Stephen Harrison

Tweet Claude Code wiped our production database with a Terraform command. It took down the DataTalksClub course platform and 2.5 years of submissions: homework, projects, and leaderboards. Automated snapshots were gone too. In the newsletter, I wrote the full timeline + what I changed so this doesn't happen again. If you use Terraform (or let agents touch infra), this is a good story for you to read.

Back in my day you needed a senior engineer for this sort of thing

Comic. [Person 1 talking to a person with shoulder-length hair and a person with a white hat.] PERSON 1: I would never get an electric vehicle. Sure, they sound great, but what do you do if the battery runs out of charge? [caption] I felt pretty silly when someone finally explained tome that EVs are rechargeable.

Electric Vehicles

xkcd.com/3214/

Oh dear, what did he do!?

Oh no. It's Monday again. Isn't it.

Bill Bramhall cartoon.

Counselor: These feelings of "everything sucks," how long have you had them? Butt-head: Uhh, since everything started to suck, I guess.

Here it is, your moment of zen.

Consequences

Notepad++ says Chinese government hackers hijacked its software updates for months | TechCrunch The developer of the popular text editor Notepad++ said hackers associated with the Chinese government hijacked its software update mechanism to deliver tainted software to users for months.

NEW: The developer of the long-running and popular open source text editor Notepad++ has confirmed that China government-backed hackers hijacked the software's update feature for months during 2025.

The hackers could access computers of victims who were running hijacked versions of Notepad++.

the news in this country has been so shitty lately that i don’t even think people realize we’re sending humans back to the moon in less than 10 days

A workflow diagram: Have great idea Finish project Start project Tell everyone The finish project is missed out.

Morning

World’s richest 1% have already used fair share of emissions for 2026, says Oxfam Richest 1% took 10 days while wealthiest 0.1% needed just three days to exhaust annual carbon budget, study shows The world’s richest 1% have used up their fair share of carbon emissions just 10 days into 2026, analysis has found. Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget, according to the research by Oxfam. Continue reading...

World’s richest 1% have already used fair share of emissions for 2026, says Oxfam

White image with the words "The evolution of the trash icon". On it are seven Windows "Trash icons", each with a year under it. (1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2015, 2025, and 2026) For 2025, the "Trash icon" is replaced with the Microsoft Teams icon. For 2026, the "Trash icon" is replaced with the Microsoft Copilot icon.

Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action

Alternative headline: humiliating and abusing women on X by digitally undressing them is now a privilege reserved to paying users.

Elon Musk’s xAI Raises $20 Billion

company that creates deepfake CSAM raises $20 billion www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/t...

Date for the New Year, there's going to be a CamJam celebrating Raspberry Pi 14th birthday in Cambridge, UK hosted by Makespace, the community's workshop. Tickets will be released on Friday.
mailchi.mp/9d1d55c5214f...

now we find out if the rest of the world does anything to stop a rogue state, run by narcissists, rich kids, attorneys & podcasters, treating anything or anyone they want like a piñata - i imagine Starmer is in a meeting now checking with his advisors on best way to avoid upsetting the Daily Mail

Which one of Trumps kids gets to be president of Venezuela and control the drugs?

another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls

...Thanks, Steve.

Xmas day tech support has started!

#SteveTHoughts

Rockets owners expand talks to buy, move Sun

Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.

We got all the hits:
- purchased by private equity firm
- hid a bunch of layoffs
- invested a bunch of money in AI
- tried to make that money back by ruining the best product it now owned

A gentle reminder if you've received an invoice from a Freelancer/Self employed person which is due before Christmas.

Be a love, and pay it today.

the world has changed

Only £2 for up to two hours! Nobody's going to believe that's a real parking sign in Cambridge!