Huawei Technologies Co. said it has come up with a new pathway to shorten its gap with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., potentially achieving a breakthrough in making advanced semiconductors without cutting-edge equipment.

New York Times: How the Trump admin gutted the CFTC, ousting enforcers and appointing industry-friendly officials, as Trump family got into crypto and prediction markets  —  Last fall, a high-stakes struggle unfolded inside the red brick walls of an obscure federal agency.

In this article, we introduce Open Transcribe - an open-source real-time transcription application that runs on top of RealtimeSTT. The post Open Transcribe – An Open-Source Real-Time Transcription Application appeared first on DebuggerCafe.

Priscilla Tina used Claude to build a postcard app in about four hours. Priscilla Tina Priscilla Tina, a product manager, loved sending postcards to her friends while traveling. But delivering them was a hassle, so she created an app with Claude that sends postcards for users. She said it's made her a bit of cash on the side. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Priscilla Tina, a 28-year-old product manager based in San Francisco. It has been edited for length and clarity. I'm a tech product manager in San Francisco by day, and a content creator by night. I make videos to inspire people to rediscover their creativity. I've been doing creative side hustles and experiments my whole life, and I'm a lover of all things analog. Last November, I sat down and built an app with Claude Code that sends postcards without dealing with stamps or delivery. Analog is back in A lot of people, including myself, grew up surrounded by technology. But I also had analog products in my life when I was growing up, and I didn't have a phone. Cut to now, I've started living on my phone. We're spending a lot of time brainrotting, looking at a lot of AI slop. We're realizing that spending all our time on our phones isn't very meaningful. We're also finding out that you can connect a lot better when socializing in person, and that there is value in going back to the old joys of life. I wanted to bridge the divide between the digital and the physical world and help connect people. I've been sending postcards with my friends for years; it's a really fun way to stay in touch while traveling. I also started to realize that I had purchased so many postcards. I had a huge stack, and it was super inconvenient to write them. Then you have to buy stamps at the post office and walk to one of those mailboxes to mail them. I wondered if there's an easier way to do this. Using Claude to build an app in four hours Tina built Postcard Press with Claude Code before a product conference in San Francisco. Priscilla Tina I'd signed up for ProductCon in San Francisco, and I wanted a prototype of an app I could showcase at the event. So I came up with the idea for Postcard Press, an app that lets users upload pictures and type messages, which connects to a service called Postgrid that handles printing and delivery. The night before, I built the bare bones of the app in four hours and got it working on my phone. When I shared it with other product managers at the conference, they asked me when it was ready to go, saying they wanted to send their friends postcards for Christmas. That gave me intel that people were excited about it. I tested the waters on social media too, posting a video about it that got 20,000 views. Because there was interest in it, I decided to challenge myself to finish the app before the end of the year. Over the next two months before the end of 2025, I figured out how to monetize it, integrate payment processing, and launch it. Since I launched it in December, more than 100 postcards have been sent through Postcard Press, each costing about $2. Postgrid's services cost $0.82, and Stripe charges $0.30 per card, so I'm honestly not making much profit per card. I know I could move to a subscription model if revenue were the goal, but it's really not why I built this app to begin with. Some tech hiccups along the way I have an engineering background, but not necessarily coding, so I needed some help from my techie friends. Before I launched the app, I shared it with some of my friends, and they sat down with their laptops to try to hack the website. One of my friends found a security error that let him send 10 postcards without paying me anything, and he said, "You need to fix this before you launch it publicly." The experience helped me shore up the app's security features. Payments were also a big hurdle for me, because I didn't know how to set up a Stripe payment system or how much it would cost. But my friends challenged me. One of them said, "I think you can integrate Stripe to do payments and credit card payments in 30 minutes," and another bet against it. So I sat down and got it working in 30 minutes. Normally, I would've needed a developer to do that, but I just asked Claude to read through all of Stripe's API documentation, and it was able to integrate a payment step in the checkout process. The first of many analog apps Tina said she's already working on other analog apps. Priscilla Tina Even if it may not be that successful in the long run, I believe that what you take away from each experiment is all the learning. Building this app has been a really valuable learning lesson for me and has made some fun cash on the side. I have been turning my attention to making new products. For example, I built a new app called Mini Print, inspired by the Polaroid walls I've noticed in friends' homes and local businesses. I built an app that lets you turn photos into little digital Polaroids and arrange them into a custom wall on your phone to use as phone backgrounds. I built it with Claude Code, and it's now reached around 2,000 users. I've loved seeing friends share their walls with me. So many of my favorite analog experiences are just waiting to be reimagined digitally, and I've been having fun incorporating nostalgic interfaces. Nature and plants are next on my list. Read the original article on Business Insider

