The Mythos Problem

Last week, Anthropic announced that its Mythos AI tool had found multiple serious problems with many open source software programs, including some that are core services on the internet and were long thought to be secure. They are not releasing Mythos publicly, instead opting to provide it to several major internet companies (Microsoft, Apple, Google, and the like) so that they can use it to test their software for vulnerabilities. 

This has not escaped the notice of the press. (BBC, Scientific American and many more).

Security expert and long-time podcaster, Steve Gibson, thought Mythos significant enough that he devoted the entirely of last week's Security Now! podcast to it. It's the best coverage of the topic that I've seen. And he has concerns. From his show notes (which are extensive):

Okay. Let me interrupt here to insert a “Holy EFF” explicative. What Mythos autonomously did, without any explicit guidance beyond just being asked to, was to discover and invent an exploit which deeply manipulated FreeBSD’s Network File System server by using Return Oriented Programming. Since FreeBSD’s NSF server is already so secure, the AI pseudo-attacker was not able to insert its own code. So it caused the server to selectively re-execute its own code, code it already contained at the tail ends of a series of 20 different existing subroutines. This enabled it to manipulate the internal state of the NFS file server to grant root access to an unauthenticated remote attacker who was unknown to, and had no account on, the machine.

Let me be very clear: This capability is truly nothing short of terrifying. If Project Glasswing has the side-effect of launching Anthropic’s forthcoming IPO into the stratosphere then as far as I’m concerned they’ve earned and deserve it. 

And this:

 And this admits to the MUCH bigger problem. I suppose we should have seen this coming. But it’s here: We all know that only a small fraction of the world’s already deployed code can and will ever be made “Mythos safe”. It’s great that AWS, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Google, JPMorganChase, the Linux Foundation, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Palo Alto Networks will all get to have access. And apparently some 40 others who are equally deserving, or who are presumably the owners of many of those thousands of other bugs that Mythos found. But what of everyone else?

We could truly be poised upon the precipice of some seriously rough times. As I said, I suppose we should have seen this coming. The biggest surprise is that everything about this brave new AI world is coming at us much faster than we expected, or even still now expect. 

I've only touched on some of what he discussed in the podcast. For me, the biggest worry is all of the IOT and embedded devices that either can't or won't be upgraded and which may now be at risk because they contain embedded code libraries that are now insecure.

Interesting times indeed.

Photo of the Week - April 19, 2026

This week's photo is of a stand of e-scooters ready for someone to hop on. I think this is a project of the City, and no, it doesn't compenste for the lack of public transit. I have no urge to try one; my eyes and my balance preclude that. 

An addition to public transit

Saturday Sounds - Stan Rogers - Rebecca Cohn Halifax 1982 Concert

This week's musical treat features the great Canadian singer-songwriter, Stan Rogers, who tragically died in an Air Canada airplane fire in Cincinnati in 1983. The recording is of a famous concert at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax, NS in 1982 that was broadcast nationally on CBC radio. I remember listening to it when I was living in Alberta. 

I knew Stan from when I was living in Hamilton in the early 1970s and was lucky to see him perform many times as his career developed from performing in coffee houses to becoming a national folk music icon. Most of the concert was released after his death on the album, Home in Halifax though the version here has several songs not on the album. 

1:25 Witch of the Westmoreland

6:26 White Collar Holler

9:10-13:21 Field behind the Plow

16:41-19:45 Night Guard

22:59 - 25:40 The Idiot

26:24 - 32:00 Lies

32:52 - 36:19 Workin' Joe

39:25 - 42:47 The Giant

45:50 - 49:31 Dark Eyed Molly

49:43 - 55:10 Northwest Passage

57:25 - 1:02:04 The Last Watch

1:05:12 - 1:10:00 The Mary Ellen Carter

1:11:16 - 1:15:17 Barrett's Privateers

1:17:00 - 1:22:27 Sailor's Rest

If you don't know Stan's music, you're in for a treat. I particularly recommend "Lies", a song that still makes me weepy, and the anthemic "Northwest Passage". 

We're Toast 65

It's well past time for another one of these posts. 

This post is a collection of links that support my increasingly strong feeling that the human race (or at least our technological civilization) is doomed. 

