links: 03.08.2026

The New York Times: What Are Companies Getting for All That A.I. Spending? The New York Times reports on a new field of economics — “tokenomics” — that studies what companies are actually paying for AI use and what they’re getting for it. There’s still no standard way to compare cost and value, so some firms are inventing […]

links: 28.07.2026

TechCrunch: Satya Nadella says companies that trust one AI for everything may not survive TechCrunch writes that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is warning businesses not to entrust all their AI work to a single model provider. He advises companies to keep their data and usage records so they could one day train a model of their own, and […]

links: 02.07.2026

PBS News: Defying Pope Leo XIV, traditionalists go ahead with bishop consecrations in Switzerland PBS News reports that the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, in open defiance of Pope Leo XIV, consecrated four bishops without papal consent in Écône, Switzerland — an act that under church law brings automatic excommunication for both the new bishops and the […]

links: 27.06.2026

Le Monde: In the age of AI, Chinese universities overhaul their curricula Le Monde describes how Chinese universities are overhauling their degree programmes to align with artificial intelligence, which has been made the top priority of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) — the government wants to embed the technology in as many sectors of the real economy as […]

links: 25.06.2026

Yle: What annoys Finns the most? Wars, selfishness, and telemarketers A survey commissioned by a Finnish communications agency has found what annoys Finns most: wars, selfishness and telemarketing cold calls. It also revealed generational differences — pensioners tend to be irritated by more things (three in four are angered by wars, and many are also bothered by boastfulness […]

links: 21.06.2026

LSM: Turning all of Pārdaugava into one big Victory Square? An interview with researcher Skaidrīte Lasmane Skaidrīte Lasmane — an emeritus professor, philosopher and historian at the University of Latvia — discusses the history of Riga’s Victory Square (Uzvaras laukums) and the grandiose construction planned under Kārlis Ulmanis, which was deliberately turned into a nationwide volunteer effort, a […]

links: 20.06.2026

PBS / PolitiFact: Comparing the mood of America’s 250th anniversary with its 200th in 1976 As the US approaches its 250th anniversary, historians compare the national mood with the bicentennial of 1976 and see eerie parallels — international conflict, high inflation and gas prices, culture wars and low presidential approval. The key difference: society is far more polarised […]