OpenAI partners with Grupo Folha and Grupo UOL to bring trusted Brazilian journalism to ChatGPT, expanding access to news with attribution and transparency.

<p><strong>Release:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/simonw/datasette/releases/tag/1.0a30">datasette 1.0a30</a></p> <p>The big new feature in this alpha is a new customizable "Jump to..." menu, described in detail in <a href="https://datasette.io/blog/2026/jump-menu/">The extensible "Jump to" menu in Datasette 1.0a30</a> on the Datasette blog. You can try it out by hitting <code>/</code> on <a href="https://latest.datasette.io/">latest.datasette.io</a> - it looks like this:</p> <p><img alt="Animated demo - the Jump to menu appears, and as the user types it filters to specific databases and tables and debug options" src="https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2026/menu.gif" /></p> <p>The new <a href="https://docs.datasette.io/en/latest/plugin_hooks.html#jump-items-sql-datasette-actor-request">jump_items_sql()</a> plugin hook allows plugins to add their own items to the set that's searched by the plugin.</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/projects">projects</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/datasette">datasette</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/annotated-release-notes">annotated-release-notes</a></p>

Amanda Molenaar spent most of her 20s and 30s living abroad; now she finds it hard to answer where home is. Provided by Amanda Molenaar After nearly two decades living abroad, Amanda Molenaar no longer feels rooted in just one country. It also made relationships, a sense of belonging, and decision-making about the future difficult. At 38, after time back home, she plans to move abroad again to find a life that better matches her ambition. After spending a good chunk of my formative 20s and 30s abroad, I lost my sense of home. I was 19 when I took a break from my studies and spent a year and a half in South America, which kick-started my love for the continent and for living in a different culture. Since then, I've lived in Buenos Aires, London, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro, partly as a diplomat — a lifestyle that suited me perfectly. I lived in all these places for relatively short periods, between 6 months and 3 years, and also often moved back to the Netherlands, where I'm from, in between. That meant a lot of change — and a certain permanent level of uprootedness — in the years that shaped me as an adult. Most of my friends from back home stayed close to where they grew up. Multiple countries started to shape me I landed my first office job after finishing my master's degree in London. So my introduction to the corporate world came with cultural differences, too. I experienced office politics through the British lens and navigated filing my taxes in a different system. Three years later, after being hired by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I found myself in a completely new setting as a diplomat in Brazil. I was building a life in another language, creating a routine in a new environment, and navigating systems that worked differently from what I was used to, both personally and professionally. I remember representing my country for the first time in Portuguese — a moment that highlighted that another world had become my new normal. There were many other defining experiences that happened abroad: burnout, professional growth, deepening friendships, falling in love, living through the COVID pandemic, the death of a friend, and navigating break-ups. As I continued to reinvent myself, the places around me became part of who I was becoming. I soaked up the input I was given. Each country I lived in helped shape the person I am today. Home stopped being one place Now at 38, I know "home" isn't just one place anymore. Of course, I miss people and things from home when I live abroad: my friends, my family, efficiency, good cheese, all four seasons. But honestly, I miss other places just as much. Home is the Netherlands, but it's also London's atmosphere. The nature of Brasilia. The streets of Buenos Aires. And much more. Home is all the places that shaped me over the last two decades. While I feel incredibly rich to have had these experiences, it also makes life feel more complex. With friends around the world, my heart is scattered. Molenaar has lived in Buenos Aires, London, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro. Provided by Amanda Molenaar I've realized my question is not "where do I belong?", but rather: "How do I choose between lives that all feel like mine?" It's a question I've heard often from others. I've been working as a life coach for expats for the last 4 years. The challenge for many isn't actually missing home; instead, it's learning how to navigate a life that no longer fits into one place. It has also made dating more complex. I'm willing to settle down in one location for the right man, but I often question whether we could fully relate to each other because of our different experiences. It hasn't been easy finding someone who sees life through the same lens and feels equally excited about exchanging the comfort of the known for new opportunities abroad. Fortunately, I'm now in that kind of relationship. I learned to become my own anchor I've spent most of the past six years back home. It has been good to grow more roots in one place and be back when I unexpectedly lost both of my parents a few years ago. But I realized this chapter has come to an end and that I want an environment that better matches my ambition and personality. In a few months, I'm moving to Mexico City. I'm very excited about making a new context my own again. My own journey has taught me that staying steady in a global life is hard. It's easy to want to move when the novelty wears off, and hard to choose when everything feels like an option. I've learned that I have to be my own anchor in a life with different homes. Read the original article on Business Insider

