Daily Tech News 11 August 2026

Top Story

Sergey Brin has now spent $100 million opposing California's demented billionaire tax. (Tech Crunch)

The article says the tax would cost Brin $13 billion, but if so they have revised it. The original language would have hit Brin and Google co-founder Larry Page particularly hard due to how voting rights are assigned for their shares, sending his tax liabilities soaring to around $50 billion.
Speaking of demented billionaires, Mark Zuckerberg wrote an essay on why we should be thankful for AI. (Tech Crunch)

And managed to make a convincing case... For the opposition.

Tech News

TSMC can sidestep its $1 billion worth of Apple ASICs awaiting memory supplies by... Making more AI chips? (WCCFTech)

What?
TSMC doesn't have $1 billion worth of Apple ASICs awaiting memory supplies. (WCCFTech)

Supplies!
Meta's new Muse Glimmer model provides an always-on AI model that can run on consumer hardware. (Meta)

All you need is a $5000 graphics card. And to run the model in quantized (half-precision or less) mode.

You do have a $5000 graphics card, don't you?
Sorry, I meant $7000 graphics card. (Tom's Hardware)

You snoozed, you losed.
Windows 11's built-in weather app uses 1.2GB of RAM all by itself. (Tom's Hardware)

Fire, for the killing with.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Oh no, oh no!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at August 11, 2026 04:30 AM (Ia/+0)

2 w00t

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 04:31 AM (odBC9)

3 I am trying to call Nood but can't get past the Ad Guardian

Posted by: Skip at August 11, 2026 04:32 AM (Ia/+0)

4
>>>California's demented billionaire tax.
>>>Speaking of demented billionaires

haha!

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 04:35 AM (odBC9)

5 3 I am trying to call Nood but can't get past the Ad Guardian
Posted by: Skip at August 11, 2026 04:32 AM (Ia/+0)

407 Pixy's up!
Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 04:30 AM (odBC9)

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 04:35 AM (odBC9)

6 You do have a $5000 graphics card, don't you?

No, I have a $639 graphics card.

Wait, it's $659...

oops, $689.
Wait, it's $709.

Ahh screw it, it's worth about $759.

Today.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 11, 2026 04:36 AM (6ydKt)

7 Mgid makes me visit it before I can comment.

Posted by: Skip at August 11, 2026 04:38 AM (Ia/+0)

8 Pixy pun-time!

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 04:40 AM (odBC9)

9 Well my short commute job didn't last but 1 week, this long one won't be so short.

Posted by: Skip at August 11, 2026 04:40 AM (Ia/+0)

10 Disclaimer: Oh no, oh no!

Yoko?

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 04:41 AM (odBC9)

11 this long one won't be so short.
Posted by: Skip

That do be how it is.

Posted by: mikeski at August 11, 2026 04:42 AM (VHUov)

12 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at August 11, 2026 04:42 AM (sAmhv)

13 Short commute to an air conditioned building. It’s a burden.

Posted by: Accomack at August 11, 2026 04:44 AM (8jVAy)

14 My Beelink mini PC is making noises. Sounds like the fan. Probably has a ton of dust inside it. I'll use some compressed air on it later.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at August 11, 2026 04:45 AM (sAmhv)

15 Original RTX 5080 MSRP = $999

Original RTX 5090 MSRP = $1999

The 5090 is now going for $4699

And the 5080 is on track to hit the 5090 MSRP by the end of the year where it's now sitting at $1499

Jensen Huang must bathe in $100 dollar bills.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 11, 2026 04:47 AM (6ydKt)

16 I'm sure that everybody will be happy to know that my globe-trotting package, after spending an entire weekend in the lovely City by the Bay, has decided it has had enough and resumed it's trip....

...North, to Oakland, where it still dithers, apparently deciding on where to go on the next leg of its momentous journey.

If my luck holds up as it has been I'm honestly expecting to wake up and read this tomorrow:

Latest Update

Your item arrived at our USPS facility in SHANGHAI CHINA DISTRIBUTION CENTER on August 13, 2026 at 2:16 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination.

Why not?
It's a once in a lifetime trip for the little guy.
Might as well make the most it.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 11, 2026 05:04 AM (6ydKt)

17 Hello Techsters,

Will the prices for GPU and memory chips push the PC gaming business deeper into the hole from which they cannot extricate themselves?

I am not a gamer but at one point they were a huge portion of the PC market. The dearth of new games and huge memory usage pre price explosion started the collapse.

Posted by: Pete Bog at August 11, 2026 05:07 AM (U9xiT)

18 14 My Beelink mini PC is making noises. Sounds like the fan. Probably has a ton of dust inside it. I'll use some compressed air on it later.
Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at August 11, 2026 04:45 AM (sAmhv)

I was just this minute pulling up a Thunderbolt display user manual to read about the fan/vent! We do lead exciting lives.

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 05:07 AM (odBC9)

19
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at August 11, 2026 05:09 AM (AMvSw)

20 Sheena Easton looks kinda demented in that still shot.

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 05:13 AM (odBC9)

21 Looks like my Thunderbolt display has "ventilation openings," no fan.

Don’t operate your display in areas with significant amounts of airborne dust, or smoke
from cigarettes, cigars, ashtrays, stoves, or fireplaces, or near an ultrasonic humidifier
using unfiltered tap water.

Tiny airborne particles produced by smoking, cooking, burning, or using an ultrasonic humidifier with unfiltered water may, in rare instances,
enter the *ventilation openings* of your display and, under certain conditions, result in a
slight haze on the inside surface of the glass panel that covers the display.

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 05:16 AM (odBC9)

22 >>>a slight haze on the inside surface of the glass panel that covers the display

That would drive me crazy.

Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 05:17 AM (odBC9)

23 22 >>>a slight haze on the inside surface of the glass panel that covers the display

That would drive me crazy.
Posted by: m at August 11, 2026 05:17 AM (odBC9)

That's what black electrical tape is for.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at August 11, 2026 05:17 AM (Ot/FD)

24 It was lovely to take some time off from the ASHQ board yesterday , although I am very grateful for Ace and Pixy and J. J. and CBD and all the other cobs for the work they do here. I am also grateful for the conversation of the other posters. I tried not to tune into news most of the day. It felt good

At the gardens yesterday morning I saw a hummingbird, and lovely flowers including Black Eyed Susans, Purple Topped Vervain , Swamp Rose Mallow and Great Blue Lobelia.
There were also toadstools the size of very small unbrellas if you are an elf.

There were also lovely people including two co workers ( I think ) one of whom wished that I had a blessed day and a women sitting on a bench in the garden who told me she was enjoying the bird song . Even if you are a naturally a sort of introverted person. It can improve your day if you say kind things to others.

Posted by: Can't do. Sorry! at August 11, 2026 05:18 AM (JrHfD)

25 And thanks so much to the praying people who prayed for my son. He had a good day at his new job and enjoyed the people he worked with.

Posted by: Can't do. Sorry! at August 11, 2026 05:19 AM (JrHfD)

26 I am not a gamer but at one point they were a huge portion of the PC market. The dearth of new games and huge memory usage pre price explosion started the collapse.
Posted by: Pete Bog

Time to pull out that old copy of Zork! Or Fallout! Go Back to the Future!

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at August 11, 2026 05:20 AM (sAmhv)

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