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canopic jug writes:The Free Software Foundation has a well-written overview of how the superset to Free Software, referred to collectively as Open Source, cannot save us from loss of liberty in the context of computing. A lead-in using conventional rhetoric is followed by a concise conclusion using logic.

JoeMerchant writes:Five major tech giants-Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle-are hiding $1.65 trillion in off-balance-sheet AI debt. According to a recent Nikkei study, this unlisted financial pile now eclipses the $1.35 trillion they officially report.To fund the AI data center boom, these tech giants package immense debt for chips, power, and servers into separate legal structures like joint ventures. For instance, Meta's off-balance-sheet obligations sit at roughly $420 billion, nearly triple its reported debt. Meanwhile, Oracle holds $260 billion in future lease commitments, and Nvidia carries $119 billion in unlisted purchase obligations.While this accounting treatment is entirely legal, market analysts at Morgan Stanley have flagged massive data center lease expansions as a major credit risk factor. They note that global AI-related debt issuance is projected to hit $570 billion, making credit risk severely undervalued in the market. This rapid buildout introduces systemic risk; if AI demand falls short of exponential growth expectations, data centers will face steep asset markdowns. Furthermore, short 18-to-36-month AI server replacement cycles clashing against long-term 5-to-20-year bond durations create a massive refinancing cliff.Rating agencies are already reacting to these stretched financial burdens. S&P has already downgraded Oracle's credit rating, while Moody's has also issued warnings regarding the expanding weight of pre-operational leases. As tech earnings drop over the next two weeks, the official numbers will look tidy, but investors are seeing less than half of the true industry leverage.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

Rich writes:Freiburg. Germany, based startup Qurie has secured an 2.2M funding for development of electrocaloric heat pump technology (https://tech.eu/2026/05/20/qurie-bags-eur22m-to-scale-sustainable-cooling-technology). This technology replaces compressors in heat pumps with films of material that releases heat when molecules align in an electric field, and absorbs heat when the molecules go all wiggly again as the electric field is removed. (https://www.ipm.fraunhofer.de/en/bu/gas-and-process-technology/expertise/caloric-systems/electrocaloric-systems.html).As of now, the techology is just at lab scale, but for efficiency, it is claimed that the theoretical maximum can exceed that of the usual compressors. For now, the company aims at providing component cooling, and overclockers might enjoy that. Large scale applications like HVAC are considered for a more distant future.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

owl writes:https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/original-mcdonalds-french-fry-recipe

mrpg writes:https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-york-city-2024-meteorite-amino-acid

AnonTechie writes:How a Gang of Thieves Pulled Off a Multimillion-Dollar Data Center Heist - New York Times Magazine

mrpg writes:https://www.odditycentral.com/funny/doctors-document-rare-case-of-dropped-head-syndrome-caused-by-drug-use.html

AnonTechie writes:The Shocking Secrets of Madison Square Garden's Surveillance MachineIf this information is well known, then I am sorry for posting it:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/paas-and-iaas/2026/07/16/airbus-migrating-70-critical-apps-from-aws-to-frances-scaleway-amid-digital-sovereignty-push/5272373

mrpg writes:Deep-sea life has a secret food source scientists never expected https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260711010127.htm

mrpg writes:Eating large amounts of chili peppers may raise the risk of esophageal cancer, but scientists say the evidence is not yet strong enough to prove a direct cause:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:European authorities dismantled the VPN service in May following a yearslong investigation:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:New Debian versions hit FOSSland in the form of 13.6 and 12.15:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:This project uses a clever hashing trick to fit over half a million blocked domains into just 4MB of flash memory:

mrpg writes:Great apes may have been laughing with a similar rhythm to modern humans for over 15 million years:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:'Operation Muck And Load' Has Published 700 Malicious Modules Since January:

mrpg writes:The Coldest "Stars" in the Galaxy Might Actually Be Alien Megastructures:

mrpg writes:The 27th Debian Conference is in Santa Fe, Argentina, Monday July 20th to Saturday July 25th 2026. Some of the planned talks:

