Daily Tech News 5 October 2026

Top Story

Sam Altman says you have to accept some bad with the bad when it comes to AI. (Politico)

I'm sure he does.
Oh, forgot to mention: Daylight saving time has kicked in here, so I'm back to posting at 4AM ET.

Tech News

There is no plague in Buryatia. (CNN)

What a comforting "fact" that is to know.
Nvidia has introduced a $4999 version of the DGX Spark AI computer with 64GB of RAM. (The Register)

It's a $5000 RTX 5070. It's also 25% more than the original 128GB version.

Thanks, Nvidia.
Run a 125-billion parameter AI on commodity hardware. Nvidia hates this one weird trick. (GitHub)

It will work on a regular RTX 5070. Or indeed a Radeon 6700 XT from two generations ago. The Hacker News link has everyone talking about the RTX 4090 for some reason, but it's a lot more general than that.

You do need a good amount of system RAM for decent performance, but I have that, and it works on any Nvidia or AMD graphics card from the last few years with at least 12GB of RAM, something I also have.
A federal judge called Flock cameras "indiscriminate mass surveillance" and used that opinion to suppress the discovery of 91 pounds of meth in a woman's car. (Tech Crunch)

The article uses the term "alleged" here, but you can't "allege" 91 pounds of meth. That quantity has a presence all of its own.
sudo make me an ipod. (Sudo Music)

Huh. It worked.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: sudo make me a sandwich.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 w00t

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

2 Oh, forgot to mention: Daylight saving time has kicked in here, so I'm back to posting at 4AM ET.

; )

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:06 AM (odBC9)

3 There is no plague in Buryatia. (CNN)

And the Russians would NEVER lie about such a thing. Like the Chinese would NEVER lie about COVID...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 05, 2026 04:12 AM (l3cgK)

4 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at October 05, 2026 04:13 AM (u82oZ)

5 Going to try and go back to sleep.

Busy day tomorrow.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at October 05, 2026 04:14 AM (u82oZ)

6
sudo make me an ipod. (Sudo Music)
Disclaimer: sudo make me a sandwich.
sudo make me an AoSHQ Daily Tech News

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:14 AM (odBC9)

7 sudo make me an ipod. (Sudo Music)

Su-Su-Sudoooo!

Posted by: Phil Collins at October 05, 2026 04:14 AM (l3cgK)

8 Plague in Russia? Time to re-read Schlichter's "Wildfire".

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent at October 05, 2026 04:16 AM (iIyc0)

9 8 Plague in Russia? Time to re-read Schlichter's "Wildfire".

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent at October 05, 2026 04:16 AM (iIyc0)

That stupid, dumb-ass pony!
Now I've got a damned hoot-owl hooting at my windows six nights in a row.

Posted by: Michael Martin Murphey at October 05, 2026 04:17 AM (l3cgK)

10 Early Tech thread is early...

Did the clocks change in Australia already?

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:18 AM (O7YUW)

11 Never mind, Pixy already answered that. Time for coffee.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:19 AM (O7YUW)

12 G'Day everyone
Back on at 4am.now?

Posted by: Skip at October 05, 2026 04:20 AM (Ia/+0)

13 Judge Hill also took broader aim at warrantless searches of the Flock database, writing that tracking people’s location — even when they’re in public places — becomes “constitutionally problematic when law enforcement can indiscriminately and passively catalog your whereabouts over an extended period of time and then use that information for any purpose whenever convenient.”

I think this judge gets it...
Cop: "Hey, this car has out-of-state plates! Let's follow it around using Flock and see what we can fleece outta this outta-stater!"

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 05, 2026 04:20 AM (l3cgK)

14 it's 3 am in real time, get used to it

daylight sheeple time sucks camel balls

Posted by: what the cat drug in at October 05, 2026 04:21 AM (jrgJz)

15 Disclaimer: sudo make me a sandwich.

Kernel rejoinder: Set Pixy.Class = Sandwich;

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:22 AM (O7YUW)

16 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at October 05, 2026 04:24 AM (sAmhv)

17 sudo make me an ipod. (Sudo Music)

*poof!* you're an ipod

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:26 AM (odBC9)

18 I wish it was standard time all year

Posted by: Skip at October 05, 2026 04:26 AM (Ia/+0)

19 Nvidia has introduced a $4999 version of the DGX Spark AI computer with 64GB of RAM. (The Register)

It's a $5000 RTX 5070. It's also 25% more than the original 128GB version.

Thanks, Nvidia.
..........................................
Uh. I got $5.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at October 05, 2026 04:26 AM (sAmhv)

20 14 it's 3 am in real time, get used to it

daylight sheeple time sucks camel balls
Posted by: what the cat drug in at October 05, 2026 04:21 AM (jrgJz)

"Wake up, sheeple!"

