Daily Tech News 20 August 2026

Top Story

Microsoft GitHub says the 8-hour outage of its systems was caused by a combination of Microsoft Azure and Microsoft VS Code. (The Register)

Have you tried turning it off and just leaving it like that?

Tech News

AI was supposed to win people over by now. It hasn't. (Tech Crunch)

I'm finding it much improved over even a year ago. If it weren't for that small detail of collapsing the entire tech economy into concentric black holes I'd feel a lot more generously inclined.
China landed a rocket. (WCCFTech)

Yes, SpaceX has been doing that a couple of times a week for years, and the Space Shuttle kinda sorta did it back in the 80s, but still, good job, China.
Anthropic and Suno have been hit by yet another billion-dollar copyright lawsuit, this time by music company Round Hill. (Hollywood Reporter)

Git 'em.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Burn this border to the ground!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:55 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 w00t

Posted by: m at August 20, 2026 04:55 AM (odBC9)

2 !!

Posted by: clarence at August 20, 2026 04:58 AM (833ut)

3 Vogue makes some decent tires. Bit pricey, though.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at August 20, 2026 04:59 AM (Ot/FD)

4 Have you tried turning it off and just leaving it like that?
****

But that would be the rational response. So, no.

Posted by: clarence at August 20, 2026 05:02 AM (833ut)

5 I use AI for recipes and movie trivia. Can't say want much more from it. I could throw a wrench in the system but is it worth my time?

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 20, 2026 05:04 AM (tvdD1)

6 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 20, 2026 05:04 AM (ntk8v)

7 Madonna - Vogue

That's where I feel so

beautiful,
magical.

Life's a ball.

(couldn't make out that last line so I googled the lyrics)

Posted by: m at August 20, 2026 05:06 AM (odBC9)

8
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at August 20, 2026 05:12 AM (AMvSw)

9 from The Register.

The Microsoft tentacle says it will correct the autoscaling policies, review retry limits, audit Istio concurrency settings, and address the VS Code behavior "that amplified Copilot token traffic."

The Microsoft ... tentacle?

Posted by: m at August 20, 2026 05:15 AM (odBC9)

10 Time marches on....Madonna's videos are still a work of video art, and when I was a young man I loved everyone of them. Now in 2026 she is an old lady and out of the news pretty much. Damn, I wish I could go back to when music videos where so good and were really video productions I loved to watch. Now most all is gone from my life, getting old like Madonna has to be hard on her and her fans alike.

Posted by: Colin at August 20, 2026 05:17 AM (CiQE7)

11 The Register:

"Complicating factors that impeded recovery included a number of scraping attacks on codeload endpoints," GitHub added.

AI:

Scraping attacks involve automated bots extracting large amounts of data, content, or pricing information from websites without permission. Attackers use these methods to steal intellectual property, undercut competitor pricing, harvest user contact details, or feed data into AI models.

Posted by: m at August 20, 2026 05:18 AM (odBC9)

12 Hello tech threaders. What’s shakin?

Posted by: Pete Bog at August 20, 2026 05:22 AM (ENCZp)

13 >>>The Microsoft ... tentacle?

Posted by: m

>No bugs there. Just massive quantities of memory, high speed, and people with no direction.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 20, 2026 05:22 AM (tvdD1)

14 The Microsoft ... tentacle?
****

I read the article and could not come up with a word to explain a typo for tentacle.

Posted by: clarence at August 20, 2026 05:25 AM (833ut)

15 I think "tentacle" is meant as read. It's just another offshoot, wildly flailing and grasping, attached to the main body of the company but still looking like it's just out there doing its own thing.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at August 20, 2026 05:27 AM (Ot/FD)

16 Geeze, if I have to wait for the pop-up ads to load before reading the blog, I have a suggestion.
Just load the daily Harry and Meghan news as a pop-up, too. I suspect I can save time that way, since I won’t be able to avoid that crap on a daily basis for the foreseeable future.

Posted by: Fenderbender at August 20, 2026 05:27 AM (1FEc1)

17 Basically just a biologically disparaging synonym for "subsidiary".

Posted by: Warai-otoko at August 20, 2026 05:28 AM (Ot/FD)

18 Can't recall if I posted this before. If so, I apologize. It's a story about a worker at a Chik- Fil- A helping to change a WWIi veteran's tire:

https://tinyurl.com/axbbpbtk

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 20, 2026 05:28 AM (wmzkx)

19 14 The Microsoft ... tentacle?
****

I read the article and could not come up with a word to explain a typo for tentacle.
Posted by: clarence at August 20, 2026 05:25 AM (833ut)

Maybe tentacle = company that has overreached and owns everything? One of the commenters says this:

Github was just fine until microshaft purchased the company, offering an amount of money I doubt anyone could refuse...
It was also fine for a few years after.
Now it's shafted - like everything microshaft buys and enshitifies.
They try to wring every last cent out of whatever they purchase because they often don't know what they've got.
The list of things they've bought and totally shafted is a long one.

