Some good news: squid stocks seem to be recovering in the waters off the Falkland Islands.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
lurker • March 14, 2026 1:30 AM
Australian teens say social media ban is “completely useless.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-05/social-media-ban-do-under-16s-think-it-is-working/106304064
ResearcherZero • March 14, 2026 3:12 AM
The truth, the truth and nothing but the truth.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA, said a new review of AHI will be “comprehensive and complete” with the office remaining “committed to delivering the truth.”
Internally agencies concluded Moscow was responsible. This was never made public.
Will the entirety of events be politicized and used to go after perceived enemies, bang the administration and DNI’s own drum? Will it be handled like the Epstein files, where information is selectively released and those affected passed over to place members of the executive and officials in the spotlight? Does “the truth” include the accounts of those who did get hit and how they were treated? Or will it again be someone else’s opinion of what they believe may have taken place?
Can we expect any sincerity and any due diligence in the report? Will those who gaslighted the victims, or trivialized the attacks, apologize? If so, when can we expect it to be delivered?
(Or will we hear “crickets”?)
The “wrongdoers” are obviously those who were operating the equipment and were responsible for the attacks. Will there be any attempt to hold those who carried out the attacks accountable? If the report does not document the details of how these attacks took place, then it will be an entirely useless waste of time and will fail to stop the same events and injuries occurring in the future. It will also fail to change how agencies respond-to and handle similar events in future. This would hand yet another victory and operational success to the GRU, the Kremlin and its stooges who were targeting officers and their families.
If the opportunity to change attitudes and improve how victims and intelligence are treated is not handled properly, then listening skills, compassion and empathy will not improve. Events will not be properly investigated, valuable information will remain overlooked, objectivity and integrity ignored in favor of personal career advancement and internal politics.
A “failure of imagination” can instead be a failure of workplace culture and unhealthy arrogance. To try and make the effort to not to let this happen again (over-inflated egos and willful blindness), would require a demonstration of humility where possible.
It will be hard not to exploit the situation, but if those in politics and the DNI place their focus on those affected, perhaps it might be possible to avoid making the very same mistakes. This will require bipartisan cooperation, not groin thrusting, chest thumping, points scoring and rhetoric.
‘https://nypost.com/2026/03/09/us-news/tulsi-gabbard-cia-at-war-over-bombshell-havana-syndrome-evidence-linking-mystery-illness-to-russia/
The CIA previously began a review of how it handled initial reports in 2023.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/cia-reviewing-how-it-handled-initial-reports-havana-syndrome-symptoms-n1274876
ResearcherZero • March 14, 2026 5:37 AM
Created after Unit 29155 was exposed through poor OpSec, Center 795 was supposed to be Russia’s new elite team for carrying out murder, kidnappings, assualt and intelligence operations. A Center 795 member blew his cover by using a Google app with servers in the US, allowing the FBI to read his messages in real-time. The accused used Google Translate to communicate with a hit man, thinking the massages themselves would be secure.
This costly mistake exposed the identities of the entire team. Outsourcing covert Russian operations to opaque corporate structures, has once again resulted in operational failure.
‘https://theins.ru/en/inv/290235
Superseding indictment for Denis Alimov
lurker • March 14, 2026 1:36 PM
“Today, SpaceX’s internet megaconstellation crossed a milestone. There are now 10,000 Starlinks in Earth orbit. The successful launch of Starlink 10-48 from Cape Canaveral added 29 satellites, raising the total to an estimated 10,003.” spaceweather[dot]com
10 minute exposure captures 1 meteor, 2 planes, ?? satellites
https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=231165
see also 19x120sec. exposures gif/video
https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=231441
Clive Robinson • March 14, 2026 3:36 PM
@ lurker, ALL,
With regards ABC, it’s one of the other sources I look at now that the UK’s BBC is mostly “outsourced and unreliable” and “for sale” politically.
Which is why I was a little surprised others had not posted,
It basically makes the point I have that asymmetric warfare works both ways if people are to stupid to realise what they are doing…
As I’ve pointed out if Iran really want to put pressure on the global economy, all they have to do is destroy their neighbours desalination plants as the whole middle east / west asia (as US calls it) area is built on being only 1 US gallon / person / day away from disaster or just “three drinks” as some call it.
