Daily Tech News 31 October 2026

Top Story

Binance was hacked by thieves who made off-ish with $6.3 billion. (Bleeping Computer)

I say "ish" for two reasons: First, half the funds were immediately frozen and cannot be transferred further; second, it's a bit like bank loans: When you lose $1000 in Bitcoin, you have a problem; when you lose $6.3 billion in Bitcoin the blockchain has a problem.

The attack was bootstrapped through a compromised devops laptop. The developer themselves didn't have access to do this, but they had access inside the corporate firewall so more sophisticated attacks could be launched bypassing that level of security entirely.

Tech News

Speaking of compromised devops laptops, the Visual Studio Code extension for the Claude AI tool on the Cursor platform was backdoored for twelve hours. (The Register)

That's bad. It apparently doesn't affect the mainstream Claude Code interface, only that extension for that IDE on that particular marketplace, but that's another firewall bypass in a very widely used tool.
Google's first datacenter in space is operational after launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 earlier this month. (Tech Crunch)

This is a small test run - only 1000 watts of power - and is intended to examine radiation and thermal stresses in the real environment before further deployments.
With Nvidia's RTX 5090 declared extinct in the wild, interest turned to the second-fastest model, the RTX 5080. With predictable results as the card more than doubled in price and then followed its bigger sibling across the Darwinian event horizon. (Tom's Hardware)

The 5080 was never good value, and now it's gone.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Happyween!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 w00t

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 04:01 AM (odBC9)

2 >>>The attack was bootstrapped through a compromised devops laptop.
>>>Speaking of compromised devops laptops

"Are we not men?"
"We are devops."

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 04:02 AM (odBC9)

3 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at October 31, 2026 04:14 AM (Hbeqj)

4 Skip went back to sleep.

520 All week been up this early, no point in doing that today
Posted by: Skip at October 31, 2026 02:30 AM (Ia/+0)

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 04:18 AM (odBC9)

5 Skip went back to sleep.

Guess he got some gas money and was able to make it home yesterday.

Posted by: olddog in mo at October 31, 2026 04:24 AM (Hbeqj)

6 Guten morgen, horde.

Posted by: clarence at October 31, 2026 04:27 AM (Imcic)

7 G'morning, all!

Looks like we are buying a hot-tub later this morning.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 04:27 AM (iMotb)

8
(fish swimming by other fish in tank)

MOR-ning!

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at October 31, 2026 04:28 AM (mmrXZ)

9 5 Skip went back to sleep.

Guess he got some gas money and was able to make it home yesterday.
Posted by: olddog in mo at October 31, 2026 04:24 AM (Hbeqj)

Yes, he did! From a coworker.

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 04:33 AM (odBC9)

10 *cow-orker
AoSHq style guide

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 04:33 AM (odBC9)

11 Good morning late nighters!

M you are prolific today

Posted by: Pete Bog at October 31, 2026 04:43 AM (M4Dop)

12 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at October 31, 2026 04:47 AM (L1JuH)

13 Only three more days till the political ads stop!!!

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 04:47 AM (iMotb)

14 asmongold
What the f*ck is happening in Poland??
1:16:15

https://tinyurl.com/wtuubvh4

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 04:48 AM (odBC9)

15 11 Good morning late nighters!

M you are prolific today
Posted by: Pete Bog at October 31, 2026 04:43 AM (M4Dop)

Lifics are my favorite!

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 04:48 AM (odBC9)

16 "What the f*ck is happening in Poland??'

There are a few more hits on news sites about it.

But not a great deal.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 04:56 AM (iMotb)

17 After reading this about Poland...I still have no idea who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys.

https://tinyurl.com/4er9muw9

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 04:59 AM (iMotb)

18 14 asmongold
What the f*ck is happening in Poland??
1:16:15

https://tinyurl.com/wtuubvh4
Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 04:48 AM (odBC9)

At one point, somewhat near the end, he reads out a chat comment that said "Australia is in the EU."

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 05:02 AM (odBC9)

19 Well, in Poland it's all Pollocks.

Posted by: brass tacks at October 31, 2026 05:02 AM (5bV7D)

20 17 After reading this about Poland...I still have no idea who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys.

https://tinyurl.com/4er9muw9
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 04:59 AM (iMotb)

I quit reading that pretty quickly because it seems to have been written in English by a non-native English speaker and gets confusing pretty quickly!

