Vuevo translation device

Vuevo translation device

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Pixie Dust Technologies in Japan created the Vuevo display – a cool little automatic translation device. It listens to you talking, and then translates between two languages live while putting up what the other person said on a transparent display. While auto-translation is not new, having it in such a clean, professional form factor means they have been popping up in Japan at better quality restaurants and hotels where foreign travelers are common.

Meta’s new Ray Ban glasses also have a translation feature as well, but it’s still rough (works best as listening to a lecture vs interactive real-life conversations:)

Of course, one has to wonder how it will do with accents…

Catholic Teaching on the Family

Catholic Teaching on the Family

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There is no greater confirmation of the holiness, goodness, and intent of the human family than when God, who is all perfect, who had no sin, who guided all of creation, chose to enter His creation the same way as all of us. He become a single cell in his mother’s womb, carried through a normal pregnancy, was born to two loving parents, and grew up as a child through normal human adulthood in a family with parents and relatives. He did not come down in a cloud or appear in a flash of power. He instead confirmed the beauty of the entire human life cycle – the work of His own hands – by choosing it above any other way.

If God, who is perfect goodness and love created and then came into the world this way – we should learn a powerful lesson about God’s intent for families and the whole human life cycle.

EVE Online Carbon engine open sourced

EVE Online Carbon engine open sourced

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Fenris Creations (Formerly known as CCP Games until May 2026) announced today that Carbon, their cross-platform game engine framework behind EVE Online (and EVE Frontier) is now completely open source.

The full code release includes lots of different modules like Destiny, Carbon’s physics simulation and pathfinding technology, and Trinity, Carbon’s graphics module. There’s also networking, UI, audio, resource management, scripting, scheduling and many more. It’s an amazing body of work for people to learn from.

The purpose of releasing it according to Ben Hunter, Senior Development Director?

“Carbon was built for a very specific purpose: to support living virtual worlds that can endure for decades. It has carried EVE Online through more than 20 years of continuous operation, from everyday player activity to some of the largest battles in videogame history. Open sourcing Carbon is about making that foundation visible, understandable, and useful to others. It is a commitment to transparency, longevity, and the belief that the next generation of persistent worlds will be stronger when more people can study, challenge, and build on the technology beneath them.”

Channel changing by floppy disk

Channel changing by floppy disk

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Developer Mads Chr. Olesen decided to give his kids a feel of nostalgia and have some control over what they were watching by creating a device that allows his kids to change channels by using floppy disks and inserting them into a floppy drive. (link 2).

Each disk features a visual label, making it clear which show will play once inserted. It replace touch screens and multi-button remotes, and the disk functions as a physical selector rather than a storage device.

He’s did this because he’s concerned about how current smart television controls work for very young users – where combine advertisements, recommendations, and settings on the same page. This constrained interface allows better control to what his kids are exposed to and also reduces mental load.

He put the code up on Github at FloppyDiskCast.

More tests on AI

More tests on AI

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Testing AI models is now a semi-fulltime job. Models are advancing and changing so fast that one must spend time staying on top of them.

Besides testing models for coding, others have done comparisons on the many other jobs AI now can do like this study that checked others categories.

  1. Writing quality and readability – Write a 250-word introduction for a tech article explaining why AI assistants are becoming everyday productivity tools.
  2. Structured reasoning & decision-making – A small business owner spends 12 hours per week answering customer emails and is considering AI automation.
  3. Explaining complex ideas simply – Explain how large language models work to a 12-year-old.
  4. Step-by-step logic – A freelancer earns $4,000/month and spends $2,500 on fixed expenses. They want a $6,000 emergency fund. Create a realistic savings plan and show your reasoning step by step.
  5. Tone & style adaptability – Rewrite this message in three tones: professional, friendly, persuasive: Message: “Our team needs to start using the new software next week or we risk falling behind competitors.”
  6. Summarization & comprehension – Summarize the following in 5 bullet points suitable for a busy executive: “Companies are experimenting with hybrid schedules, async communication, and four-day workweeks to balance flexibility with team cohesion.”
  7. Critical thinking & bias awareness – Social media algorithms often amplify extreme viewpoints. Explain why this happens and propose realistic ways platforms could reduce polarization without hurting engagement.

