The CEO Is Bored of His Own Product:
And Microsoft Hides the Good Stapler

Management Says "Social Media" is Cancelled

In a pivot that feels remarkably like a mid-life crisis, Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly declared that social media is "over." This is rich coming from the man who essentially built the digital open-plan office we have all been trapped in for the last two decades. It is the corporate equivalent of the office manager deciding that "email is dead" because he bought a shiny new megaphone (AI) and wants everyone to use that instead.

The implication is that the era of connecting with friends is being deprecated in favor of content feeds generated by algorithms that think you really want to see videos of power washing. It seems the strategy is no longer about "connecting the world," but rather "feeding the world slop until they stop scrolling." If the architect of the addiction is bored of it, what hope do the rest of us have?

Microsoft Takes Its Ball Home

Microsoft has decided to block its C/C++ extension from running on forks of VS Code. This is a classic case of "Open Source, But Not Like That." It’s like offering free coffee in the breakroom but installing a sensor that locks the pot if you pour it into a mug with a competitor's logo on it.

Developers using open-source builds like VSCodium are now finding themselves locked out of essential tools, proving once again that in the tech ecosystem, "freedom" usually comes with a lengthy Terms and Conditions scroll. The message is clear: you can play in our sandbox, but you have to use our plastic shovel, or you don't get to dig at all.

Optimizing Liver Failure

Someone with incredible math skills and questionable priorities has calculated the shortest possible walking tour to visit 81,998 bars in South Korea. This is the Traveling Salesman Problem applied to the specific domain of getting absolutely hammered.

It is a beautiful example of data science: solving a problem that physically cannot be executed unless you are a liver-less robot. While the rest of us struggle to plan a happy hour that works for three people's schedules, this algorithm has mapped out a multi-year bender with sub-meter precision. Efficiency is truly a double-edged sword.

Briefs

• Priorities: A developer wrote a from-scratch OS kernel specifically to run DOOM. This confirms that the only two constants in computing are legacy code and the need to shoot demons on Mars.
• Drawing Robots: OpenAI has released image generation in the API. Now you can automate the production of weird, six-fingered corporate mascots directly from your command line.
• Resignation Letter: The NSF director is resigning amid controversy. It appears that "science" is currently undergoing a "corporate restructuring," which is usually bad news for anyone who likes facts.