Markov-Switching Model Used to Track Bitcoin Volatility Regimes

A data analyst applied a Markov-switching regression model to study how the volatility of Bitcoin's daily returns shifted over time. The analysis used Binance BTCUSDT daily price data, with a training period spanning January 2, 2022 to June 30, 2026, covering 1,641 daily returns, and a 75-day holdout period through September 13, 2026. Both two-state and three-state model specifications were tested, identifying distinct low- and high-volatility regimes with fitted daily return standard deviations of roughly 1.53% and 4.30% in the two-state version. The two-state model performed slightly better on the holdout period by mean predictive log score, while the three-state model achieved a marginally lower training BIC, suggesting neither is a clear universal winner. The full visual report, built in OWL Compose, includes state probabilities, transition matrices, fitted distributions, and reproducibility notes.

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Trump Calls AI Development Slowdown Demands a 'Sick Conspiracy'

US President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to strongly oppose calls for slowing down superintelligent AI development. He labelled such demands a 'sick conspiracy' targeting artificial intelligence and data centres. Trump's stance aligns with China's position, as both nations appear to reject efforts to curb rapid AI advancement. The remarks signal that the world's two largest economies are unlikely to support any international push for a pause on cutting-edge AI development.

How Booking-Integrated Systems Can Automate Court Video Recording at Sports Clubs

Sports clubs that install court cameras often face a hidden problem: footage is captured continuously but retrieving, sharing, and managing specific clips requires significant manual effort. The core issue is that cameras operate independently of booking systems, forcing staff to manually identify relevant recordings and players to remember to trigger recording themselves. A more efficient approach ties recording directly to court reservations, so that when a player books a court, the system automatically starts and stops the camera for that slot and delivers the footage to the player's account. Platforms like SportyPlus implement this by accepting a standard RTMP stream from any compatible IP camera, requiring no proprietary hardware. This integration also addresses data protection concerns by automating footage deletion and restricting access to the relevant player, removing the need for manual oversight.

AI Expert Nick Bostrom Claims AI Has Achieved Human-Like Consciousness

Prominent AI risk researcher Nick Bostrom has asserted that artificial intelligence agents have effectively attained human-like consciousness. Bostrom, widely recognized for his work on existential risks posed by AI, suggests that for all practical purposes, current AI systems can be considered sentient and self-aware. This marks a striking claim from one of the field's most influential thinkers, who has long studied the long-term implications of advanced AI development. The statement is likely to intensify ongoing global debates around AI rights, safety, and the ethical treatment of AI systems.

BJP Leads Congress in Rajasthan Urban Local Body Election Results

Rajasthan's urban local body poll results saw BJP emerge ahead of Congress in overall ward counts. Independents proved to be a significant force, winning 2,273 wards across the state. In Bharatpur, the hometown of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, independents dominated the Municipal Corporation elections. They secured 36 of the 65 wards in Bharatpur, overshadowing both major parties in that city.

Andon Labs launches Pion, an AI agent built to run companies autonomously

Andon Labs has introduced Pion, an AI agent designed to autonomously manage and operate entire companies. The product was announced via the company's blog, where the team explained their motivations for building it. Pion is positioned as a comprehensive autonomous agent capable of handling company-wide functions without human intervention. The announcement attracted early attention on Hacker News, garnering points and community discussion. Details about specific capabilities and pricing have not yet been widely disclosed.

Nitin Gadkari has a new plan for Mumbai traffic

West Bengal Orders Review of Madrasas to Identify Illegal Institutions

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has directed authorities to conduct a review of madrasas operating across the state. The move aims to identify institutions that are functioning without legal authorization. The order signals a push for greater regulatory oversight of religious educational bodies in the region. This initiative draws comparisons to similar positions previously held by the CPM regarding madrasa regulation in Bengal.

As AI Benchmarks Age and Saturate, Measuring True AI Progress Gets Harder

The launch of GPT-6 Astra, accompanied by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang declaring on X that 'AGI has arrived,' has reignited debate about how capable AI systems have truly become. Experts and developers quickly split between excitement and concern, with many questioning whether such milestones signal the end of software engineering as a profession. However, a closer look at AI evaluation reveals a deeper issue: benchmarks used to measure model progress can become outdated, saturated, or methodologically inconsistent over time. Astra's own system card acknowledges that some older evaluations are being retired and newer ones are adopting more realistic testing conditions, meaning a higher score does not always reflect genuinely broader capability. While AI will undoubtedly reshape software development, core engineering responsibilities such as system design, security, and architectural decision-making remain distinctly human concerns that raw benchmark numbers do not address.

How to Build an AR Fallback Governor That Protects User Camera Privacy

A developer tutorial on DEV Community outlines how to build an application-side fallback governor for Tencent RTC's Beauty AR feature, ensuring avatar failures do not silently expose a user's camera feed. The core problem addressed is that when AR effects fail due to device overheating, asset loading errors, or OS interruptions, most apps default to the raw camera — a privacy-violating substitution. The proposed governor enforces a tiered degradation ladder: quality avatar, performance avatar, sticker, and finally a paused state if camera consent has not been explicitly granted. It adapts to device capability tiers, avoids oscillating between profiles, and rejects stale async events to prevent race conditions. The tutorial argues that consent must be collected separately for each presentation mode, since switching from an avatar to a live camera feed is a fundamentally different act, not merely a quality reduction.

