Daily Tech News 8 November 2026

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AMD's Zen 6 cores aren't quite here yet but benchmarks of engineering samples are leaking out and it looks like what we hoped to see with Zen 5. (WCCFTech)

Compared with a 12-core Zen 5 Ryzen 370, the unnamed 10-core sample is 32% faster on single-threaded tasks - a huge jump for a single generation - and 21% faster multi-threaded despite having two fewer cores.

If the leaks that Zen 6 will have 50% more cores are true and its per-core performance is 30% faster, that will put desktop parts at nearly twice the performance of Zen 5.

We don't know how many graphics cores will ship in the laptop parts, but benchmarks of the same engineering sample's four-core integrated GPU placed it a little ahead of the current 860M's eight cores thanks to an update to the newer RDNA4 architecture used in AMD's 9000-series graphics cards.

All in all a solid advance arriving at a time when nobody can afford the hardware to go with it. Good for people running on older AMD hardware - or even those sitting on Intel systems with DDR5 memory.

Tech News

Speaking of Intel, the company's new Nova Lake desktop chips will start arriving early next year, though the high-end 52-core parts might be nearly a year away. And then in 2028, it will be followed by Razor Lake. (WCCFTech)

For which we have no details at all except that it will fit on the same motherboards.
8GB is the new 16GB says Microsoft. (Windows Latest)

I plugged in my old laptop with its 8GB of RAM and powered it up, and it... Worked just fine actually, but was using 75% of its RAM by the time it reached the Windows desktop. We'll see if the improvements make it useful or if it's time to put Linux on it.
Speaking of which Electron must die and probably will. (Windows Latest)

Tests of Discord's new desktop app - which moves from Electron to native Windows code written in Rust - reduces the app's memory footprint by 70%.

That is the sort of thing that can make an 8GB laptop useable.
Claude Code will put passwords you give it into files inside your code repository and commit the files to GitHub... Sometimes. (Apiiro)

Only 1% of the repositories checked are affected, but there are a lot of such repositories.
Are the impressive coding test scores on some AI models are result of "teaching to test" - developers training the model to answer known test questions rather than the much harder task of improving the model generally? It will surprise few to learn that the answer is often yes. (MaxxBench)

Tests that changed the questions did not much faze Claude and ChatGPT, but Chinese models like DeepSeek and Qwen fell off a cliff.
Figured out what those 8" iron staples were used for, and also why I didn't work it out earlier. The ones I found last year in the first stage of the garden project were twisted and mangled as if they had been pulled out of something and discarded.

The one I discovered yesterday buried straight down in hard clay was still fulfilling its duty - pinning down a tree root that was close to the surface.

So I'll need to work around them (and the roots) rather than dig them out.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Living in the fridge.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 08, 2026 04:01 AM (C6GAH)

2 I see 04:00 isn't happening exactly at 04:00, again.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 08, 2026 04:02 AM (O7YUW)

3 Your job to drop the NOOD in the ONT, Biden's Dog.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 08, 2026 04:03 AM (O7YUW)

4 Disclaimer: Living in the fridge.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM
-

No better way to extend your shelf life!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 08, 2026 04:03 AM (C6GAH)

5 Your job to drop the NOOD in the ONT, Biden's Dog.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 08, 2026 04:03 AM (O7YUW)
-

I don't do ~~Windows~~ noods.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 08, 2026 04:04 AM (C6GAH)

6 Morning from the East Coast where i'm visiting mom for her 91st birthday. Not much QoL but she enjoyed having her kids with her. Somehow it's after 4 a.m. Flying home this evening.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatl at November 08, 2026 04:20 AM (xn+sS)

7 >> I see 04:00 isn't happening exactly at 04:00, again.

Time runs differently Down Under. The greatest scientific minds in the world are at a loss to explain.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 08, 2026 04:23 AM (w6EFb)

8 @7/publius:

Daaaaad, the Koala ate my scheduler!

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 08, 2026 04:24 AM (O7YUW)

9 w00t late

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 04:35 AM (odBC9)

10 >>>Figured out what those 8" iron staples were used for

cool

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 04:42 AM (odBC9)

11 Mornin' m.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 08, 2026 04:42 AM (O7YUW)

12 11 Mornin' m.
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 08, 2026 04:42 AM (O7YUW)

Well-nooded!