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

21 Yowza.

999,971 views 7h ago

asmongold
What the f*ck is happening in Poland??
1:16:15
https://tinyurl.com/wtuubvh4

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 05:07 AM (odBC9)

22
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 31, 2026 05:10 AM (AMvSw)

23 Have to go to work today. But, it’s Saturday so we don’t really work.
My total weekly commute is probably less that one day of Skip’s.

Posted by: Accomack at October 31, 2026 05:15 AM (4c58h)

24 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at October 31, 2026 05:16 AM (gA/vX)

25 I don't know a lot of 16 year olds who own a passport, and have financial assets to be able to travel by air to Ethiopia.

But then again, I don't know a lot of 16 year olds who are wanted on murder charges either.

https://tinyurl.com/3zzumncv

Seems to create as many questions as it answers.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 05:16 AM (iMotb)

26 19 Well, in Poland it's all Pollocks.
Posted by: brass tacks at October 31, 2026 05:02 AM (5bV7D)

Like Meathead on All in the Family.

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 05:16 AM (odBC9)

27 *Polacks

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 05:18 AM (odBC9)

28 Asmongold guy uses the F word about once a minute.

Posted by: No thanks at October 31, 2026 05:18 AM (gA/vX)

29 Nrg. Mornin' Horde.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 31, 2026 05:19 AM (O7YUW)

30 13 Only three more days till the political ads stop!!!
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 04:47 AM (iMotb
------

Mail!!! I made a couple of small political contributions and my mailbox gets a half a dozen fundraising requests a week. From a variety of individuals and groups. My name and addresser get sold and passed around.But it's wasted effort

Posted by: JM in Illinois at October 31, 2026 05:21 AM (jKSoO)

31 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at October 31, 2026 05:21 AM (V0/Sp)

32 >>> Birdbath status?

Water relatively clean, despite the leaves.

We have been getting bluebirds since Wednesday.

Posted by: fluffy at October 31, 2026 05:26 AM (V0/Sp)

33
Only three more days till the political ads stop!!!

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 04:47 AM

Only four more days until the 2028 election campaigns start!!!

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 31, 2026 05:28 AM (AMvSw)

34 @14/m: Perhaps you could summarize for us?

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 31, 2026 05:28 AM (O7YUW)

35 "My name and addresser get sold and passed around.But it's wasted effort"

I suspect that the same thing has happened at this end.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 05:28 AM (iMotb)

36 "Only four more days until the 2028 election campaigns start!!!"

ARGHHH!!

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 05:29 AM (iMotb)

37 25 I don't know a lot of 16 year olds who own a passport, and have financial assets to be able to travel by air to Ethiopia.

But then again, I don't know a lot of 16 year olds who are wanted on murder charges either.

https://tinyurl.com/3zzumncv

Seems to create as many questions as it answers.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at

-‐-------------

Flights run about $600 to $800 from Virginia to Ethiopia. Maybe mom and dad know a rich Nigerian prince

Posted by: JM in Illinois at October 31, 2026 05:30 AM (cJkCC)

38 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at October 31, 2026 05:35 AM (Ia/+0)

39 Patience is a virtue. But he who hesitates is lost.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at October 31, 2026 05:39 AM (aKiSo)

40 Passing this on for pookysgirl:

215 Since I won't be here for the Tech Thread: I was making sure my keyboard macros for next week were working okay. I was on my laptop, and I knew the keybinds, and so of course I opened up Notepad to check them. The first thing that popped up was a notification that Microsoft is using Notepad to train its AI. (Suspiciously, I can't find that notification back.) I tried my macros, and they would only half-work. As in, about half the time, they would only do the first of three words followed by a bunch of small o's. I have never seen anything like it. I opened a LibreOffice document, and they worked just fine.

TL,DR: Microsoft has managed to eff up Notepad.
Posted by: pookysgirl wants the degradation to stop at October 30, 2026 11:10 PM (Wt5PA)

I suggested SciTE and Notepad++ as alternatives. If someone has a better suggestion, I'm sure she'd appreciate it.