<p><strong>Release:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/datasette/datasette-agent/releases/tag/0.1a4">datasette-agent 0.1a4</a></p> <p>Taking advantage of the new <a href="https://docs.datasette.io/en/latest/javascript_plugins.html#javascript-plugins-makejumpsections">makeJumpSections()</a> JavaScript plugin hook added in <a href="https://docs.datasette.io/en/latest/changelog.html#a30-2026-05-24">Datasette 1.0a30</a>, <code>datasette-agent</code> now presents this "Start a new agent chat" interface as part of the Jump to menu, any time you hit <code>/</code>:</p> <p><img alt="Animated demo - this time the demo starts on agent.datasette.io and when the menu opens it has a new Start chat box below the search box - entering 'count entries' and hitting the button causes it to start an agent conversation that counts the number of entries and returns 3300." src="https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2026/menu-agent.gif" /></p> <p>You can try this out by signing into <a href="https://agent.datasette.io/">agent.datasette.io</a> using your GitHub account.</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/datasette">datasette</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/datasette-agent">datasette-agent</a></p>

We're in the transition period -- all of us.

<p><strong>Release:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/datasette/datasette-fixtures/releases/tag/0.1a0">datasette-fixtures 0.1a0</a></p> <p>One of the smaller features in <a href="https://docs.datasette.io/en/latest/changelog.html#a30-2026-05-24">Datasette 1.0a30</a> is this:</p> <blockquote> <p>New documented <a href="https://docs.datasette.io/en/latest/testing_plugins.html#datasette-fixtures-populate-fixture-database">datasette.fixtures.populate_fixture_database(conn)</a> helper for creating the fixture database tables used by Datasette's own tests, intended for plugin test suites.</p> </blockquote> <p>This new plugin takes advantage of that API. You can try it out using <code>uvx</code> without even installing Datasette like this:</p> <pre>uvx --prerelease=allow \ --with datasette-fixtures datasette \ --get /fixtures/roadside_attractions.json</pre> <p>Which outputs:</p> <pre>{ <span class="pl-ent">"ok"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">true</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"next"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">null</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"rows"</span>: [ {<span class="pl-ent">"pk"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">1</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"name"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>The Mystery Spot<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"address"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>465 Mystery Spot Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95065<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"url"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>https://www.mysteryspot.com/<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"latitude"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">37.0167</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"longitude"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">-122.0024</span>}, {<span class="pl-ent">"pk"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">2</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"name"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>Winchester Mystery House<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"address"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>525 South Winchester Boulevard, San Jose, CA 95128<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"url"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"latitude"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">37.3184</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"longitude"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">-121.9511</span>}, {<span class="pl-ent">"pk"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">3</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"name"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"address"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>214 California Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"url"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">null</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"latitude"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">37.5793</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"longitude"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">-122.3442</span>}, {<span class="pl-ent">"pk"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">4</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"name"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>Bigfoot Discovery Museum<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"address"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>5497 Highway 9, Felton, CA 95018<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"url"</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">"</span>https://www.bigfootdiscoveryproject.com/<span class="pl-pds">"</span></span>, <span class="pl-ent">"latitude"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">37.0414</span>, <span class="pl-ent">"longitude"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">-122.0725</span>} ], <span class="pl-ent">"truncated"</span>: <span class="pl-c1">false</span> }</pre> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/datasette">datasette</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/uv">uv</a></p>

