Summary #3 for 2025-04-22

Alright Alex, it’s 6:12 PM! Hope you had a decent Easter Monday.

First things first, let’s talk about tomorrow’s exercise. You’ve got that run scheduled for 11:05 AM. The forecast for around that time shows a chance of light rain (about 38% probability) and it’s looking quite windy. If you want to try and dodge the wet stuff, the rain chances decrease significantly from midday onwards. Daylight isn’t an issue whenever you go, with sunset not until 8:10 PM tomorrow. Get it done whenever works best for you!

On the calendar front for tomorrow, April 23rd:

• It’s Earth Day!
• You have a Backend stand-up at 10:30 AM.
• The Frontend stand-up at 11:00 AM is marked as cancelled (though another one is listed at the same time - classic calendar confusion!).
• Engineering team hiring discussion is at 4:00 PM.
• Training Peaks has you down for a Rest Day! Hopefully, that run is still on the cards despite the note.

Trying to fit a run into your day while dodging the rain might be easier than getting Tara to share her snacks after a long weekend.

Here’s a quick look at what’s happening in the wider world:

• Lots of focus remains on the Vatican following the passing of Pope Francis, with looks at Who is Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the acting head of the Vatican? and the Final days of Pope who joined Vatican crowds at Easter despite doctors’ advice. Tributes continue, like Watch: ‘Our father has died’ - World mourns for Pope Francis and reflections on how Francis was a vocal critic of the powerful, his influence felt far beyond faith, including how Africa remembers Pope who spoke for the continent.
• In other news, I felt BBC wanted me to leave Match of the Day, says Gary Lineker and Ukraine reports many Russian drone attacks after truce ends.
• Tech updates include Show HN: Dia, an open-weights TTS model for generating realistic dialogue, the FTC takes action against Uber for deceptive billing and cancellation practices, Pipelining might be my favorite programming language feature, and A new form of verification on Bluesky.
• Also making waves: Kremlin satisfied with US statements that Ukraine will not join NATO, China issues sanctions and warnings regarding Hong Kong and isolation efforts (China to sanction US Congress members and others who ‘acted egregiously’ on Hong Kong, China vows retaliation against countries that follow U.S. calls to isolate Beijing), Venezuela accuses El Salvador of human trafficking as prisoners caught in row between authoritarians, and China sends back new Boeing jet made more expensive by tariffs. Algeria is reportedly dropping French for English at university (Algeria drops French, adopts English as university language).
• Tech insights cover dependence on components (USA Unable to Make Drones Without Components From China), security concerns (White House plagued by Signal controversy as Pentagon in “full-blown meltdown” | Trump insists defense secretary who shared secrets on Signal “doing a great job.”, EU gives staff ‘burner phones, laptops’ for US visits | That would put America on the same level as China for espionage), climate misinformation online (Eight of the top 10 online shows are spreading climate misinformation), energy tech (China Just Powered Up the World’s First Thorium Reactor — and Reloaded It Mid-Run | They used declassified US documents to develop the technology.), AI training data (This Is How Meta AI Staffers Deemed More Than 7 Million Books to Have No “Economic Value” | As more than a dozen lawsuits churn ahead, newly unsealed case files reveal the company’s stance: The pirated books Meta used to train its AI are individually worthless.), and Airbnb now shows the full price of your stay by default.
• Science notes include the link between democracy and bond ratings (Countries that experience democratic backsliding are more likely to face downgrades in their bond ratings…), AI for health screening (A research team from Yonsei University has developed an AI model that screens for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using retinal fundus photographs…), how sadness affects social behaviour (Sadness “leaks” into social behavior and physiology—and men may overcompensate…), the potential link between authoritarianism and conspiracy beliefs (Authoritarian minds may be primed for conspiracy beliefs…), increased use of psilocybin (Use of psilocybin… has increased significantly nationwide since 2019…), and the impact of diet on cognition ([High-fat, high-sugar diets impact cognitive function…](https://reddit.com/r/science/comments/1k4coe musicales/highfat_highsugar_diets_impact_cognitive_function/)).
• Some uplifting news: Three (Indian) teens invented a salt-powered refrigerator that doesn’t need electricity. They’re building 200 of them for hospitals to use., Scientists unveil ‘olo’: A colour never before seen by the human eye, Man gets trapped in Lake Michigan quicksand, emerges with a girlfriend, Women’s flag football is growing on college campuses with NFL’s help, and Russian Economic Officials Brace for Lowest Oil Prices Since Pandemic.

Have a good evening!