Hacker NewsFriday, November 21

Google DeepMind introduces Nano Banana Pro, a new AI image generation and editing model built on Gemini 3 Pro. It creates studio-quality visuals with accurate text rendering in multiple languages, enhanced creative controls, and up to 4K resolution. Available across Google products.

The content "SAM 3" is too brief and lacks sufficient detail to provide a meaningful summary.

The USPTO has proposed new rules that would severely limit the public's ability to challenge improperly granted patents through inter partes review (IPR). These changes would require defendants to give up court defenses to use IPR, make patents "unchallengeable" after one prior fight, and block IPR if district court cases move faster. This would benefit patent trolls by keeping bad patents alive while making it nearly impossible for small companies and individuals to afford patent challenges, forcing them into expensive federal court litigation instead. The EFF is calling for public comments opposing these rules before the December 2 deadline, arguing that only Congress should rewrite the IPR system that was designed to give the public an affordable way to correct Patent Office mistakes.

The U.S. Border Patrol operates a secretive nationwide surveillance program using license plate readers and algorithms to monitor millions of American drivers' travel patterns. The system flags suspicious behavior based on routes taken, leading to traffic stops often under pretexts like speeding. Originally designed for border security, the program has expanded far into the U.S. interior, monitoring drivers in major cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Phoenix. The surveillance network collaborates with local law enforcement and uses AI to identify potential threats, raising constitutional concerns about mass surveillance of ordinary Americans without warrants or probable cause.

The author plans to switch their gaming PC from Windows 11 to Linux in 2026, citing frustration with Microsoft's AI features, forced OneDrive integration, and aggressive Edge promotion. Despite limited Linux experience, they're motivated by improved gaming compatibility through Valve's Steam Deck work and plan to try CachyOS, an Arch-based gaming distribution, even though only 3% of Steam users currently run Linux.

The author argues that AI is overhyped technology riding a dangerous bubble. From design experience, they find AI tools inefficient for real work, with small use cases showing gains while large implementations fail. They suspect AI companies know the technology isn't as transformative as promised, but continue pushing it to secure valuable land, energy, and water resources for datacenters, making the real goal resource acquisition rather than technological advancement.

OpenAI introduced GPT-5.1-Codex-Max, a new AI coding model available in Codex that can handle long-running software engineering tasks across multiple context windows through "compaction." The model is faster, more token-efficient, and trained on real-world coding tasks like code review and debugging. It can work independently for hours and shows improved performance on coding benchmarks while using 30% fewer tokens than previous versions.

Thunderbird 145 now natively supports Microsoft Exchange email through Exchange Web Services (EWS), eliminating the need for third-party add-ons. The update includes full email functionality, folder management, and OAuth2 authentication for Microsoft 365 accounts. Calendar and address book support are planned for future releases.

Users debate whether Arduino's new ToS restricting reverse engineering applies to open-source software or just cloud services. Key clarification emerges that restrictions only affect Arduino's hosted platform and web services, not the open-source IDE/hardware.

The NTSB found that a single loose wire caused electrical blackouts on the containership Dali, leading to loss of steering and propulsion that resulted in the vessel striking Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024. The bridge collapse killed six highway workers. The wire's improper connection due to label banding prevented full insertion into a terminal block. Investigators noted the bridge lacked adequate protection against large vessel impacts, as modern ships are much larger than when the bridge opened in 1977.