Daily Tech News 1 December 2025

Top Story

Would you like to buy a clue... For $1 million? (AP)

There's a sculpture called Kryptos at the CIA offices in McLean, Virginia, which contains four panels of encrypted text. Three have been decrypted by puzzle-solvers, but the fourth has defied all attempts since the installation was created in 1990.

The artist, now aged 80, has auctioned off his notes and clues to the contents of that fourth panel... For close to $1 million.

Tech News

LLVM-MOS is a fork of the LLVM compiler suite for the 6502. (LLVM-MOS)

It supports everything from the Ohio Scientific Challenger 1, which shipped in 1976, to the Commander X16, which shipped as a developer edition last year and is available for purchase right now.
Google Antigravity just wiped my D drive. (Reddit)

Not my D drive. It's AI shit and I don't give AI shit access to anything I don't want destroyed.
Looking at a water-cooled RISC-V AI workstation. (The Register)

It costs $12,000, but it has four AI accelerator cards each with four 800Gb Ethernet ports. So if nothing else it's an astonishingly fast router.
The Lotus Diplomat is a double-wide Blackberry. (Notebook Check)

It has a 5" 2560x1920 screen - and a 1" secondary screen - and a QWERTY keyboard with a number row at the top and a function/punctuation row at the bottom. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite and equipped with 24GB of RAM and 1.5TB of storage.

Price is not mentioned, and you might be best off not asking.
AI is transforming spacecraft propulsion - and may lead to nuclear-powered rockets. (Fast Company) (archive site)

No it isn't, and no it won't.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: I'm the wonderer. Rebel without a clue.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 G'Day 3

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2025 04:00 AM (Ia/+0)

2 Everyone

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2025 04:01 AM (Ia/+0)

Posted by: Fluffy Nuggets, Jr at December 01, 2025 04:01 AM (iJ4PV)

4 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at December 01, 2025 04:03 AM (sAmhv)

5 How much does it cost to wipe a D drive?

$20. Same as in town.

Posted by: recycled joke department at December 01, 2025 04:03 AM (WkLxi)

6 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 01, 2025 04:05 AM (mOv6P)

7 Dion is still with us.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 01, 2025 04:09 AM (mOv6P)

8 And still working. His latest single came out earlier this year.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 01, 2025 04:14 AM (BLOW1)

9 Heh! Dudes 86! Good for him!

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at December 01, 2025 04:16 AM (sAmhv)

10 AI is the twisted-coding, high-speed equivalent of the green movement's solar power.

It's not just a bubble, it's a shart.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at December 01, 2025 04:17 AM (abmp2)

11 Reddit has blocked me, or Pixy? ?.
Oh well.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at December 01, 2025 04:18 AM (KaHlS)

12 11 Reddit has blocked me, or Pixy? ?.
Oh well.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at December 01, 2025 04:18 AM (KaHlS)

Man. What a blow to the internet. InspiredHistoryMike is banned. By somebody. Somewhere. Man.

Posted by: Life is Pain at December 01, 2025 04:20 AM (s76Rv)

13 Read Dion's Wiki page. He seems normal.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at December 01, 2025 04:22 AM (sAmhv)

14 Good morning. Pretty chilly here in Cowtown, about 36 with only 41 on tap for later this afternoon. Got the tree up and the lights on. Gotta get 'nog and cider so the grandkids can put the ornaments on after dinner tonight.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at December 01, 2025 04:26 AM (3Ope8)

15 13 Read Dion's Wiki page. He seems normal.
Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at December 01, 2025 04:22 AM (sAmhv)

If you play his albums backward on vinyl it's all speeches about how legalizing cannibalism is the true libertarian position.

Posted by: Dion thinks we're meat at December 01, 2025 04:28 AM (96SAf)

16 Man who had been in the military reflects on James: 1:1-8 and perseverance in Christ:

https://tinyurl.com/mwuavmp8

Posted by: FenelonSoije at December 01, 2025 04:38 AM (As86G)

17 For all the Linux Fans around here, this just dropped yesterday:

Where Linus Sebastian, creator of Linus Tech Tips, meets, interviews, and builds an AMD Threadripper system for Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux.

https://youtu.be/mfv0V1SxbNA

It's actually a decent interview of Linus by Linus.
I don't know anything about Torvalds, but he's got a pretty good sense of humor as far as I can tell, and I learned a few things.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 01, 2025 04:39 AM (6ydKt)

18 IF I CHANGE MY UNDERWEAR WILL YOU FINALLY LOVE ME!?

Posted by: MUMR at December 01, 2025 04:41 AM (1OGkI)

19 Instrumental music of hymns and scenery:

https://tinyurl.com/4mhjrce8

Posted by: FenelonSoije at December 01, 2025 04:45 AM (PFs9e)

20 The remaining features of the BlackBerry-esque smartphone include an IR blaster, so the Lotus Diplomat can be used as a TV remote, for instance.

Always a hand dandy feature in a phone that will probably cost $3000.

The Lotus watchface in the middle of the keyboard is... something.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 01, 2025 04:52 AM (6ydKt)

21 Oh, now I see the watchface is a 1"-sized Always-On IPS display.

The small display has two operating modes. When the device is in active use, the small display works in conjuction [sic] with the 4-position frame-button and, when pressed, confirms the action with an OK key. When the device is locked, the small display switches to always-on display.

You can see it on the funky-looking website.
https://www.lotus-jb.com/

If you scroll down to the bottom there's a paragraph explaining their plans and one part is to put out a watch as well, so I guess that's an explanation.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at December 01, 2025 05:01 AM (6ydKt)

22 "Three have been decrypted by puzzle-solvers, but the fourth has defied all attempts"

This seems like it would be a grok-able problem. Is Musk just not aware?

