Daily Tech News 1 November 2026

Top Story

French lawmakers have decided to do what French lawmakers have always done: Make other people pay for the problems they created. (Tom's Hardware)

In this case, they are trying to charge the companies that send data over the internet to customers in France for the data they send - at an utterly absurd 6 cents per gigabyte.

Costs to send data from a server - except for the big three cloud platforms which are wildly overpriced - start at about one cent per gigabyte at the high end, so France wants to levy a tax of 600% - on people who don't live in France.

Also, tiny problem with the article:
With approximately 154 million users and counting in France, the proposal's authors say such a tax could generate around €10 billion ($11.2 billion) in annual revenue for the government.
Yeah, I don't think so, mate. Even after being invaded by North Africa, the population of France stands at around 66 million.

Tech News

Reddit's share price has plunged by 29% after investors realised that it's Reddit. (CNBC)

You put my money into what?
Anthropic's Claude is now blocking attempts to reverse-engineer games, pushing users straight into the hands of Chinese LLMs that don't give a shit. (Tom's Hardware)

Claude wouldn't even transcribe Khatchaturian's Sabre Dance for me.
Sam Altmanette says it is "quite terrible" that the peasants have bread when he can make far better use of it in his breadcenters. (Tom's Hardware)

"Let them eat no cake", Altmanette added.
To fix remote DoS in decodeWapPdu, or not to fix remote DoS in decodeWapPdu, that is the question. (Bleeping Computer)

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the integer overflows of outrageous SMS packets...
A criminal gang spent $7216 on AI services to run extortion attacks. (The Register)

And left all its information - including decryption keys - on a public FTP server.

Oops.
NASA is asking for proposals to boost the Hubble space telescope into higher orbit, without which it will likely re-enter Earth's atmosphere in the next seven years. (Ars Technica)

Jared Isaacman proposed a mission do do this using SpaceX's Crew Dragon back in 2022, offering to fund much of the mission himself.

Jared Isaacman is now the NASA administrator.

Musical Interlude

Well, okay then.

Disclaimer: Make it DDR5 modules and you're on.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 w00t

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:00 AM (odBC9)

2 Mornin'.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 01, 2026 05:00 AM (O7YUW)

3 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 01, 2026 05:00 AM (bZzMF)

4 Ah. I see the AoSHQ clock is still following DST.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 01, 2026 05:01 AM (O7YUW)

5 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at November 01, 2026 05:02 AM (Ia/+0)

6 Guten morgen, horde.

Called the otters. Though there wasn't any posts for a while.

Posted by: clarence at November 01, 2026 05:02 AM (Imcic)

7 I wish this was the last time chage ever, I H8 it

Posted by: Skip at November 01, 2026 05:03 AM (Ia/+0)

8 The way you phrased these, it sounds like the Good Guys will ultimately win. Which, I hope so:

French lawmakers have decided to do what French lawmakers have always done: Make other people pay for the problems they created. (Tom's Hardware)

Reddit's share price has plunged by 29% after investors realised that it's Reddit. (CNBC)

Anthropic's Claude is now blocking attempts to reverse-engineer games, pushing users straight into the hands of Chinese LLMs that don't give a shit. (Tom's Hardware)

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:04 AM (odBC9)

9 Hola Techsters. Looking forward to stealing back the hour that was stolen from me last spring.

Or did I miss it already?

Posted by: Pete Bog at November 01, 2026 05:06 AM (gs4+4)

10 Up and wondering where the extra hour came from. Coffee and back to bed. Now to reset all my clocks that don't adjust themselves. I don't care which way they go, but congress talks about not doing the clock change anymore, that will mess up my atomic clocks and I'll still have to reset them.

Posted by: Colin at November 01, 2026 05:07 AM (CiQE7)

11 And, like, this sounds like good news, too. It's the Good News thread!

A criminal gang spent $7216 on AI services to run extortion attacks. (The Register)
And left all its information - including decryption keys - on a public FTP server.

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:07 AM (odBC9)

12 Evenin'

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 01, 2026 05:10 AM (pLaQB)

13 News from the tech world is showing that the 'best' and 'brightest' are often not so. And the 'bad' guys are inept but keep doing the same things over and over seemingly expecting a different result. And all of this enabled by the indifference or active malice of the ones who should be watching both sides.

Posted by: clarence at November 01, 2026 05:10 AM (Imcic)

14 Primus - The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Some skeery scenes in there.

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:13 AM (odBC9)

15 13 News from the tech world is showing that the 'best' and 'brightest' are often not so. And the 'bad' guys are inept but keep doing the same things over and over seemingly expecting a different result. And all of this enabled by the indifference or active malice of the ones who should be watching both sides.
Posted by: clarence at November 01, 2026 05:10 AM (Imcic)

And incompetence. I'm certainly techily incompetent, and there's no way "the ones who should be watching both sides" are all tech-savvy.

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:15 AM (odBC9)

16 @7/Skip: "I wish this was the last time chage ever, I H8 it"

Right there with you, Skip.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 01, 2026 05:17 AM (O7YUW)

17 Sam Altmanette says it is "quite terrible" that the peasants have bread when he can make far better use of it in his breadcenters. (Tom's Hardware)

"Let them eat no cake", Altmanette added.