But it looks like Iran is attacking by “demolishing down to the foundations” by taking out the surface economics and working their way down to the bottom of US and Western aligned neighbours.
This tells us two things,
1, They are in it for the long run.
2, Their attacks are starting where they can be “soonest mended” and much less humanitarian harming.
Israel’s military however is running on the hate of a couple of corrupt politicians desperate not to spend the rest of their natural lives in jail, or worse seen as failures of forty years that have draged the fruit of Israeli families into death and destruction year after year at the behest of others that are corrupt or are now known to be corrupters of the worst kind.
Then there is the current US Executive that get compared to “other primates” which is insulting to those other primates when you think about it, that are mostly peaceful, and as far as we can tell thoughtful creatures.
The US Executive are if you want to play the primate card “worse than a chimps tea party” trying to look like it’s supposed leaders sexist beauty pageants… The focus on young female vacuous faces by foul old men should tell you something about what sort of corrupters they are…
Thus maybe people especially US voters should ask if the US Executive got involved in this stupidity of Israeli executive politicians to cover up something much much closer to home…
dbCooper • March 14, 2026 7:02 PM
Inside the datacenter where the day starts with topping up cerebrospinal fluid
Biological computing is messy and gassy – It’s now cloudy, too
https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/14/cortical_labs_biological_cloud/
ResearcherZero • March 15, 2026 5:59 AM
@Clive Robinson, ALL old people, and kids
There is some real stupid going around in the United States and others seem determined to be pillocks too. California has a silly law. So does New York State and Colorado. The new legislation requires software applications and operating systems to conduct age assurance.
The New York bill is supremely ridiculous and demands that internet-enabled devices to share age verification with all online applications, services, mobile applications, app stores and websites. The gatekeepers are frightened that kiddies may have root access on Linux. “Root” sounds scary and giving administrator privileges to minors even scarier. New York knobs wants to go either further though and ban age self-reporting.
Allowing children to have responsibility over their actions and choices is just too much for the modern legislator, as young people are burdened with accountability and do not posses the same kinds of get-out-of-jail-free protections that those in high castles are blessed with. Of course these kinds of laws don’t work and kids will easily bypass them.
The Australian government contemplated age verification for adults, yet so far has avoided attempting to try and enact any kind of legislation in this area as adults can vote. 😉
‘https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/06/os_age_verification/
“Easy as p–s to watch porn all day long, said one child. Another claimed that they were playing Grand Theft Auto right at this very moment, while live-streaming it online (and then made offensive comments about Boomers which we were unable to print for this article).
An adult male aged 26 was not so lucky, as he lacked the necessary skills and appearance.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-02/social-media-ban-vpns-masks-age-checks-disguises/105836134
ResearcherZero • March 15, 2026 6:22 AM
@Clive Robinson, lurker
Thanks to Palantir, we can drive up the cost of fuel even faster than the gas hoarders bragged the Pentagon, as it sent more ships to extend the conflict long into the future.
(Basically the Maven Smart System allows you to make stupid decisions twice as fast.)
Unfortunately Palantir can’t see the future, so it is not really a magical seeing stone. I can see my future though and it involves me driving on the road to everyone else’s terror.
Sounds like a great time to buy a new truck and maybe get a discount on a diesel. It will need to have a CB radio, tow points, 4WD of course, a tray back and go VROOM VROOM. Maybe get a roof rack and loom thrown in, and essential aftermarket winch under the front plate.
The CB radio is the important bit, so other drivers know to look out because I’m coming!
‘https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/13/palantirs_maven_smart_system_iran/
Clive Robinson • March 15, 2026 11:37 AM
@ ResearcherZero, lurker, ALL,
With regards,
(Basically the Maven Smart System allows you to make stupid decisions twice as fast.)
