Intel suffers record plunge in ‘absolutely brutal’ Wall Street sell-off

Intel suffered its worst ever stock market plunge on Friday, as fears surrounding AI triggered a tech rout on Wall Street.

The chip maker fell by more than 30pc after warning of a slowdown in PC sales. It blamed the weak fourth-quarter forecast on AI data centres’ seemingly insatiable demand for microprocessors, which has pushed up the price of computers and led to a shortage of components.

Dan Ives, an analyst and partner at Yorkville Ives, said Intel’s PC chip division “was a disaster this quarter driven by higher memory prices/supply issues caused by the AI buildout”.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Why isn't this in the news or trending?

On average, 12 Christians are killed every day in sub-Saharan Africa because of their faith. Yet hardly anyone is talking about it.

While other stories fill our feeds, millions of our brothers and sisters are living with violent persecution, displacement and fear. The church in sub-Saharan Africa is asking us not to look away and speak up for them.

www.opendoorsuk.org

Microsoft killed Windows 10 to push Windows 11, but many still refuse to switch

Microsoft’s Windows OEM revenue fell 27% in the July to September 2026 quarter, and Microsoft says it was “driven by the Windows 10 end of support demand in the prior year, inventory drawdowns by OEM and channel partners, and weaker PC market demand.” As it turns out, the people who rushed to buy PCs before Windows 10 support ended last year don’t have a reason anymore to upgrade…

Meanwhile, a big chunk of PC users still hasn’t moved on. In September 2026, nearly a year after Windows 10 support ended, Steam’s hardware survey shows Windows 11 at 71.34% with 0.37% growth, while Windows 10 had 0.71% growth and 23.61% market share.

www.windowslatest.com

In China, the AI bubble has already burst

While global tech stocks teeter, in China they have already crashed as lofty valuations collapse under worries about AI demand and curbs on Chinese exports.

The meltdown, tanking the mainland STAR50 index of AI and semiconductor leaders by 40% in less than four months and vaporising some $480 billion in market value, is an ill omen ‌for wobbly world markets and a dampener on China's efforts at encouraging its savers into stocks to fund the AI boom.

It has also slammed the brakes on a rally running two ‌years, since economic stimulus promises sent shares soaring, and has stalled Beijing's push to break with a long boom-bust pattern and drive a "slow bull" market that delivers reliable performance. China's broad blue-chip index has dropped about 20% from highs made in June.

"The ​stock market later evolved into a speculative crazy bull," said Beijing-based fund manager Dong Baozhen. "And now we see the bubble bursting."

finance.yahoo.com

John Piper: Boasting Only in the Cross - Passion OneDay 2000

John Piper - passionately urges believers to dedicate their lives solely to the glory of the cross, embracing a deep passion for Christ that compels them to live and die for His supremacy.

This sermon emphasizes the importance of living a life that counts for the cross, urging listeners to not waste their lives on fleeting success but to instead dedicate themselves to the glory of the cross. The speaker, drawing from personal experiences and a deep desire for his children and the younger generation to embrace a passion for Christ, challenges the audience to find their own unique passion and purpose in spreading the supremacy of God and the joy of Christ to all people. The message centers on the call to lay down one's life for Jesus, to go to the hard places, and to boast only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

www.sermonindex.net

Microsoft offers buyouts to around 60,000 employees to contain costs

Microsoft said on Monday it is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, or more than a quarter of its global workforce, as the technology giant looks to ​contain costs and help fund its massive AI investments.

Staffers across the Windows maker ‌would be eligible for the offers, including those working in AI experiences, Copilot, finance, human resources, Xbox and Windows + Devices, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, requesting anonymity as the matter was ​private. Units such as marketing, commercial business and security will be excluded, the source ​added.

"This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside ⁠the company a new choice to make that transition now with support. It also ​gives participating organizations another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs," Chief People Officer Amy ​Coleman said in a staff memo.

