

67 Let's review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SySZdvsFYt4

ode to spot

Posted by: what the cat drug in at September 19, 2026 07:29 AM (jrgJz)

68 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at September 19, 2026 07:30 AM (2Ez/1)

69 mornin yall. The Kennedy Center is should be torn down and carted away, like the Kennedy legacy.

Posted by: fd at September 19, 2026 07:37 AM (MWfyi)

70 It occured to me, what would have happened if Lindsay's kids got together and strangled her?

Posted by: fd at September 19, 2026 07:46 AM (MWfyi)

71 mornin yall. The Kennedy Center is should be torn down and carted away, like the Kennedy legacy.
Posted by: fd at September 19, 2026 07:37 AM (MWfyi)

So... Cover it in tanning lamps, chisel some pecs on to it, turn it in to a health food store, and make it work for Trump.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at September 19, 2026 07:46 AM (aKiSo)

72 We have an indoor/outdoor cat, mostly hangs around the back yard. Starting Thursday he disappeared for about 36 hours, my wife was distraught, was sure he’d been killed somehow. So last night he just wandered back, acting very well fed. Like nothing had happened, he didn’t even apologize or anything.

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 19, 2026 07:48 AM (sTKQb)

73 55 Ghost in the Machine is a new PBS documentary that asserts the origins of computer AI is rooted in the eugenics movement from roughly a century ago. Of course this led directly to the white male patriarchy of Silicon Valley.

That's one perspective.

Another one is that PBS needs to be shoved into a locker.

The whole thing is available on YouTube.
Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My president has convictions.

New from PBS! EVERYTHING WE DISAGREE WITH IS WHITE SUPREMACY!!!

This is just using the same old template. Probably find the same PBS documentary from 10 years ago but 'CLIMATE CHANGE'.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at September 19, 2026 07:48 AM (sAmhv)

74 "Tech Bros."

Fully semi-automatic assault businessmen with the thing that goes up.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at September 19, 2026 07:54 AM (aKiSo)

75 Noodity.

Posted by: Noodist at September 19, 2026 08:08 AM (2Ez/1)

76 72 We have an indoor/outdoor cat, mostly hangs around the back yard. Starting Thursday he disappeared for about 36 hours, my wife was distraught, was sure he’d been killed somehow. So last night he just wandered back, acting very well fed. Like nothing had happened, he didn’t even apologize or anything.
Posted by: Tom Servo at September 19, 2026 07:48 AM (sTKQb)

youre his side family

Posted by: r hennigantx at September 19, 2026 08:10 AM (/+uur)

77 60- better idea. Say that Math identifies as Gender Studies, Civics identifies as Chicano Studies and Economics identifies as Black Studies.

But watch out for attempts to smuggle reparations demands in any math or economics courses. I'll liquidate everything I own into cash and burn it before those c*cksuckers get a dime.

Posted by: vivi at September 19, 2026 09:07 AM (jC0jb)

78 72 We have an indoor/outdoor cat, mostly hangs around the back yard. Starting Thursday he disappeared for about 36 hours, my wife was distraught, was sure he’d been killed somehow. So last night he just wandered back, acting very well fed. Like nothing had happened, he didn’t even apologize or anything.
Posted by: Tom Servo at September 19, 2026 07:48 AM (sTKQb)

Keep us posted on how you keep him from doing that again!

Posted by: m at September 19, 2026 09:34 AM (odBC9)

79 To be fair, there are real-world proof-of-concept exploits based on using every PC's built-in speaker as both microphone and speaker to spread malware via ultrasound.

Posted by: Daniel Ream at September 19, 2026 02:01 PM (9zdV7)

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