From the article we find,
“speakers at Palantir’s AIPCON event on Thursday said the company’s Maven Smart System product has shortened the time it takes the Department of Defense to select and hit targets on the battlefield during the conflict”
So that checks out, but what about
“hit targets on the battlefield during the conflict”…
Ah yes “that battlefield” where tomahawks fly into “girls schools” and kill so many, and the US Executive idiots look the other way and say stupid things about AI… And praise the likes of the complete loonie who owns Palantir…
I might say the “World has gone to hell in a handbag”… But I’d be wrong because,
“We are well beyond that point of no return…”
And as most can see Iran has “set in for the long haul” and the US is having to drag kit out of other more serious potential conflict zones around “China, North Korea, and Russia” in the “South China Sea” and up the West Coast of the Pacific.
So Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and down into Indonesia, Australia and a couple of others in effect,
“Get thrown under the bus”
If China thinks it wise to attack some or all of them…
How long before the US Executive says to other countries,
“Yes you bought it at vast expense, but we now say we own it, and we are taking it away, or we will stop it working for your defence”…
On all those F35, THAAD, and Patriot etc systems.
The US is proving that it does not have what it sees as “Friends and Allies” just,
“Cash donors to be milked and bilked”.
No wonder the French have been say the things they have not just behind closed doors but increasingly publicly and other EU States are starting to listen…
lurker • March 15, 2026 1:29 PM
@Clive Robinson, ResearcherZero
The idiot in charge has called on his friends to send boats to help escort oil out of the Gulf. No takers so far. But it might be interesting to see his reaction to China sending boats to escort the oil they have paid for …
ResearcherZero • March 15, 2026 5:14 PM
@lurker, Clive Robinson
The optics certainly won’t be very good.
This will be the first war where those who started it, try to invent an excuse for the war after they started it. The Iraq war was a screw up, yet they did attempt to sell it beforehand.
The tales that are being told are like a movie script. The statements about targeting data and intelligence from the administration and its officials are frankly a load of horse manure. These artificial intelligence systems ingest data. Data that comes from multiple sources and already exists. Old data, however without the review process which would normally accompany it.
Gamifying and appifying reality is an interesting pitch to attempt to sell to the public. Where events drive reckless decisions at breakneck speed without first considering the consequences. It is not a wise idea to sit in the back of a Tesla and engage the auto-drive function, but let’s see what happens.
Are they trying for a war, a blockade, a missile crisis, a Gulagesque arrest quota system, a supply chain and runaway cost of living crisis, plus a moon landing thrown in all at once?
As former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson put it, “Probably there wasn’t enough discussion right at the beginning …ultimately I came to a [view] that I was surplus to requirements.”
‘https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2026/03/12/dennis-richardson-antisemitism-inquiry
Ismar • March 15, 2026 11:58 PM
@Clive- on your comment of being at the point of no return- ever wandered about a self-fulfilling prophecy of the return of Christ and what some American commanders are saying to their soldiers?
Iranians have similar prophecy of the return of Mehdi as well.
Just wandering if we humans are pre wired to destroy ourselves?
Winter • March 16, 2026 4:21 AM
@ResearcherZero
The tales that are being told are like a movie script.
You didn’t see the actual movie?
Wag the Dog (1997, see Wikipedia) is a really good movie. The current administration simply copied the script as they lack imagination and intelligence. It is possibly also around that time the Mad Red Hatter still had clear thoughts and memories.
There is a good reason cartoonists et al. call the current “special military action” Mission Epstein Fury. Also from that movie.
Winter • March 16, 2026 12:21 PM
@ResearcherZero
This will be the first war where those who started it, try to invent an excuse for the war after they started it. The Iraq war was a screw up, yet they did attempt to sell it beforehand.
It is even more hilarious. The Most Stable Genius and his Most Masculine Minister of War now are “asking” other countries for help to keep the Street of Hormuz open against the Iranians.
That strategy of Iran to close of the shipping lanes has literally been discussed for decades.
Make America Beg Again.
So, they start a war, that costs money, increases gaz prices, which they cannot win, and cannot stop.
They might even achieve Regime Change at Home.
Clive Robinson • March 16, 2026 6:20 PM
@ Winter, ResearcherZero,
Perun after delays for “reworking in light of current events” has dropped his weekly video a day late,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UWS0kXVLCQ4
And it says the same as you do with respect to,
“That strategy of Iran to close of the shipping lanes has literally been discussed for decades.”