Our toasting Earth

• Global warming is making the strongest hurricanes stronger. "Recent studies link human-caused warming to more powerful, more destructive storms worldwide."
• Anthropic’s new AI tool has implications for us all – whether we can use it or not. "Mythos, the company claims, has found vulnerabilities in every major browser and operating system. In other words, this new AI model might be able to help hackers disrupt much of the world’s most important software."
• The emerging danger of post-hurricane heat waves. "With global warming making people increasingly dependent on air conditioning, power failures from hurricanes followed by heat waves are creating increasingly hazardous risks to health."
• Key ocean current is slowing at locations around the Atlantic (archive link). "Measurements by buoys at four latitudes in the western Atlantic provide the strongest evidence yet that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is weakening,"
• MAGA Is Winning Its War Against U.S. Science. "When a political movement believes that ignorance is strength."
• Sustaining the Unsustainable. "Trump’s spectacle of force cannot hide the truth: America is meeting the appetites of the present by stripping future generations of stability, dignity, and hope."
• Earth's Population Has Surpassed The Planet's Capacity, Study Suggests. "Based on more than two centuries of population data, a team led by Corey Bradshaw of Flinders University in Australia found humanity is living well beyond the bounds of what our planet can support long-term."
  
• Scientists issue warning on concerning phenomenon observed in food chain: 'Urgent need for us to take action'. "Scientists studied the presence of microplastics along Goa's coast, finding that every animal in the food chain was affected."

Featured Links - April 15, 2026

Things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

Docks waiting for summer

• The Cascadia Subduction zone isn’t shutting down – but it’s more complicated than we thought. "But while the discovery is real, the interpretation that the subduction zone is winding down gets ahead of the science. What the new research actually shows is far more complex — and more interesting. But before we can understand what this tear means, we need to go back to plate tectonic theory."
• Helium Is Hard to Replace. "One such supply chain that’s suddenly getting a lot of attention is helium. Helium is produced as a byproduct of natural gas extraction: it collects in the same underground pockets that natural gas collects in. Qatar is responsible for roughly 1/3rd of the world’s supply of helium, which was formerly transported through the Strait of Hormuz in specialized containers. Thanks to the closure of the strait, helium prices have spiked, suppliers are declaring force majeure, and businesses are scrambling to deal with looming shortages."
• 5 takeaways from NASA’s biggest test in decades. While successful, there are a lot of things that will have to be addressed before the next Artemis mission. 
• Bad as Trump Is, What Follows Him May Be Worse. "The fight to define MAGA’s future is turning ugly—and more extreme."
• Trump, Pope Leo and the Lessons of 1933. "There is no way that in this new age of fascist threat, the Church is going to forget the lesson of the Reich Concordat."
  
• Solar panels are creating an unexpected effect by forming rainfall clouds and thriving oases in the middle of the desert. 
• Yellowstone's magma source may be closer than thought, reshaping hazard models. "Now, a research team from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) has developed a comprehensive three-dimensional geodynamic model of western North America that simulates the present-day dynamics of both the lithosphere and the underlying convecting mantle, revealing a mechanism for magma generation beneath supervolcanoes."
• This founder helped build SpaceX’s most powerful rocket engine. Now he’s building a ‘fighter jet for orbit.’ "The company is developing a technology called solar thermal propulsion. Today’s standard satellite engines either burn chemical fuel or convert the sun’s energy to electricity, using that to power efficient but low-powered thrusters. Portal’s engines would instead concentrate the heat of the sun, using that to heat propellant and move the spacecraft along at high speed."
• How AI Is Turbocharging the War in Iran (archive link). "Intelligence, targeting and damage assessments are accelerating thanks to military versions of software now remaking business and daily life."
  
• Chinese Electrotech is the Big Winner in the Iran War. "An energy-hungry world is being pushed away by America and into China’s arms."
• This Experimental Drug Could Be a Game Changer for Pancreatic Cancer. "In a Phase III trial, Revolution Medicines' daraxonrasib almost doubled the survival length of people with advanced pancreatic cancer." 
  
• Members of neo-Nazi ‘active clubs’ join combat events at secretive Virginia compound. 'A network of militant neo-Nazi active clubs from around the US has been participating in riot-style combat events with other white nationalist groups in Virginia as part of what their founder called a “tip-off point for a fascist cultural revolution."
• SpaceX wants to launch a million satellites. Here's how that could impact the atmosphere and the night sky. "'These launches affect everyone,' says one astronomer."

2026 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists

The top 10 finalists for the 2026 Locus Awards have been announced. The awards are voted on by subscribers to Locus Magazine and will be announced on May 30. 

