Flutterby™! (short)

1930s comparisons intensify...

Three Mount Shasta climbers rescued after relying on AI to plan climb

“We relied too much on AI rather than our own critical thinking,” the group told rangers.

And virtual maps on devices with limited battery power, and... yeah.

As Lizard @lizardky.bsky.social noted:

AI: Darwin's L'il Helper

Iris Meredith: There's No Such Thing As Just A Tool.

Petaluma PD just sent a "Advisory: Power Outage: Please treat non-functioning stoplights as four-way stops" Nixle alert, and dear deities I hope that drivers take these more seriously than they take stop signs...

Some good recording on tying Tesla's highly redacted "FSD" collision data back to public records. https://electrek.co/2026/09/01...topilot-fsd-crashes-hidden-data/

Tesla has been so underhanded with their data it's hard to tell how safe their systems are. Good to see reporting digging into this.

Via https://bsky.app/profile/kayle...t.bsky.social/post/3mukflt6zqc2p

PBS Newshour: What to know about the fake election poll numbers shared and retracted by a mysterious company

The California results were among at least three "polls" across three states posted online this month by Median Strategies, a previously unknown organization that admitted to the Los Angeles Times on Monday that the purported results were fake. The company wrote before shuttering its website this week that it "was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification."

Sounds like it was someone in cahoots with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, most credible news outlets did not run with the numbers unquestioned, but as it becomes easier and easier to fake plausible "news", worth watching out for.

Via.

Stewmac email advertising tools for fretting, and I'm not sure my mental health can handle more efficient fretting.

Then it registers that this is for luthier work. But, yeah, my head is not in a good space.

Dwarf Fortress creator talks AI psychosis and game development

Which, once more, has exhausted Dwarf Fortress' creator Tarn Adams, who spoke to PC Gamer's Joshua Wolens during Gamescom 2026: "They're trying to have a CEO press a button that makes a game, and then everyone else somehow buys it without a job. So I don't see that going anywhere sustainable, and I feel like there will simply be a pop and a reckoning and then [it's on repeat] unless people do something else."

Via.

Being frustrated with a lack of science fiction that's positive about the future, I get. Proposing using LLMs to write same... I think that's a symptom of why the human writers can't see a positive future.

Shocked by Newsom’s Cuts to Transit? Don’t Be.. As Rebecca Saltzman @rebeccaforec.bsky.social observed:

While Newsom talks a good talk on addressing climate change, he’s been committing climate arson by defunding transit, biking, and walking programs for years.

Iran threatens ‘complete and utter annihilation’ of OpenAI's $30B Stargate AI data center in Abu Dhabi — regime posts video with satellite imagery of ChatGPT-maker's premier 1GW data center

Via shauna @goldengateblond.bsky.social

the war just got funny

Silly question: Anyone out there exploring the intersection between ear buds, in-ear monitors, and hearing aids? Charlene is getting frustrated with her hearing aids (fit and fragility), and ear buds are getting more socially accepted, and I have to think someone's ahead of the curve here.

Drew DeVault's list of weird little guys of FOSS. Good for keeping on top of who's milkshake-ducked.

Via.

Holy shit, do not use SnapChat... (I mean, you knew that, but): Student Teacher Sent a Private Snapchat Complaining About Her Workday. An Hour Later, Police Pulled Up to Her School.

Via.