Like other tech giants, Microsoft is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI data centers and chips, drawing scrutiny from investors over whether the returns will justify the staggering ​cost. The company, slated to report first-quarter results after markets close on Wednesday, has ​forecast $175 billion in capital expenditures for the 2026 calendar year.

Meanwhile in other news: Technology giant Microsoft says its profits for the three months to the end of September jumped to more than $36.6bn (£27.5bn), just days after announcing plans to cut its workforce by more than a quarter. So why the job cuts? In a word: GREED...

www.reuters.com

Today's Reading, by C.S.Lewis. On goodness...

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. 

The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. 

An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.

From Mere Christianity

Anthropic warns of 'catastrophic risk' to humankind ahead of blockbuster share listing

Anthropic has warned artificial intelligence (AI) could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity" as it unveiled details of its planned blockbuster stock market listing in the US.

The firm's valuation is expected to exceed that of SpaceX, which was the biggest-ever listing at an initial valuation of about $1.8 trillion in the summer.

Anthropic has not yet disclosed the number of shares to be released, their price range, or a date for the listing.

The Claude chatbot developer reported $16.3bn (£12.2bn) of revenue in the first half of the year, with losses of more than $80.7bn.

Anthropic, which said it will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol ANT, will be the first fully AI-focused company to go public, making it a test case for the future of the technology.

In a filing ahead of its listing, Anthropic said concerns had been raised by policymakers, regulators and researchers as well as by people within its organisation that AI systems posed a significant risk to humanity.

It said advanced AI systems "could, if not developed, deployed, and operated with appropriate safeguards, oversight, and security measures, pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity, particularly if such systems were misused, replicated, weaponised, or allowed to operate with a high degree of autonomy".

www.bbc.co.uk

Remembrance 2026 - the Poppy Appeal

Remembrance honours those who serve to defend our democratic freedoms and way of life.

We unite across communities, cultures and faiths to remember the service and sacrifices of the Armed Forces community from the UK and the Commonwealth. We reflect on the contributions of those who serve today, and of veterans and their families. We also remember all those who have lost their lives while in service.

Remembrance is deeply personal. It may mean wearing a poppy in November. It could mean joining with others in your community on an anniversary. Or it could mean taking a moment on your own to pause and reflect. Everyone is free to remember in their own way. Find out more in the stories here.

The Poppy Appeal is our flagship campaign held every year in October and November.  

Founded in 1921, the Appeal raises funds for the Royal British Legion’s vital work supporting serving personnel, veterans and their families throughout their lives with whatever the need, whenever it’s needed.  

Our support for those in need is made possible by the generous donations of the public and the 60,000 Poppy Appeal collectors and volunteers who dedicate their time each year to helping fundraise across the country.   

In 2026 poppies will be available from 22nd October at local supermarkets, high street shops, train stations or online at our Poppy Shop.  

The simple act of wearing a poppy sends a personal message of thanks and support for the Armed Forces community to see, and we ask the public not to underestimate the impact that wearing a poppy has on those who serve, and their families. 

www.britishlegion.org.uk

Wanna be a time lord? Travel through time this weekend!

 

In the UK the clocks go forward 1 hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back 1 hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October.

The period when the clocks are 1 hour ahead is called British Summer Time (BST). There’s more daylight in the evenings and less in the mornings (sometimes called Daylight Saving Time).

When the clocks go back, the UK is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

www.gov.uk

Finland orders halt to work on two Google data centres

 

Finnish authorities have ordered a halt to building work at two planned Google data centres amid concerns over the clearance of more than 300 hectares of forest.

The sites form part of Google's record €13bn (£11bn; $15bn) investment in Finland, announced less than a month ago and described by the company as its largest single investment in Europe.

The Finnish Supervisory Agency (LVV) said work at one site was carried out without a mandatory environmental impact assessment and ordered measures that would "significantly alter the environment" to be suspended by 23 October.

