TLDR 2026-10-06

You can't AI-wash your way to trust (Sponsor)

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Produce predictive SLA monitoring and intel dashboards for optimization, compliance and automatic self-recovery

Meet RangerAI

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Big Tech & Startups

Apple invites developers to submit iPhone Duo-ready apps to the App Store (1 minute read)

Apple is now accepting submissions of iPhone Duo-optimized apps and games. Xcode 27.1 Release Candidate 1 features support for building and testing apps and games for the iPhone Duo. Developers can now submit iPhone Duo-optimized apps and games in App Store Connect. App Store product pages will display a badge to let people know apps are optimized for the iPhone Duo. Recompiling existing apps with Xcode 27.1 adds development support for iPhone Duo.

Preview, edit, and collaborate on Markdown (.md) files natively across Drive and Docs (1 minute read)

Google Docs now supports Markdown files. Google Drive now renders Markdown previews. The new features are available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts. They will be gradually rolled out over the next two weeks.

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Science & Futuristic Technology

Controlling the brain with light earns a physiology Nobel (9 minute read)

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their contributions to the field of optogenetics. Optogenetics involves using light to alter the behavior of nerve cells marked by the activity of individual genes. It allows researchers to activate or shut down neurons in an otherwise intact brain. The technique has revolutionized scientists' ability to understand what different populations of nerve cells are doing.

A New Crop of Solar Panels Is the US' Best Hope of Catching China (10 minute read)

Tandem solar is a new technology that adds second and third layers of material on solar panels to convert more of the Sun's radiance into electricity. Several companies plan to start selling panels commercially soon. The panels can generate 25% more energy than current available devices. Successful adoption of the technology will allow the world to meet the rapidly rising demand for electricity with less land and roof area.

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Programming, Design & Data Science

“Accelerating AI” without AI talent is a waste of time and treasure (Sponsor)

AI creates workforce risks that tech alone can't resolve. This Gartner article explains how to identify the talent risks that come along with AI ambition, and the steps you need to take to unblock adoption. For more use cases and case studies, explore the thousands of stories in Gartner's AI hub

Ephemeral testing (2 minute read)

Ephemeral testing is when you test a base application layer by building on top of it. The original work is not assessed - the software built on top of it is. It is a form of integration testing, except the software on top is thrown away when the test is complete. Instead of building the core while trying to anticipate what might be needed at the other layers, you just simulate the other layers by building them.

Why Plain Text Is Still One of the Best Technologies We Have (7 minute read)

The simplicity of plain text is a large part of why it has lasted. Plain text is part of the basic plumbing of computing. There is an enormous collection of tools that know how to work with plain text, and plain text gives users more choice. Text ages surprisingly well, and it is easy to own. It is portable, inspectable, searchable, scriptable, easy to back up, and remarkably resistant to obsolescence.

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Miscellaneous

The Future of Mathematics (13 minute read)

The field of mathematics is changing, but mathematics is still as important today as it ever was. Mathematics remains a core capacity for human reasoning and deliberation. Future historians will likely see this time as the start of a new era for mathematics. We are at a new frontier where communal norms, values, and expectations are beginning to break down, and the community needs to figure out what should replace them.

Apple and a Hacker's Future (20 minute read)

CVE-2026-65400 is a high-severity macOS vulnerability that allows attackers to execute malicious code. Apple released a patch for the vulnerability last week for macOS Tahoe, Sequoia, and Sonoma. The vulnerability stems from a bug in the macOS screen sharing capability. In all observed cases, root had been accessed on the affected system and a Monero crypto miner had been placed.

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Quick Links

The Flying Car Company Soaring Toward Wall Street (Sponsor)

After nearly a decade of R&D, Doroni unveiled a showroom model of its H1-X flying car. Morgan Stanley projects a $9T market by 2050. First deliveries are targeted for 2028.

Invest at $3.30/share before 10/23

Inference Is the Most Important Market in Software (2 minute read)

AI inference is set to surpass the database market to become the most important market in software.

What the AI boom is doing for Americans (16 minute read)

AI is sustaining the macroeconomy in a time of huge amounts of policy uncertainty.

How Personal Agents Get Paid (8 minute read)

A look at how money paid to aggregators can flow to personal agents.

Biosecurity, AI, and the Culture War (14 minute read)

The industry's lack of consensus on what AI progress looks like is distracting it from doing practical things.

Writing blog posts while walking the dog (18 minute read)

Thoughts on AI's effects on writing.

This Is the Fitbit Edge, Google's Next Fitness Tracker (5 minute read)

The Fitbit Edge will support notifications and limited apps like Google Maps, YouTube Music, and Find My Phone.

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Thanks for reading,
Dan Ni & Stephen Flanders

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iPhone Duo apps 📱, Google Docs markdown 📝, ephemeral testing 👨‍💻