Tech News

When we launched the Remote Labor Index a year ago, the best AI could fully automate 2.5% of real freelance projects. Fable 5.2 now automates 41.3%. The automation rate is doubling every ~3 months. AIs may soon be able to do all remote work faster and more cheaply than humans.

Humble Bundle’s apparent “vibe coding” revamp has users reporting broken security and login flows, including delayed email verification codes and repeated code requests at every login. Readers also cite frustrating access problems for purchased downloads and ebooks, apparent one-click payment concerns, and say the issues are pushing long-time subscribers to cancel.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is said to have had a relationship with an executive who reports to him, according to a report discussed online. Commenters speculated the situation could be broader, citing claims about security detaining someone filming and offering an NDA, while also noting that reports have not described sexual details and may involve only dating or kissing. The allegations remain unconfirmed.

Jane Street has added a Socratic Tutor skill to its agent_skills GitHub repository. The repo is described as a collection of agent skills and is open for community contributions.

A critical RCE vulnerability, CVE-2026-119618, has been identified in Apache HTTP Server. Wiz data shows that 64% of cloud environments contain vulnerable resources, so immediate patching is advised to detect and mitigate the flaw.

A tinkerer automated a two-square-metre vegetable garden with eleven sensors, a camera, an old phone and an AI agent backed by a lakehouse, producing a lettuce that cost about €60. The stunt illustrates how IoT is shifting toward agentic automation and integrated data platforms, while showing the cost and complexity still involved in real-world deployments.

Devon C. Estes explores once-dismissed tech ideas that have become viable again as technology and market conditions change. The piece argues that labeling an idea “bad” is often premature, since shifting constraints can turn past failures into practical opportunities.

The Learjet Repo Man profiles a fearless pilot whose job is repossessing millionaires’ private jets. As wealthy owners fall behind, his aircraft-repossession business is thriving.

A developer is building a free and open-source Linux pinball simulation engine based on the Pascal Tiny.Sim library, with tables designed in CAD, imported as 3D meshes, and scripted in TypeScript. The engine will let users play, edit, and share custom tables, and the initial source release is planned with three tables and a creation guide; the developer is also seeking artists to help with table artwork.

The piece examines why writing correct software is inherently difficult, exploring the relationship between programs and correctness through computability and complexity theory. It argues that programs and the complete understanding needed to ensure correctness are fundamentally at odds.

A developer has revived the LEGO Studios webcam, a 2000-era device built around a Logitech QuickCam, for modern Macs after years without a working driver. They wrote a small user-space driver that routes the camera through OBS Virtual Camera, and it now works in apps like Zoom.

The author recounts experimenting since July with modern coding agents to build mathematical visualization applets, a project that had to be set aside during a hectic few months. The piece reflects on that agent-assisted development work and what it suggests for building small interactive math tools.

A page titled “Stingray Fish Laser” provides an overview of the team’s technology. The brief description offers few specifics beyond identifying the subject as a stingray fish laser.

Readers discuss a build for a CNC plasma cutter with high-frequency start, weighing plasma cutting’s speed against precision issues such as kerf, taper, slag, lead-ins, and warping. Some compare it with desktop wire EDM projects and waterjet cutting, while others suggest abrasive tumbling to smooth plasma-cut edges.

The feature examines the creative and technical effort behind making the Iron Giant live, including the tools and workflows used to bring the character to screen. It also covers the production of a music video and rounds up other news.

Scientists have long debated whether self-replicating, mutable RNA molecules sparked the origin of life, but new questions suggest that RNA’s ability to copy and evolve may not have been sufficient on its own. The RNA-world hypothesis remains influential, yet researchers are reconsidering what additional conditions early life would have needed.

This 2017 piece examines radio astronomy pioneer Grote Reber in relation to the Square Kilometre Array site near Bothwell, Tasmania. It links Reber’s legacy with the region’s role in the international SKA project.

The piece explores Aquaterra, a lost world submerged beneath the sea that may hold much of humanity’s undiscovered history. It argues that most of the human past is still waiting to be found underwater.

A traveler explains how they made a €40 USB-C hub work as a Nintendo Switch 2 dock after finding the official dock too bulky and fragile to carry. Although the console uses USB-C DisplayPort Alt mode, Nintendo’s proprietary approach prevents regular hubs from working as a dock, so the cheap hub required a workaround.

Darling has published its Q4 2026 development update, introducing a new policy on AI-assisted contributions and adding initial ARM64 support. The project also outlined its next work priorities after a long gap since the last progress report.

A newly unearthed archive of Marian Wawrzeniecki’s neopagan paintings from 1891–1923 presents a Slavic visual mythology built to rival the iconic power of the Christian West. The works aim to establish a distinct symbolic repertoire rooted in neopagan imagery and Slavic identity.

Ramasite is a self-contained CMS built on Laravel, Filament, and SQLite. It is lightweight and keeps everything in the site’s own folder, eliminating the need for a separate database server.

bootvine is a new boot animation that visualizes systemd startup stages as a live tree on the boot console. It aims to make the boot process more visual by representing each stage of systemd as part of a growing tree.

AI agents analyzed public lidar data overnight and identified a Maya site beneath the jungle. Archaeologists had already mapped the site, but it had not yet been added to Mexico’s official register.

AWS has released its own AWS Emulator, a local emulator for the AWS APIs. The project is available on GitHub under aws/aws-emulator, giving developers a way to simulate AWS services locally.

Google SWE used 48 AI agents to analyze NASA lidar data overnight, uncovering an unmapped Maya site with a pyramid hidden beneath the jungle. Mexico’s INAH responded within 72 hours.

Nvidia is reportedly preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang, according to a news report. The move follows an internal company investigation into an affair with a Chinese woman who is alleged to be a spy.

United Airlines has banned AI agents from booking flights on behalf of travelers, citing security risks and possible violations of federal rules. The policy targets automated tools that make reservations for passengers.

A new browser-based sand simulator delivers hyper-realistic sand physics using WebGL2 and JavaScript. It supports touch controls and device motion on phones and tablets, letting users play directly in their browser.

.NET 11 has been released, bringing C# 15, faster developer tools, and improvements to the runtime and libraries. The update also adds new capabilities for building web, mobile, desktop, and AI applications.