Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 08-04-26

My “daily” Pook-Emu Bee links have been far from “daily” of late. As a result, my link backlog has grown to an ominous size. But today we get back on track. Tomorrow? That is always TBD, but baby steps to giant strides and all.

I took this photograph in the evening on April 13, 2026. I do not remember exactly where.

1. NYC subway riders push AG Letitia James to probe OMNY after extra charges, phantom fines (Haley Brown and Matthew Fischetti for the New York Post. August 3, 2026.)

I have yet to use one of the new OMNY cards. With that being said, I respect this news that the MTA is maintaining continuity with one of the charming features of the old Metro Cards.

2. Democrat Wisconsin Gubernatorial Candidate Francesca Hong Said She Left Restaurant Due to ‘Too Many Old White People’ (Paul Bois for Breitbart. August 3, 2026.)

Hong shared her story about the anxiety episode in a 2019 post on X. ‘I ate two bites of my kid’s cheeseburger at a Culver’s in black river falls and told him they ran out of ice cream. Mostly just wanted to leave bc I was on the verge of a anxiety attack,’ she said.

I’m concerned, albeit not surprised, to learn that there is apparently an online audience of communists that thinks that pretending to have “anxiety” attacks in the presence of white adults is a positive character trait. I fear that the not-so-young lady is overcompensating, and not because of the people she claims give her anxiety.

3. Gaming on the 4GB Radeon RX 6500 XT and GTX 1650 Super in 2026 — upscaling makes low-end GPUs viable for esports and internet cafes (Jeffrey Kampman for Tom’s Hardware. August 3, 2026.)

I believe my video card is a GTX 1650 Super (see obscured photo of the box from 2020). While I have not given it many stress tests since I built this computer in August 2020, I am heartened to know that it can handle some AAA slop games on medium settings. Whew.

4. Proposed ‘Green-Wood Green-Way’ gets $4M in City Council funding for outreach, design (Kristyn Brendlen for Brooklyn Paper. July 28, 2026.)

I would support this idea without the bike lane. I do not support it with the bike lane.

5. Altman’s recommendation sparks debate about AI in parenting (Holly Van Leuven for Morning Brew. August 3, 2026.)

If you have a thought which places “Altman” and “parenting” in the same sentence, the answer will always be “absolutely not.”

6. Google plans to exempt sanctioned nations from Android developer verification (Ryan Whitwam for Ars Technica. July 31, 2026.)

Paradoxically, the situation in sanctioned nations will actually provide more app freedom. And these are Google-certified phones at issue here. In places like Cuba and Iran, most phones are Android devices with full Google certification because they’re imported from other places where Google officially operates.

Eureka! Here I thought that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard was being insane because it is an Islamist death cult. But I now see that it is because they want to ensure that they maintain Android app freedom. Mr. President, please convey through Pakistan that they can keep their app freedom even if they stop being their authentic selves.

7. Hochul lets bill forcing embattled ACS to turn over records languish as another child dies in Bronx hellhole (Craig McCarthy, Jordan Donegan, and Matt Troutman for the New York Post. July 31, 2026.)

Tragically, there’s nothing new under the Sun. Rinse and repeat every few months. Another child or baby is dead and nothing changes.

8. Exclusive: UN Is Actively Obstructing US Probe Into Links Between Its Gaza Relief Groups and Hamas, as Americans Warn UN To Divorce ‘Cancerous UNRWA’ (Adam Kredo for The Washington Free Beacon. July 30, 2026.)

Getting full cooperation from UN agencies regarding their involvement with and infiltration by Hamas is about as likely as my plan to correct the Iranian government’s behavior by guaranteeing that they will retain their Android app freedom.

9. LG Monitors Fill PCs With Adware, and It’s Not Just Recent Displays (Kyle Barr for Gizdomo. July 20, 2026.)

There is no easy process to keep PCs from automatically installing these connected apps, especially since they come in quietly via Microsoft Update.

Here, running EndeavourOS on my workstation, I read about these events in Windowsland like I read about the goings on in the Central African Republic.

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