Google said it had "fallen short of our own high standards in this instance" and would follow the agency's guidance.

www.bbc.co.uk

Britain’s flagship AI data centre can’t get the power to switch on

Britain wants to be an AI superpower. One of its flagship data centres cannot get the electricity to switch on. Nscale’s £2bn Essex site has the money, the planning permission, and a grid connection, but no power arriving in time.

The British AI firm, backed by Nvidia, is building a £2bn data centre at Loughton in Essex, with Microsoft signed up as its anchor tenant. It won planning permission and a 90-megawatt grid connection. Then it learned the power would not arrive in time to open the site next year, Sifted reported.

So the company is now shopping for its own electricity. It is looking at on-site generation, including reported talks with a California fuel-cell maker, rather than waiting on the National Grid. “We remain fully committed to the Loughton project,” a spokesperson said.

www.thenextweb.com

Contend for the Faith: Why Jude’s Message Still Matters

Jude is tucked away near the back of the Bible, a one-chapter letter (25 verses), often neglected, preserving a timeless message of warnings and pleas that had fallen on the deaf ears of previous generations — and has now come to the attention of ours.

Likely written in the first century, the letter speaks to believers facing a threat from within the church, and its message still speaks to us today.

Who Was Jude, the Brother of Jesus? Jude wrote with fire because he knew the purity of the Gospel was at stake and that people were being quietly led away from it. Traditionally identified as a brother of Jesus, Jude came to call Him Lord and felt the urgency to sound the alarm. Jude was writing as someone who knew Jesus personally and cared deeply about what was happening within the church.

Jesus’ brothers did not initially believe in Him (John 7:5). They had seen His life up close, yet familiarity did not immediately lead them to faith.

After Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, His brothers were among the believers praying with the apostles (Acts 1:14). Scripture does not tell us when Jude came to faith or whether he personally saw the risen Christ. But his letter makes his allegiance unmistakable: he calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. READ MORE of this excellent study guide by Philip Anthony Mitchell.

Read the book (letter) of Jude at BibleGateway

www.biblegateway.com

AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton: ‘We’re creating alien beings. I’m willing to be selfish and choose humans’

Donald Trump is a “corrupt, senile felon” whose fixation on the term superintelligence proves he knows nothing about AI, said Geoffrey Hinton, “godfather” of the technology, in a wide-ranging interview where he doubled down on recent warnings that AI models pose an existential threat to humanity and scoffed at claims the industry could regulate itself.

The pioneering computer scientist, whose work helped lay the foundations of modern AI, has since become one of the technology’s most vocal critics. His latest remarks come after a tumultuous month during which a growing list of senior AI scientists and researchers have joined Hinton in ringing the alarm about how the technology he helped create could ultimately escape human control, sparking an industry crisis, the hasty assembly of congressional meetings and a rare global consensus that something must be done. READ MORE...

www.theguardian.com

The Microsoft 365 storage downgrade shows the perils of cloud services

For quite some time, Microsoft 365 Family has been one of the best value software subscriptions: the full Office suite of desktop apps, plus the cloud apps and 1TB of OneDrive storage per user (up to six users) for just £79.99 a year. It was remarkable value.

Of course, Microsoft whacked the price up to £104.99 a year for the ‘benefit’ of having slightly rubbish AI with Co-pilot, but most existing users could ‘downgrade’ to the cheaper Classic package without Co-pilot and, even if you didn’t, that price was still very good for all you got.

Yesterday, Microsoft sent out an email, labelled “Upcoming changes to your Microsoft 365 subscription”. The first bullet point was titled “More flexible cloud storage”. I skim-read what it said, and my first thought was that the 1TB per user was being replaced by 2TB per user. That’s generous, I thought. Then, I read it again: “Your cloud storage allowance will change from 1 TB per person to 2 TB of shared storage so everyone on the plan can use the free space while keeping their own accounts and files private. This change will apply after your first renewal after May 2nd, 2027.”

