Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 1d

Qatar, which backs Hamas and has ties with Iran and the Taliban, is being allowed by Trump to build a military base inside the US.
www.cbsnews.com/news/hegseth...

Hegseth announces Qatar will build air force facility at U.S. base in Idaho

The move is a sign of increasingly close ties between the U.S. and Qatar.

www.cbsnews.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 1d

The AI-content backlash has begun! (Comic books, libraries, subreddits and even Swifties are starting to push back against AI slop.)

Free version of Machine Society: mikeelgan.substack.com/p/the-ai-con...

Get the paid version free for three months by going here: machinesociety.ai/subscribe?co...

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 2d

Phrase of the moment: "each additional hour of daily screen time associated with a 10 per cent drop in the likelihood of achieving higher academic levels"
www.sickkids.ca/en/news/arch...

Screen time linked to lower academic achievement among Ontario elementary students

A new study of 3,322 Ontario children finds that more screen time before age 8 is associated with lower scores in reading and math on standardised tests.

www.sickkids.ca

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 2d

Phrase of the moment: "systematically weaponizing perception"
oodaloop.com/analysis/ood...

Weaponizing Perception: China and Russia’s Cognitive Warfare Against Democracies

The new front in great power competition is not cyber or space, but cognition. Beijing and Moscow are systematically weaponizing perception — deploying artificial intelligence, disinformation, and psy...

oodaloop.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 2d

That has nothing to do with it. The fact is that people I want to socially network with are all on different networks. If I give up Facebook, for example, I stop having contact with 40 friends, former classmates and relatives.

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 2d

A few companies are innovating by bringing powerful image editing and real-time analytics directly to or near the moment of capture, some companies are setting new standards for speed, flexibility, control, and security.
www.computerworld.com/article/4070...

AI cameras race for a real-time edge

Innovative companies are clobbering the competition by placing AI processing close to image capture. Will photography ever be the same?

www.computerworld.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 3d

Claim of the moment: "as few as 250 malicious documents can produce a "backdoor" vulnerability in a large language model" www.anthropic.com/research/sma...

A small number of samples can poison LLMs of any size

Anthropic research on data-poisoning attacks in large language models

www.anthropic.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 3d

My wife is still queen of the Accidental Renaissance subreddit (a place to post pictures that look like Renaissance paintings). 9.2 million views and counting. www.reddit.com/r/Accidental...

From the AccidentalRenaissance community on Reddit: My wife just out of the shower checking email

Explore this post and more from the AccidentalRenaissance community

www.reddit.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 3d

Barron Trump's first job might be sitting on the board of TikTok. nypost.com/2025/10/09/u...

Barron Trump tipped for leading role at TikTok

Barron, who has just moved back into the White House while he attends classes at New York University’s DC campus in the nation’s capital, has yet to comment on the proposition.

nypost.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 3d

The trouble with social media: The good ones aren't big, and the big ones aren't good.

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 3d

In a publicity stunt, the Airheads candy brand is holding a raffle type give-away for a robotic child called the "Decoy Boy" so that adults can get free candy on Halloween.

airheadsdecoyboy.com

www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 3d

Check out my interview on the Ardan Labs podcast! elgan.com/my-interview...

My interview on the Ardan Labs podcast

This interview, conducted by Bill Kennedy, was surprisingly detailed, candid and biographical. Check it out! Also: Go here to subscribe to the Ardan Labs podcast.

elgan.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 3d

They're making prison wine in Spain now. (Spotted this unfortunate branding in a Veritas near Barcelona.)

Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 3d

Don't miss this shiny new episode of the Ardan Labs Podcast, where I'm the guest talking about writing, technology, and my nomadic lifestyle with host Bill Kennedy!!
ardanlabs.buzzsprout.com/1466944/epis...

Writing, Technology, and a Nomadic Lifestyle with Mike Elgan - Ardan Labs Podcast

In this episode of the Ardan Labs Podcast, Bill Kennedy talks with Mike Elgan, technology editorialist, about his journey to becoming a professional writer. Mike reflects on the evolution of journalis...

ardanlabs.buzzsprout.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 4d

Where I’m at: enjoying vermouth O’clock in the Poble Sec district of Barcelona.

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 4d

The stray cats in Essaouira, Morocco, sit on the lights that light up the historic walls to keep warm.

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 4d

Grabbing an espresso at the airport in Catania, Sicily. (Ray-Ban Meta glasses)

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 4d

Have you seen the subreddit I created recently? www.reddit.com/r/MyOfficeTo...

From the MyOfficeToday community on Reddit: My Office Today: a 1,000 year old olive oil villa in Sicily

Explore this post and more from the MyOfficeToday community

www.reddit.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 4d

Superintelligentpodcast.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 5d

Where I’m at: Just landed in Barcelona, drove an hour to this tiny town, checked in to our Airbnb (the house is older than our country) and went directly to this local dive, where the menu isn’t even in Spanish (it’s in Catalan). I love my life.

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 5d

We use social networks to share human experiences and interact with people about culture or politics. Silicon Valley wants to replace that, turning person-to-person interactions into person-to-machine interactions, leaving us alone talking to no one.
www.computerworld.com/article/4067...

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 6d

What the Prosecco Hills look like this time of year.
gastronomad.net/prosecco

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 6d

Mad scientists in Switzerland are working on the creation of technology that enables data centers full of living bio-computers based on the human brain.
substack.com/profile/1211...

Mike Elgan (@mikeelgan)

Mad scientists in Switzerland are working on the creation of technology that enables data centers full of living bio-computers based on the human brain. These “wetware”-based data centers involve tr...

substack.com

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 6d

Walking around Giarre, in Sicily, listening to a most excellent podcast. : ) www.superintelligentpodcast.com/p/jensen-hua...

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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 6d

Crisis of the moment: "donkey shortage"
www.whatsonweibo.com/china-faces-...

China Faces Unprecedented Donkey Shortage Crisis

“We have plenty of cattle and horses in China now — just not enough donkeys” (“目前我国牛马都不缺，就缺驴”).

www.whatsonweibo.com

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