Along with the risk I’ve been warning about which is they will attack the desalination plants in other parts of the economic area…
As for,
“They might even achieve Regime Change at Home.”
My father used to dryly observer that,
“Stupid is as stupid does… You can not fix stupid with wealth or power, some will always have more money than sense no matter what…”
Admittedly he was talking as a quite senior accountant about the nightly news from the South China Sea area, with regards corporate greed, political idiocy and similar behaviour back in the early 1970’s.
He had lived through the 1930’s, fought in WWII, seen the renewed “go it alone” power projection events of the 1950’s and onwards in that region for near a quarter of a century.
But it’s something that has not changed to my knowledge in the over half century since he said it. So seventy five years it’s been festering…
You know the sadly funny thing, if you look at the history of the Middle East, it was the fight for regime change that put Iran in the position it’s in. That is the youth of that time rose-up and religion took over. Something that some would clearly love to happen closer to home.
Democracy –even “representational democracy in a republic”– is supposed to represent the will of the people not the few in the MIC, Corporations, or Religious organisations.
So we have the rise of the MAFIA (Make America Fascist In Anger). Run by the MAFIOSO (Make America Fascist In Oligarch Stupidity Ordained)… Remember,
Or more recently,
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/america-fascism-trump-maga-ice/685751/
Clive Robinson • March 16, 2026 10:31 PM
@ Ismar,
With regards,
“Just wandering if we humans are pre wired to destroy ourselves?”
It’s one of the things that @Wael and myself used to mull over, amongst other things like how you can get “something from nothing” to start the universe.
So far the best answer we have to your question is that “entropy wins”. That is for any given macro state the micro state tends to a maximum, but in theory never gets there, or is not stable there. That is change is constant.
Think of it like a “true random bit generator” with at the moment an increasing number of bits that each have a changing bit state. At some point there will be insufficient excess energy to become matter and there will be a form of stability around a mean energy value. What will happen is that whilst the macro state will be nearly stable the micro state will fluctuate fairly rapidly.
As I’ve said before entropy is like a collection of “lego bricks” to get the minimum size you have to make a single “block” of them which is one minimum end state. However the maximum end state is all the individual bricks separated. In between are all the shapes you can possibly make. Thus the number of possible models is minimum at the minimum end state and goes up to some value of possibility that is maximum around some mid point toward the maximum end state.
Now on the assumption we are at or near that mid point, then we would have to be disassembled either by ourselves or some other entity to fo beyond the mid point.
So yes, I rather suspect the answer to you question is “yes” as a natural result of probability and entropy.
Ismar • March 17, 2026 1:47 AM
@Clive
Thanks for the response, as this : “ It’s one of the things that @Wael and myself used to mull over, amongst other things like how you can get “something from nothing” to start the universe.” helped me realise our wrong assumption about the Universe being created from nothing. Now I understand that there never can be nothing and that the Universe is just slowly going back and forth between the two extremes of the entropy states.
As for the humans, we seem to be occurring at the mid point stage and the future doesn’t look bright
Clive Robinson • March 17, 2026 1:41 PM
@ ALL,
Microsoft Xbox One is finally broken in…
Yup, proof if still needed that having the equivalent of “Front Panel access” makes computing devices insecure to fully rooted…
The Xbox One fell to a “double glitch” attack and yielded it’s self at all levels.
Opps… But that’s the way it goes with hardware attacks via electrical glitches used for “Fault Injection Attacks”.
There is usually little Software developers can do because in effect it’s all in the “hardware stack” below and beyond any cleaver software tricks”…
Microsoft’s ‘unhackable’ Xbox One has been hacked by ‘Bliss’ — the 2013 console finally fell to voltage glitching, allowing the loading of unsigned code at every level
“A groundbreaking hack for Microsoft’s ‘unhackable’ Xbox One was revealed at the recent RE//verse 2026 conference. This console has remained a fortress since its launch in 2013, but now Markus ‘Doom’ Gaasedelen has showcased the ‘Bliss’ double glitch. Just as the Xbox 360 famously fell to the Reset Glitch Hack (RGH), the Xbox One has now fallen to Voltage Glitch Hacking (VGH).“
Shmuck from the Balkans - Robin Cliverson • March 17, 2026 2:05 PM
@Clive Robinson,
Jesus Christ almighty!
