Digital Nomad

Bulgaria has launched a digital nomad visa: starting from €31,000 per year, offering Schengen access and the Euro Bulgaria introduced a separate type of residency for digital nomads. The scheme is designed for citizens from countries outside the EU, EEA, and Switzerland: live in the country and work remotely without a Bulgarian employer and local clients. The norm was incorporated in amendments to the foreigners' law. The goal is to attract specialists in IT, innovation, and creative industries. The breakdown was published by BGNES on August 21, referencing an analysis by Alex Ledson in Forbes. - remote employees of companies outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland; - owners and partners of certain foreign companies; - freelancers and independent specialists if the activity is conducted outside Bulgaria. It is not allowed to provide services to Bulgarian individuals or organizations with this status. Applicants must demonstrate an average income for the previous calendar year of not less than 50 times the Bulgarian minimum wage. In 2026, this is around €31,000. Additionally, proof of remote work, accommodation in Bulgaria, health insurance, and a police clearance certificate are required. The process involves two steps: 1. first, apply for a national D visa in a consulate abroad; 2. after entry, submit an application for a digital nomad residency permit within 14 days. The permit is issued for 1 year, with the possibility of extension for another year. The two-step process is more complex than some European programs where everything is processed in one application. ### Why go According to Eurostat data for 2025, consumer prices in Bulgaria are 63% of the EU average, the lowest in the Union (behind Romania and Poland). From January 1, 2025, the country is fully in the Schengen Area, and land border controls with neighboring countries are lifted. From January 1, 2026, Bulgaria is in the eurozone. The internet is stable. Remote workers are already in Sofia, Plovdiv, and Bansko: mountains, sea, cheaper than Lisbon and Barcelona. The downside is the same: two stages required and it's not allowed to work on the Bulgarian market. For those who already earn "from outside," this is more of a status limitation than an income loophole.

Анализирую трейлер и детали, затем переписываю текст более компактно. GTA VI: Rockstar представила 27-минутный геймплей. Главное Вчера Rockstar выпустила видео Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look — практически 30 минут геймплея на базовой версии PlayStation 5. Ролик сначала был доступен на Netflix, затем появился на YouTube. Релиз игры запланирован на 19 ноября 2026 на PS5 и Xbox Series. Вот основные моменты. Улучшенная полиция Система розыска теперь расширена до шесть звёзд. Полиция учитывает одежду, транспорт и свидетелей. Белые звёзды могут быть сброшены, если полиция не знакома с персонажем. Машины с трекером могут быть отслежены. Во время облавы Люсия и Джейсон могут работать отдельно и отвлечь врагов. Партнёр может отправить подсказку после завершения задания. Роль денег Разработчики уделяют большое внимание финансовому аспекту игры. Стоимость угнанных машин снижена, а выручка от ограблений зависит от подхода игрока. В перестрелках можно не только убивать, но и выводить врагов из строя. Живой и разнообразный мир Карта игры называется "очень большой" и отличается разнообразием районов, архитектурой и культурой местности. Появилось множество дополнительных активностей, включая бильярд, мини-гольф, дайвинг, и парашютизм. По городу можно передвигаться на такси через приложение Ryde Me. Пассажиром можно пообщаться во время поездки. Случайные события происходят во время изучения карты, и с NPC можно взаимодействовать. Безопасный телефон Телефон игрока содержит приложения и городские соцсети, но публикации запрещены, чтобы не оставлять следов. Динамика отношений между Люсией и Джейсоном Отношения героев развиваются в зависимости от решений игрока. Для близости необходимо проводить время вместе в открытом мире. Игра доступна для управления одним из двух персонажей. Взаимодействие с партнёром важно для отношений, и игнор сообщений может повлиять на отношения. При совместных поездках можно меняться местами и отдавать руль партнёру, даже во время погонь.

GTA VI at 30 fps - the first gameplay trailer has been released, recorded on PlayStation 5. In an exclusive trailer for Netflix, several plot scenes, the detailed open world, shootouts, and police chases were shown. Players will control the criminal partners Jason and Lucia, and the action will take place in Vice City - the map has doubled compared to the previous installment. Just a reminder, the release for PS5 and Xbox S/X is set for November 19, while PC users will have to wait until 2027.