hopdevil writes:https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mania-is-eviscerating-global-decision-making/Are companies actually seeing massive productivity gains from their AI adoption? Does any of this sordid affair make sense?This should be an easy question, but it is surprisingly hard to get a straight answer to it. Executives that tell the press that their company has gone insane will quickly find themselves removed from their positions. Employees who are honest will find themselves fired in short-order, or "randomly" selected for a round of layoffs. In fact, it is in the interests of almost every actor in the space - boards, executives, employees, vendors, consultants - to obfuscate and misrepresent the success rate of AI projects. Many publicly traded companies are putting out announcements about their AI productivity gains when I know for a fact that the businesses have done nothing other than purchase Copilot licenses and declare victory.Yet we need to know if these projects are panning out - if the total focus on AI as a core tenet of business strategy is succeeding at a reasonable rate, then a discussion about the relative risk and reward is warranted.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

fliptop writes:Under Helsinki, there is a network of over 5,500 bomb shelters capable of sheltering nearly a million people in the event of a nuclear attack or Russian invasion. The shelters are equipped with autonomous systems and are used in peacetime as sports complexes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:NTP server that traveled back in time caused massive Aussie mobile outage

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.slashgear.com/2213160/ev-battery-lifespan-longer-than-expert-estimations/

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:You can't tighten the timings either, apparently:

mrpg writes:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260713084918.htm

Linus Torvalds Puts His Foot Down, Tells Anti-AI Programmers To 'Fork It'Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-puts-his-foot-down-tells-anti-ai-programmers-to-fork-it/

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/07/hundreds-rally-at-bethesda-hq-to-protest-xbox-layoffs-and-ars-was-there/

owl writes:https://goughlui.com/2026/07/09/teardown-a-generic-7-port-usb-3-0-hub-that-wasnt/

darkfeline writes:"Mathematicians are challenging the idea that dark energy is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe. In a new paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, mathematicians from the University of California, Davis, provide mathematical proof that instabilities inherent in the Einstein-Euler equations imply that the current model of the expanding universe is not viable. The Einstein-Euler equations are a union of general relativity and fluid dynamics equations used to model astronomical phenomena such as galaxies, black holes and cosmic expansion."https://www.ucdavis.edu/blog/taking-dark-energy-out-equationBasically, mathematicians provide an explanation for accelerated universe expansion that doesn't require fudging our equations with magical energy so that it fits our data.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

mrpg writes:The human body isn't a masterpiece of design - it's a patchwork of evolutionary compromise:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/07/microsoft-secure-boot-has-been-broken-for-most-of-its-existence/

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Consumption rose another 10% while restrictions on most new grid connections remained around Dublin:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:"The BOHR mission serves as a pathfinder for future nuclear-powered spacecraft."

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.engadget.com/2211151/new-york-first-us-state-ban-smart-glasses-all-courthouses/

hubie writes:FreeBSD 16 Retires The Last Of Its GPL Code From Its Base System:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/cheyenne-suspends-data-center-fill-and-flush-and-closed-loop-discharges-after-meta-contractor-contaminated-its-reuse-water-systemSystem Offline For Months For Cleaning, Closed-Loop Cooling

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/storage/rampocalyse-pricing-prompts-maker-to-construct-his-own-memory-using-ancient-apollo-era-tech-usb-drive-resurrects-hand-threaded-magnetic-core-memory-using-salvaged-russian-computer-parts

fliptop writes:Buying a car is only the beginning. Every year afterward, drivers face a steady stream of expenses-from insurance and fuel to repairs and taxes-that can add up to thousands of dollars:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.siliconrepublic.com/people/stem-formulas-calculations-creativity-working-life-henkel-skills-technology

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Gartner projects global data center electricity use hitting 565 TWh in 2026 and topping 1,200 TWh by 2030:

"mrpg" writes:AI coding agents can be tricked into installing malware via 'clean' GitHub repositories - Mozilla's 0din team shows how Claude Code can be exploited by its own helpfulness:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/07/09/mps-tell-nhs-to-start-packing-palantirs-bags-ahead-of-2027-contract-break/5269146

"AlwaysNever" writes:Microsoft admits Windows 11 has a GDID tracker with no off switch, first documented publicly in an FBI hacker complaint:

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:This UK Satellite's Thermal Camera Raises Major Privacy Concerns

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:US Weighs Removing Steering Wheel Requirement for Driverless Cars

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Scientist models way to make sure no one's violating the ban on nuclear weapons in space

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Utility Companies Want To Take Control Of Your Home's Smart Thermostat

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:New Horizons Pluto probe just woke itself up after 321 days of hibernation

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:What, did someone get some bad news during their IPO process or something?

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/china-recovered-its-first-reusable-rocket-and-showed-a-new-way-to-do-it/

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.slashgear.com/2208743/why-navy-submarine-propeller-designs-are-kept-secret/