Financial Times: Sources: Uber weighs a higher bid after it approached a major Delivery Hero shareholder with a €38-per-share bid, valuing the group at €11.5B+, but was rebuffed  —  San Francisco based-group approached major shareholder in German food group  —  Uber's board met on Saturday …

Gas prices are at a four-year high in the US this Memorial Day. Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images Nearly 40 million Americans will drive at least 50 miles from home during Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day weekend gas prices, meanwhile, have reached a four-year high. That's largely the result of Trump's conflict with Iran. Your jaunt to the beach on Memorial Day will cost you. The current national average for regular gas is $4.51, the highest it's been since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, causing a spike in oil prices. The current price of gas is 4 cents higher than a month ago and $1.32 higher than the same time last year. As of Sunday, California has the highest average at $6.11, while Indiana has the lowest at $3.93. Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, and millions of Americans will travel to cookouts, parties, and vacation destinations to celebrate. AAA projects almost 40 million people will drive at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday. That'll now cost over $200 in most states. "Travel demand remains strong, and despite higher fuel prices, many people are prioritizing leisure travel during holiday breaks," Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement. This summer's escalating prices are largely due to the US and Israel's war on Iran. Iran all but closed the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway through which around 20% of the world's oil supply and liquefied natural gas pass through — following those initial attacks. As a result, oil and gas prices have spiked worldwide, forcing some countries to enact energy-saving measures. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a deal between the US and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is "largely negotiated." "Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "In addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened." Trump's comments sent oil prices sharply lower at the start of the week, with crude futures falling more than 5% in early trading. International benchmark Brent crude fell 3.9% to about $99.50 a barrel as of 9:40 p.m. ET Sunday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 4.3% to roughly $92.50 a barrel. While oil futures reacted immediately to Trump's statements, drivers may not see relief at the pump right away. Retail gasoline prices generally trail moves in crude oil prices because fuel purchased at earlier, higher wholesale costs can take time to work through the supply chain. Markets are also likely to remain volatile, with oil continuing to swing on geopolitical headlines tied to the conflict in Iran, analysts said. "We've been at this stage before, only for talks to break down. Therefore, the market will likely be more cautious about overreacting to these headlines," wrote Warren Patterson, the head of commodity strategy at ING, on Monday. Read the original article on Business Insider

Chi Xu, the founder and CEO of XREAL, thinks the smart glasses business has finally reached a turning point.

X is reallocating impressions from reposts to the original creators to crackdown on aggregators. Richard Drury/Getty Images X's head of product, Nikita Bier, said the platform is cracking down on copycat creators. These users are "programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts" for profit, he said. Bier says to use "Share Video" or "Quote" for proper attribution and to support original creators. X is introducing new strategies to rein in its copycat economy. Elon Musk's social media platform is now cracking down on large accounts that have been "programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts" to game its creator revenue-share program, X's head of product, Nikita Bier, said. That program lets eligible creators earn money from engagement on the platform, which has also created an incentive for some accounts to rapidly repost or repackage viral content before the original creator gets the credit. Over the past month, we have identified a number of large accounts that have been programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts to game the revenue share program and circumvent crediting the original author. We are now identifying these posts and allocating the… — Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) May 23, 2026 Bier said X is now identifying those posts and "allocating the impressions entirely to the creator," an effort aimed at making sure original posters — not aggregators — get paid. For posts with added commentary, Bier recommended using X's "Share Video" or "Quote" feature to ensure attribution goes to the original creator. The move is part of a broader push by X to reduce payouts for aggregators, whose business model has often depended on rapidly repackaging other people's work for monetizable engagement. Bier singled out one of the platform's most prolific posters on Saturday. Mario Nawfal is the CEO of IBC Group, a crypto consulting firm. He also hosts the largest live discussion show on X and has some 3.5 million followers. Nawfal reposted a video of an ABC News journalist reacting to gunshots fired outside the White House on Saturday. A community note below the post now reads, "OP stole this video without providing credit." "Please do not reupload the author's video: use Quote or Video Reshare," Bier added. "Your revenue was reduced by 90% last cycle and we're running out of room to reduce it more." Nawfal replied that his account always uses the video reshare option, but it doesn't work for longer tweets. That response now also has a community note: "No he doesnt. Here are additional examples just from the last few hours," the note says, listing three other posts that don't provide credit. "Chronic content thief." Read the original article on Business Insider