You will own nothing, and LOVE it! - WEF

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 01, 2026 05:19 AM (pLaQB)

18
When the Shuttle was in business, it boosted Hubble several times. The last servicing mission, right before the Shuttle was retired, didn't boost. They replaced a lot of hardware, and that additional weight reduced the propellant margin too much and they couldn't boost it. They did however, attach a docking ring to allow some future spacecraft to easily dock with it.

Now, the orbit has decayed a little faster than expected due to increased solar activity. Cycle 25 peak was particularly "hot" compared to predictions, and that increased drag (puffs up the Erf's thermosphere).

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 01, 2026 05:22 AM (w6EFb)

19 from the French lawmakers article (from the last two lines of the French lawmakers article):

... the amendments' adoption in parliament is only the first step. If it can clear the remaining stages of France’s 2027 budget process, it can become law, with parliament scheduled to vote on the budget’s first section in early November.

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:22 AM (odBC9)

20 Mornin'

(the Evenin' was for Pixy)

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 01, 2026 05:23 AM (pLaQB)

21 French lawmakers article (archived)

https://archive.is/jKgBa

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:25 AM (odBC9)

22 Ugg. I thought that I slept to 5 o'clock and now realize it is 4:something.

Well, I guess that I get that extra back right now. Church isn't for another 3 hours plus.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at November 01, 2026 05:25 AM (LOvBA)

23 @10/Colin: "... I don't care which way they go, but congress talks about not doing the clock change anymore, that will mess up my atomic clocks and I'll still have to reset them."

There should be a setting on those clocks to follow (or not follow) DST changes.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 01, 2026 05:25 AM (O7YUW)

24 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at November 01, 2026 05:27 AM (Hbeqj)

25
Also, if the "atomic" clocks follow the protocol correctly, the DST change is triggered by data fields in the WWVB signal itself when it syncs. If the change is eliminated, that field simply won't change. They did this to allow future changes to be easily handled. No hard wired programming was required.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 01, 2026 05:27 AM (w6EFb)

26 How do the French intend to collect all that tax loot?

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 01, 2026 05:29 AM (pLaQB)

27 21 French lawmakers article (archived)

https://archive.is/jKgBa
Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:25 AM (odBC9)

The comments on the article seem pretty on-target.

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:31 AM (odBC9)

28 26 How do the French intend to collect all that tax loot?
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 01, 2026 05:29 AM (pLaQB)

from the article:

Internet service providers ... would be required to measure the volume of data and identify the companies responsible for sending it to French users.

The Data will then be collected and submitted quarterly to France’s tax administration under the supervision of telecommunications watchdog Arcep.

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:34 AM (odBC9)

29 Cats do not understand about the necessity of putting clocks back. The cat was bothering me, knocking things around on the floor , purring loudly in my ear at what I thought was 4:30, because that's what the cell phone said. Nope; it was of course, 5:30 and past his breakfast time.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 01, 2026 05:45 AM (JrHfD)

30 photo finish

438 Pixy's up!
Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:00 AM (odBC9)

439 pixy!
Posted by: clarence at November 01, 2026 05:00 AM (Imcic)

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:46 AM (odBC9)

31 Internet service providers ... would be required to measure the volume of data and identify the companies responsible for sending it to French users.

The Data will then be collected and submitted quarterly to France’s tax administration under the supervision of telecommunications watchdog Arcep.
****

This data not available in France.

Posted by: clarence at November 01, 2026 05:49 AM (Imcic)

32 Taking it from Clarice Feldman at American Thinker the Polish coup d'etat failed?

Posted by: Skip at November 01, 2026 05:50 AM (Ia/+0)

33 Good Morning everyone. Have I ever mentioned that I absolutly hate time changes and wish they would stop doing it?

Yes, I'm going back to sleep with the fond hope that the Fwench are told where to shove their data tax.

Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen at November 01, 2026 05:53 AM (Q/FnY)

34 Taking it from Clarice Feldman at American Thinker the Polish coup d'etat failed?

Posted by: Skip at November 01, 2026 05:50 AM (Ia/+0)

(Jump to top of page)
-

Why isn't Tusk in shackles, waiting for his firing squad death sentence?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 01, 2026 05:53 AM (QNSrI)

35 Back room and a 9mm lead pill in the head to be sure.

Posted by: Skip at November 01, 2026 05:55 AM (Ia/+0)

36 32 Taking it from Clarice Feldman at American Thinker the Polish coup d'etat failed?
Posted by: Skip at November 01, 2026 05:50 AM (Ia/+0)

I'm not sure where to look for reliable reports on this.

Posted by: m at November 01, 2026 05:55 AM (odBC9)

37 I am glad it is "All Saints Day" and the creepy aspects of Halloween are over..

"I see the saints of every age, of every temperament , of every condition taken together I. love them. I petition them for help and support ...I hear the voice of the Savior saying God knows how to change even stones into children of Abraham. I who am a hard and unfeeling rock..Lord, take this rock . Glorify yourself . Soften my heart....Bring it to life by your Spirit. Make it receptive to your eternal truths."

Francois Fenelon born 1651

From "The Complete Fenelon" published by Paraclete Press.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 01, 2026 05:59 AM (JrHfD)

38 Hello Switzerland!

https://tinyurl.com/zcjjzuha

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 01, 2026 06:02 AM (QNSrI)

39 I'm not sure where to look for reliable reports on this.
****

Don't expect the lamestream media to report on the coup attempt because it failed. Had it worked, the lsm would be trumpeting the brilliant and shining example of democracy in action.

Posted by: clarence at November 01, 2026 06:03 AM (Imcic)

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