This Balkanoid is so desperate for attention and recognition that he will reference his own comments going back as far as 10-15 years ago.
I did this, I did that, or the other, you sad sad sad pathetic creature…..
You are an extremely promiscuous l0wlife and I only say this because I know you personally – you P0S.
-Cathy
penis fury • March 17, 2026 3:26 PM
the looper was caught with a brick of silver in his anus again, please report to station 51.
MY MONITOR IS BUGGED! • March 17, 2026 4:55 PM
What’s reality? I don’t know. When my bird was looking at my computer monitor I thought, “That bird has no idea what he’s looking at.” And yet what does the bird do? Does he panic? No, he can’t really panic, he just does the best he can. Is he able to live in a world where he’s so ignorant?
Well, he doesn’t really have a choice. Yeah, he can kinda live. Usually the bird is okay even though he doesn’t understand the world. He can kinda learn what’s safe and what’s dangerous. That’s where I’ve been living. You’re that bird looking at the monitor, and you’re thinking to yourself, “I can figure this out.” Maybe you have some bird ideas. Maybe that’s the best you can do.
Clive Robinson • March 17, 2026 7:45 PM
@ ALL,
Author of Billion Dollar Brain has died
The “Harry Palmer” spy books that were such a success in the early 1960’s included one called the Billion Dollar Brain
The plot is complex but underneath it revolves around a private intelligence outfit, whose network is operated by ‘The Brain’, a billion dollar super-computer owned by eccentric Texan billionaire General Midwinter, who is fomenting a plan to destroy the CCCP / Soviet Union via the frozen north…
The computer is in effect what we would now call AI and it’s job was to plan the cold war attack on the Soviets…
Which as those watching the news know has in effect become a reality for both the US and Israel (and equally as poorly as in the film).
The author of the book was Len Deighton who has just died aged 97,
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/17/len-deighton-spy-novelist-author-dies-aged-97
The Obit gets a couple of things not quite right. It says his mother was a “Hotel Cook” today we would call her a chef, and she taught Len how to cook and he later wrote several books on cooking what is “French Farm House” style in an easy to follow way (and I’d recommend).
He also gave his Secret agent / SiS Officer character “Harry Palmer” the same interest in cooking.
The Billion Dollar Brain was made into the third film and sadly it was not a commercial success, but it did help boost Michael Cain’s popularity as a film actor along with Karl Malden.
If you ever get the chance to see the film, the representation of the Super-Computer is let’s say quite recognisable to Computer History buffs. As it’s “operators position” is based on the Honeywell H200 as are the rack tape drives.
lurker • March 18, 2026 1:00 PM
Since 2019, more than 11,596 Starlinks have been launched. Of those, more than 1,500 have already reentered the atmosphere as SpaceX retires older satellites to make room for newer models. Each re-entry deposits about 30 kg of aluminum oxide into the upper atmosphere–an uncontrolled chemistry experiment on a planetary scale.
https://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=18&month=03&year=2026
lurker • March 19, 2026 2:36 AM
Quantum pioneers win Turing Award for encryption breakthrough
[BBC headline], original story at
Clive Robinson • March 19, 2026 7:57 AM
@ lurker, ResearcherZero,
In for the long haul…
You noted above that the MAFIA Boss,
“has called on his friends to send boats to help escort oil out of the Gulf. No takers so far. But it might be interesting to see his reaction to China sending boats to escort the oil they have paid for”
Or to the US it’s self…
Guess who has suspended the “US Jones Act” for at least 60 days?
Yup the theory is that it will make fuel etc for the US voter less expensive… But the US bought into the “lets rescue Israeli despot politicians” plan…
I would laugh so hard if Chinese tankers brought in Russian Oil to the US…
The theory is “sanctions” and “National Security Legislation” will bring down Nations that the US for what ever reason dislikes via imposing economic hardship on the citizens…
Well the MAFIA Boss has found out that the US Citizens have discovered that the sanctions and legislation are a two way street and so they are feeling yet more pain…
Oh and of course the pain won’t stop for all the cost savings cheap Russian oil shipped by Chinese vessels would bring… It will just make certain people in the 1% richer.
