Oct 19, 2026 · 8 min listen · Last updated October 19, 2026
From storyflo. This is your daily audio brief. Hey, it's Theo. October 19th. Five things in tech that mattered this morning — let's start with the one that surprised me most. Let's get into it. First, from Slashdot. Anthropic Announces 'Public Benefit Fund', Committing 5% of Its Shares.
Listen · storyflo · tech
Daily Tech Brief · October 19th
0:00-8:29
Pick your daily storyteller
Subscribe to match with Theo, Jessica, Chloe, Mason, Brock — your voice, every brief.
Audio pre-rendered by Storyflo · cached + delivered from the edge
Anthropic Announces 'Public Benefit Fund', Committing 5% of Its Shares
Anthropic has announced a commitment to establish a public benefit fund by dedicating 5% of its shares to it, with the potential to increase that by an additional 2% for every 50% rise in the company's value. This move comes as the company gears up for an initial public offering and aims to bolster its image amid the ongoing shifts in the job market due to AI advancements.
The fund's structure and governance details are set to be revealed in the coming months, and they plan to release a public benefit report to track its progress. Elon Musk has suggested that the shares should be given directly to the public, highlighting the conversation around equitable distribution.
Anthropic's initiative seems to address potential job displacements caused by AI, indicating that the fund might make significant donations to nonprofits or provide direct support to affected populations. They acknowledge that AI could lead to instability for many workers and emphasize the need for "bolder" solutions, building on their previous commitment of $200 million to study these impacts. With co-founders pledging to donate 80% of their equity and an employee matching program, about 20% of Anthropic's shares are set aside for public benefit, which could expand further in the future.
ConnectWise turns off its SaaS-y backup, security, and management services to probe security SNAFU
ConnectWise has temporarily halted some of its services after discovering unauthorized access within its Cloud Backup environment. This includes tools that help managed service providers (MSPs) manage customer data across various platforms like M365 and Google Workspace. The company announced this service interruption on October 16, emphasizing that while they’re investigating, they can’t guarantee the safety of their services at the moment.
As of October 18, users can’t back up or restore data, but existing archives remain secure and isolated. ConnectWise is actively monitoring the situation and conducting forensic analysis. Meanwhile, security firm Huntress has reported that a Microsoft 365 credential linked to ConnectWise has been compromised, allowing unauthorized access to customer environments. They’ve advised MSPs to check their M365 applications for any suspicious credentials, as simply disabling the affected apps won’t resolve the issue.
ConnectWise is focusing on remediation and supporting affected partners, but there’s a challenge here: they don’t have visibility into the specific setups of the MSPs they serve. This puts end-user organizations in a tricky spot, as they may not even realize the extent of the situation. The incident echoes past attacks on service providers, raising concerns about the potential ripple effect on their clients. ConnectWise is hoping to navigate this without further fallout.
So, you know how everyone used to grumble about Windows 98 not supporting USB4.0? Well, it turns out Yeo Kheng Meng has come through with a solution that brings modern USB interfaces to those old systems. It’s pretty wild — he’s built on his previous work with xHCI drivers for USB2.0 and now has a USB3.0 driver available on GitHub, which can push speeds up to about 200 MB/s on Windows 98, even though it’s limited by the system's request size.
But here’s the kicker: there’s also experimental support for USB4.0 and Thunderbolt. It’s not fully stable yet, but the fact that it runs at all is impressive. You can even connect an NVMe drive to Windows 98 using his Stor98 driver, which is based on another project. Plus, he’s created a fork of QEMU that emulates USB4/Thunderbolt devices, which could really help developers working on similar retro projects.
Yeo’s background in retro computing is fascinating too; he’s done some cool stuff, like working on Swift for the Apple II. It’s amazing to see how innovation can breathe new life into these old systems.
The Weird Things We Do After a Spiritual Awakening
Hey! So, I was just reading this thing about spiritual awakenings, and it got me thinking about how little we actually understand them, you know? It’s wild because some people still dismiss it as just… woo-woo stuff, not even real. But for those of us who’ve been through it, or are going through it, it feels incredibly tangible, more real than, well, anything.