So, rather than everyone getting 1TB of cloud storage, everyone now has to share everything. That’s fine if you’ve got a lot of light users, but if you’ve got a busy household, 2TB isn’t going to cut it.

In reality, Microsoft has turned 6TB of cloud storage into 2TB, while charging the same price. It’s not about flexibility; it’s about cost-saving. It’s shrinkflation. No doubt, the high cost of AI, which has pushed up the prices of storage and memory, has something to do with this, but it’s a rubbish move all round.

www.trustedreviews.com

Reading for today: We are the Church - the Body of Christ

No Christian and, indeed, no historian could accept the epigram which defines religion as “what a man does with his solitude.” 

It was one of the Wesleys, I think, who said that the New Testament knows nothing of solitary religion. We are forbidden to neglect the assembling of our- selves together. 

Christianity is already institutional in the earliest of its documents. The Church is the Bride of Christ. We are members of one another.

By C.S. Lewis
From The Weight of Glory

Child of Hope Uganda - Farm Life!

Take a wander round the Child of Hope farm with Moses, one of our Directors in Uganda. In this video, he shows off the tractor and irrigation system bought through grant funding, and introduces some of the pupils who volunteer their time to help out on the farm. Keep an eye out for a few rabbits, chicks and pigs along the way too!

The farm plays a big part in life at Child of Hope. It feeds pupils, teaches practical skills that will stay with them well beyond the classroom, and brings in income that goes straight back into the schools.

Want to help make more of this happen? You can support Child of Hope's work by making a donation, or by sponsoring a child from just £15 a month — covering education, healthcare and welfare for your sponsored child, and every child at Child of Hope.

www.childofhopeuganda.org

Supermarket giant Tesco weighs takeover bid for Majestic Wine

Tesco is exploring a surprise move to buy Majestic Wine Group, Britain's biggest specialist wine chain - a deal which would further expand the supermarket giant's retail footprint.

Sky News has learnt that Tesco is among the bidders participating in an auction of Majestic Wine.

A formal sale process kicked off several weeks ago, roughly six months after Majestic's owner, Fortress Investment Group, appointed bankers to explore its options for the business.

The value of a prospective deal was unclear this weekend, although analysts said that Majestic's recent performance meant a sale would generate hundreds of millions of pounds for its owners.

A number of other bidders are also involved in the process, although their identities were unclear on Saturday.

I really hope that things work out here - Majestic is my favourite place to buy wine. The Petersfield store is a real treat - bright & airy, well stocked, helpful staff, great deals - highly recommended if you're after stocking up the the vino! 

news.sky.com

BT agrees rescue deal to buy broadband operator TalkTalk

The UK's biggest broadband provider, BT, has agreed to buy rival operator TalkTalk to save the company from collapse.

The takeover would end of months of speculation over the future of TalkTalk and mean services for its millions of customers will continue as normal.

BT chief executive Alison Kirkby said it provided "a safety net" for those who rely on TalkTalk. The administrator said it also provided certainty for TalkTalk's 900 staff.

However, Virgin Media called the deal a "stitch up" which allows BT to "tighten its grip" over the market. The government has given itself the power to have the final say on the takeover, citing its importance to critical public services.

TalkTalk has 1.5 million retail customers and one million wholesale customers across the UK.

BT's Kirkby told the BBC's Today programme: "Two and a half million customers, including vulnerable households, and key emergency services might have lost their services if Talk Talk had failed, which it was on track to do.

Fed up of poor service from your Internet Service Provider? 
Contact Donline to find out about a better way.

www.bbc.co.uk

Apple says it’s tightening macOS ‘Full Disk Access’ controls due to new risks from AI agents

Days after a journalist claimed that Meta’s Muse app on Mac read their private messages — a claim that Meta disputed — Apple announced that it’s introducing additional controls around a setting called “Full Disk Access” on macOS. The feature was designed to allow backups to function properly, but AI agents have now increased “the risks associated with this level of access,” Apple said.

