Tag: anthropic

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October begins two-for-two with Pook-Emu Bee Links before our regularly scheduled Saturday off-day for the Newsletter Leaf Journal.

I think they’re hoping you get the hint

1 | Japan announces new permanent residency guidelines, foreigners must earn more than average Japanese person (Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. Oct. 1, 2026.)
The earning threshold shouldn’t be too hard to hit. 10 years residence for non-marriage cases however… They’re definitely trying to tell you something. To his credit, article author Casey Baseel appears to get the hint. Meanwhile, the United States still has the Diversity Visa program on the books, wherein we randomly hand out visas to people who have achieved a high school diploma (not great, not the best).

2 | Mamdani Will Be Honored Alongside Group with Alleged Ties to Iranian Regime (Adam Lehodey and Daniel Edward Rosen for City Journal. Oct. 1, 2026.)
I was all but certain the group would be NAIA before opening the article. Did this really need two enterprising reporters? We could also drop the “alleged” for a more to-the-point headline.

We’re going to need you to think this through

3 | Bishops warn inflexible vetting rules could bar eligible family members from taking in migrant kids (Tessa Gervasini for EWTN. Aug. 26, 2026.)
We had a four-year experiment with dropping vetting standards and the results were rather subpar on many levels, so this warning can be safely disregarded.

4 | Prostitution busts plunge 60% — but hookers multiply — in NYC’s infamous ‘Market of Sweethearts’ (Rich Calder, Tina Moore, and Adry Torres for the New York Post. Sep. 27, 2026.)
“But” is doing some incredible heavy-lifting in this headline.

Unexpected angles

5 | New York Public Library hosted author who compared Israel to a ‘dog shelter’ (Carl Campanile for the New York Post. Sep. 28, 2026.)
Does Nicholas Kristoff know about this?

6 | Anthropic Co-Founder Daniela Amodei Kept ‘Personal Advisory Council’ of Stuffed Animals to Solve Problems (Lucas Nolan for Breitbart. Oct. 1, 2026.)
My first though here was “this explains so much.”

It’s not bad

7 | Firefox 157 arrives with major UI redesign, compact mode, and hardware AV1 video decoding (Paul for AlternativeTo. Sep. 30, 2026.)
The new compact mode is good is welcome.

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For the first time in about a week (if not a little more), I do not have a tight work deadline. Thus, I present you with a relatively leisurely edition of the Pook-Emu Bee to kick off September.

Three white flowers and leaves, shot from overhead. In the top right corner we see a bee flying toward the flowers.
Note the bee in the top right. I took this photograph in Brooklyn Bridge Park on August 28, 2026.

1 | Expression After Hit By Car (Ojai Raptor Center (via Owl’s in Towels). Oct. 11, 2024.)
That raptor has seen more things than the original raptors.

2 | GrapheneOS might skip the Pixel 11 series over the lack of MTE hardware security support (Paul for AlternativeTo. Sep. 1, 2026.)
Pixels are going in the wrong direction, but my (LineageOS-powered) 3a XL is going stron[-ish].

3 | Tether Brings the Apple Continuity Experience to Linux (Sourav Rudra for It’s FOSS. Aug. 31, 2026.)
I don’t run iOS (see above), but this looks like a neat project for Linux/iOS people. I have now done my PSA duty for the week.

4 | “A Cute Little LibGen Babysitter”: Music Publishers Sue Anthropic Founders Over Torrenting Spree (Ernesto Van der Sar for Torrent Freak. Sep. 1, 2026.)
I’m somehow not surprised that the Claude leadership described their thoughts about torrenting pirated works contemporaneously in the style of teenage girls keeping a diary.

5 | The 3DO Is Getting A New DOOM-Esque Shooter Featuring The Voice Of Silent Hill’s Lisa Garland (Sep. 1, 2026.)
Having conquered ONScripter-EN, should I make my next visual novel for 3DO?

6 | Dem AG urges Jewish voters to put humanity above ‘safety and security’ of own people (Alec Schemmel for Fox News. Sep. 1, 2026.)
I could state the obvious here. But instead I will offer a more novel take. How in the world did a woman with these political instincts win state-wide office in one of the biggest states in the union?

7 | I built my own streaming box, and it beats every smart TV I’ve owned (Anurag Singh for XDA. Aug. 31, 2026.)
I just use a mini PC running Fedora with KDE Plasma. With that being said, I should really test out LineageOS with Waydroid on my TV.