<blockquote cite="https://lucumr.pocoo.org/2026/5/24/pi-oss/"><p>The most frustrating failure mode right now is that people submit issues that are not in their own voice. They contain an observed problem somewhere, but it has been thrown into a clanker and the clanker reworded it and made a huge mess of it. Typically, it was prompted so badly that the conclusions produced are more often than not inaccurate but always full of confidence. The result is complete guesswork on root causes, fake-minimal repros, suggested implementation strategies, analogies to adjacent but often the wrong code, and long lists of error classes that might or might not matter. [...]</p> <p>So at least personally, I increasingly want issue reports to be condensed to what the human actually observed:</p> <ol> <li>I ran this command.</li> <li>I expected this to happen.</li> <li>This happened instead.</li> <li>Here is the exact error or log.</li> </ol></blockquote> <p class="cite">&mdash; <a href="https://lucumr.pocoo.org/2026/5/24/pi-oss/">Armin Ronacher</a>, on slop issues filed against <a href="https://pi.dev/">Pi</a></p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai">ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/github-issues">github-issues</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/llms">llms</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai-ethics">ai-ethics</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/open-source">open-source</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/coding-agents">coding-agents</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/generative-ai">generative-ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/armin-ronacher">armin-ronacher</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/pi">pi</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/slop">slop</a></p>

Martin Arnold / Financial Times: The ECB summons Eurozone banks to a meeting on Tuesday to discuss risks posed by the latest AI models and hopes US banks with Mythos access will share lessons  —  Supervisor to stress seriousness of risks to financial system at hastily arranged meeting  —  The European Central Bank …