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at October 31, 2026 05:41 AM (qx7Zg)

41 Was Mgid free for weeks, something changed and its back

Posted by: Skip at October 31, 2026 05:41 AM (Ia/+0)

42 Just though t, its been 2 weeks since it rained

Posted by: Skip at October 31, 2026 05:52 AM (Ia/+0)

43 Hour of the Wolf - I use Notepad++ all the time and second that recommendation. There is a stripped-down version of Notepad around with all of Microsoft's recent clutter removed, if you want that simplicity; I'll need too look that up.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at October 31, 2026 06:00 AM (BLOW1)

44 Good morning morons

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 31, 2026 06:02 AM (RIvkX)

45 Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Rejoinder: It's ours, this time.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at October 31, 2026 06:06 AM (amcLV)

46 Fall forward or back
Nonsense fills the air tonight
Brain fried good night all

fin

Posted by: clarence at October 31, 2026 06:07 AM (Imcic)

47 Sounds like there's an owl outside.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at October 31, 2026 06:07 AM (amcLV)

48 Good Horning Pixle people, Tousi TV had a live stream going last night. It appears the Polish PM, who is an EU Globalist, launched a coup, told the President, who was on a flight, they were no longer needed. President turned around, landed and came to the Judicial bldg that was surrounded by Riot Police attaking Constitutional Court who were surrounded by protestors.

https://tinyurl.com/yts4jc3v

55 min of absolute EU fuckery.

Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen at October 31, 2026 06:08 AM (Q/FnY)

49 If you want a clean copy of Notepad, grab a copy from an old Windows 7 system, copy that into a folder, and make a shortcut to it on your desktop.

The shortcut to Notepad in the Start > Accessories menu has this as the file's location:
%windir%\system32\notepad.exe

( So probably C:\system32\notepad.exe in most installs )

And if you don't have an old Windows 7 machine running, one of your family members or friends probably has one.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 31, 2026 06:11 AM (O7YUW)

50 Dang, splng is fuxored, going back to sleep.

Good Morning, goodbye, I'm wiped out and very fubared.

Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen at October 31, 2026 06:12 AM (Q/FnY)

51 Poland should invade Brussels

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 31, 2026 06:13 AM (RIvkX)

52 34 @14/m: Perhaps you could summarize for us?
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 31, 2026 05:28 AM (O7YUW)

The President of Poland was out of the country on a trip to Africa.
The Prime Minister of Poland (Tusk) ordered police to block access to the ... Supreme Court (I think).
The President flew back.
Mostly peaceful marching in the streets.
And stay tuned.

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 06:17 AM (odBC9)

53
And if you don't have an old Windows 7 machine running, one of your family members or friends probably has one.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 31, 2026 06:11 AM

raises hand

guilty as charged, Your Honor

Posted by: AltonJackson at October 31, 2026 06:17 AM (AMvSw)

54 Evening and morning for this All Hallows, early or late!

I'm not sure, but I think Stirling the great black cat was exercising his Halloween cat privilege by jumping on me at his usual 3:45. The reason I'm not sure? I glanced at my watch, turned over, and the next thing I knew it was 5:00. Yet I don't think I slept another hour and more.

Had a confused dream about how a Moslem handed me an announcement to make about an upcoming bomb explosion. I was walking through an indoor mall, trying to find an attorney to represent me with the Feds once I made the public announcement, or a gun to protect myself from Moslems if I didn't make it. Something like that. I think.

What's going on for H'ween?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 31, 2026 06:18 AM (wzUl9)

55 52 And stay tuned.
Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 06:17 AM (odBC9)

... because of the 24/48-hour rule.

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 06:20 AM (odBC9)

56 Poland bears watching...but I don't think I will set my hair on fire.

Yet.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 06:22 AM (iMotb)

57 https://tinyurl.com/yts4jc3v

55 min of absolute EU fuckery.
Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen at October 31, 2026 06:08 AM (Q/FnY)

-------

As I understand it, Poland is resisting the E. U open borders policy. Is Hungary still resisting?

Posted by: JM in Illinois at October 31, 2026 06:23 AM (qS5GK)

58 Later this morning we're going to visit the neighborhood where I used to work. Every year in Oct., the owner of a huge house on the main avenue decorates her yard and the trees in it for Halloween with a raft of skeletons, witches, and monsters, most with some kind of punning title. for instance, this year she has a "Dolly De-Partin'," "Finding KNEE-mo," and other gags involving death and dismembered body parts. The display goes up on 10/1 and vanishes 11/1, so people cluster outside the fence all month and take pics.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 31, 2026 06:24 AM (wzUl9)

59 It is our 33rd wedding anniversary so the kids are taking Boy F. to our rich lib cousins in Presidio Heights and I am taking Mrs. F. to a fancy fixed menu place for dinner.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 31, 2026 06:24 AM (RIvkX)

60 56 Poland bears watching...but I don't think I will set my hair on fire.