Apple’s statement comes shortly after Inc. columnist Jason Aten reported that Muse knew the content of his private messages — even though he claimed to have not given the AI agent permission. The report raised questions about the level of security and trust users have in desktop-based Artificial Intelligence, which can control things on their systems and read their files and messages.

The decision to limit the Mac feature also comes after a Wired report cited that a flaw in ChatGPT’s Mac app could have allowed hackers to access sensitive data.

AI agents that run on the desktop allow users to provide their respective apps with greater access to the files, messages, and other personal content on their computers by adjusting macOS settings.

www.techcrunch.com

Nadella has lost the plot calling Copilot an OS again - it’s a web app on Windows 11!

Satya Nadella has once again called Copilot a “new OS for work” when it is clearly an app, and that too a web app. As spotted by Windows Latest, this time the analogy comes in a leadership update, less than a week after Microsoft unveiled the latest Copilot, which was when the CEO first called Copilot an OS, at least on X.

"We’re building Copilot as a new OS for work that spans every model, every form factor, and every task. Today, we’re announcing our biggest update to Copilot to date"

I already have the “new” Copilot app on my PC, albeit without Home, Code, or Autopilot, because they are still not out yet. This app, however, is the replacement for the terribly named Microsoft 365 Copilot app, and you can get it too if you update it in the Microsoft Store.

Well, the thing Nadella keeps calling an OS is a regular Windows app, and when I went through the installation folder of build 154.0.4258.37, I found that copilotapp.exe is a rebranded Microsoft Edge launcher with a complete Chromium build behind it.

Microsoft is talking about a new operating system for work, but it’s actually an app on Windows 11 that runs in a browser. This is some Inception-level stuff! READ MORE...

www.windowslatest.com

Pygmalion’s Passion: A Christian argument against the use of AI

Andrew Caspersen writes: Long before the digital age, artists have pondered both the promise and peril of artificial intelligence. Homer’s Iliad described automaton tripods made by Hephaistos that might be confused with Elon Musk’s dream of putting an Optimus robot in every home. Ovid’s Metamorphoses tells of Pygmalion, disappointed in his marital prospects, carving his perfect woman and bringing her to life with the help of Venus. She was the first romantic chatbot, a reflection of Pygmalion’s self-love. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein warns us what can happen when scientific hubris puts the creation of life and intelligence in its crosshairs. More recently, we have Frank Herbert’s Dune, with the maxim “thou shall not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.”

Yet we are here, crafting such a machine. Many, perhaps the majority of us, have deep reservations about AI, yet struggle to explain why. We think it could create trouble but also see the great benefits. As a result, nearly all the arguments have been around the outcomes of AI. This is the modern approach - judging something by what it can do, rather than what it is.

If artificial intelligence were a tree, then nearly every discussion we are currently seeing concerns its fruits. An AI optimist predicts a cure for cancer, where a pessimist sees the elimination of the doctor-patient relationship. Mass prosperity! Or is it mass layoffs? For every rotten apple I spot, another sees a juicy golden delicious. How can we make sense of it all?

Arguing about the fruits is problematic. First, predictions are tricky business. Remember when social media was supposed to bring people together? Second, Christianity focuses on the means, not the ends. We care more about whether eggs are getting cracked than how tasty the future omelette may be.

Let’s go from the fruits to the branches. Are there certain features or applications of AI that are inherently wrong? Yes! Marc Barnes uses natural law to show why conversing with a chatbot is a corruption of inter-personal communion. D.C. Schindler explains the essential duplicity of AI, which tricks the subconscious into accepting its personhood.¹ These arguments reveal the rot in some of the branches of the AI tree.