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 04:48 AM (odBC9)

13 Chesterton's staples...

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent at November 08, 2026 04:56 AM (iIyc0)

14 It's been wild watching the "minimum/recommended" standard of memory change over the years, but the recent (and quite sudden) retreat back to 8 gigs from 64 (possibly even 128 gigs) is ... disturbing.

C'mon bubble, pop already.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant, a Moron behind enemy lines at November 08, 2026 05:01 AM (O7YUW)

15 G'Day everyone
Can't get up this late tomorrow

Posted by: Skip at November 08, 2026 05:18 AM (Ia/+0)

16 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 08, 2026 05:27 AM (Iz+f5)

17 13 Chesterton's staples...
Posted by: Additional Blond Agent at November 08, 2026 04:56 AM (iIyc0)

Exactly!

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 05:42 AM (odBC9)

18 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at November 08, 2026 05:51 AM (V0/Sp)

19 17 13 Chesterton's staples...
Posted by: Additional Blond Agent at November 08, 2026 04:56 AM (iIyc0)

Exactly!
Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 05:42 AM (odBC9)

And the walls come tumblin' down!

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 05:52 AM (odBC9)

20 >>> Chesterton's staples

He got around

Posted by: fluffy at November 08, 2026 05:53 AM (V0/Sp)

21 Evening and morning for this first -- no, wait, the second Sunday in this November! So we're going to have a Friday the 13th this week. Not bothering me; I've never had any worse luck on a Friday 13 than I have any other day, and no better luck either.

What's goin' on?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 08, 2026 05:57 AM (56Qyq)

22 Dreamed that I was working as a courier again in a van for FedEx or a similar corporation. On my first day with two other new guys, we immediately fell behind on deliveries because we kept getting in traffic jams caused by other people's accidents. When we at last got back to the terminal, the big brass -- who seemed all to look like glossy Fox News-type women -- called us in to interrogate us about it. It went on and on, until I realized they had called in a second team of questioners, to wear us down.

In the dream I was retired and didn't need the job. I stood up and told the brass it was my fault, not my co-workers', to try to save their jobs. Then I woke up -- so I have no idea if my "Spartacus" moment worked.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 08, 2026 06:03 AM (56Qyq)

23 Chesterton, G. K.
(1874–1936), English essayist, novelist, and critic; full name Gilbert Keith Chesterton.

His novels include The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904) and a series of detective stories featuring Father Brown, a priest with a talent for crime detection.

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 06:05 AM (odBC9)

24

https://www.chesterton.org

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 06:07 AM (odBC9)

25 Do check out Venus, just looked and it's bright as a mofo just over the horizon now about an hour before sunrise. You'll note a star close by and that's Spica.

Posted by: Publius on Stupid Phone at November 08, 2026 06:08 AM (w6EFb)

26 Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Rejoinder: Fridge ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 08, 2026 06:09 AM (amcLV)

27 There were a whole slew of people with cameras and telescopes in a local park looking at Venus and the slim crescent moon.
Stellarium pointed out to me Jupiter and Mars way up in the sky.

Posted by: Accomack at November 08, 2026 06:13 AM (T1QkV)

28 uh-oh ...

Steven Victor ***Tallarico*** (born March 26, 194

, known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 06:13 AM (odBC9)

29 The 1958 film version of Mailer's The Naked and the Dead, with Cliff Robertson and Raymond Massey, is on Movies! There's a metric ton of other familiar faces, like William (Squire of Gothos) Campbell, Joey Bishop, and Aldo Ray.

IMDb says Mailer called it the worst movie he'd ever seen.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 08, 2026 06:16 AM (56Qyq)

30 Steven Victor ***Tallarico*** (born March 26, 1948 ), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith
Posted by: m at November 08, 2026

***
To me he's best known as the father of the beautiful Liv Tyler.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 08, 2026 06:17 AM (56Qyq)

31 Its not Venus, its a UFO

Posted by: Skip at November 08, 2026 06:18 AM (Ia/+0)

32 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at November 08, 2026 06:18 AM (JbKjK)

33 31 Its not Venus, its a UFO
Posted by: Skip at November 08, 2026 06:18 AM (Ia/+0)

Venus, make her fair
A lovely girl with sunlight in her hair
And take the brightest stars up in the skies
And place them in her eyes for me

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 06:20 AM (odBC9)

34 Amazin': It's 55 F., a 9 mph NNE wind giving a "wind chill" of 53. Very nice workout weather! And temps are not supposed to exceed 75 all week. Perhaps it's time to clay and hand-wax the car.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 08, 2026 06:22 AM (56Qyq)

35 G'morning. all!

48.0 degrees out, a sharp 11.8 degree drop from this time yesterday morning.