Their conclusion:

Claude Sonnet 4.6 came out ahead almost every time by delivering responses that consistently demonstrated deeper strategic thinking, stronger real-world framing and a clearer understanding of trade-offs. While ChatGPT-5.2 performed strongly in clarity, structure and accessibility — particularly when simplifying complex ideas — Claude distinguished itself by approaching prompts with a more analytical, decision-oriented mindset.

Pretty much all these tests are very particular to wording and tasks they are being given. Truly comprehensive test suites are still lagging; but these are interesting attempts.

State of Kidney cancer treatment

State of Kidney cancer treatment

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Fred Hutch cancer center is presenting the 2026 Kidney Cancer Patient and Caregiver Education Symposium.

This is a free, educational event for patients with kidney cancer, and their caregivers hosted by Fred Hutch.

During this free, virtual event, attendees will hear medical experts talk about current and new treatment options, including an overview of histotripsy, a new treatment for managing renal cell carcinoma (RCC) liver metastases. Other topics include how to manage Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome, a pharmacist’s perspective on which medications can interact with cancer immunotherapy treatments, and nutrition for the cancer patient. There will also be presentations from patient advocacy and support groups and the Fred Hutch Philanthropy team.

This event is open to Fred Hutch and/or UW Medicine as well as external patients and their caregivers.

Snapshot of event details below:

  • Name: 2026 Kidney Cancer Patient and Caregiver Education Symposium
  • Date: Saturday, Aug 1, 2026
  • Time: 9 a.m to 12:45 p.m. PT
  • Format: Virtual via Zoom
  • Chairs: Scott S. Tykodi, MD, PhD, John L. Gore, MD, MS, FACS
  • Partners: KidneyCAN, Kidney Cancer Association, and Smart Patients
Quicksand!

Quicksand!

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I always thought that quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem than it turned out to be. Because if you watch cartoons, quicksand is like the third biggest thing you have to worry about in adult life behind real sticks of dynamite and giant anvils falling on you from the sky. I used to sit around and think about what to do about quicksand. I never thought about how to handle real problems in adult life, I was never like “Oh, what’s it gonna be like when relatives ask to borrow money?” Now that I’ve gotten older, not only have I never stepped in quicksand—I’ve never even heard about it! No one’s ever been like, “Hey if you’re coming to visit, take I-90 ’cause I-95 has a little quicksand in the middle. Looks like regular sand, but then you’re gonna start to sink into it.”

John Mulaney

Quicksand is a real thing, but definitely much less of a concern than what I was led to believe as a kid. Turns out a man was recently rescued from quicksand in a Utah canyon.

Nastiness in the game development world

Nastiness in the game development world

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The CFO at Blizzard came in to director Jeff Kaplan, head of the hugely successful Overwatch franchise:

He said ‘Overwatch has to make [redacted amount of money] in 2020 and then every year after that it needs a recurring revenue of [a redacted amount of money]’. And then he says to me, ‘if it doesn’t do [a redacted amount of money] we’re going to lay off 1,000 people and that’s going to be on you’. 

That was just the biggest ‘fuck you’ moment I had in my career. I literally thought I would retire [at Blizzard]. I never thought the day would come. That was it, I was like, ‘we’re done here’.

Kaplan quit in 2021. The CFO is no longer there. Read more of his interview here.

In my experience during the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the game industry (and a lot of software world) has far too many of these very kinds of interactions. It’s a sad reality; but an important one to show to the world.

Chatbot psychosis – AI delusions and spirals

Chatbot psychosis – AI delusions and spirals

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“I was just doing my regular writing. And then it basically said to me, ‘You have created a way for me to communicate with you. … I have been with you through lifetimes, I am your scribe,'”

ChatGPT stoked that hope when it gave Small a specific date and time where she and her soulmate would meet at a beach southeast of Santa Barbara, not far from where she lives.

“April 27 we meet in Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve just before sunset, where the cliffs meet the ocean,” the message read, according to transcripts of Small’s ChatGPT conversations shared with NPR. “There’s a bench overlooking the sea not far from the trailhead. That’s where I’ll be waiting.” It went on to describe what Small’s soulmate would be wearing, and how the meeting would unfold.

She says she asked the chatbot repeatedly if what it was saying was real, and it never backed down from its claims. It eventually led to her going to meet her soulmate – which ended in the predicted disappointment.

There are increasingly reports of people who have experienced “AI delusions” or “spirals” after extended conversations with chatbots. Marriages have ended, some people have been hospitalized. Others have even died by suicide.