"Daily Tech Headlines Thursday March 19, 2026" in white centered text across the top on two lines, "FBI resumes purchasing Americans’ location data, sidestepping warrants, Google partners with utilities to reduce data center use during peak demand, a Meta AI agent grants unauthorized access in internal security incident, and Perplexity’s Comet AI Browser lands on iOS/iPadOS." in black centered text on five lines on light grey box below the date, DTH logo and photograph of Robb Dunewood beneath black text, "With Robb Dunewood" in white centered text between the logo and photograph, all on a black rectangular background.

DTNS for Thursday March 19, 2026 with Jason Howell and Huyen Tue Dao
Google Updates Stitch and Introduces “Vibe Design”
Listen here: shows.acast.com/dtns/episode...

I'm still here. And I did this.

But yes, constant state of existential dread.

Still love y'all.

Dissecting Kotlin: Surveying the Latest Stable and Experimental | Huyen Tue Dao YouTube video by Kotlin by JetBrains

Apparently, I'm not good at using Bluesky and didn't realize the card it attached wasn't my talk from @kotlinconf.com. Here is the actual link. youtu.be/sDA28kH6AIc?...

Closing Panel | KotlinConf'25 YouTube video by Kotlin by JetBrains

I also popped up in the Closing Panel where I was given a chance to give some thoughts about the Elephant in the Room (that two-letter abbreviation we can't escape).

KotlinConf 2025, May 21–23, Copenhagen KotlinConf is the official Kotlin conference by JetBrains. It is a place for the community to gather and discuss all things Kotlin.

If you missed @kotlinconf.com 2025, you can catch talks on kotlinconf.com, including mine, where I deep-dive into a couple of relatively recent features to learn about Kotlin specifically and find general takeaways for software development and practice.

Screenshot of a WaniKani level-up congratulation screen showing several cute kappas cheering on either side of a medal. The medal has a ribbon with "31" on it and a "Congratulations on leveling up!" in Japanese.

半分はできた！

I love that you are a regular listener and part of Patrons. Like just having a friend in our community makes me feel so fulfilled doing this. Thanks, Patrick. ♥️

Is that $20,000 Modular EV for Real? – DTNSB 5006 Plus, how YouTube is the hope for Google, and maybe TSMC is the hope for Intel. Starring Tom Merritt, and Huyen Tue Dao, and Bodie Grimm. MP3 Download Follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, X Instgram, Th…

I will forever hold in my heart the awkward pause reaction that @tommerritt.com and I had to one of the stories in today's Briefing and that we just let that break our flow for a minute while we processed. And I further love that we left it in. Real AF.
dailytechnewsshow.com/2025/04/25/i...

Was curious to check out the IG "Edits" app but they make you agree to let Meta use your work for AI training before you can use it.. with no opt out option. Yeah Nah.

Is Microsoft Recall Safe Now? – DTNSB 4996 – Daily Tech News Show OpenAI will fully replace GPT‑4 with GPT‑4o and WhatsApp New Features Starring Tom Merritt, Huyen Tue Dao, Mallory O’Meara, and Brea Grant. MP3 Download Follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, X Instgram, …

Is Microsoft Recall safe to use now? @queencodemonkey.dev Plus bookish alternatives to Amazon with @breagrant.bsky.social and @malloryomeara.bsky.social

dailytechnewsshow.com/2025/04/11/i...

Letterkenny and the Laser Eyes.

Can this please happen?

DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data DOGE operatives have repeatedly referred to the software company Palantir as a possible partner in creating a “mega API” at the IRS, sources tell WIRED.

SCOOP: Elon Musk’s DOGE has plans to stage a “hackathon” next week in Washington, DC. The goal is to create a single “mega API”—a bridge that lets software systems talk to one another—for accessing IRS data, sources tell WIRED.

A while back I mentioned I helped to build a government AI tool. DOGE "deleted" (fired) my whole org (@alt18f.bsky.social) and took the tool to become their "AI-first strategy."

But what is the strategy? What are they actually planning to do?

I’m trying to piece it together. Here’s what I think 🧵

「日本語でマイクピックアップパターンの説明ができて嬉しかった。」日本語でもタイプミスが多い。いや。

日本語でマイクピックアップパターン説明ができまして嬉しかった。説明の日本語が完璧じゃなかったけどできた！状況による使ったほうがいいパータンもおすすめた。

Nobody likes waste. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that, in many ways, government is *designed* to be inefficient. It’s structured with redundancy and complexity both for audit and control purposes and because it tries to satisfy multiple competing societal goals. 1/2

Screenshot from wanikani.com of the congratulations message for levelling up to 25.

Yessss! 🫂

See y'all in Copenhagen. 🇩🇰💜

Hey! Finish of your week with a lively, laugh-filled, and slightly loquacious DTNS Briefing. @tommerritt.com is indeed fun. He happened to find several stories that I was having a happy Friday with.

We are experiencing an assault on science unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in my life. It’s not one issue or another anymore, the entire institution is under attack by the most powerful individuals in the country.

This Friday, where will you be?

standupforscience2025.org

The process involved: resume review, two technical competencies reviews (tq1 and tq2) and a testing for EQ, too (brain matters 🧠 , so does ♥️ ). Here’s what I’ve learned so far (from trusted sources). When they tried to bring on some of the DOGE engineers through the front door: - Luke Farritor failed RESUME review (didn’t even make it past the most basic part) - Jordan Wick failed TQ1 *and* TQ2 - “Ally B” wasn’t even put through the official process and was pushed through the process without any formal technical competencies testing.

There might be an assumption that DOGE is bringing in incredible coders to replace bureaucrats. But that is not the case. Some DOGE members applied to the US Digital Service before Trump took office. None of them got very far, because they lacked basic skills. From a founding member of USDS.

Ok also AOC and Elon Musk are not in a “tit-for-tat feud.” AOC is a duly elected member of Congress who operates under an oath to our constitution and Elon Musk is an unelected Nazi billionaire whose wealth makes him think he’s above the law and empowered to illegally torch our government.

It’s just fucking corruption. It’s just capture of spending to line his pockets. Crony spending lining the pockets of glorious ruler’s buddies is the hallmark of any strongman authoritarian government and ours is no exception.

Hundreds of NOAA employees are being fired by Trump and DOGE.

The National Weather Service, which is part of NOAA, provides life saving weather forecasting in the US.

A study found that for every $1 invested in NWS, it produces $73 in value to Americans.

Again, this isn't about efficiency.

Transaction to Liberty Ukraine Foundation.

My bad. Didn't see the other post.

Transaction to Liberty Ukraine Foundation

✌️

Home | Liberty Ukraine Home - Liberty Ukraine 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation based in Austin, TX, fundraising for Ukrainian residents, servicemen and women, and victims of the war in Ukraine.

Want to do something for Ukraine?

Screenshot a donation to Liberty Ukraine and I’ll match it.

I worked at 18F once. We would start projects with a discovery sprint where we would come in and talk to users in an agency and listen to what they actually needed and then build it. Totally antithetical to arrogance of DOGE. No wonder they’d destroy it, they want to make it impossible to rebuild

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F.

18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.

We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org