These are the finalists for best science fiction novel.

• The Folded Sky, Elizabeth Bear (Saga; Gollancz) 
• Picks & Shovels, Cory Doctorow (Ad Astra; Tor) 
• Notes from a Regicide, Isaac Fellman (Tor) 
• When We Were Real, Daryl Gregory (Saga) 
• All That We See or Seem, Ken Liu (Saga; Ad Astra) 
• Where the Axe Is Buried, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfel & Nicolson)
• Slow Gods, Claire North (Orbit US; Orbit UK) 
• Death of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor (Morrow; Gollancz) 
• The Shattering Peace, John Scalzi (Tor; Tor UK) 
• Shroud, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US) 

I've only read the Ray Nayler novel, though there are three or four on the list that I plan to read at some point.

You can read most of the short story and novelette finalists online with links provided in the article. 

2026 World Press Photo Contest Winners

The winners of the 2026 World Press Photo Contest have been announced. They present "outstanding work from photojournalists and documentary photographers worldwide, connecting global audiences to the most pressing stories of our time."

I'll have to keep an eye out to see if they will be displayed in Toronto. I've seen a couple of the contest winners' exhibitions and it's definitely the best way to see them. 

Amateur Photographer has an article that displays some of the most striking photos in a larger format than the contest website. 

Photo of the Week - April 12, 2026

This week's photo is of a wheelchair ramp on the Lake Ontario waterfront in Pickering. There is a raised walkway along the beach with ramps leading down to the sand and this ramp. 

Beachfront wheelchair ramp

Saturday Sounds - Bruce Hornsby - Indigo Park

I've been a fan of Bruce Hornsby since the late 1980s and have seen him perform a couple of times (once in 1992 with the Grateful Dead and in 1993  with his band). He's released consistently enjoyable music since then and his latest album, Indigo Park, is no exception. 

Relix published an in-depth profile of Hornsby and the album recently. 

As he is tracking the unexpected origins of “Indigo Park”—the title-track of the new, 10-song studio set he’s scheduled to release on April 3 via Zappo Productions/Thirty Tigers—Hornsby is sitting in a hotel room in Houston, before a solo set at The Heights Theater, and then he’s off to a college town about an hour away. The Virginia-based musician is quick to mention at the top of his Zoom interview that, despite over four decades on the road, he’s never played this particular venue before. And that desire to experience fresh musical situations has continued to guide the pianist through an unexpected latter-career renaissance that’s led to the release of four albums in five years—2019’s Absolute Zero, 2020’s Non-Secure Connection, 2022’s ’Flicted and 2024’s Deep Sea Vents—a prolific second act scoring films and his own version of a Never Ending Tour with his veteran band, the Noisemakers. In that time, he’s also naturally aged into a gracious elder stateman, collaborating with improv-forward favorites like Goose and Eggy on stage and working closely with a new generation of indie-rock icons in the studio.

There are two songs written with the Dead's late lyricist, Robert Hunter, and collaborations with several musicians, including Bonnie Raitt and the late Bob Weir. I've listened to the album a couple of times and like it a lot. If he was coming to Toronto on his current tour, I'd probably be going. 

The Pentagon Is Going After the Catholic Church

Back in January, the Pentagon had a meeting with a US cardinal in which they basically threatened the Catholic Church and mentioned the Avignon Papacy. That was a period in the 14th century in which the French kidnapped the pope, keeping the papacy in France for 70 years. 

I hadn't heard about this until seeing a post today from Dean Blundell. I did check and there are multiple news sites also reporting about the meeting (here and here, for example).

Pope Leo will not be visiting the US for the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of 1776.  Instead, he'll be visiting the island of Lampedusa, off the coast of Sicily, where many African migrants arrive.  

I very much doubt that Pope Leo will visit the US as long as the Trump administration remains in power. And I do not doubt that the Catholic Church and the papacy will be around long after the Trump administration fades into unhappy memory. 

