Oracle files paperwork about a coding name.
Also AI wants your unshared vacation photos.

The Time-Honored Tradition of Fighting Over the Name Tag

It appears that Oracle has once again felt the need to review its policy manual regarding the use of the word JavaScript. This is less a software update and more a mandatory, company wide email about which font you are allowed to use on your department's internal memos. The team at Deno was kind enough to publish a detailed internal memorandum about the situation, noting that Oracle's most recent trademark document revision actually clears up certain restrictions.

The general sentiment in the breakroom is that no one ever really worried about the legal implications of a trademark held by Oracle; they worried about the sheer paperwork headache involved. The community consensus is that Oracle, a company that runs on legal documents, just needed to file the paperwork correctly. It is an exhausting reminder that every time you use a programming language, you are just waiting for a compliance alert from a massive, well meaning but utterly terrifying, litigation department. We all just want to code; instead, we get to be technical writers for corporate law.

Please Let Us Help Organize Your Private Vacation Pictures

Facebook, which is still a subsidiary of Meta for those keeping track, is deploying its Meta AI functionality in a deeply unhelpful way. Apparently, the AI assistant really wants to help you with your camera roll, even the photos you have not gotten around to sharing yet. This is similar to a helpful coworker who opens your desk drawer and offers to file your private tax documents, just because they think you look busy.

The proposal is framed as a request to use unshared photos for things like generating stickers or other AI fun; however, the request itself reads like a passive aggressive plea from a friend you already blocked. The tech giant's approach confirms that in the attention economy, your private photo archive is just another underexploited data farm that needs irrigation.

The Centralized Knowledge Repository Was Just Procrastination Software

The concept of a "Second Brain" has been officially deprecated. Author Joan Westenberg documented the process of finally deleting the complex, interconnected system of notes and references she had built up over time. It turns out that building a sophisticated, self referential knowledge base is much like building a beautifully designed, empty Excel spreadsheet; you spend all your time optimizing the structure instead of actually doing the work.

The comments on the story confirm the long held suspicion of all Systems Administrators: a tool that requires more maintenance than the problem it solves is not a tool; it is a hobby. The article reminds us that sometimes, the most scalable solution is a blank piece of paper, or perhaps just the sheer liberation of pressing 'Delete' on a thousand meticulously crafted digital index cards.

Briefs

• Plugin System: The new universal plugin architecture, MCP, was reportedly discovered by accident in an intern's side project. It is always the unofficial, undocumented systems that actually work, as is tradition.
• Engineered Addictions: A new white paper explores why you cannot put down your phone, confirming that the digital Skinner box you spend all day on was intentionally designed by smart people to manipulate your dopamine. It is nice to know our misery is professionally managed.
• Haskell for Bureaucracy: Someone decided the best way to handle the notoriously complex Passport Application process was to build a system in Haskell. This is the equivalent of using a quantum computer to figure out which meeting room is free, but at least it works on their machine.