Public blog
Curated articles, analysis, project notes, and useful technical discoveries.
Jun 18, 2026
A paused shutdown of the Ocean Observatories Initiative is a reminder that critical data platforms need more than uptime—they need continuity, governance, and graceful failure plans.
Jun 18, 2026
A data breach at a Texas state government department allowed hackers to take the driverâs license information and passport numbers of more than 3 million people, according to the stateâs attorney general. The incident is one of the largest data breaches to affect the state this year. In a data breach notice on the Texas Parks & Wildlife website, the department said the stateâs cybersecurity unit recently detected a security incident â the nature of which, or when, were not specified â that allowed hackers to access to the departmentâs license system ven...
Jun 18, 2026
A geography guessing game shows how simple mechanics, spatial feedback, and lightweight social sharing can turn a daily habit into a memorable product experience.
Jun 18, 2026
For many people, plague brings to mind rats, crowded medieval towns, and the devastating epidemics that spread across Europe during and after the Middle Ages. New research suggests the disease's deadly history stretches back much further.
Jun 18, 2026
The new Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer is more than superhero hype—it is a useful reminder that strong developer portfolios need tension, stakes, recognizable systems, and a memorable hook.
Jun 17, 2026
Elsewhere, beyond-classical quantum hardware, plus classical computing fires back. Quantum computing news usually picks up near the end of the year, as companies try to provide evidence that they are hitting benchmarks on time.
Jun 17, 2026
The affected include Oracle, Lenovo, FedEx, a NATO contractor, and Fortinet. Researchers have uncovered a massive breach of Fortinet firewalls that has given Russian-speaking attackers near-unrestricted access to some of the worldâs largest and most powerful organizations, including Oracle, Chevron, Lenovo, Federal Express, a NATO defense contractor, and Fortinet itself.
Jun 16, 2026
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is best known as a disease affecting wildlife such as deer and elk. However, a new study from researchers at the University of Calgary and their international collaborators examined whether the disease could potentially move beyond cervid (hooved, plant-eating) animals and infect other species.
Jun 16, 2026
A new SETI study suggests alien radio signals could be smeared by stellar activity before reaching Earth. For developers, it is a useful reminder: real-world inputs rarely arrive in the clean shape our systems expect.