Featured Links - April 8, 2026

Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

A choppy bay

• The Next Coup Attempt. "And How to Stop It." An unsettling post from historian Timothy Snyder. 
• The Artemis Earth photo is incredible – but the one thing that nobody is telling you about it will blow your mind. 'The famous "Hello, World" photo by astronaut Reid Wiseman isn’t quite what you think.' I didn't figure it out until I read the article.
• How to Find Thunderbird Profile Location in Windows 11, 10, 8, 8.1, 7. I needed to figure this out because Thunderbird moved the profile folder on my wife's laptop and my backup program couldn't find it. This is a useful article for anyone using Thunderbird on Windows.
• The Lancet: Long COVID and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease. "A recent study (see PLoS Med.: Association Between COVID-19 Vaccination and Sudden Death in Apparently Healthy Younger Individuals) found no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines increase the risk of sudden cardiac death in young healthy adults, but they did find a strong link between recent COVID infection and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death." 
• Data Centres Are on Track to Wreck the Planet. Can We Stop Them? "They will guzzle more water and power than the world can afford—for an AI video of your cat as an astronaut."
• Any USB drive or cable you plug in might be a silent killer. "As if we didn’t already have enough malware to worry about, malicious hackers and state-sponsored cybercrime teams are turning ordinary-looking USB drives and cables into weapons that can infect or fry — within a single second — any computer or electronic component you plug them into."
• Experiments refute dark matter claim. "The results of her analysis, which have excluded the dark matter explanation with greater confidence, were published in Physics Review Letters ...". 
• Canadian couple shows how a $40 weekly food budget is possible. "Michelle Nijdam, 31, has been gaining a following online after she started sharing how she sticks to a strict $160 monthly budget (or $40 weekly budget) while living in Vancouver — one of the most expensive cities in Canada. On her YouTube channel, @MichellesHomemaking, she talks about the ups and downs of having a tight budget while sharing some handy tips."
• Gambling on War and Death. "Polymarket allows anonymous accounts to bet on everything — but with increasing attention to war. Will a tanker be seized? When will the next drone strike occur? Gamblers can even look at maps of Ukrainian villages and play the odds on which neighbourhood of innocent civilians will be hit. It is literally about making a killing on killing. And it is also about manipulating the market in frightening ways."
• The 51st State Fantasy Is Over: How King Charles and Mark Carney Put An End To Trump's Desire To Invade Canada. "How Trump’s annexation campaign collapsed against 200 years of history, one king, and a prime minister who played the long game."
• Art UK. "Connecting you to art. Art UK is a unique digital experience that connects everyone with the UK's public art collections. We digitally unite one million artworks from 3,500 institutions – museums, libraries, town halls, hospitals – as well as public art in our streets such as sculptures and murals."
• Why U.S. Gatling Guns Are Not Stopping Iran’s Shahed Drones. "In any discussion of drone defense, Gatling-type guns are often presented as a trump card. These rapid-fire weapons, originally developed to defend U.S. warships against sea-skimming missiles, can easily down bigger and faster threats than a 120 mph Shahed drone. On paper they look devastatingly effective, and news reports speak enthusiastically of their “shredding Iranian drones.” But they are not a magic wand to make all drones disappear, and some Shaheds are getting through."
• America forgot how to make a classified nuclear warhead ingredient. "The U.S. government forgot how to make a classified component of its own nuclear warheads, then spent $92 million figuring it out again. The material is called Fogbank, and almost everything about it is classified — its composition, its purpose, and how it's manufactured." Just think of all the money they could have saved if they'd had a documentation library,

The US versus Canada 13

It's time for amother article abut the ongoing cultural and economic conflct between Canada and the United States. 

• Doug Ford takes anti-tariff message to Texas as opposition cries foul (gift link). "Ontario Premier Doug Ford is in Texas this week, meeting with businesses and American lawmakers to shore up support for local industries and advocate against U.S. tariffs, ahead of crucial trade talks between Canada and the U.S."
• Pete Hegseth Is Waging a Holy War to Take Over Canada/Greenland To Build Greater North America "in Jesus’ Name”. "The Secretary of War just merged the Crusades with colonial conquest and called it God’s plan. Canada is on the map."
  
• American booze bans, 'Buy Canadian' policy flagged by U.S. as trade irritants: report. "U.S. wants its alcohol returned to all markets after being pulled from shelves in several provinces." Even if it got back on our shelves, that doesn't mean that Canadians will buy it. 
• A Mother, a Child and Niemöller’s Warning. "News reports tell us of Canadian Tania Warner, age 47, being held in a Texas ICE detention centre with her seven-year-old autistic daughter. She was stopped in an arbitrary traffic search while returning from a baby shower. Tania is married to an American and believed her papers were in order. It didn’t matter. They took her away."
• Two Ops, One Playbook: How MAGA (and Maple MAGA) Turn MAID and “Anti‑Christian Bias” into a Psy‑op For a "Crusade" Against Canadians. "CANADA said "NO" to importing MAGA when we elected Mark Carney. So the Trump Regime (and MAPLE MAGA) is supporting TWO "Psy-Ops" across Canada to justify a "Crusade" north of the border."
• The MAGA Plot to Take Down Canada. "A growing movement of MAGA-pilled Albertan separatists would happily break up the country to be closer to Trump."
• On Behalf of Canada, Tucker Carlson Can Go F*** Himself. "Let's break down Tucker's latest "Let's take over Canada" campaign, sponsored by Russian State Media." Carlson is vile and the thought of him even running for the US presidency in 2028 makes me cringe. 
• How Alberta’s Separatist Movement Could Shake North America. "The resentments, politics, and risks behind their push to leave Canada."