Yet.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at October 31, 2026 06:22 AM (iMotb)

"Poland bears"
Polar bears?

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 06:24 AM (odBC9)

61 59 It is our 33rd wedding anniversary so the kids are taking Boy F. to our rich lib cousins in Presidio Heights and I am taking Mrs. F. to a fancy fixed menu place for dinner.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 31, 2026 06:24 AM (RIvkX)

How wonderful! Congratulations.

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 06:25 AM (odBC9)

62 Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 31, 2026 06:24 AM (RIvkX)

Congratulations! Have a wonderful time and Happy Anniversary!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 31, 2026 06:27 AM (JrHfD)

63 San Franpsycho, Congratulations on 33 years!

Posted by: JM in Illinois at October 31, 2026 06:27 AM (qS5GK)

64 As I understand it, Poland is resisting the E. U open borders policy.
---------
They were, but this Tusk dude got elected.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at October 31, 2026 06:28 AM (amcLV)

65 Broken Peach - "Thriller"

https://youtu.be/-d2NsvFU5go

Posted by: Anna Puma at October 31, 2026 06:28 AM (2GVsD)

66 Anybody going to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day on 11/5? "A penny for the Guy?" As I understand it, the British don't really do Halloween as we do, but have the tradition of wearing Guy Fawkes masks (or the kids do) on Nov. 5 to commemorate the Gunpowder Plot. Another centuries-old English tradition that will probably vanish soon with their new overlords in charge.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 31, 2026 06:29 AM (wzUl9)

67
Missed the ONT last night, but the first question was asked 30 years too late. Now, I wouldn't travel to Europe even if it was all expenses paid and Sydney Sweeney as a companion. I don't go places where I'm unwelcome. The Europeans' last living act after having their throats slit by their Musloid invaders will be to sneer at Americans.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 31, 2026 06:29 AM (eRlcH)

68 Okay, second cup of coffee down. 71 F., humidity up. Time to change, stretch, and go work out. Rain is coming; I hope it will hold off until we visit the Halloween display around 9:30.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 31, 2026 06:32 AM (wzUl9)

69
Happy anniversary and many more to San Franpsycho and the Missus.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 31, 2026 06:33 AM (eRlcH)

70 @40

>>If someone has a better suggestion, I'm sure she'd appreciate.

Sublime Text, only because installing Neovim on a win machine is a pain in the ass.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at October 31, 2026 06:35 AM (XV/Pl)

71 Thanks morons.

Hadrian, that was my thought as well last night. Where was box E? That's where I'm going.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 31, 2026 06:37 AM (RIvkX)

72 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 31, 2026 06:40 AM (VyBeY)

73 https://tinyurl.com/2wushm49

(Fortune Magazine)

So apparently the CEO of Cisco "found" a 27 year old employee by the name of "Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy" working 5 levels below him in the org chart. "Paddy" is a former founder of ... something.

And he's been given unlimited AI tokens and told to refactor Cisco's code.

Cisco, the same company that has repeatedly hard-coded root-level passwords into their router products.

This will end well. The stupid, it burns.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at October 31, 2026 06:42 AM (O7YUW)

74 Don't mind me.

Posted by: Mitch at October 31, 2026 06:45 AM (gA/vX)

75 They were, but this Tusk dude got "elected".

FIFY

as far as I'm concerned, that word always gets scare quotes until further notice.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 31, 2026 06:47 AM (VyBeY)

76 Week in Pictures

https://tinyurl.com/mrpmam7p

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 31, 2026 06:48 AM (RIvkX)

77 Wasn't 'Tusk' a Fleetwood Mac song?

Posted by: Anna Puma at October 31, 2026 06:49 AM (2GVsD)

78 Wikipedia

Donald Franciszek Tusk (born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014.

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 06:53 AM (odBC9)

79 Wikipedia

Karol Tadeusz Nawrocki (born 3 March 1983) is a Polish historian and politician who has served as the 7th president of Poland since 2025.

Posted by: m at October 31, 2026 06:54 AM (odBC9)

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