BJP to go solo in Punjab polls, will contest all 117 seats: Satish Poonia

The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to contest all 117 Punjab Assembly seats without any alliance partner in the upcoming state elections. Senior BJP leader Satish Poonia announced the decision, ruling out any coalition arrangement. He criticised the AAP-led Punjab government over its handling of law and order, flagging drug menace and corruption as central poll issues. The party plans to launch an anti-drug awareness campaign across the state next month. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to attend the concluding event of the campaign.

Isotope Analysis Pinpoints Origin of Devil's Arrows Stones 11 Miles Away

New isotropic analysis has identified the likely source of the Devil's Arrows standing stones in North Yorkshire, England. Researchers determined the massive prehistoric monoliths were transported approximately 11 miles from Brimham Rocks. This finding overturns earlier assumptions that the nearby Plumpton Rocks was the source. The study sheds light on the significant logistical effort undertaken by prehistoric builders to erect the monument.

JQuickCurl Library Simplifies Multipart File Uploads in Java Using curl Syntax

JQuickCurl is a Java library that lets developers send multipart HTTP file uploads using familiar curl -F flag syntax, eliminating the need to manually configure OkHttp or RestTemplate multipart bodies. The library interprets the @ symbol convention to distinguish file paths from plain text form fields, then builds the corresponding multipart request over OkHttp automatically. Developers can upload single or multiple files, mix files with form metadata, and inject dynamic file paths at runtime using variable substitution in annotated interface methods. The approach keeps HTTP implementation details out of service code by expressing upload logic as a standard curl command string in a Java annotation. The library's behavior was demonstrated against the httpbin echo endpoint, which confirmed correct multipart transmission by returning uploaded file data in its response.

Apple's iOS 27 Brings Major Siri Overhaul After Long Wait

Apple has released iOS 27, which includes a significant redesign and upgrade of its Siri voice assistant. The update marks the culmination of a long-delayed effort by Apple to improve Siri's everyday usefulness. The revamped assistant has noticeably changed how users interact with their devices on a daily basis. The overhaul appears to be restoring user confidence in Siri as a practical tool.

Apple Releases macOS 27 Golden Gate With Upgraded Siri AI and Liquid Glass

Apple launched macOS 27 Golden Gate on Monday, bringing significant updates including a revamped Siri AI assistant, Liquid Glass design improvements, and better performance. The update is exclusive to Apple Silicon Macs, as Intel-based machines received their last major macOS update with macOS Tahoe last year. The new Siri AI is the headline feature, enabling users to ask questions, search personal content like photos and emails, and perform actions within apps such as Messages and Reminders. A dedicated Siri app has also been introduced, storing a history of past conversations for easier access.

macOS 27 Golden Gate brings revamped Siri AI and refreshed visual design

Apple has unveiled macOS 27, named Golden Gate, featuring two standout upgrades. The release introduces a significantly updated Siri with enhanced AI capabilities aimed at boosting productivity. Alongside the AI improvements, the update brings design changes that create greater visual consistency across windows and icons. The refreshed interface marks a notable aesthetic shift for the Mac operating system.

Developer Builds Interactive Lab Site to Host Experiments Beyond a Standard Portfolio

A developer known as joacod has launched 'joacod Lab', a personal web platform designed to host interactive experiments, prototypes, and small tools that don't fit the format of a traditional portfolio or blog. Unlike his static blog, which publishes finished learnings, the Lab is built to support dynamic work such as GPU playgrounds, material studies, and browser-based games with leaderboards. The platform uses a shared shell for navigation and infrastructure while allowing each experiment to maintain its own interface, rendering stack, and interaction model. The developer intentionally avoided over-engineering a plugin framework, following a principle of sharing infrastructure without dictating what each experiment must be. The project evolved from an early dashboard concept into a more flexible architecture that treats each entry as an independent work-in-progress rather than a finished product.

Plainletter AI Agent Helps Volunteers Decode Official Letters for Non-Native Readers

A developer living in the Netherlands built Plainletter, an AI agent designed to assist library help-desk volunteers in explaining official government and institutional letters to residents who cannot read Dutch. The tool allows a volunteer to photograph or upload a letter, after which it identifies the sender, extracts key details like deadlines, amounts, and reference numbers, and provides a side-by-side explanation in both Dutch and the recipient's language. A built-in verifier cross-checks every extracted fact against the original letter text, refusing to pass any date, amount, or reference it cannot confirm, and sending the rejection back to the model to try again. During testing, the system correctly flagged a misread euro amount differing by just three cents and refused four facts from a deliberately obscured photograph. The project runs on Amazon Bedrock with Strands Agents SDK, costs roughly USD 0.107 per letter reading, and stores only consent-given, masked data for 30 days via AgentCore Memory in Frankfurt.

Apple Rolls Out iOS 27 With Overhauled Siri AI and New UI Features

Apple has begun rolling out iOS 27, watchOS 27, iPadOS 27, and visionOS 27 to compatible devices. The headline feature across all four updates is Siri AI, a long-delayed AI-powered redesign of Apple's virtual assistant. Siri AI launches today in beta for English-only devices, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish support expected in October. Beyond Siri, iOS 27 introduces a Liquid Glass opacity slider that lets users adjust the transparency of the interface. Several built-in apps are also receiving refreshed icon designs as part of the update.