Five Disneys, Conviction Collapse, and sk8erboi2006 - Related to your interests, Tuesday

Also: local models worth running, Susan Sontag on list-making, GraalVM as thriller novel, and the slow ROI of children.

Recommended local models - “I’ve experimented with the following models and have found useful applications (mostly around chat, MCP and coding) with all of them: gpt-oss-120b; Qwen3-Coder-30B; GLM-4.7-Flash; MiniMax-M2.5; Qwen3.5-35B-A3B”
On Critical Thinking in a Multi-Model World - Getting the AI to be helpfully disagreeable, thus, engaging and truth-finding rather than satisfying.
Ollama Now Runs Faster on Macs Thanks to Apple’s MLX Framework - “the new version processes prompts around 1.6 times faster” and better memory management.
“This is unprecedented”: America’s AI boom is leaving the rest of the world behind
OpenAI raises $122 billion to accelerate the next phase of AI
Catching Up with GraalVM: When “Faster Java” Turns into Patch Tuesday - and a Clean Break with Intel Macs - This is one of the most action-oriented articles about Java native compilation you’ll ever read. It’s a few kidnappings and murders away from being a gripping thriller novel.
YAML is (not) my preferred configuration format
HolmesGPT
Oracle believed to have cut 10,000 positions across multiple divisions as mass layoffs begin to fuel AI investments
Susan Sontag’s Playground of Ideas - “I perceive value, I confer value, I create value, I even create - or guarantee - existence. Hence, my compulsion to make ‘lists.'” / I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down so it exists.

Wastebook

“trad agency model” here.
“a ~$7 billion-a-year spice and sauce giant” flavor.
“That’s where we’re at, when joy means paying your bills.” Dickerson
“They fit into the margins of the day in a way nothing else could.” They are podcasts.
The slow ROI of children: “Then one day they can fetch things.” 7 Reasons Kids Are Overrated Until Suddenly They’re Your Entire Support Infrastructure
“part of the deal, French films were only allowed to be shown for four weeks out of thirteen.” Read to the end for a nuclear joke. Naughton
“maybe 13-year-old you signed up for sk8erboi2006@gmail.com, but as an adult you would prefer to have a more professional johnsmith@gmail.com address.” Don’t Like Your Gmail Email Address? You Can Finally Change It
“…about five Disneys.” OpenAI is now valued at $852 billion
“conviction collapse.” “Conviction Collapse” and the End of Software as We Know It

See you next time!