Off for Easter Weekend

It's Easter weekend up here in the Great (not so) White North, and I'm taking the weekend off from blogging. It's time to work on my income tax return and maybe start getting the yard back in shape if it doesn't rain too much. 

I'll be back here on Monday with a post about Canada and the US. Until then, here'a a picture of our cats (CJ on the left and McGee on the right). 

CJ and McGee

Featured Links - April 1, 2026

 Things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

Note:  There are no April fool jokes in the post.

The rite of spring

• The broligarchy's war on journalism. "The capture of US media by Trump allies is accelerating and the UK is the next in line. Plus: the mystery money behind my old newspaper." The financial shenanigans described here are quite remarkable. If you read The Guardian or The Observer, you should read this. 
• When is an alien invasion not an alien invasion? "Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's alien invasion novel is a time capsule from the Cold War, and a reminder that the threat of nuclear annihilation isn't ancient history." A good review of one of my favourite books from the 1980s that places the book in a wider historical perspective. 
• Endgame for the Open Web. "Now, the centibillionaires have begun their final assault on the last, best parts of what's still open, and likely won't rest until they've either brought all of the independent and noncommercial parts of the Internet under their control, or destroyed them. Whether or not they succeed is going to be decided by decisions that we all make as a community in the coming months. Even though there have always been threats to openness on the web, the stakes have never been higher than they are this time."
• ‘Truly spectacular’ drug for sleeping sickness simplifies treatment, raising hopes for eradication. "European regulators greenlight new one-dose compound that could help African countries get rid of an ancient burden." 
• ‘Canadians don’t want to come here any more’: anger over Trump squeezes US border businesses. "Shops and restaurants once bustling with tourists now struggle for survival as Canadians think twice about crossing the border." It's not just anger over the tariffs; people do not want to deal with the increasingly obtrusive border searches and the risk of ending up in an ICE detention centre. 
• Computer finds flaw in major physics paper for first time (archive link). "A computer language designed to robustly verify mathematical theorems and expose logical flaws has been turned towards a physics paper – and spotted an error. The discovery raises questions about how many other papers may harbour similar issues."
• How to Home. From Recomendo: "a YouTube channel with excellent videos that demonstrate how to complete common household repairs, such as wiring switches, fixing faucet leaks, and threading wire through walls and ceilings. Unlike many DIY videos, these feature high-quality audio, are well-lit, and aren’t blurry."
• How Alberta’s Separatist Movement Could Shake North America. "The resentments, politics, and risks behind their push to leave Canada." The separatists in Alberta are a small minority, but they are very committed and have ties to the US right. 
• The Hunt for Mr. Deepfakes. "A Toronto-area pharmacist is accused of being the internet’s most prolific peddler of deepfake porn. He’s just the beginning."
• This Week’s Small, Furry and Wet Reminder, That Repair is Still Possible. "Some hope for humanity, brought to you by beavers, with no consultants, no ribbon cuttings, just the ancient art of fixing what we keep breaking." Today, the UK. Tomorrow the world!
• Silicon Valley Giants Finally Face the Music. "Is this the Big Tobacco moment for the tech bros?"
• America and Public Disorder. "You can learn more about the U.S. by traveling overseas and comparing, and five years of that has taught me we accept far too much public disorder. We are the world’s richest country, and yet our buses, parking lots, and city streets are filthy, chaotic, and threatening. Antisocial and abnormal behavior, open addiction, and mentally tortured people are common in almost every community regardless of size."
•  The life and times of Grateful Dead icon Bob Weir. "We salute the Grateful Dead original, who – in the last 30 years of his life – stepped out from Jerry Garcia’s considerable shadow to emerge as a guitar hero in his own right."