Thursday, February 12, 2026

How Are NASA's Artemis And Apple's AI Alike? They Never Launch -- February 12, 2026

Locator: 49971APPLE.

Tag: AAPL. 


 

For those with a 30-year horizon, this is awesome

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Apple's AI

From February 11, 2026: how are NASA's Artemis and Apple's AI alike? Neither launch

Locator: 49966ARTEMIS. 

A couple of weeks ago my x feed was filled with non-stop tweets about NASA's Artemis getting ready to launch .... back to the moon --- disingenuous --- not "back to (on) the moon," but rather simply "back to (a loop around" around the moon. The US first did that back in December, 1968 -- almost 58 years ago. 

But for the past week or so, I haven't been able to find a note about the Artemis launch. I've checked frequently. Zip. Nada. Zilch. So I got serious and checked again today.

Link here. Pushed back. Delayed. Scrubbed.

From February 3, 2026:

NASA is now targeting March, 2026, for the earliest possible launch of its historic Artemis II lunar moon mission, which will send four astronauts into deep space (to the moon) for the first time since the Apollo program ended more than five decades ago.

The decision came in the early hours of Tuesday, February 3, 2026, after NASA said it had completed a wet dress rehearsal, a crucial test of the towering rocket system that will launch the astronauts on an unprecedented path around the moon. The mission had been expected to lift off as soon as February 8, 2026.

NASA said it encountered several problems during the test after cold weather caused a late start, including running into issues with hydrogen leaks while filling up Artemis II’s Space Launch System rocket with propellant. The delay would allow teams to review data and conduct a second launch rehearsal, the agency said in a blog post. 

AI -- Monday, February 9, 2026

Locator: 49941TECH.

AI: where we are today -- intersection of AI and investing. Link to Axios.  

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ChatBlog
BotBlog

Blogging + chatbots will end journalism as we know it. 

The Washington Post was the first to fall; it simply lost relevance. In fact, I think it's turning into a culture and sports medium. 

I think this might be my last year with The New Yorker. Will likely not renew. I don't know. That's a hard one.  

But I digress. 

Link here to The Marginalian

Right now: the chatbot interface is boring. BORING.

This reminds me of the change from the smart phones before the iPhone and the iPhone introduced by Steve Jobs in 2007. 

Someone is going to figure out how to make chatbot replies exciting. Steve Jobs, if so inclined, would have already solved the problem.  

I don't particularly care for Joanna Stern but she's got it figured out. Whether she can put it all together is the big question.

If Jason Gay follows Joanna Stern and jumps ship -- that will be the tipping point. 

Their problem: jumping through all the clutter. 

Joanna Stern probably earns $200K at The WSJ

Scott Adams: the best I can do is find a source that suggests he was worth north of $20 million when he died.  

Could Joanna Stern / Jason Gay and maybe a "Chuck Klosterman" start their own on-line AI-assisted blog to be the next big thing? Tech - Sports - Culture (music)? 

It's amazing -- it's amazing how often Lana Del Rey and Amy Winehouse absolutely fit my mood at any given moment while blogging. 

Yeah, I would love to see Stern-JasonDay-Klosterman wrapped in McSweeney's

The big question: how do we pay folks like Alison Ritter what they are really worth. To whom do you turn when you want to get a Bakken update? Alison Ritter.

Federal Employees -- Random Update -- February 12, 2026

Locator: 49972FEDERALJOBS.

Question: has the government been performing worse or better this past year? I really don't know. 

Link here.

Amazon: The $50-Billion Kingmaker -- AppEconomy -- February 10, 2026

Locator: 49951AMAZON.   

If Palantir is the ring to rule them all, then Amazon is the kingmaker. Google will be the communicator -- the go-between -- between humans and technology -- search and agentic chat.

Link here to appeconomy

This article is incredible.

May Mean Nothing -- February 10, 2026

Locator: 49954ROBINHOOD.  

Tag: Robinhood.

Link here