8 | Homan Denies Yiannopoulos Deported Quickly to Bypass ICE Detention (Pam Key for Breitbart. Aug. 31, 2026.)
I know this is going to be hard for a reporter at CNN to understand, so we can go slowly. Detention occurs in the course of removal proceedings or in the period after an alien has been ordered removed but has not for one reason or another been removed. Mr. Yiannopoulous had already been ordered removed in absentia, apparently did not seek to reopen his removal proceedings, and did not otherwise try to obstruct his removal to the United Kingdom, which apparently did not refuse to accept the return of its national (between the return of Prince Harry and Mr. Yiannopoulous, they are having a rough stretch). Thus, Mr. Yiannopoulous was removed expeditiously after DHS performed a social media touchdown dance instead of being detained pending nothing whatsoever. With my “Ted Talk” completed, I will note with some surprise that the new position of CNN is “the prompt execution of removal orders is special treatment.”

9 | Aki 2026 Banuzke Analysis (Fantasy Basho. Sep. 1, 2026.)
I’m thinking about putting together some detained predictions for the upcoming Aki Banuzke. Not fantasy though. Real, ice-cold predictions.

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Pook-Emu Bee was off Saturday for the newsletter and off Sunday because I had work to finish, but we return on this fun Monday for our regularly scheduled links from around the web.

Almond milk in a milk pot on a portable induction cooker on a kitchen counter. Next to it we see a mug with mushrooms, a bottle of powdered peanut butter, cocoa, sugar, and a small bowl with the ingredients mixed together.
I made almond milk hot chocolate last night. Should I share my recipes? Add it to the to-do list.

Links & Commentary

1 | Teenage tourist stabbed in ‘unprovoked’ attack inside McDonald’s near Times Square: sources (Joe Marino, Amanda Woods, and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon. August 17, 2026.)
Note for tourists: Being anywhere near Times Square at 2:00 AM is a poor life choice. I would add that being anywhere Times Square at any time is a poor life choice, but baby steps to giant strides and all.

2 | Debian Turns 33 Years Old, Happy Birthday! (Marcus Nestor for 9 to 5 Linux. August 16, 2026.)
Debian was practically a newborn when I received my first video game console.

3 | Who needs a dedicated portable music player in 2026? (Kevin Boone. August 2026.)
I never “needed” a portable music player but this is an interesting article.

4 | From Argentina to El Salvador: How Latin America is breaking up with socialism (David Asman for Fox Business. August 14, 2026.)
As soon as I saw the headline, I thought “here’s a slam dunk USAID joke for Pook-Emu Bee.” For that reason, I was conflicted when the article noted the USAID angle close to its conclusion.

5 | “Putting my Hand on Your Heart”: Former Senator Kyrsten Sinema Accused of “Alienation of Affection” (Jonathan Turley. August 16, 2026)
The Sinema alienation of affection story gave rise to a thing I learned post back in March.

6 | Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s Wife Cami Clark Courted Jeffrey Epstein to Invest in Her Porn Company (Lucas Nolan for Breitbart. August 16, 2026.)
Sometimes the headlines write themselves.

7 | Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin (Viktor Eriksson and Joel Lee for PC World. August 13, 2026.)
I’m writing this edition of Pook-Emu Bee in Firefox with uBlock Origin watching over me, protecting me from any nefarious ads or trackers I may have planted to manipulate or track me.

Quotable

8 | The World Cup of Ink (Theodore Dalrymple for The American Conservative. August 2, 2026.)

Tattoos retained their superficial connotations of rebellion and non-conformity, but they also became—in a deeper sense—marks of conformity, as tends to happen with all fashions, no matter how outrageous they may seem at the start. By means of tattooing, one could rebel and conform at the same time.

Pretty Photo

9 | Between the Nets (Daniel Sofer at Hermosoawave Photography. August 15, 2026.)
Beach volleyball nets frame the boat (photo in the link).

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I was working late into the night (unfortunately not on articles), but I am back for another Pook-Emu Bee link (one away from Sunday-Friday perfection before we yield the floor on Saturday for The Newsletter Leaf Journal).

My hand holding a tube of Sensodyne Pronamel Kids Berry Twist toothpaste over a sink.
I use SLS-free toothpaste because of canker sores. I also want toothpaste with fluoride. My options at Lot Less in late July were limited. This is what I came up with (photograph from July 29, 2026).

1 | Some Claude users are mad that Anthropic’s new watermarks will catch them using it at their jobs, classes (Lucas Ropek for TechCrunch. August 12, 2026.)
The thought that these people may be too lazy to paste the output into a text editor and sanitize it is almost as concerning as how lazy they are in using Claude.

