Cryptocurrency wallet drainers stole $494 million in 2024

See, cryptocurrency is good for something! Unrelated, I think I have a new business idea…

Hokkaidō: A Tapestry of Lakes and Rivers | Nippon.com

I would really love to go spend some time in Hokkaido. I honestly don’t recall if we visited Hokkaido when I was a kid. If so, I don’t remember anything about it.

American lab is developing a BAT laser that could enable ‘beyond EUV’ lithography, provide 10X power efficiency boost | Tom’s Hardware

As nice as it would be if the future of lithography wasn’t entirely in the hands of one Dutch company, what I really want to know is if the BAT laser can be used as a BAT signal.

Could Humans Have a Brain Microbiome? | WIRED

I guess I need brain yogurt? 🤔

Finnish authorities board tanker suspected of damaging undersea cables — tanker is reportedly linked to Russia’s shadow fleet | Tom’s Hardware

I’m shocked, I tell you, SHOCKED, to learn that nation states are slicing undersea data cables intentionally. They seemed like such nice evil villians too.

Buyer beware: OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model is an entirely different beast – GeekWire

AI is approaching anti-vaxxer levels of denialism. I’m not wrong, you’re wrong. No puppet, no puppet, you’re the puppet.

She Was a Russian Socialite and Influencer. Cops Say She’s a Crypto Laundering Kingpin | WIRED

I love a good true crime story, and the crypto world is nothing if not a true crime story generator. I’m always intrigued by the sheer inventiveness of people like Zhdanova. I wish I had half their creativity, and slightly more morals and ethics (which wouldn’t be very difficult).

WTF Is Going on With the New Jersey Mystery Drones? Maybe Mass Panic Over Nothing

People are good at failing to learn from history, but I feel like the non-learning cycles are getting shorter and shorter.

5 Festive Facts About Japanese Christmas Cake - Savvy Tokyo

Sometimes a cake is not just a cake. Then it’s a Japanese Christmas cake.

Hacking Digital License Plates - Schneier on Security

I’m worried about the implications of digital license plates – I don’t think they can be as easily manufactured in prisons. Back to beating each other up in the back of the kitchen, I guess.

Honda CEO Does Not Rule Out Possibility of Merger With Nissan

Well there’s one I didn’t see coming. I think ithis is surely a sign of the end times.

Japan now has fish-shaped soy sauce bottle hand cream | SoraNews24 -Japan News-

I squeezed a lot of soy sauce out of little plastic fish when I lived in Japan, I’m really glad I didn’t get hand cream on my sushi.

Mathematicians Discover a New Kind of Shape That’s All over Nature | Scientific American

This stuff makes my head hurt, but it’s a lot more fun to read than anything to do with the type of reality I do understand.

The Beginning of the End of Big Tech | WIRED

Meredith Whittaker is way smarter than me, but I don’t think I buy this narrative for several reasons, chief amongst them being the incoming administration. All this talk about regulation and inevitable common sense changes seems like the ancient past to me now.

There are some things the Crew-8 astronauts aren’t ready to talk about - Ars Technica

I don’t think I’d volunteer for any trips to ISS at this point if I were an eligible human being.

I’m a neuroscientist who taught rats to drive − their joy suggests how anticipating fun can enrich human life

The science behind the effect on rat psychology that the anticipation of driving has is fascinating, but what struck me the most about this article is how much hope alters the strength of a creature’s desire to survive. I think the past 10 years at least have definitely reminded us of this. 🐀

Get in—We’re Chasing a Waymo Into the Future | WIRED

Get in, loser – we’re going to the Waymo mall. I don’t know about any of these self-driving pioneer companies, but I do know that replacing all the parents racing their kids to school in the morning with automation sounds exquisite to me.

The Joy of Pachinko’s Opening Credits - Pachinko Theme Song

I’m catching up on Pachinko now that season 2 is out, and the opening song is super incongrous and yet wildly compelling. This is a fun look at why and how. By the way, the cast and the acting and the story are all incredible. Watch, if you haven’t.

How to Get Started on Bluesky | WIRED

The best option is to not be on any social media at all. The second best option is do not be on Facebook or Twitter. But Bluesky is ok – for now.

Donald Trump’s plans on immigration are coming into focus | CNN Politics

Sorry for the downer, but the words of a wise man who once said ”*******, what an asshole” sure come to mind when thinking about Donald Trump. The amazing thing is how many other assholes he can round up to work with him at the drop of a hat. There are a lot of people in this country whose entire identities revolve around hating the existence of other people. Do you think it’s too late to get Jake Paul (also a massive tool) to fight Stephen Miller next?

Going the Distance at the Tram Driver Olympics - The New York Times

I guess tram drivers can be competitve too. I’d like to see this in Japan. Pretty sure the main contest would be how close to the second you can hit your arrival and departure schedules, and they’d all win.

Inside Sophos’ 5-Year War With the Chinese Hackers Hijacking Its Devices | WIRED

This is a fun story about Sophos getting back at their Chinese hacker tormentors. If you can’t screw with the people who are screwing with you, is life even worth living?

iPod fans evade Apple’s DRM to preserve 54 lost clickwheel-era games - Ars Technica

Yeah, I played games on my 5th gen iPod. Who didn’t?

Geoffrey Hinton’s misguided views on AI

Paris Marx is quite a bit more negative on AI than I am, but I do appreciate his point that a lot of this extinction event panic is really just a distraction from the fact that AI, like crypto, wants all of earth’s water and electricity for itself.

‘Alien signal’ sent from Mars decoded by father-daughter team | Space

Apparently the key to success in life is intuition and running simulations for hours and days on end. Now I know what I’ve been doing wrong.

A candy engineer explains the science behind the Snickers bar - Ars Technica

In this age of science deniers, one does wonder how the Snickers bar could be invented today. I mean, just look at it. It’s science from top to bottom!

Meet ZachXBT, the Masked Vigilante Tracking Down Billions in Crypto Scams and Thefts | WIRED

This is really fascinating. I’m all for crypto scammers being unmasked (and arrested, preferably). I can only imagine at least some number of angry crypto crooks are trying to figure out who ZachXBT really is. I hope they never find out.

Iceland embraced a shorter work week. Here’s how it turned out | CNN Business

Who will think of the capitalism?? How can it possibly survive if people get an extra day off? Pretty well, actually, but there’s no way anyone with any say in the US will allow this to happen here.

‘Infinite monkey theorem’ challenged by Australian mathematicians

It’s the monkeys against the universe, and these mathematicians are betting on the universe. It may be a lost cause, but I’m rooting for the monkeys. I assume they’re busy typing already. I hope… please.