Friday links for October 16th 2026
The infection issue
If you needed another reason to run an adblocker on your devices: an Israeli digital ad company used its access to advertising networks to track targets and infect them with spyware. This was a zero-click infection, which means just seeing the ad was enough. No reason to believe they were the only ones playing this game.
2. Palantir CTO says some AI researchers are taking up smoking because they expect AI to cure cancer
The loons in Silicon Valley are so deep into their AI cult that they believe it will soon cure cancer, so why not take up smoking as an act of faith?
3. Mere Minutes With AI Causes a Sharp Drop in Persistence
That’s fast! Cognitive offloading leads very quickly to a form of learned helplessness: a few minutes of AI use is enough to make you less persistent and accurate. I’d elaborate, but I can’t be bothered to finish this.
4. GDPR Omnibus: Who is reducing your privacy?
The EU is currently trying to reduce GDPR protections, mostly thanks to corporate lobbying. Find out which representatives are defending privacy and which ones are destroying it. Not a pretty picture. The “people worth voting for” pool is shrinking by the day.
5. Companies rushed in on AI. Now some are pulling back
From the “no one could have foreseen this” department. Maybe those AI guys should quit smoking.
On rotation
This week’s soundtrack is Nightlife by Koen Holtkamp.
Bíodh deireadh seachtaine maith agat,
Colin