They got me thinking: is there an argument against the tree itself, from the roots to the fruits? Perhaps it goes something like this.... READ MORE...

paulkingsnorth.substack.com

U2 at 50: How Bono's band became icons of rock by singing about God

 

On Saturday, 25th September 1976, four teenagers decided to get together to make music. Fifty years of faith-fuelled songs later, Steve Stockman charts the spiritual journey of Saint Bono and his band

When the annals of 20th and 21st Century Church history are written, many heroes of the faith will make the pages. Billy Graham, Mother Teresa and Pope Francis will be among those heralded as saints who changed the global face of Christianity. But the historians would be remiss if they didn't also include the one rock band who, over the course of 50 years, have used the currency of their fame to literally change the world, and have done it from the foundation of a Christian faith.

As they reach this landmark anniversary, now is a good time to stop and reflect on the impact U2 have had on the Church and indeed the world.

September 1976 was no golden age in rock history. The top 40 was littered with bland and anaemic pop: Abba, Bay City Rollers, The Wurzels and (dare I say it) Cliff Richard. Something needed to change, and thankfully it did! The next year would see punk rock and the new wave transform the doldrums of 70s pop and prog rock. The Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Stranglers and The Ramones all brought vibrant new life.

During this gestation period, four teenagers from Mount Temple School in Dublin were getting together in the drummer’s kitchen. There was something blowing in the north Dublin air that they would later describe in the song ‘Lucifer’s Hands’: “The spirit’s moving through a seaside town / I’m born again to the latest sound / New wave airwaves swirling around my heart.”

As we celebrate 50 years of U2, it is hard not to plumb the depths of their 2014 album, Songs of Innocence, to gain some insight into what went on in Larry Mullen’s kitchen. READ MORE...

www.premierchristianity.com

29th September - Michaelmas and the Feast of All Angels

Michaelmas, celebrated on September 29, is an old church feast celebrating the angels. It also functions as one of the traditional quarter days in England, which include Lady’s Day (March 25), Midsummer (June 24), and Christmas (December 25). These days, placed near equinoxes and solstices, marked when leases began, land was exchanged, debts were paid, or servants were hired. Some also call Michaelmas the “Feast of Michael and All Angels”; it’s also known as “Goose Day” because the traditional meal on Michaelmas in England is roast goose, which supposedly brings luck against poverty in the coming year.

In the Bible, Michael is one of the chief angels of God (Daniel 10:13). In Revelation 12, Michael leads the holy angels in a battle against Satan, with the result that the devil “was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him” (verse 9). The angel’s association with spiritual warfare and the placement of Michaelmas at the beginning of the colder, darker months—when the powers of evil were believed to be stronger—make the feast of Michaelmas a plea for protection against evil.

www.gotquestions.org

‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft

Executives working on AI at Microsoft and OpenAI admitted what its critics have been saying all along: Large language models are predatory pieces of technology that have been built on what a Microsoft executive called “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said generative AI products have created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” 

Those statements and a series of other mask-off moments feature heavily in an unredacted court filing that was unsealed Thursday in the behemoth New York Times vs OpenAI copyright lawsuit that has been winding its way through the court system for years. In a filing asking for summary judgment (basically, a filing with the court asking it to rule), lawyers for the New York Times laid out a series of admissions made by Microsoft and OpenAI executives in documents and depositions that until now had remained either sealed or redacted at the request of Microsoft and OpenAI. 

It’s easy to see why the AI companies wanted to hide this from the public. The statements, taken together, are some of the most damning indictments of the ways LLMs were trained, how they worked, and the immediate threat they pose to human labor. It is a reminder that even as AI becomes more powerful and companies try to shift the narrative to the supposed existential risk of “superintelligent” AI, the tools they have already built were created by stealing from human creativity and labor and are by definition existential threats to the human labor market.

“Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” an internal Microsoft document cited in the case read, adding “almost no one intended for content they created to be used in this fashion, nor are they compensated for its use.”

www.404media.co

The Copilot+ PC brand is dead: Microsoft and PC makers quietly pull back on tarnished Windows 11 AI PC branding

In 2024, Microsoft and Qualcomm kicked off a new category of Windows hardware it called "Copilot+ PCs" that set the baseline for a new wave of AI-first computers, and launched with exclusive features that would not be made available on PCs that didn't meet a new set of system requirements.

The launch didn't go smoothly. Copilot+ PCs were met with immediate backlash from security researchers after discovering that Copilot+ PCs blockbuster feature, Recall, was woefully insecure. This forced the company to delay Recall and ship this new category of devices without its leading AI experience.

This pretty much tarnished the Copilot+ PC brand, and over the last two years more and more OEMs have dropped the moniker from marketing materials and product names. In fact, even Microsoft has seemingly stopped mentioning it.

www.windowscentral.com

Owners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges

Korean outlets were the first to report the problems, which affect Samsung’s Bespoke AI line of fridges. Star News Korea, per a Google-provided translation, said that most of the affected devices were four-door fridges from 2024 or later.

Affected fridges “suddenly lost power and stopped functioning immediately after” trying to issue a firmware update through SmartThings, Samsung’s smart home platform, per Star News Korea. The SmartThings app then showed the devices as offline. Some users said that their fridge’s internal display was stuck showing the message “Checking SmartThings app during update.”

There are numerous reports on Samsung’s Korean community forum detailing the problem. Some users claim that they have owned their affected fridge for just a year or less.

www.arstechnica.com

Praying Without Words

In our loud and busy world, praying and contemplation offer a wonderful respite. What is contemplation? Unlike other prayer forms, contemplation does not rely on words or images. They may come, but they are only incidental to the prayer. This prayer is much more intuitive. It is a focused effort to rediscover what we already know in our bones of God. It seeks the experience of God.

Ever since Adam walked with God, belief has been founded on that experience, especially as some individuals have known it. Judeo-Christian faith began with Abraham’s call to leave home for an unknown land where he would become the father of many nations.

It took on a clearer form when Moses stood before a bush that was burning yet not consumed by flames. The voice that spoke from that bush called him to lead a band of Hebrew slaves out of Egypt and across the desert.

We cannot order up such an experience, of course. All we can do is create the circumstances that can enable it to happen. I suspect that the experiences we have had came about because we were focused on the moment. Gone were the concerns about what we had to accomplish that day—all the things that crowd our minds and hearts.

It is that state of receptiveness that contemplation tries to create in us. We work at being fully present to the moment and content to relax in God’s presence with us and within us. READ MORE...

www.franciscanmedia.org

Reαd carefully: how to spot – and avoid – a homoglyph attack

You’ve read the email carefully and it looks legitimate. The link it asks you to click on has none of the usual red flags: there are no weird numbers or extra parts to the URL. You feel safe to proceed. But if you had looked slightly closer you may have noticed something slightly wrong with one of the characters. 

Fraudsters can use letters from different alphabets to create URLs and email addresses that look almost identical to the real thing, but in reality send anyone who clicks on them to a spoof website or inbox. From there they can harvest personal details to use in their scams. READ MORE & STAY SAFE OUT THERE!

www.theguardian.com

Reading for today: The Soul, and God's love

This signature on each soul may be a product of heredity and environment, but that only means that heredity and environment are among the instruments whereby God creates a soul. I am considering not how, but why, He makes each soul unique. If He had no use for all these differences, I do not see why He should have created more souls than one. Be sure that the ins and outs of your individuality are no mystery to Him; and one day they will no longer be a mystery to you. 

The mould in which a key is made would be a strange thing, if you had never seen a key: and the key itself a strange thing if you had never seen a lock. Your soul has a curious shape because it is a hollow made to fit a particular swelling in the infinite contours of the Divine substance, or a key to unlock one of the doors in the house with many mansions. 