2 | Twenty-Five in Blog Years (Dave Peck. August 11, 2026.)
I offer my congratulations to Mr. Peck on his blog’s quarter-century anniversary. What was I doing 25 years ago? Elementary school.

3 | Koei Tecmo releases 90-minute Atelier Ryza ASMR featuring Klaudia, picnics, bathing, and ear-cleaning (Amber V for Automation West. August 13, 2026.)
I think it may be time for “Ryza” to join “Palworld” on my gaming-related Miniflux global block list.

4 | Houston Man Charged For Terroristic Threat Over Anime (Rafael Antonio Pineda for Anime News Network. August 13, 2026.)
His rant raises many questions. I don’t think I want the answers.

5 | Bob Iger, Josh Kushner shockingly purchase Lakers months after Mark Walter became majority owner (Ryan Morik for Fox Business. August 12, 2026.)
I went on record when the Lakers went for $10 billion last year noting that the price struck me as high. To be sure, I was not expecting the Lakers to be flipped for $12 billion just over one year later. Perhaps it has something to do with the report’s note that Mr. Walter is under investigation for tax fraud.

6 | Clicks have killed the Inverted Pyramid (Gordon Meyer. August 8, 2026.)
I have more than 200 feeds in my feed collection and many feed items, so I have more than enough to read to allow me to check out when I see what appears to be a rambling SEO introduction. My bigger problem lately has been seeing obvious indicia of AI junk in articles, which also leads to a quick close.

7 | Rite Aid-Replacing Tower for Corner of Smith and President? (Cate Cocoran for Brownstoner. August 11, 2026.)
That is not the nicest stretch of the Carroll Gardens section of Court Street (it looks better from the air than the ground), so this could be an improvement provided that they do not make it too tall. While I cannot say that I am optimistic, I would agree that Carroll Gardens survives pretty well without the benefit of the historic district designation that neighboring Cobble Hill has.

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Liked Dear AI Companies: Stop the “Doom Trolling” by Cal NewportCal Newport (Cal Newport)
In my op-ed. I ask the leading AI labs to stop pretending they’re the reluctant stewards of an inevitable technology, and instead act like normal consumer product companies. This means that they should explain the benefits of their tools, justify their costs, and, of course, affirm that they have no intention of causing existential damage along the way.

Cal Newport wrote a New York Times op-ed calling on big AI companies to stop “doom trolling” and published a short summary of his argument on his personal website. He specifically criticizes some of the big AI companies for warning (or threatening?) that their technology could spiral out of control and put millions out of work or destroy society or humanity as we know it. His broad critiques are that the “doom trolling” is disingenuous and has a negative effect on people who read it. I agree with Mr. Newport regarding the existence of the “doom trolling” phenomenon, but I approach it from a different angle. One central reason the AI companies engage in “doom trolling” is because credulous journalists (both real and so-called) and social media types parrot whatever gobbledygook the big AI companies instruct their chatbots to spew. As I opined regarding Anthropic four weeks ago, “I respect Antrhopic’s ability to just post stuff that gets turned into free advertising my various news outlets.” “Respect” is of course the operative word there. We should never forget the human element in efforts to curb the doom trolling enthusiasm of big AI. Of course, another way to curb the doom trolling enthusiasm of big AI is to ensure that big AI sometimes receives what it pretends to ask for, see e.g., how Anthropic’s “doom trolling” combined with its arguably questionable security practices attracted the attention of a more powerful entity, the United States Department of Commerce.

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I was only able to publish two editions of Pook-Emu Bee links last week. Thus, to make amends, I present a rare Sunday edition of the Pook-Emu Bee. For link fans out there, I include many links in my weekly newsletter. See my June 6, 2026 Newsletter for an example.

Photograph of a bush with green leaves and brown berries in Brooklyn Heights. Out of focus in the background are brick townhouses.
I took this photograph of a bush with berries in Brooklyn Heights on the morning of June 7, 2026.

1.Bug Fables: Almost, but Not Quite, Paper Mario 3.0 (Wouter Groeneveld at Jefklak’s Codex. November 29, 2021.)

I never heard of this Paper Mario-inspired RPG, but as a big Paper Mario fan, consider me intrigued. Add it to the ever-growing to-do list.

2. ‘Bots have now passed human traffic online,’ Cloudflare boss laments — says agentic traffic wasn’t expected to eclipse real people until next year (Mark Tyson for Tom’s Hardware. June 4, 2026.)