Posted by: f2000 at December 01, 2025 05:05 AM (Tqtts)

23
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 01, 2025 05:12 AM (tljrc)

24 The world has boinged 1,505,477 times.

G'morning Horde.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 01, 2025 05:17 AM (O7YUW)

25 Wow...that AI space propulsion article is a mass of bullshit. The only fact they cite is that AI is an engineering tool.

Way to extrapolate!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 01, 2025 05:18 AM (HW7D1)

26 Had French Toast and sausages but just not moving too fast

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2025 05:21 AM (Ia/+0)

27 @9/Puddleglum: "Heh! Dudes 86! Good for him!"

Tell him to avoid hanging out with James Comey.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 01, 2025 05:24 AM (O7YUW)

28 Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2025 05:21 AM (Ia/+0)

Please tell me you didn't dip your sausages in the syrup!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 01, 2025 05:26 AM (HW7D1)

29 Good morning, everyone! I now face the reality that I had to go back to work. But at least I have coffee.

Posted by: NR Pax at December 01, 2025 05:27 AM (+4yJ5)

30 I'a Owe, I'a Owe
So off to work I go
Have a great day horde

Posted by: Skip at December 01, 2025 05:28 AM (Ia/+0)

31
Large language models, insignificant accomplishments outcomes

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM} at December 01, 2025 05:31 AM (xG4kz)

32 Very cold weather moving into the NE this week, much below normal. I hope all the EV school buses run, but I'm sure the routes will have to be short, leaving kids waiting at the bus stops. I've seen this before cold start to winter and then a gradual warmup later in the month of December.

Posted by: Colin at December 01, 2025 05:33 AM (wlQdF)

33 Psalm 18:1-6:

I love you, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn[c] of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I have been saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

Posted by: FenelonSoije at December 01, 2025 05:36 AM (ZeH0U)

34
The Conversation is a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good.

Experience suggests that "experts" are all too eager to unlock their "knowledge", often to the detriment of others, the non-experts. Who get exactly what they deserve.

"No need to thank us!"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM} at December 01, 2025 05:37 AM (xG4kz)

35 Please tell me you didn't dip your sausages in the syrup!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 01, 2025 05:26 AM (HW7D1)

Have you considered seeking professional counseling for this syrup phobia of yours?

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at December 01, 2025 05:37 AM (ExV1e)

36 Top of the Morning, Tech Thread Guvnors

A bit chilly in the heartland oasis.

Posted by: Pete Bog at December 01, 2025 05:40 AM (pearg)

37
I spent yesterday with the missus in a class creating a pendant with metal clay (i.e., particles of 0.999 silver in a binder that burned away when the piece was heated in a kiln for one hour) and a small embedded gemstone. It was both educational and enjoyable.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM} at December 01, 2025 05:43 AM (xG4kz)

38 Good morning Horde, thx Pixy.
37° at the moment, going to a high of , yup, 39°. Then tomorrow 5-8 inches of snow here in Mid Hudson, out to a foot in the mountains. Skiers will be happy

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 01, 2025 05:44 AM (bfwj/)

39 Lies my defunded fake news media channel told me:

Jason Locasale @LocasaleLab
18h

This is a small window into the rot of the modern biomedical system. This NPR segment gets it completely backwards.

We’re told that a breast cancer researcher at Harvard is losing a third of her staff because of funding cuts.

What the story doesn’t say:

https://tinyurl.com/3nrt6v24

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 01, 2025 05:45 AM (mOv6P)

40
How much does it cost to wipe a D drive?

We talking about single-ply or double-ply here?

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM} at December 01, 2025 05:47 AM (xG4kz)

41 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 01, 2025 05:48 AM (Cjt/F)

42 We’re told that a breast cancer researcher at Harvard is losing a third of her staff because of funding cuts.

I'm betting that cancer researchers, particularly breast cancer researchers, could probably get reasonable funding from the public if the government weren't hoovering up every dollar in sight to funnel to their preferred causes/people.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at December 01, 2025 05:49 AM (ExV1e)

43 Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM} at December 01, 2025 05:43 AM (xG4kz)

I'm glad you enjoyed it. It sounds great !

Posted by: FenelonSoije at December 01, 2025 05:50 AM (7RYym)

44 w00t

Posted by: m at December 01, 2025 05:51 AM (RuTUS)

45 w00t
Posted by: m at December 01, 2025 05:51 AM (RuTUS)

Calm down, buddy.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at December 01, 2025 05:52 AM (ExV1e)

46
I am Brugge,
Researcher of scant recent accomplishments
Look on my research empire, Ye Mighty,
And fork over the dough!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM} at December 01, 2025 05:53 AM (xG4kz)

47 If he's retarded, then let him plead insanity.

Otherwise lock him up:

https://tinyurl.com/mu2k6v7d

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 01, 2025 05:56 AM (mOv6P)

48 24 The world has boinged 1,505,477 times.

G'morning Horde.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 01, 2025 05:17 AM (O7YUW)

; )

Posted by: m at December 01, 2025 05:58 AM (RuTUS)

49 45 w00t
Posted by: m at December 01, 2025 05:51 AM (RuTUS)

Calm down, buddy.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at December 01, 2025 05:52 AM (ExV1e)

w00t!!!

Posted by: m at December 01, 2025 05:59 AM (RuTUS)

50 Speaking of "Woot" the video in post 19 has an owl in snow at about the 18 or 19 second mark.

Posted by: FenelonSoije at December 01, 2025 06:01 AM (7RYym)

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