GTA VI at 30 fps - the first gameplay trailer has been released, recorded on PlayStation 5. In an exclusive trailer for Netflix, several plot scenes, details of the open world, shootouts, and police chases were shown. We will play as partners in crime Jason and Lucia, and the action will unfold in Vice City - compared to the previous installment, the map has doubled in size. As a reminder, the release for PS5 and Xbox S/X is already on November 19, while on PC not earlier than 2027.

Google delights again: Google releases Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash for video generation and editing Now the model can continue a ready scene by analyzing up to 10 seconds of the previous video. The video can be extended in 10-second increments up to a total length of 40 seconds. Another useful feature allows setting the first and last frame. The model will automatically create smooth camera movement or transition between them without seams. For quick tests, there is a 360p mode available. Such drafts are generated up to 60% faster and cost about three times less than the 720p version. The final result can then be exported in 1080p or 4K. Additionally, Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash accepts up to three seconds of video as a reference to transfer motions and better preserve characters. The model is already available through Google AI Studio, and some of the features have been integrated into Flow and the Gemini app.

The secret of high salaries of IT specialists has been revealed online.

The startup Somnia Lab launches the first generation of robots for sex and showed how the training of "necessary movements" takes place. Pre-orders for the first batch of sex robots are expected to open soon. Cyberpunk, which we deserve.

Claude Code learned to explain complex things with pictures Engineer from Anthropic, Tarik Shchipar, shared the ELI5 skill with Claude Code. You write /eli5 and a topic, and Claude creates an HTML page with pictures, diagrams, and minimal text. It allows for a quick breakdown of an unfamiliar module, project architecture, or the cause of a failure. Currently, ELI5 is available in the Claude community repository, and you can install it using the following commands: claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community claude plugin install eli5@claude-community Anthropic is also discussing the possibility of making ELI5 an official plugin.

​ A little something about free software and private search on the internet. Everyone knows and uses the well-known independent search engine DuckDuckGo. But is it really independent and how much privacy does it offer? It turns out that this private search engine is owned by Gabriel Weinberg. He is the founder and CEO of DuckDuckGo, a search engine known for emphasizing user privacy and rejecting online tracking. However, in recent years, the company has been at the center of several major scandals. The main criticisms against Weinberg and DuckDuckGo revolve around two key themes: undisclosed collaborations with IT giants and political censorship. The most prominent scandal that significantly damaged the search engine's reputation as a "privacy advocate" occurred in May 2022 when an independent security researcher discovered that DuckDuckGo's mobile browser intentionally did not block trackers from Microsoft (including LinkedIn and Bing domains), allowing them to collect user data. It was revealed that DuckDuckGo had a secret advertising syndication agreement with Microsoft. According to the terms of the contract, Weinberg was required to make concessions for the scripts of this corporation. Weinberg had to publicly justify this on Twitter. The company promised to change the terms of the contract, but the fact of a hidden exception for a major technology sponsor disappointed the crypto and privacy community. Introduction of political censorship (2022). Initially, DuckDuckGo attracted users by providing a "clean" search without algorithmic manipulations, which was popular among people with alternative views. In March 2022, Gabriel Weinberg officially announced that DuckDuckGo was starting to artificially lower the ranking of websites associated with "Russian disinformation." Users accused Weinberg of abandoning the principle of internet neutrality in favor of the Western political agenda and the US State Department. The search engine also suspended its collaboration with "Yandex." This led to a mass boycott by users who switched to other platforms (such as Startpage or SearX), stating that Weinberg had implemented the same censorship that Google had always been criticized for. Interestingly, DuckDuckGo was created by a person who made his first capital by selling his first major business - the social network NamesDatabase, which he created in the early 2000s and sold to Classmates.com in 2006 for about $10 million. The irony is that the person who made his first fortune by collecting and subsequently selling a huge database of personal data to a third-party corporation later positioned himself as the leading advocate for privacy. In conclusion: officially, DuckDuckGo remains a private American company (DuckDuckGo, Inc.), registered in Pennsylvania. It is not directly owned by the US government, however: It depends entirely on Microsoft's infrastructure (DuckDuckGo search engine operates on the Bing engine). It complies with US legislation and operates within the Western information sphere, openly applying censorship in search results for political reasons, engaging in political censorship. And whose side the company was on during the pandemic times is also clear. Enjoy your privacy. But remember that Gabriel Weinberg is a snitch. Yes, he is already snitching on your personal data and search history to three-letter US agencies. And to one six-letter agency outside the US.

