Links - Stephan Segraves

Tuesday texts to read – 10

September 16, 2025September 16, 2025 ssegraves

Apologies for missing last week.

Meta allegedly bypassed Apple privacy measure, and fired employee who flagged it (9to5Mac)
Google is shutting down Tables, its Airtable rival (TechCrunch)
Delta/Aeromexico JV Termination Finalized by DOT (PaxEx.aero)
This trucker built a scale model of NYC over 21 years. It’s drawing museums’ attention. (Gothamist)
These teens turned their rooms into tech-free zones. This was the result (BBC)

He says another bonus of leaving his tech outside his bedroom at night has meant he hasn’t got caught up watching “billions of videos” on TikTok just before he goes to sleep.

Henry says he is already sleeping much better, which in turn has “helped in school… in all subjects and all aspects”.

I’m convinced we are slowly (or maybe quickly) rotting our brains with the amount of social media and short form content we consume. Everything is a soundbite or 30-second clip. None of it engages our brain to actually think or process, we just consume.

Tuesday texts to read – 9

August 19, 2025August 19, 2025 ssegraves

As Alaska’s salmon plummet, scientists home in on the killer (Science.org)
How Croatian freediver held breath for 29 minutes (DiverNet)
How AI researchers accidentally discovered that everything they thought about learning was wrong (Nearly Right)
The ‘big church move’: Swedish town begins to roll historic building 5km (The Guardian)
How much do electric car batteries degrade? (Sustainability by numbers)
Possible measles exposure reported at Denver International Airport (The Denver Post)

An out-of-state resident traveled through Denver International Airport while contagious with measles last week, and public health officials are urging people who passed through Concourse C to watch for symptoms.

Tuesday texts to read – 8

August 12, 2025 ssegraves

H-1B Visas Changes Approved by White House: Report (Newsweek)
A Suicide Cult’s Surviving Members Still Maintain Its 90s Website (Vice)
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online (The Markup)
‘My Life Became a Living Hell’: One Woman’s Career in Delta Force, the Army’s Most Elite Unit (Politico)
PaxEx PR: United Brings Full Season Apple TV+ Content In-flight (PaxEx.aero)

Tuesday texts to read – 7

August 5, 2025August 4, 2025 ssegraves

Remote Stands, Bus Boarding, and Last-Minute Gates: A Tale of Two Airport Systems (Gad’s Newsletter)
Palantir Is Extending Its Reach Even Further Into Government (Wired)
PHP – The Toyota Corolla Of Programming (De Programmatica Ipsum)
US Nuclear Weapons Return to UK After 2008 Withdrawal: Reports (The Defense Post)
North Korean spies posing as remote workers have infiltrated hundreds of companies, says CrowdStrike (TechCrunch)

The scheme relies on North Koreans using false identities, resumes, and work histories to gain employment and earn money for the regime, as well as allowing access for the workers to steal data from the companies they work for and later extort them. The aim is to generate funds for North Korea’s sanctioned nuclear weapons program, which has so far made billions of dollars for the regime to date.

Tuesday texts to read – 6

July 29, 2025July 29, 2025 ssegraves

Tour de France confronts a new threat: Are cyclists using tiny motors? (Washington Post)
Union Pacific to buy Norfolk in $85 billion mega U.S. railroad deal (CNBC)
The Leverage Arbitrage: Why Everything Feels Broken (Tushar Dadlani’s Blog)
Allianz Life says ‘majority’ of customers’ personal data stolen in cyberattack (TechCrunch) – It is really starting to feel like a permanent personal data monitoring service is a good investment.
EU-US trade deal: The biggest losers and (a few) winners (Politico)
Boeing aims for Max 7 and Max 10 certifications in 2026 (FlightGlobal)

“We are continuing to mature the technical solution for engine anti-ice and the certification path for the [Max 7 and 10],” Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg said in a 29 July memo to employees. “Progress on this solution has taken longer than we expected, and we now anticipate that certification for the airplanes will take place next year.”

I won’t hold my breath.

Tuesday texts to read – 5

July 22, 2025July 28, 2025 ssegraves

Trump says he wants to deport ‘the worst of the worst.’ Government data tells another story (Associated Press)
NASA’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Aircraft Begins Taxi Tests (NASA)
What Will Become of the C.I.A.? (The New Yorker)
Shale Drillers Turn Against Each Other as Toxic Water Leaks Hit Biggest US Oil Field (Financial Post)
ACWA Power plans to develop 15 GW of wind and solar capacity in Saudi Arabia (Enerdata)
How one man with a hacksaw and an e-bike became a Texas flood ‘hero’ (electrek)

In addition to delivering needed supplies, Evan has often found himself moving something even more important: information. “I’ve flagged down medics. I’ve been the guy that goes between Austin EMT and STAR Flight because I’m quicker than cell phones sometimes, people don’t have signal a lot of the time.”