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:27 AM (odBC9)

21 I wish it was standard time all year
Posted by: Skip

Same.

Posted by: JQ at October 05, 2026 04:28 AM (rdVOm)

22 Having one of those "There's Not Enough Coffee in the World" days.
As one does.

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:28 AM (odBC9)

23 youtu.be/UkLQ9ksuZKo

Devo!

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at October 05, 2026 04:28 AM (sAmhv)

24 “I wouldn’t take a trade of saying, ‘We’ll make sure there’s no major hacks, there’s no misuse of this technology, there’s zero scams, there’s zero all the other bad things that will happen,’” said Altman. “Because I think people will do tremendously — orders of magnitude more — good stuff than bad stuff.”

Tell me, Sam, when has the human race ever given you such confidence in doing more good stuff over bad stuff?
Especially in 2026?

Your own personal history should've disabused you of that notion by the time you hit college.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 05, 2026 04:31 AM (6ydKt)

25 google AI (australia seasons months)

Australia experiences four distinct seasons in most regions, running at the opposite months of the Northern Hemisphere

Spring: September to November (mild weather, blooming wildflowers)

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:31 AM (odBC9)

26 youtu.be/UkLQ9ksuZKo

Puddleglum-- I'll never be able to listen to that song again, without visualizing the scene from Heavy Metal

LMAO!

Posted by: JQ at October 05, 2026 04:32 AM (rdVOm)

27 It's a $5000 RTX 5070. It's also 25% more than the original 128GB version.

Thanks, Nvidia.

I expect the actual 5070 to cost $5000 any week now.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 05, 2026 04:32 AM (6ydKt)

28 JQ-sighting on the tech thread!
Yaaay!

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:33 AM (odBC9)

29 The article uses the term "alleged" here, but you can't "allege" 91 pounds of meth. That quantity has a presence all of its own.

No doubt.
It has "Body in the Trunk" kinda presence.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 05, 2026 04:34 AM (6ydKt)

30 25 google AI (australia seasons months)

Australia experiences four distinct seasons in most regions, running at the opposite months of the Northern Hemisphere

Spring: September to November (mild weather, blooming wildflowers)

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:31 AM (odBC9)

Thus my tongue-in-cheek comment some time in the last few weeks of:
♪Springtime for Pixy and New Zealand,
Fall for UK and France♫

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 05, 2026 04:35 AM (l3cgK)

31 Howdy, m and all...

I'm supposed to be asleep now. Hahaha, right! *sigh*

Posted by: JQ at October 05, 2026 04:35 AM (rdVOm)

32 29 The article uses the term "alleged" here, but you can't "allege" 91 pounds of meth. That quantity has a presence all of its own.

No doubt.
It has "Body in the Trunk" kinda presence.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 05, 2026 04:34 AM (6ydKt)

Well, a small body. You'd need quite a bit more meth to equal my mass...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 05, 2026 04:36 AM (l3cgK)

33 31 Howdy, m and all...

I'm supposed to be asleep now. Hahaha, right! *sigh*

Posted by: JQ at October 05, 2026 04:35 AM (rdVOm)

So am I. Woke up, went to the bathroom, couldn't fall back (daylight's saving time joke there)...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 05, 2026 04:37 AM (l3cgK)

34 30 Thus my tongue-in-cheek comment some time in the last few weeks of:

♪Springtime for Pixy and New Zealand,
Fall for UK and France♫
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 05, 2026 04:35 AM (l3cgK)

haha!

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:37 AM (odBC9)

35 🎶
91 pounds of crank on the wall,

91 pounds of crank...🎶

Posted by: JQ at October 05, 2026 04:37 AM (rdVOm)

36 @26/JQ: You and me both, and that goes for pretty much every song that movie had in its soundtrack.

Guess what song I heard in my head when Elon launched that Tesla Roadster into space?
( Visual Reminder: https://tinyurl.com/48bpm4dh )

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:38 AM (O7YUW)

37 from the Flock article:

In this case, Judge Sara Hill said the deputy should have obtained a warrant before searching the Flock database for the woman’s license plate

fair

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:40 AM (odBC9)

38 >>Guess what song I heard in my head when Elon launched that Tesla Roadster into space?

?

The one that was played on x/twitter, while it was launched?

youtu.be/9OhO-uikL1s

Posted by: JQ at October 05, 2026 04:42 AM (rdVOm)

39 Aw, jeez... I love you guys, but I seriously need to get my a$$ into bed...

Good night, all!

Posted by: JQ at October 05, 2026 04:44 AM (rdVOm)

40 sudo make me an ipod. (Sudo Music)

Huh. It worked.

