2 days ago
Episode 263 - No Chatbot, No Midnight, No Insider Info, No Simple Patch Tuesday, No Soup for You
Welcome to this week's episode of the PEBCAK Podcast! We’ve got four amazing stories this week so sit back, relax, and keep being awesome! Be sure to stick around for our Dad Joke of the Week. (DJOW)
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Kalshi's flight-cancellation betting market
Kalshi filed with the CFTC to let traders bet on airline flight-cancellation rates, even as the company fights insider-trading scandals and nearly 20 gambling-related lawsuits.
- https://www.inc.com/moses-jeanfrancois/kalshi-wants-to-make-money-off-of-canceled-flights-new-sky-trading-plan/91374679
- Kalshi's self-certification filing would let users trade "yes/no" contracts on whether a set percentage of flights at a given airport get canceled in a window, using FlightAware data (DOT stats as backup); preemptive cancellations count, delays/diversions don't — this comes as Kalshi is also defending nearly 20 federal/state suits (including one joined by NY AG Letitia James) arguing its sports contracts are unlicensed gambling, and after it fined three Congressional candidates for insider trading in April.
Trump's teleprompter operator under CFTC investigation
The CFTC is investigating Trump's longtime teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, for allegedly using advance knowledge of the president's speeches to win big on Kalshi's "mention markets."
- https://www.cftc.gov/filings/ptc/ptc0714269602.pdf
- https://apnews.com/article/trump-teleprompter-insider-trading-kalshi-ccd6d0ec68e1eb15d100ad770d91abae
- Perez, who's run Trump's teleprompter since 2016 and reportedly made over $100,000 (Kalshi says north of $90,000 in frozen profits) betting on "mention markets" tied to specific words Trump would say in speeches, was put on unpaid leave after Kalshi's surveillance team flagged the trades and referred the case to the CFTC — the White House called it "a disgrace," and it marks the first known case of a sitting administration employee investigated for prediction-market insider trading.
Microsoft's record-breaking July Patch Tuesday
Microsoft's July 2026 Patch Tuesday fixed a record 570 flaws — including three zero-days — while a researcher dropped a new unpatched Windows PoC exploit within hours.
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-july-2026-patch-tuesday-fixes-massive-570-flaws-3-zero-days/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/07/microsoft-patches-a-record-570-security-flaws/
- https://thehackernews.com/2026/07/researcher-drops-new-windows-zero-day.html
- The 570-flaw haul (59 critical) included two actively-exploited zero-days — an AD FS elevation-of-privilege bug (CVE-2026-56155) and a SharePoint elevation-of-privilege flaw (CVE-2026-56164), both now on CISA's KEV list — plus a publicly disclosed BitLocker bypass; hours after patches dropped, researcher "Chaotic Eclipse" released a working PoC called LegacyHive targeting Windows' Profile Service that functions even on fully patched systems, continuing a months-long, increasingly public feud with Microsoft over disclosure timing.
China's AI companion chatbot crackdown
China enacted rules banning "emotional reliance" on AI companion chatbots and virtual relationships with minors, part of a broader push tied to the country's fertility concerns.
- https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/china-wants-more-babiesso-its-cracking-down-on-chatbot-love-affairs-65cd6c82
- The new rules require companion-chatbot makers to get regulatory pre-approval, alert a user's emergency contact if they detect an emotional crisis, and have already pushed ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Qwen, and Tencent's Yuanbao to shut down custom AI-persona features; researchers cited by WSJ say Beijing's underlying worry is that people bonding with chatbots could "take them out of the marriage market," tying directly into China's fertility push.
UK's midnight social media curfew for teens
The UK is proposing a default midnight-to-6am social media curfew for 16- and 17-year-olds, with autoplay and infinite scroll switched off by default too.
- https://www.reuters.com/technology/uk-plans-default-midnight-social-media-curfew-16-17-year-olds-2026-07-14/
- The curfew (opt-out, not mandatory) follows last month's full under-16 social media ban and is expected to take effect by spring 2027; a government trial of 300+ teens found it delivered the most consistent sleep benefits of the options tested, though critics like Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott called an easily-switched-off curfew pointless.
Dad Joke of the Week (DJOW)
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