Anthropic has opened a free Claude Academy - official courses that their own employees study • Dozens of programs: from the foundations of prompting to MCP, RAG, API, agents, and development. • Training on real tasks: you will understand what to delegate to AI, and what to do yourself to stay in top shape. • Issuing certificates that you won't be ashamed to attach to your resume. • Providing a basis on the principles of working with all neural networks, so the knowledge will be useful not only in Claude but also in ChatGPT. Learn more - here.

Google AI Studio has learned how to synchronize projects with GitHub bidirectionally Now in AI Studio Build, you can import an existing GitHub repository, continue working on the project with the help of AI, and then send the changes back. Synchronization also works in the opposite direction. If the code has been changed locally or directly through GitHub, you can pull the latest version back into AI Studio and continue working there. Previously, when switching between local development and AI Studio, it was necessary to manually transfer files. Now, one project can be easily edited in multiple environments without constant exports and re-uploads.

Banks want to automatically block the accounts of Russians who deposit an amount higher than their monthly income through an ATM – they will have to justify the origin of the money with documents. Sources in the banking sector claim that major banks have started testing stricter cash deposit verification. Algorithms will compare the deposited amount with the client's official income and their usual financial behavior. If a person earns 50 thousand rubles and then deposits 100 thousand in cash into the account, the transaction can automatically be flagged as high risk. After such a signal, the bank can temporarily restrict some operations and request confirmation of the origin of the money. Purchase contracts, receipts, and other documents explaining the appearance of a large sum will be required. They particularly want to scrutinize cases where the cash amount significantly differs from the person's salary or previous transactions. It will also become harder to bypass the system by splitting the amounts. According to sources, several deposits of 20-30 thousand rubles in a short period can be linked together by the algorithm and evaluated as one large operation. As a result, the checks may affect not only the gray market but also ordinary Russians who have kept money at home for years, received cash from relatives, or sold a car. In Krasnodar supermarkets, there is already an option to pay with digital rubles, but according to regulations, the limit for digital rubles is 300 thousand rubles. You can never have more than this amount in your digital wallet. And in the event of the cancellation of cash and other forms of national currency, wages cannot exceed 300 thousand rubles. Oh, and yes, the digital ruble will be voluntary, according to the Central Bank of Russia. Just like vaccines and the doomsday messenger.

✈️ Digital Nomad Visa 2026: new income thresholds The requirements for digital nomad visas have been updated. Here are the current figures for 2026: 🇪🇸 Spain from €2849 per month (+ €916 for spouse, + €305 for each child) Duration: up to 3 years, renewable. Path to permanent residency available. 🇵🇹 Portugal (D8) from €3680 per month (increased since January 2026) Duration: 2 years + renewal. Eligible for citizenship after 5 years. 🇹🇭 Thailand (DTV) Not income, but savings of 500,000 baht (~$15,000) 5-year multiple-entry visa, up to 180 days at a time (extendable). Other popular options: • Greece — from €3500/month • Croatia — from €3622/month (maximum 18 months) • Estonia — from €4500 net (highest threshold in Europe) • Italy — ~€28–30 thousand per year + diploma Thresholds are almost everywhere linked to the minimum wage and increase annually. Applications must be submitted strictly based on current figures — applications below the threshold will not be accepted. Source: ellis.com

Xiaomi has released a flagship aquarium with an auto-feeder and smartphone-controlled features. The Smart Fish Tank 2 Pro can dispense food according to a schedule, as well as regulate lighting, filtration, and other parameters based on the type and quantity of fish. It also has a port for additional equipment and can run on a power bank in case of a power outage. Its capacity is 31 liters, and the price is 7500 rubles (¥599).

