OpenAI is updating Codex with more agent-like capabilities, positioning it as a more direct rival to Anthropic's Claude Code. Some of the new features include the ability to operate macOS desktop apps, browse the web inside the app, generate images, use new workplace plug-ins, and remember useful context from past tasks. The Verge reports: Codex will now be able to operate desktop apps on your computer, OpenAI says in a blog post announcing the update. It can work in the background, meaning it won't interfere with your own work in other apps, and multiple agents can work in parallel. For developers, OpenAI says "this is helpful for testing and iterating on frontend changes, testing apps, or working in apps that don't expose an API." The feature will start rolling out to Codex desktop app users signed in with ChatGPT today and will initially be limited to macOS. OpenAI did not indicate a timeline for when use will expand to other operating systems. EU users will also have to wait, it said, adding that the update will roll out to users there "soon."

Codex is also getting the ability to generate and iterate on images with gpt-image-1.5, new plug-ins for tools like GitLab, Atlassian Rovo, and Microsoft Suite, and native web browsing through an in-app browser, "where you can comment directly on pages to provide precise instructions to the agent." OpenAI also said it will also be easier to automate tasks, with users able to re-use existing conversation threads and Codex now able to schedule future work for itself and wake up automatically to continue on a long-term task. Codex will also be getting a memory feature allowing it to remember useful context from past experience, such as personal preferences, corrections, and information that took time to gather. OpenAI said it hopes the opt-in feature, which will be released as a preview, will help future tasks complete faster and to a quality that previously required detailed custom instructions. The personalization features will roll out to Enterprise, Edu, and EU users "soon."

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BrianFagioli writes: The developers behind Linux Mint say the project is rethinking its release strategy and moving toward a longer development cycle, with the next version now expected around Christmas 2026. In a monthly update, project lead Clement Lefebvre said the team reached a "crossroads" and needs more flexibility to fix bugs, improve the desktop, and adapt to rapid changes across the Linux ecosystem. The upcoming development build, temporarily called Mint 23 "Alfa," is currently based on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and includes Linux kernel 7.0, an unstable build of Cinnamon 6.7, and early Wayland related work.

Mint is also replacing the long used Ubiquity installer with "live-installer," the same tool used by Linux Mint Debian Edition, allowing the project to unify installation infrastructure across its Ubuntu based and Debian based variants. While the team frames the changes as an opportunity to improve quality and reduce maintenance overhead, the shift has raised questions about the project's long term direction and whether Linux Mint may eventually lean more heavily on its Debian roots rather than its traditional Ubuntu base.

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The head of the International Energy Agency warned that Europe may have only "six weeks or so" of jet fuel left if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz stays disrupted. The Associated Press reports: IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of what he called "the largest energy crisis we have ever faced," stemming from the pinch-off of oil, gas and other vital supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. "In the past there was a group called 'Dire Straits.' It's a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world," he told The Associated Press. The impact will be "higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices," said Birol, speaking in his Paris office looking out over the Eiffel Tower.

Economic pain will be felt unevenly and "the countries who will suffer the most will not be those whose voice are heard a lot. It will be mainly the developing countries. Poorer countries in Asia, in Africa and in Latin America," said the Turkish economist and energy expert who has led the IEA since 2015. But without a settlement of the Iran war that permanently reopens the Strait of Hormuz, "Everybody is going to suffer," he added. "Some countries may be richer than the others. Some countries may have more energy than the others, but no country, no country is immune to this crisis," he said.

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banzainetsurfer has added a photo to the pool:

Kurodani, Itano District, Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan
日本四国地方徳島県板野郡黒谷町

A persimmon tree full of ripe orange fruit on the road between Dainichiji Temple (No. 4) and Jizoji Temple (No. 5) of the Shikoku Henro (i.e. Shikoku Pilgrimage).

• Hull 14-24 St Helens

• Battling display in defeat feels like coach’s last stand

There is rarely a shortage of emotion and passion in this particular part of the rugby league world but even by the usually high standards set in Hull, this was a night many, least of all their head coach, will never forget.

On any other night, the headline would be St Helens producing another impressive statement of their title credentials to go top of Super League. But this was no ordinary night: perhaps underlined not necessarily by the action on the field, but by what transpired after Saints’ win over Hull FC.

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The first series’s insightful look at bipolar disorder is gone. For its second outing, it’s a knockabout tale of a relationship gone wrong – which isn’t always easy to buy into

The second part of the title of Camilla Whitehill’s Channel 4 comedy drama is a reference to mood disorders. Bipolar, to be exact – the condition her protagonist Maggie has been diagnosed with. The first part is a reference to pretty much everything else. Big Mood tackles big topics and chases big laughs. There are big adventures, big gestures and big cameos. It’s undeniably ambitious, but does all this add up to something truly meaningful? It can be difficult to tell.

Series one introduced Maggie in the midst of a manic episode: she had pestered her alma mater to let her deliver a speech in the hope of seducing her old history teacher. That quickly gave way to a depressive one, during which she attended her 30th birthday party unshowered and on the verge of tears. The reason for this rollercoaster was Maggie’s decision to stop taking her medication; she believed it was impeding her creative capabilities and her career as a playwright. Eventually, she agreed to go back on lithium, only to experience terrifying hallucinations and confusion – she’d been poisoned by an erroneous prescription filled out by an overwhelmed psychiatrist.

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Client connects to deepset's Haystack platform

Mozilla has declared war on OpenAI, Microsoft, and other firms flogging enterprise AI platforms with an open-source alternative it says provides data privacy guarantees proprietary products never could. …

Juntaleider Ibrahim Traoré is sinds hij aan de macht kwam in 2022 bezig alle oppositionele geluiden de mond te snoeren. Zijn regeringsleger is met burgermilities bezig aan een bloedige strijd met een aan Al-Qaida gelieerde jihadistische beweging.

Friendship, Lee Stewart

What remains at the heart of the films will be questions of class, education, wealth and the all important thread of whether it holds true to say: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man." from ITV's beloved 7 Up series will end after 62 years with "epic and moving" final chapter 70 Up [Radio Times]

The Up Series [YouTube Playlist] Previously: 2007, 2019, 2019 again; 2021 - RIP MIchael Apted