It looks really nice.
For $259 it's not too terribly priced, either.

But I'm not sure about the market?
People who are trying to de-addict themselves to scrolling on their phone, but still want music?

Young kids who shouldn't have phones but deserve music?

Old people who hate phones but enjoy a phone-like mp4 player?

The photos show a WiFi symbol, so I guess you can download songs and maybe use streaming services, too, but will it work with YouTube or have a browser/apps?

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 05, 2026 04:45 AM (6ydKt)

41 @38/JQ: "The one that was played on x/twitter, while it was launched?" { Link to Radar Rider }

*laughs* They did that during the launch?

Perfection. And yes, that's the song.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:46 AM (O7YUW)

42 Judge Hill also took broader aim at warrantless searches of the Flock database, writing that tracking people’s location — even when they’re in public places — becomes “constitutionally problematic when law enforcement can indiscriminately and passively catalog your whereabouts over an extended period of time and then use that information for any purpose whenever convenient.”

“This is a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance,” Hill wrote. “It is not targeted on a single individual, as in [Carpenter v. United States, a Supreme Court case focused on how government agencies access location data from cell phones]. It is a tool that collects information about all vehicles that pass by any network-connected camera at all times, and it serves up the information to law enforcement on demand.”

Finally, I found a female judge I can agree with.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 05, 2026 04:48 AM (6ydKt)

43 song in space:

A revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.

Smithsonian Music

https://music.si.edu/video/space-oddity

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:53 AM (odBC9)

44 Belated BOING!

Post-exercise/pre-shower.

Uch.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at October 05, 2026 04:55 AM (gsBYv)

45 @40/SpeakingOf: "For $259 it's not too terribly priced, either. "

The Sansa Clip had a charge time under use of days not hours, and was about 40 each if I recall.

I swear we're regressing.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:57 AM (O7YUW)

46 40 = $40.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:57 AM (O7YUW)

47 Pixy, you're "springing back"?

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:59 AM (odBC9)

48 46 40 = $40.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:57 AM (O7YUW)

Same as in town.

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

49 @48/m: That's the two-fer package price.

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

50 Google has put a 'Suncatcher' orbital datacenter satellite up there already and the results indicate it works but needs more work:

“Our system design work to this point assumes a relatively conventional, discrete compute payload, satellite bus, thermal radiator, and solar panel design,” the paper states. “However, as has been seen in other industries (such as smartphones), massively scaled production motivates highly integrated designs (such as the system on chip, or SoC). Eventually, scaled space-based computing would similarly involve an integrated compute, radiator, and power design based on next-generation architectures, such as computational substrates based on neural cellular automata.”

Google’s researchers also found “robust optical satellite-ground communications will also be critical for scaled operation but will necessitate overcoming challenges including atmospheric turbulence, high-speed relative motion errors, and precision beam tracking.” NASA’s TeraByte Infrared Delivery (TBIRD) mission, which has demonstrated 200 Gbps ground-low-earth-orbit comms, is cited as a promising approach.

https://tinyurl.com/mpacxmwr
(TheRegister)

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 05, 2026 05:03 AM (6ydKt)

51 49 @48/m: That's the two-fer package price.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 05:01 AM (O7YUW)

There is math in that.

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 05:03 AM (odBC9)

52 Big toe was black for a year.
Didn't follow my instructions.
Did with ankle, outcome better.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _' at October 05, 2026 05:03 AM (vOxCS)

53 47 Pixy, you're "springing back"?
Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 04:59 AM (odBC9)

I guess you sprang forward. While we were waiting, on old time, in the ONT.

Posted by: m at October 05, 2026 05:05 AM (odBC9)

54 The Sansa Clip had a charge time under use of days not hours, and was about 40 each if I recall.

I swear we're regressing.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 05, 2026 04:57 AM (O7YUW)

People yearning for the days of ol' with an iPod scrolling wheel.
Never underestimate the power of nostalgia and what older people with money will pay for it.

Having said that, I doubt this iPod modern clone is going to sell amazingly, but who knows.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at October 05, 2026 05:05 AM (6ydKt)

55 In space no one can hear you sing

Posted by: Skip at October 05, 2026 05:06 AM (Ia/+0)

56
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 05, 2026 05:10 AM (AMvSw)

57 What's neat about modern audio is no adjustment for different htz registers, not even a primitive graphic equalizer. A device designed by very young or musically illiterate.
Considering only those under 30, if ever, hear a flat reproduction as produced one would think that modern sound devices would come with a superior sound board allowing adjustment for hearing deficiencies.

www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/
try it and hear what you are missing

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _' at October 05, 2026 05:14 AM (vOxCS)

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