Posted by: m at August 20, 2026 05:30 AM (odBC9)

20 Harry and Meghan news takes up a lot of space in news no one cares about. Maybe a website of just Harry and Meghan news would help?

Posted by: Colin at August 20, 2026 05:31 AM (CiQE7)

21 Shining Christ's light . Our Daily Bread Christian devotional on Matthew 5:13-16 followed by a prayer, some insights and additional reflections:

https://tinyurl.com/56phjycm

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 20, 2026 05:32 AM (wmzkx)

22 I don't know if anyone had an interest in this but I posted this yesterday just as someone called NOOD and everybody rushed off to a new thread Fisherman from Mexico is rescued after 15 days in an underwater cave with no light. Sunny Skyz site:

https://tinyurl.com/yuzs9ad9

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 20, 2026 05:42 AM (wmzkx)

23 >>>Harry and Meghan

They belong across the pond and Chuckles needs to reel them in before he becomes the laughingstock of the century.

Sow your wild oats, be stupid and flamboyant, and now get back to work. We don't want you here. That should be clear.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 20, 2026 05:43 AM (tvdD1)

24 I'm finding it much improved over even a year ago. If it weren't for that small detail of collapsing the entire tech economy into concentric black holes I'd feel a lot more generously inclined.

The AI corps are making their models much better every few months or so, that's for certain. What isn't clear is whether AI is actually improving productivity for workers and businesses, as was promised, or is actually causing more problems than it solves?

I guess AI may be helping in some specific industries.
We hear great things about how much it's doing in medical research, but I'm still waiting on an AI to find that cure for cancer.

Maybe they should get AI to figure out a way to lessen the amount of RAM and storage that it's sucking out of the global supply chain? We're going to have to wait a few years for all of these proposed AI-specific CPUs & GPUs to go into production to help the situation.

Data centers everywhere, and the electric bill increases it brings, is right up there with the memory & storage supply crunch as the main reasons people are going against AI the more they learn about it.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at August 20, 2026 05:43 AM (6ydKt)

25 "Singing contractors" do nice version of Christian faith song, "You raise me up.":

https://tinyurl.com/52rd39yn

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 20, 2026 05:46 AM (wmzkx)

26 For the praying people:

Please keep in prayer the husband of poster, "Tecumseh Tea", a sweet woman whose husband has 4th stage cancer. Thanks.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 20, 2026 05:48 AM (wmzkx)

27 I have used AI for language learning. I also think it’s good at finding or consolidating information - the smarter version of google.

Posted by: H at August 20, 2026 05:52 AM (w8ire)

28 Time marches on....Madonna's videos are still a work of video art, and when I was a young man I loved everyone of them. Now in 2026 she is an old lady and out of the news pretty much. Damn, I wish I could go back to when music videos where so good and were really video productions I loved to watch. Now most all is gone from my life, getting old like Madonna has to be hard on her and her fans alike.
Posted by: Colin at August 20, 2026 05:17 AM (CiQE7)

You feel sad? Wait until she dies. That's when you start missing the good ol' days.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at August 20, 2026 05:53 AM (g8Ew8)

29 Hi, everyone! It's a decent morning so far. Got started off at the gym where my knee politely asked me to go a bit lighter than usual. Since I have an appointment tomorrow with a PA, I decided to grant its request.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 20, 2026 05:56 AM (jjoN6)

30 Good morning! Sprinkler is running, dogs are fed, coffee is perc'in, and the 10 day forecast shows the heat in the triple digits till next weekend. So, summer in Cowtown.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at August 20, 2026 05:56 AM (3Ope8)

31 17 Basically just a biologically disparaging synonym for "subsidiary".
Posted by: Warai-otoko at August 20, 2026 05:28 AM (Ot/FD)

Thanks! It seemed a bit abrupt.

Posted by: m at August 20, 2026 05:57 AM (odBC9)

32 Disclaimer: Burn this border to the ground!

*points to Ceuta Spain* Nope.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at August 20, 2026 05:58 AM (O7YUW)

33 30 Good morning! Sprinkler is running, dogs are fed, coffee is perc'in, and the 10 day forecast shows the heat in the triple digits till next weekend. So, summer in Cowtown.
Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at August 20, 2026 05:56 AM (3Ope

"Crotchety"? You're soundin' kinda perky.

Posted by: m at August 20, 2026 05:59 AM (odBC9)

34 >>>Time marches on....Madonna's videos are still a work of video art, and when I was a young man I loved everyone of them. Now in 2026 she is an old lady and out of the news pretty much.

>My affinity extended to Madonna's 29 year old titties. Can't say I was a fan of her music.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 20, 2026 06:00 AM (tvdD1)

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