Mrs VIA completed her 5K yesterday morning with a respectable 3rd place finish in her age group, and in the top 30% overall with runners who are much younger than her 29 years of age.

On the technical side, upgrading the LED fence lighting around the perimeter of the back yard requires me to splice in a 27" length of wire going up the face of the fence to go from the ground mounted low voltage feed wire to the top of the fence mounted lights. There are only 12 of them so I should finish after church today.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 08, 2026 06:22 AM (iMotb)

36 35 Mrs VIA completed her 5K yesterday morning with a respectable 3rd place finish in her age group, and in the top 30% overall with runners who are much younger than her 29 years of age.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 08, 2026 06:22 AM (iMotb)

Yay, Mrs VIA!

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 06:23 AM (odBC9)

37 Mornin', Horde. 26 degrees, going up to 60, in Kentuckiana.

Posted by: Nazdar at November 08, 2026 06:25 AM (NcvvS)

38
You may be able to catch Mercury just over the horizon as well if you've got a nice unobstructed horizon. It's not going to get too high this morning cycle for us in the northern hemisphere, but you might catch it in a few days especially, 20th being the max, I think.

Mars and Jupiter conjunction will be the 15th.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 08, 2026 06:25 AM (w6EFb)

39 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at November 08, 2026 06:26 AM (VyBeY)

40
Yep, Venus alone gets many UFO reports. Also Sirius, when it gets to really twinkling with lots of reds and greens.

Now, get a conjunction of Venus and another bright planet, like Jupiter, and you get UFO reports galore.

There's an amazing number of people who have no idea what's in the sky, and when they see something bright like this, they get spooked.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 08, 2026 06:28 AM (w6EFb)

41 Yep, Venus alone gets many UFO reports. Also Sirius, when it gets to really twinkling with lots of reds and greens.
----------
Shirley, you can't be Sirius.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 08, 2026 06:29 AM (amcLV)

42 >>Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 08, 2026 06:25 AM (w6EFb)

We're on a hillside, with a lot of blockage all around, so we don't get to see much of the low stuff. OTOH, Venus with the crescent moon yesterday looked really good.

Posted by: Nazdar at November 08, 2026 06:30 AM (NcvvS)

43 40 ... There's an amazing number of people who have no idea what's in the sky, and when they see something bright like this, they get spooked.
Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 08, 2026 06:28 AM (w6EFb)

*raises hand*

Posted by: m at November 08, 2026 06:30 AM (odBC9)

44 >>Shirley, you can't be Sirius.

Pick, pick, pick.

Posted by: Shirley at November 08, 2026 06:31 AM (NcvvS)

45
No chance here to see Mercury, getting too bright and the far tree line has raised the effective horizon too much.

I've seen Mercury a few times on the evening side, but I've never caught in on the morning side. Yet....

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 08, 2026 06:35 AM (w6EFb)

46
Venus max brightness this time will be around Nov. 30th. It's got to get almost to -4.9 nearly as bright as possible, which is -4.92 (neglecting atmosphere). The orbital cycles have conspired to make this morning apparition nearly as close as Venus can get to Earth

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at November 08, 2026 06:40 AM (w6EFb)

47 Morning, all. Time to get up and walk. Then coffee, breakfast, and avoiding the family's obsession with reading/commenting aloud on the news, until it's time for church. (They're the kind of aging Republicans who intellectually 'know' the news is biased but still obsessively read it and swallow every calumny about Trump as if it were the Lord's Gospel. I need to pray for them more, I think.)

Posted by: RandomDave at November 08, 2026 06:42 AM (YwYun)

48 Its not Venus, its a UFO
Posted by: Skip at November 08, 2026 06:18 AM (Ia/+0)

"Even the former leader of your United States of America, James Earl Carter Jr., thought he saw a UFO once. But it's been proven he only saw the planet Venus."

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 08, 2026 06:46 AM (iIyc0)

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