But note the all important “60 Days” what does this say about how long this war is expected to keep going on?
I indicated that the Iranian drop in missile and drone attacks could indicate they had settled in for the long run…
Oh and it appears the “Decapitation Strikes” have failed to have the expected effect. Something the I thought the Iranians would plan around and it appears they have…
But it also appears that certain countries around Iran are lying not just about the numbers of “in coming”, but how few those US supplied systems are actually bringing down at a “Kings Ransom”…
Apparently Saudi authorities have indicated that recently 3/4 have got through… which is likely to be correct.
But also consider, the No2 in Trumps US Intelligence Joe Kent, who should know not just what is “going on now” but “future plans” as well has just made public a fairly vitriolic resignation letter,
And of course that “going out to pasture” geriatric half whit Sen. Mitch McConnell jumps in claiming the letter was anti-Semitic and the FBI are “investigating”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg4g66r3z40o
Others claim it’s typical “discredit the person” tactics. The letter is up on line in various MSM and other locations so “read it for yourself”,
It really does not say anything that should be new to readers of this blog.
lurker • March 19, 2026 5:22 PM
@Clive Robinson
“at least 60 days”
Depending on whose data and who is presenting it,
USA has 60 ~ 90 days strategic oil reserve,
China has 90 ~ 120 days.
Clive Robinson • March 20, 2026 5:00 AM
@ lurker, ResearcherZero, ALL,
With regards,
“Depending on whose data and who is presenting it…”
Looks like the “Make America Fascist In Anger” MAFIA Boss actions have triggered others… As Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG complex, which produces around 1/5th of global LNG supply gets hit by an Iranian missile in “tit for tat” response of US & Israeli attack on Iran’s off shore South Pars LNG plant.
Which the MAFIA Boss lied about “not knowing about” or having involvement in,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93j37egjdeo
And issuing futil threats that have done even more US and World economic harm…
All this is happening at just the wrong time of year for Europe and others in the Northern Hemisphere as nations were starting to move into the “restocking of storage” for next winter.
This now forces nations to deal with Putin’s Russia at what price can not ve imagined.
With it being a couple of weeks at least to clear away the damage at Ras Laffan before repair assessments can even start. Thus it being potentially off line or down in output for one to several months with the Straits of “Trump Stupidity” still closed and likely to remain so even if Ras Laffan comes back on line there is no way to get the Qatar LNG out. Likewise getting Russian LNG out is also going to be problematic and I can see Ukraine having things to say about it.
So global inflation looks like it’s going to happen no matter what the Central Banks can do.
The result currently is Stocks and Bonds tumbling and investment money moving from “Tech to Mil” which is going to hit the AI Bros “get rich plans” hard… Which may cause tech stocks to collapse more or less indefinitely. Thus the AI hype bubble is going to get at a minimum a major squeeze if not burst.
Clive Robinson • March 20, 2026 5:11 PM
@ Bruce, ALL,
How Corruption / Bribery has changed to AI Bias
This YouTube video, is interesting even if not entirely factual.
It describes how “bribery” was once regarded as “part of doing competitive business” briefly how it was outlawed, and now is effectively beyond legislation or regulation by the use of AI putting a thumb on the scales.
Let’s just say it is an obvious move and has been for some time and it was something I spotted early on and considered (it is by the way something business consultants like PWC are pushing because they in effect control the bias).
Put simply Bias in an LLM can be “keyed” to certain phrases etc, but can not be seen by direct examination of the “training data” or the weights in the Digital Neural Network.
Thus it is like “Caesar’s wife” and her suspected behaviours, hidden in plain sight, but apparently “beyond suspicion”…
Have fun watching,
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Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.
Fazal Majid • March 13, 2026 7:25 PM
Better than the jellyfish that are taking over the oceans due to global warming and the lack of predators due their not being very nutritious.