The author lets her kids check out at the supermarket. Courtesy of the author I let my kids take over the grocery self-checkout. What started as chaos turned into teamwork and independence. Grocery shopping became a way to teach practical life skills. I have always loved grocery shopping with my kids. From the time they were babies and toddlers, I loved putting them in the cart and chatting about what I was buying. It always feels a bit chaotic, but it's always been one of my favorite things to do with them. Now that they're older and have graduated from riding in the cart to walking beside it, I've looked for ways to get them more involved in the process. They would help choose produce or grab things off the shelf and put them in the cart. But then the day came when they wanted to start scanning groceries at the self-checkout. There are three of them, and the thought of them all grabbing items out of the cart and scrambling to scan things seemed like a lot. But one day I thought, "What the heck, let's see what happens." Things got wild The first time we did this, it was understandably chaotic. My son (the oldest) insisted on scanning, and the younger girls wanted to scan as well, so there was a lot of grabbing for items and running from the cart to the scanner. Groceries were tossed haphazardly in bags. I was trying to keep track and make sure everything was actually scanned, and one kid started looking at the candy shelf near the checkout. When we left, I was sweating. But the kids were so happy. You'd think they had just gotten to drive a spaceship. But no, they literally did a basic grown-up task that many actually dread. They fell into their own roles After a few times, they fell into a rhythm that I had no hand in figuring out. Each started to handle their own task while I kept a watchful eye on the cart and made sure everything got scanned. The oldest and the middle work on scanning, even talking to each other to make sure nothing is left behind, or adjusting based on who can pick it up (my son takes care of the heavier items). Once the item is scanned, it's passed to the little one, who puts it neatly in the bag or box. When everything's done, she gets to use the debit card to pay, navigating the prompts on the screen like a pro. It's a special moment when, as a parent, you can step back and watch your kids figure something out on their own — or better yet, with their siblings. When I asked them what they liked about helping at the checkout, my son said, "I'm not bored. If I wasn't helping, I would just be standing and doing nothing, and it's boring." It gives them a sense of purpose that's really fun to see. We've taken it a few steps further A few years ago, I created a Master Grocery List. It's laminated, so I use a dry-erase marker to mark the items we need each week. Since the kids have gotten more involved in shopping — and have more opinions on what they'd like to eat — I moved the list to a spot on the fridge that's easy to access. Now, if they use the last of something, realize they need something for school, or have a supper idea, they'll add it themselves. The author has a laminated shopping list for the family. Courtesy of the author Since helping with groceries has been a theme in our home lately, I decided to go one step further and hand the phone to my middle child so she could place a pickup order herself. She had the list handy, and I told her the budget. She had a blast and did a really great job, even recommending a smaller size coffee when she saw the prices to make sure she stayed within the budget. It can be hard to take a step back, but it's worth it Part of the fun of raising little humans is teaching them how to do daily tasks and watching them learn how to navigate the world. Basics like doing laundry, loading the dishwasher, and shopping take time for them to figure out, but they end up with a sense of pride and accomplishment as they learn. That doesn't mean it's always easy. The first time the kids took over at the checkout, I found myself reaching to help multiple times. But given a few extra seconds, they typically figured things out on their own. I'll still step in if necessary, but I try to wait for them to ask for help rather than just jumping in and taking over. They've made mistakes, and I've had to help, but at the end of the shopping trip, they have a sense of accomplishment and ownership. It's also good for me to step back and let them do so. Up next, I'll hand off the list in the store and see how it goes. Read the original article on Business Insider

New York Times: A look at the scourge of smartphone thefts in London, as victims describe receiving texts threatening them into unlinking Apple IDs from stolen iPhones  —  Tens of thousands of smartphones were reported stolen in the British capital in recent years.  For some victims, losing their phone was only the beginning.

<p><strong>Tool:</strong> <a href="https://tools.simonwillison.net/usborne-mad-house">Mad House — Usborne Creepy Computer Games</a></p> <p>Via <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48258194">Hacker News</a> I learned that UK publisher Usborne published <a href="https://usborne.com/us/books/computer-and-coding-books">free PDFs of their 1980s Computer Books</a>, some of which I remember working through on my Commodore 64 as a child.</p> <p>These were so great! Beautifully illustrated books with fun projects made up of code you could type into your own machine.</p> <p>I remember playing "Mad House" typed in from the 1983 book "Creepy Computer Games", so I fed that PDF <a href="https://claude.ai/share/7b4a5617-f586-4744-b082-1650cab607cb">into Claude</a> and had it build an interactive version of that game in JavaScript and HTML:</p> <blockquote> <p><code>Build a vanilla JS artifact that exactly recreates the game Mad House from this book, make sure it's mobile friendly and has a suitable retro aesthetic</code></p> <p><code>Credit the book title and link to https://usborne.com/us/books/computer-and-coding-books</code></p> </blockquote> <p><img alt="Screenshot of a retro green-on-black terminal-style game interface titled &quot;MAD HOUSE — A REAL NIGHTMARE —&quot; with a REC indicator, FOOTSTEPS 240, DOORS counter, three rows of ASCII corridors made of asterisks with &quot;&gt;&quot; and &quot;&lt;&quot; door markers, &quot;PRESS START TO BEGIN&quot; text, NEAR DOOR controls (X and C) and FAR DOOR controls (N and M), and a &quot;▶ START / RESTART&quot; button at the bottom." src="https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2026/mad-house.jpg" /></p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/computer-history">computer-history</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/games">games</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/tools">tools</a></p>