Evan quickly points out that he isn’t the only one helping. “I’ve got an e-bike, but other people are pulling carts. People are walking, people are carrying things. Everyone is doing what they can.” But there’s no doubt that his ability to carry more gear at higher speeds and make hundreds of round-trip journeys so far in and out of the stricken neighborhood has helped impact countless lives.

Tuesday texts to read – 4

July 15, 2025 ssegraves

How I Solved the Century-Old Mystery of a Miraculous Shipwreck Survivor (The Walrus)
Inside the Collapse of the F.D.A. (NYTimes)
The old traffic math that keeps destroying neighborhoods (Fast Company)

A status quo success story is when a road expansion allows a driver to get home 18 seconds sooner but makes it impossible for a child to safely bike to the library.
DHS Tells Police That Common Protest Activities Are ‘Violent Tactics’

“The DHS report repeatedly conflates basic protest, organizing, and journalism with terroristic violence, thereby justifying ever more authoritarian measures by law enforcement,” says Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People. “It should be sobering, if unsurprising, that the Trump regime’s response to mass criticism of its police state tactics is to escalate those tactics.”
American Airlines introduces first-of-its-kind Provisions by Admirals Club lounge at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (American Airlines)

Tuesday texts to read – 3

July 8, 2025July 7, 2025 ssegraves

The chemical secrets that help keep honey fresh for so long (BBC)
Local-first software (Ink & Switch)
The Force-Feeding of AI on an Unwilling Public (The Honest Broker)
TSA to end shoes-off policy for airport security screening (ABC News)
A Classic Childhood Pastime Is Fading (The Atlantic)

Biking can be risky, and finding an appropriate place to practice can be tricky in the city or in the suburbs. But if parents can find safe environments for teaching their children to navigate streets confidently on their own, the amount of freedom those kids will gain is invaluable. On a bike, a child gets to choose where to go and how to get there without having to check in with a parent, which lets them practice making decisions. As they ride more, the activity can even start to rewire their brain, helping them form spatial maps of their neighborhood and develop the kind of competence and knowledge that can seed lasting resilience and self-esteem.

Tuesday texts to read – 2

July 1, 2025 ssegraves

Xfinity using WiFi in your house to detect motion (Xfinity)
Parallel parking contest in Southeast Portland keeps the city weird (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
The 50 best airports in America, ranked (Washington Post)

#1 Portland, OR – Walk into this airport terminal and gasp. It’s practically a nature bath. Skylights built into soaring timber roofs filter sunlight onto the oak floor. Live trees and massive video walls showcase stunning landscapes. Sit for a spell on the stadium-style wood benches. Linger on the real-life view of Mount Hood from Concourse E. This space is – it’s hard to believe – relaxing. And that’s despite construction set to wrap up next year.
What does a post-Google internet look like? (Mat Duggan)
Drug cartel hacked FBI official’s phone to track and kill informants, report says (Ars Technica)

The hired hacker observed “’people of interest’ for the cartel, including the FBI Assistant Legal Attache, and then was able to use the [attache’s] mobile phone number to obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data, associated with the [attache’s] phone.”
SAS picks E2 for short haul fleet (Paxex.aero)

Tuesday texts to read – 1

June 24, 2025June 24, 2025 ssegraves

Trying something new I’m trying, sharing a few different stories I’ve come across in the last week that I’ve found interesting or worth reading.

Backyard Coffee And Jazz In Kyoto, Japan (The Deleted Scenes)
Effective July 7, 2025, the National Archives at College Park, MD, will become a restricted-access federal facility with access only for visitors with a legitimate business need. (National Archives)
The Scheme that Broke the Texas Lottery (New Yorker)
Quebec provides universal childcare for less than $7 a day. Here’s what the US can learn (The Guardian)
Why Engineers Hate Their Managers (And What to Do About It) (Terrible Software)

Most managers aren’t evil; they’re often just as frustrated as their engineers, caught between demanding executives and burnt-out teams. They’re measured on metrics they can’t directly control, asked to do more with less, and criticized from every direction.
Why Are Federal Agents Wearing Masks? It’s a Threat to American Democracy (Adam Kinzinger)

Let me speak plainly: this is cowardice. You do not serve justice by hiding your face. You do not build trust with a community by terrorizing it from behind a mask. And you sure as hell do not defend the Constitution by violating it in the dark.