What's really interesting is what happens *after* you have one of these awakenings. It’s not like a switch flips and everything is suddenly perfect. Instead, the article talks about these really peculiar, almost quirky things people start doing. It's like your whole perspective shifts, and suddenly everyday actions or thoughts take on this completely different meaning.
For example, you might find yourself obsessing over the most mundane things, but with this intense curiosity, like you're seeing them for the first time. Or maybe you develop these sudden, strong urges to declutter your entire life, not just your physical space, but relationships and commitments too. It’s less about grand pronouncements and more about these subtle, sometimes strange, internal shifts that manifest in your behavior. It’s like your internal operating system got a major update, and now you’re just figuring out how all the new features work.
The Colours that have been catching our eyes on SS27 runways
The SS27 runways showcased some truly captivating color combinations that are already sparking ideas for designers. Dusty pastel pink and olive emerged as key players, with accents of royal blue and a hint of chocolate, creating a rich color story rather than just a palette. This approach can translate beautifully into floral designs, where those proportions can guide the overall aesthetic.
Standout colors like chalked-off red, which has a softer vibe than traditional fire engine red, made waves across major fashion weeks, while barely-there shades in pinks and greens offered a hyper-feminine touch. Marigold yellow is stepping up, bringing a bright, saturated energy that feels fresh. Mint continues to charm, and royal blue remains a deep, rich favorite. Aqua also held its ground, with various shades adding vibrancy when paired with neutrals.
The insights from these shows are crucial for standing out in a saturated market. Buyers are overwhelmed with prints, so a strong color strategy can really capture their attention. If you want to dive deeper, there’s a comprehensive report available that breaks down these trends in detail, covering everything from prints to color palettes across the fashion capitals. It's a treasure trove of inspiration for anyone looking to stay ahead in the design game.
Linux KVM guest-host escape rated critical, may represent a new way to attack penguin-powered networking
Paulos Yibelo, the researcher who in early October claimed to have found a guest-host escape flaw in Linux KVM, the hypervisor used by most hyperscale clouds, has named the flaw PwnEscape and warned it might represent a new way to attack Linux – on top of being a 9.3-rated critical nasty in its own right. Yibelo’s work is now CVE-2026-99999. It is a scary bug because it makes a guest-host escape possible with a few malformed IPv4 packets.
Linus Torvalds has announced the release of Linux 7.3, a new mainline kernel – the one Ubuntu 26.10 is running on. Linux 7.3 is another big update, improving gaming performance for AMD GPUs with low VRAM, boosting ext4 I/O and reworking how the kernel splits CPU time between groups of apps to improve efficiency. It’s expected to become the new Long Term Support version.
Not upgrading to iPhone 18 Pro or Duo? Here’s what’s coming next year
So, the iPhone Duo just kicked off preorders, but it’s already backordered until January, which is wild. Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro has been out for about a month, and it’s getting some solid reviews. But here’s the interesting part: even with all the buzz around these new models, folks are already looking ahead to what Apple might roll out next year.
There’s chatter about potential features like improved battery life and camera enhancements that could really change how we use our phones. Plus, there’s speculation about new design elements that could make the next models even more appealing. It’s like we’re in this constant cycle of anticipation, even as the latest devices hit the shelves.
So, if you’re not jumping on the Duo or the 18 Pro, it might be worth keeping an eye on what’s in store for next year. It’s all about that blend of innovation and what we’ve come to expect from Apple.
While Hackaday doesn’t maintain a crime blotter, we couldn’t help but start this week’s post off with a bit of civil disobedience — a retired professor from the University of Pennsylvania was arrested earlier this week for standing in front of a delivery robot. Granted, she was standing there for long enough that the police were eventually called, but still. Previous reporting indicates that Carolyn Marvin has a history of blocking delivery robots as a form of protest, but this is the first time law enforcement got involved.
Here’s how iPhone Duo’s battery capacity compares to other iPhones
4883mAh definitely falls towards the high-end of the battery spectrum, though it’s by no means the best. iPhone Duo features two battery cells: one 2962mAh and another 1921mAh cell, totaling 4883mAh. This places it pretty much exactly in between the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which offer 4288mAh and 5567mAh batteries, respectively.