“In a head-to-head Geoguessr match, OpenAI’s o3 model out-scored me—a Master I–ranked human—23,179 to 22,054, correctly identifying all five countries and twice landing within a few hundred metres. Even when I embedded fake GPS coordinates in the image EXIF, the model ignored the spoof and still pinpointed the real locations, showing its performance comes from visual reasoning and on-the-fly web sleuthing—not hidden metadata.” ~ learn more
An open letter to “third-party suppliers” from their Chief Information Security Officer. “The modern ‘software as a service’ (SaaS) delivery model is quietly enabling cyber attackers and – as its adoption grows – is creating a substantial vulnerability that is weakening the global economic system.” At a time when it’s easier than ever to develop software, the table stakes for developing secure software are about to increase. ~ learn more
This is billed as an “All-in-One Super Agent, using various tools automatically to serve your everyday tasks.” Here’s a replay of it making a 1-minute South Park episode based on last week’s top news stories. ~ learn more
“In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced KAY-fayb) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged.” ~ learn more
This compound occurs naturally in the Junglandaceae family of plants, particularly the black walnut tree. It is toxic or growth-stunting to most things in its vicinity. “It is sometimes used as an herbicide, as a dye for cloth and inks, and as a coloring agent for foods and cosmetics.” ~ learn more
Not only would a commander not tell archers to “fire” because their weapons don’t involve any fire, but also the concept that they released their arrows in coordinated all-at-once shooting isn’t real. ~ learn more
Solar power is great and I’ve shared before that every year the deployment of new solar blows estimates out of the water. “But here’s the thing. This chart has what you might call an “evil twin”, a cousin that gets far less of an airing - but probably should.” That evil twin is the chart of coal demand in China, which follows a similar pattern of surprising year after year…
“The XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, launched in 2021, set out to tackle one of humanity’s biggest challenges: how to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and ocean at meaningful, scalable levels. … Planetary’s approach restores the ocean’s natural ability to absorb carbon dioxide by restoring seawater chemistry.” ~ learn more
“Restaurants awarded the honour are more likely to close, research finds…” ~ learn more
“People diagnosed with depression experienced a 51% average reduction in symptoms, leading to clinically significant improvements in mood and overall well-being, the researchers report. Participants with generalized anxiety reported an average reduction in symptoms of 31%, with many shifting from moderate to mild anxiety, or from mild anxiety to below the clinical threshold for diagnosis.” ~ learn more