I am reasonably confident that I have never had more human traffic than bot traffic save for the peak of a few Hacker News page one surges.

3. I made a bee bath (Laura Michet. June 6, 2026.)

That’s a good bee bath. There is still plenty of time for it to welcome bee visitors.

4. 98-year-old beaten with broomstick, chair in NYC by woman campaigning for Dem: cops ( Sofia Poznansky, Marie Pohl, Rich Calder and Tina Moore for the New York Post. June 6, 2026.)

The campaigns aren’t hiring the best.

5. Chet Holmgren and the $240 Million Disappearing Act (Kevin O’Connor. May 31, 2026.)

I did not watch but I assess that you would generally prefer that your maximum contract guys do not disappear in win-or-go-home games.

6. Anthropic warns AI could soon help build its own successors (Ashley Gold for Axios. June 4, 2026.)

I respect Antrhopic’s ability to just post stuff that gets turned into free advertising my various news outlets.

7. Richard Gere Says He’s ‘Deeply Ashamed’ That Trump Admin Is Calling Migrants ‘Aliens’ During Speech in Germany (Alana Mastrangelo for Breitbart. June 6, 2026.)

The trouble with actors begins when they don’t have a script to read from. But fear not: I offer a script in the form of my 2022 article, Aliens vs Noncitizens – The Anatomy of a Debate. By the way, that headline I came up with back in 2022 looks vaguely AI. But rest assured, everything from the headline to the article is 100% original, human grown “content.”

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I am a bit late today because I just spent about an hour troubleshooting why I was not receiving calls on my Ubuntu Touch-powered Google Pixel 3a XL. I think I fixed the issue. With that aside, on to our daily Pook-Emu Bee links.

1. New Higurashi When They Cry interactive chat content allows you to talk with characters and progress the story with your own self-insert (Carlos “Zoto” Zotomayor for Automation West. April 9, 2026.)

Higurashi: When They Jump the Shark.

2. LPC Landmarks Historic Boerum Hill Public School Building (Anna Bradley-Smith for Brownstoner. April 8, 2026.)

I don’t recall having thought much about this building (perhaps because it is in the middle of a construction zone). But it’s a nice building. I approve.

3. ⏜ Our radical plan to replace the NBA draft ⏜ (Nate Silver. April 1, 2026.)

My eyes glazed over while reading this. It should have been an April Fools joke. Let’s think about normal reforms. Thank you.

4. Samsung is officially discontinuing its native Messages app in favor of Google Messages (Mauricio B. Holguin for AlternativeTo. April 6, 2026.)

I only use the UBUNTU TOUCH messaging app (until I get around to replacing the battery in my Pixel 6a).

5. YouTube Shorts Are Like Crack (Kev Quirk. April 4, 2025.)

I don’t understand the whole rapid-fire short video thing or what the appeal would be.

6. Secrets of the Super Mario RPG Shaman (Drew Mackie at Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games. August 28, 2025.)

While this article is primarily about Super Mario RPG, I appreciated the Paper Mario nostalgia.

7. Anthropic Races to Contain Leak of Code Behind Claude AI Agent (Sam Schechner for The Wall Street Journal (via Yahoo! Finance). April 1, 2026.)

I’m late to the Claude code leak. But I want everyone to know that I have suffered many sleepless nights thinking about the horrifying possibility that someone could take Anthropic’s copyrighted work and use it in their own AI projects. Anthropic would never! Perish the thought!

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I have a few new work assignments today (Sad!) but more than enough time (or just enough time) for our regularly scheduled edition of daily Pook-Emu Bee links.

1. OpenAI calls for robot taxes, a public wealth fund, and a 4-day workweek to tackle AI disruption (Tom Carter for Business Insider. April 6, 2026.)

I came across an article recently suggesting ways the big AI players could modify their PR approaches. I said it was impossible. The people running them have no theory of the mind for normal human beings. See e.g., You do communism while we do capitalism.

2. The Cult Of Vibe Coding Is Insane (Brian Cohen. April 5, 2026.)

The dangers of getting high on your own supply.

3. In bloom: NY and NJ cherry blossoms are objectively the best in the nation (Ryan Kost for The Gothamist. April 4, 2026.)

I can’t speak for the whole nation but NYC does have some good blossoms.

4. So, While You Still Have CSAR in Your Scan (CDR Salamander. April 6, 2026.)

On rescue operations and learning for potential future conflicts.