It seems that Elon Musk has a new utopian project, surpassing in audacity even Hyperloop and maybe even the Mission to Mars. Why? Simply because Musk has decided to become the leading chip producer for AI in the world. Elon Musk has just challenged all chip factories on the planet combined. According to the Emperor of Mars (Samsung + TSMC + Micron + others), they only produce 2% of what he needs right now. He made such an offer to all chip manufacturers in the world: "I'll buy ALL of your production. And even in that case... it's not enough for me." That's why he is building a monster in Texas with a footprint of over 100 million square feet. The building, when completed, will become the largest and most valuable structure on Earth. Only the first phase of the project costs $16.8 billion. His final statement leaves no room for refusal: "Either we build Terafab... or we have no chips. And we need chips." Terafab is a semiconductor factory (chip plant) designed to produce an absurd amount of artificial intelligence chips. The specific goal is to produce chips equivalent to 1 terawatt (1 TW) of computing power per year. What humanity produces in decades, Musk wants to produce every year. This is no longer ambition. This is a declaration of war against scarcity. Of course, Musk knows how to calculate, and most likely, he has already thought about where he will get terawatts of electricity every year. But the problem is that there are no such capacities in the US that can be introduced within a year. In addition, Chinese models are already able to use orders of magnitude less power for calculations comparable in performance to leading companies in the AI field. We live in a time when planning large investment projects, especially in the field of AI, it is no longer possible to predict how the industry will change in six months. But Musk, confident that we are living in a simulation, apparently decided to play Monopoly on a global scale. What if one person concentrates 98% of the computational power of all AI chips in his hands, thought Musk? Such projects will certainly not allow one person to realize, whoever he may be. And in scope, the project greatly resembles the ambitions of a state striving to become great again. At the expense of others.

A Lebanese brand has built an entire business around custom-made pickmi-hookahs. Disney princesses and other characters have become decorations for hookah tables. Girls, this is for you 💕

A new skill for design has appeared in Claude Code In Claude Code, a new skill /design has been introduced in the research preview status. It allows you to transfer artboards from Claude Design directly to CLI and Desktop. By running /design, describing the required interface, you will receive several editable layouts. You can choose a favorite option, manually adjust it, and then ask Claude to turn the design into a working interface.

Cursor has launched its own GitHub alternative inside the editor The new system is called Origin. Now Cursor can store repositories, work with pull requests, and give AI agents direct access to code without the need for a separate GitHub. You can create a repository directly in Cursor, upload a local project there, and then browse code, commits, checks, and changes all in one place. However, this doesn't mean GitHub is going away. Existing repositories can be connected to Origin, after which changes and comments in pull requests will be synchronized bidirectionally almost in real-time. The most interesting thing here is for the agents. Cursor provides code, pull requests, and repository tools in one environment. An agent can study the code, make changes, update a pull request, and submit a new branch. There are already integrations with Vercel, Depot, and Buildkite for deployment and CI. Origin is gradually being opened in early beta for all Cursor paid plans.

SpaceX has acquired Cursor. The most valuable part is the data for training Grok. In my opinion, Elon Musk made one of the most successful acquisitions in the AI market. Cursor is not just a popular code editor. It is involved in real development every day: agents receive tasks, write and fix code, try different approaches, encounter errors, go through checks, and receive feedback. Such a flow is much more valuable for training future models than a regular source code archive. In SpaceX's prospect, everything is described quite straightforwardly. Cursor provides personnel, data and datasets, documentation, technical know-how, working processes, prompts, specifications, and code. SpaceX provides the Colossus computational infrastructure. Together they plan to enhance Grok and create new models. The collaboration began back in April. On August 12, the companies released Grok 4.6 together, and on August 14, they closed the deal. Cursor itself calls the new model an early example of what they can now create together. I cannot honestly compare Grok 4.6 to the previous version: I hardly used the old Grok. But the release, test results, and feedback turned out to be convincing enough for me to buy X Premium and start trying the model in my work. This is already a very tangible result for the product. The phrase "data is the new oil" is even too weak here. The value of Cursor lies not in a static data repository. It is a constantly working tool that transforms developers' actions into new tasks, checks, and signals to improve models. I believe such acquisitions will be repeated. Especially products embedded in real professional work like development, medicine, finance, manufacturing, and design will become more valuable. The next big race in AI is not just for models and GPUs. It is also for the places where the best data for their training is born.

The new AirPods will have cameras - the headphones will become a full-fledged assistant that can recognize objects and answer questions about them. A video demonstrating this feature was found in the beta version of macOS Tahoe released today. In it, a man looks at a book and asks the headphones to save its title to read later. The release is expected in September along with the new iPhones.