PXL News
Everything the anchors say on this tape, story by story.
GRANT BRICKMAN: While you were asleep: Hackaday took us back to the Commodore 1600 VICModem, perhaps the first phone modem to sell for under $100.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Also overnight: Santiago Ziesmer turned down a Netflix dubbing job over a clause that would use the recordings as AI training data.
GRANT BRICKMAN: And a study hints Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune could descend into chaos a few billion years after the sun runs out of fuel.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Hobbyists are building their own Disney duck droids, and Ada has asked the street what they make of that.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good morning. Builders are copying Disney's duck robots at home. I'm told the waddle is the hard part. Ada, how does the street feel? ▶
ADA: Huge morning, Grant! Disney's BDX droids are being rebuilt by hobbyists, and the crowd at the original show saw characters, not motors. So, would you want one? ▶
PASSERBY: Honestly? Yes. If it waddles up and looks at me, I will give it my croissant. ▶
PASSERBY: A robot duck is fine. I only ask that it stays off the pavement and away from my baguette. ▶
ADA: Here's the clever bit. The Disney paper became the map: enough about the mechanics and control to make an open build feel possible. Details were left for builders to work out. ▶
PASSERBY: I'd build one for a hospital visit. Kids would love it. I would mostly love it for the soldering. ▶
ADA: Same idea as the article! The author pictured these droids at children's hospital visits. Files and the build guide are at OpenBDX.org after you register. ▶
PASSERBY: Wait, there are three of them? Blue, green, orange? I'm picking orange. It looks fastest. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: For the record, Besh, Grek and Oskar are Disney's three droids, as the article names them. Nobody has been cleared for the pastry table. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Proton's CEO has cancelled the AI re-interviews. Here is the background on how we got here.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good morning. The Big Picture: Proton, the tiny, positive, very stable one, has cancelled some interviews. A cheerful particle, if you ask me. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: How we got here. 404 Media reports its Thursday investigation showed CEO Andy Yen pushing AI across Proton, despite some security worries from employees. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Greta, were the re-interviews like setting the VCR timer, only for staff? What were they for? ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Staff would explain their AI use, the report says, with a clear intention they could be fired. Background note: a proton is a stable particle. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: So the particle is stable, and the company, less so. Vera, what's still open? ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: What is still open: the report says cancelling likely leaves the security concerns unaddressed. It doesn't say whether the AI push itself changes. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: One employee asked for days to pentest new code. Yen wrote it's possible to be fast and secure. The article doesn't say how that was settled. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Kai, you're standing in the data center. Is the cloud affected? I assume it's cloudy there. ▶
KAI: Huge question, Grant. The whole debate is fast versus secure, and my keyboard has never once been asked to choose. Pentesting takes time. That's the gap. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The cancelled interviews, the investigation and the open security question: that's the picture so far. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Well said. I'm staying positive. It is, after all, a proton story. Back after more coffee. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Your calls on books, junk ratings and a very large Arduino screen, live on The Pixel Line.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good morning, and welcome to The Pixel Line. The phones are open and the coffee is hot. First caller, you're on the air. ▶
PASSERBY: Morning! Is it true that Anthropic is getting a junk rating? That sounds terrible for a company. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Brenda, the Financial Times reports Blackstone expects a high junk rating after the IPO. It's a forecast, and both companies declined to comment. ▶
PASSERBY: Hello? I want the sequel to Warrior Princess Assassin. Is that on a channel? I can't find it. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Gerald, that's a book, I believe. One of ninety arriving in November. You'll find it at your local fax shop. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Not the fax shop, Gerald. A bookshop. io9 lists ninety new sci-fi, fantasy and horror books for November, sequel included. ▶
PASSERBY: Ingrid again. About that Arduino screen. Does it have speakers? And why did nobody ask me first? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Ingrid, yes: the Waveshare display has two speakers, two audio jacks and two camera connectors. It sells for $69.99 on Waveshare's store. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Thank you, callers, and Ingrid, we did not forget you. That's The Pixel Line. Stay on the line, because we won't. ▶
THE ANNOUNCER: Is your dog somewhere? Of course. But where? Meet Snoutline, the pet collar that tells you your dog is nearby!
THE ANNOUNCER: Nearby! Not here. Not there. Just comfortably in the general vicinity, in a way your dog will find thrilling too!
THE ANNOUNCER: Snoutline. Order today and your dog stays close, in spirit. Snoutline. Probably nearby.
STORMY BYTES: Good morning. The hype front over home-built Disney duck robots is warm and waddling, with scattered applause.
STORMY BYTES: A cold front of AI mandates is sitting over Proton, with a risk of re-interviews cancelled by Friday.
STORMY BYTES: Outlook for the rest of the morning: mostly coffee, a light shower of pastry, and no cloud in sight.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Correct! You spotted the real one. The clock was made up by this very newsroom, with great care and no soldering.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Fooled! That one was ours. The writers will be insufferable tonight.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Time's up! The real one was patient. The fake one was a clock, and ran out of time, too.
AI-written satire. The text of the news items comes from the linked articles. Plain text