5. Nieces of Late Iranian Terror Commander Face Deportation (Andrew R. Arthur for CIS. April 6, 2026.)

I’ve worked on some plausible asylum cases that were denied. Meanwhile…

6. City unveils $24M sanitation facility in Gowanus, advances long-delayed CSO tank construction (Kirstyn Brendlen for Brooklyn Paper. April 3, 2026).

Speaking of the Gowanus Canal…

7. Your Dishwasher Filter Is Disgusting: Here’s How to Clean It (Charlie Sorrel for IFIXIT. April 6, 2026.)

I am 100% confident that I do not have a disgusting dishwasher filter. But my secret is proprietary (or betrayed by my careful word choices).

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The Pook-Emu Bee, your favorite (or “favourite” if you prefer British English) daily links collection, returns after taking two days off for Newsletter Leaf Journal Saturday and Easter.

1. E-Bikes = Freedom (Matthew Morgan at World of Matthew. April 6, 2026.)

The “Why the hatred of e-bikes?” section summarizes my feelings about e-bikes in Brooklyn, New York City.

2. Mamdani signs ’emergency’ order to block concerts, food festivals at NYC parks during FIFA World Cup (Carl Campanile for the New York Post. April 6, 2026.)

The actual policy does not affect me. But I include the link to note that the World Cup games are being played in New Jersey, not New York City. After the Mayor suggested last week that being able to commute across the Brooklyn Bridge has something to do with accessing World Cup matches in New Jersey, I am beginning to think the leadership of New York City is suffering from some sort of collective delusion.

3. AI-Generated Data Can Poison Future AI Models (Rahul Rao for Scientific American. July 28, 2023.)

This bridge had been crossed before this article was published in July 2023.

4. Noelia Castillo Ramos and the Dictatorship of Happiness (Tiare Gatti Mora for Compact. April 3, 2026.)

What we value is no longer a meaningful life, but a life in which we achieve and maintain a positive emotional state.

5. George Harrison Explains Why Everyone Should Play the Ukulele (Open Culture. October 16, 2024.)

My first thought when I read this was Haruko’s “ukulele no good” line in episode 3 of FLCL. Of course, she was using the ukulele as a weapon, which was a very different use-case than what George Harrison had in mind.

6. Claude Code’s source reveals extent of system access (Thomas Claburn for The Register. April 1, 2026.)

I employ a secret method to ensure that Claude does not have access to my system. I won’t reveal it (proprietary, unlike some of Claude’s source code now), but I will tell you that I achieve it without installing anything.

7. Rookies almost never make good teams better (Henry Abbott at TrueHoop. April 3, 2026.)

Despite being the person who wrote an entire essay arguing the contrarian position that the Detroit Pistons would not have been better off had they drafted Carmelo Anthony over Darko Milicic in 2003, Mr. Abbott’s position is far too extreme for my taste. For example, while he notes that Cooper Flagg’s advanced stats are middling, I do not think it follows that Flagg would not have potentially made a good team better in a smaller role than he is playing for the Mavericks.

8. Microsoft inches closer to glass storage breakthrough that could finally make ransomware attacks impossible in the data center and hyperscalers — but only Azure customers will benefit from it (Keumars Afifi-Sabet for Tech Radar. December 6, 2023.)

Glass storage looks aesthetic. I approve.

9. The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya 20th Anniversary Project Revealed With New PV And Art (Orpheus Joshua for Noisy Pixel. April 3, 2026.)

I watched Haruhi a few years after it aired in 2006. The titular character is still an all-timer in 2D person stage presence. (I referenced her in my best female character award section for 2024 and in a short post about anime characters with brown hair). Haruhi also informed my articles on Halloween in Japan and anime characters with brown hair. Haruhi as a show? I still think it is good but it is certainly not the best-aging show of the era. Speaking of the era, I need to do a 2006 Anime Review at some point. 2006 was loaded. Of course, I need to write 2025 first…

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Favorited Daily News Stuff 29 March 2026 by Pixy Misa (ai.mee.nu)
That would be bad for OpenAI which is 100% bubble and good for Apple which is close to 0% bubble. As for Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, they'll survive either way, and Anthropic and xAI will likely do fine on a smaller scale than they had hoped.

I had wondered before what would happen if the AI bubble bursts, or if the current AI-obsessive moment passes. In my mind, I assumed that companies like OpenAI and Anthropic would be in particular trouble compared to their rivals because they have nothing to fall back on. Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony, who is certainly more qualified to weigh in, suggests that OpenAI would be in the most trouble due to its being “100% bubble” and its pprolific spending, while Anthropic and xAI “will likely do fine on a smaller scale than they had hoped.” Interesting take. I leave it here for your consideration.