A sequel is coming — Practical Magic 2.

Check the trailer. The magic will return on September 11th, 2026. I can’t wait to watch it.

OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google — bitter rivals — are now sharing threat intel to stop Chinese labs from copying their models. Anthropic flagged 16M unauthorized exchanges from fake accounts alone. Wild times when the AI Cold War is the thing that makes competitors play nice.

Anthropic just launched Claude Design — design systems, prototypes, slide decks, all from a prompt. Still in research preview with weekly token limits, but I'm keeping an eye on it. When it's widely available, I'm absolutely giving it a spin. via The New Stack

Mexico's modernist architects rewrote the rules with color, texture, and a deep connection to the land. BBC Culture has a great roundup. The homes are stunning.

This one is my favorite. I love this space!

Is it for real?!?! I might want to do this LEGO set. Hmm. If it is true, it will be released in June!

LEGO 11505 Woodland Mushrooms: 806 pieces, fly agaric, bracket fungi, fern leaves — $87.99. Dwarf hats as mushroom caps, satellite dishes as toadstools.

What do you think?

A humanoid robot named Lightning ran a half-marathon in Beijing in 50:26 — beating the human world record by nearly 7 minutes. Last year’s winner took 2h40m. One robot face-planted 200 feet in and finished held together w/ packing tape. Will a human ever beat a robot in a race again?

NPR

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Hmm, Tim Cook out, John Ternus in as CEO. We will see how well he performs as CEO this fall and beyond. Will he play it safe or take risks with innovation? Will he also take over the new iPhone launch event this fall, especially with the rumored iPhone Wide Fold?

Link

ZDNet says 16GB is the sweet spot for RAM in 2026. My M1 Mac Mini has 8GB, but I’m not worried — Mac’s Continuity lets me control it from my MacBook M5 and iPad Pro M1 with the same mouse and keyboard. FYI, I went with 24GB on the MacBook for longevity. Why not.

Link

I rarely close apps on my phone. Some people swear by it, but on a newer high-end phone, it’s just not necessary — unless the app is buggy or torching your battery.

You might naturally assume that failing to close an app you’re not using will leave it “running” in the background on an iPhone. If you don’t close the app manually, it will drain your device’s battery life, right? While this is an understandable conclusion to reach, it doesn’t properly account for what force closing apps on your iPhone really does to the battery.

Read more here about other myths as well.

Robotaxis are now on the streets of Houston and Dallas, Texas. The interiors look nice and are very spacious, but, wow, it’s really happening. I love the big screen and the large glass roof on Tesla cars! I once rode in a Tesla while Ubering in DC (human driving though).