Friday links for October 9th 2026
The bottleneck issue
1. The people holding up the internet
Code written by a few volunteers is the scaffolding supporting the whole internet. So many people make a living from their work and rarely give back. See also Fabrice Bellard, you benefit from his work every time you watch Netflix or Youtube; and he never asked for a like or a subscribe.
2. EEAS runs scared of US 'disinformation' debate
The Trump administration pressured Canada, Lithuania and the EU’s diplomatic service to withdraw their sponsorship of a disinformation conference. So much for sovereignty if a stern email can do this. Hats off to France, though, their backbone is still firmly attached.
Meta – on brand as always. Meanwhile, mention feminism and you’ll be promptly booted off the platform. If Europe had a backbone, they’d actually legislate this whole damn Zuckerberg wreckage.
4. ChatGPT is adding real cartoonists’ signatures to fake New Yorker cartoons
If you needed more proof that the large language models are reproducing work rather than just “non-expressive use” as their makers claim, here you go. Even kids copying homework don’t sign with the original author’s name.
5. Artificial Intelligence in the Firm: Bottlenecks in Software Production (PDF)
Harvard just came out with a study on AI productivity in software engineering. The average increase in productivity from using Claude Code is… zero. As expected, the bottlenecks just move, like traffic jams. See also: the same phenomenon in many non-code situations inside companies. AI users, meanwhile: “this doesn’t apply to me”.
On rotation
This week’s soundtrack is Aiming High by Global Goon.
Swan-diving into the weekend,
Colin