For it is not humanity in the abstract that is to be saved, but you—you, the individual reader, John Stubbs or Janet Smith. Blessed and fortunate creature, your eyes shall behold Him and not another’s. All that you are, sins apart, is destined, if you will let God have His good way, to utter satisfaction. The Brocken spectre ‘looked to every man like his first love’, because she was a cheat. But God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love. Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it—made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.

By: C.S. Lewis

From: The Problem of Pain

Microsoft closes the book on Publisher and unplugs Project Online

Microsoft will retire Project Online and remove Publisher from Microsoft 365 over the coming weeks, while support for perpetual versions of Publisher and for Office 2021 will end shortly afterward.

Publisher, Microsoft's desktop publishing application, dates back to the Windows 3.x era. Microsoft announced its retirement in 2024 and will remove it from Microsoft 365 subscriptions on October 1, 2026. Support for perpetual versions will end on October 13 alongside Office LTSC 2021 and Consumer Office 2021.

Project Online will retire on September 30. The following day, Project Online Essentials – a licensing SKU that gives users limited access to Project Online and Project Server – will reach end of life. It has not been available to new customers since October 2025.

The retirement could catch out organizations that have not migrated. Essentials provides relatively inexpensive licenses for users who needed to update tasks, submit timesheets, and view project information without the broader capabilities of Microsoft's more expensive plans.

UPDATE 16 Oct 2026: The Document Foundation (TDF), one of Microsoft's open source software (OSS) rivals, has brought another solution. The firm has confirmed that it (LibreOffice) can open, view, and edit Publisher files, giving users a way to continue accessing their documents.

www.theregister.com

A Pilgrimage on Two Wheels

Revd Marcus Collie, vicar of Midhurst and Rector of All Hallows, Woolbeding, has completed an extraordinary five‑day motorbike pilgrimage, praying in 100 churches across Sussex and raising vital funds for Ride + Stride and the Sussex Historic Churches Trust.

Starting on Monday 24 August at the 12th‑century parish church of St Mary’s in Rye, Marcus rode his Suzuki V‑Strom east to west, finishing at Chichester Cathedral after visiting a century of historic churches in just five days. The journey took him through towns and villages across the Diocese of Chichester, pausing at churches that have long been at the heart of local community life and in many cases, beneficiaries of the Trust’s grants for repairs and restoration.

Marcus undertook the pilgrimage under the banner of Ride + Stride, our annual event that encourages people to travel by bike, foot, or other human power to visit churches and raise money for their upkeep. Nationally, Ride + Stride raises more than £1.5 million each year, with funds split 50:50 between participating churches and their county Historic Churches Trust. In Sussex, that money supports everything from urgent roof repairs and bell restoration to conservation work that keeps these buildings open and usable for worship, events, and community activities.

By choosing an ambitious, high‑profile challenge, Marcus has helped draw attention to the importance of these historic buildings and the ongoing need for support. His ride also ties directly into the Trust’s work: many of the 100 churches he visited have previously received grants for vital repairs, making his pilgrimage a rolling celebration of the very projects Ride + Stride helps to fund.

Marcus, who became vicar of Midhurst and Rector of All Hallows, Woolbeding in 2023, is no stranger to creative fundraising. After breaking his foot in 2024, he organised a “Ride and Hobble”, leading a group of parishioners who use mobility aids on a gentle route through Midhurst, finishing with refreshments in church. This year, he swapped walking aids for a motorbike, but kept the same spirit of community, prayer, and practical support for local churches.

Kim & I can totally get behind doing a motorcycle pilgrimage. Back in 2016 (10 years ago!) we did the Camino de Santiago on my last bike - Holly the Honda Crosstourer. A wonderful way to travel the pilgrims path - especially if you really cannot allocate the time. We would one day like to walk the Camino de Santiago - but you really need to allow a minimum of 6 weeks. With Kim's work for Parkinsons' UK & me running Donline - sadly that's just not possible. Perhaps when we retire? God willing...

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