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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Thursday evening, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X that ChatGPT has started following custom instructions to avoid using em dashes. "Small-but-happy win: If you tell ChatGPT not to use em-dashes in your custom instructions, it finally does what it's supposed to do!" he wrote. The post, which came two days after the release of OpenAI's new GPT-5.1 AI model, received mixed reactions from users who have struggled for years with getting the chatbot to follow specific formatting preferences. And this "small win" raises a very big question: If the world's most valuable AI company has struggled with controlling something as simple as punctuation use after years of trying, perhaps what people call artificial general intelligence (AGI) is farther off than some in the industry claim. "The fact that it's been 3 years since ChatGPT first launched, and you've only just now managed to make it obey this simple requirement, says a lot about how little control you have over it, and your understanding of its inner workings," wrote one X user in a reply. "Not a good sign for the future."

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Canonical Extends Ubuntu Linux Support for up to 15 Years  The New Stack

AMD GCN 1.0/1.1 GPUs Will Default To AMDGPU Driver In Linux 6.19, SMART POWER OLED Added  Phoronix

I used Linux to clean up Windows — and it worked better than expected  MakeUseOf

Linux’s Slickest System Monitor App Gets Updated  OMG! Ubuntu

Canonical extends Ubuntu LTS support again - if you pay  theregister.com

Guess who’s back? Kaspersky launches new Linux antivirus for $59.99  TechRadar

An anonymous reader shares a report: Executives are turning to a novel structure to fund crypto accumulation vehicles as investor appetite thins. They're called in-kind contributions, and they now account for a growing share of digital-asset treasury, or DAT, deals. Instead of raising cash to buy tokens in the open market, DAT sponsors contribute large slugs of their own crypto, often unlisted and hard to value. Digital-asset treasuries are a new breed of public company built to hold concentrated crypto positions. The structure surged in 2025 as small-cap firms, especially in biotech and mining, reinvented themselves as digital-asset proxies. Sponsors provide tokens or raise money to buy them, and the stock then trades as a kind of listed bet on crypto. For insiders, it's a shortcut to liquidity. For investors, a wager on upside. But not all DATs carry the same level of risk. Earlier deals raised money to buy tokens through regular markets, which offered at least some independent price check. In-kind contributions skip that step -- letting insiders decide what their tokens are worth, sometimes before the token even trades publicly. That shift means pricing and trading risks land more squarely on shareholders, many of them retail investors. Investor faith is already wobbling. Many DATs that once traded above the value of their holdings now trade below it. As insiders supply the tokens and set their price, it's becoming harder for investors to tell what these deals are really worth, or when to get out. The in-kind structure was on full display in a recent $545 million private placement by Tharimmune Inc., a biotech firm-turned-crypto proxy, to set up a buyer of Canton Coins. About 80% of the raise came in the form of unlisted Canton tokens, priced at 20 cents each, according to an investor presentation seen by Bloomberg News. The token began trading on exchanges Nov. 10 and is now around 11 cents, CoinGecko data show. More deals are following the same template. In these placements, insiders contribute tokens -- sometimes illiquid or unlisted -- to form a treasury, lock in valuations and seed the perception of market demand. But when tokens list below deal price, public shareholders absorb the difference. [...] Then there's Flora Growth Corp., a Nasdaq-listed company that announced a $401 million deal to start acquiring Zero Gravity tokens in September. On closer inspection, the firm had raised just $35 million in cash to pair with a $366 million in-kind contribution of then-unlisted 0G tokens. Those tokens were priced at around $3 a piece; they subsequently listed, and are now trading at about $1.20.

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Update 11/14/25 (by me). Things appear to have settled down, as this exchange offer had to be extended a few times due to the government shutdown (which includes the SEC). As it stands now, the expiration date is 12:00 midnight ET on November 21, 2025. Each broker will have their own cutoff time to participate in the offer, my Fidelity account shows a cutoff date of 11/20/2025 7:00 PM ET (although I’d call in before market close that day). I had to call in to tender my shares this time.

Lennar’s motivation to complete this exchange appears to remain strong, so my expectation is that it will go through. I make this update now because it means you still have time to do your own research, decide whether to buy 99 shares, and tender those shares. The site Envisionreports.com/lennarexchange remains a good place to see the updated live stats on this offer.

Original post 10/17/25:

From time to time, I participate in certain stock exchange offers which include a special provision for smaller investors, called “odd lot tenders”. You can find more background information on these short-term “arbitrage” plays in the last two offers that I joined: Cummins/Atmus Filtration and Johnson & Johnson/Kenvue.

Recently, Lennar (primarily a homebuilder) announced such an exchange offer as they try to complete their spinoff of Millrose Properties (an REIT, primarily a land bank). This time, Rich Howe of StockSpinoffInvesting.com – who has a lot more experience with these deals than me – has generously agreed to share his summary and analysis of the deal. Please enjoy the following guest post:

—

Buy Lennar – Exchange Offer – Special Situation

October 15, 2025
LEN: $122.21
Market Cap: $30BN
Recommendation: Buy 99 shares of LEN, Exchange for shares of MRP
Expected Profit: $772 / 6.4%

Summary

Lennar (LEN) announced an exchange offer on October 10, 2025 whereby investors can exchange their LEN shares for shares of Millrose Properties (MRP), Lennar’s land bank spin-off. To incentivize the exchange, LEN investors will receive $106.43 of value in MRP shares for every $100 of value in LEN shares. I expect the exchange offer to be oversubscribed. However, there is an odd lot provision such that any LEN shareholders with 99 shares or less (odd lot provision) will not be prorated. Thus, there is an opportunity to buy 99 shares of LEN and exchange them for shares of MRP. This should result in a profit of ~6.4% / ~$757 (at current prices) in less than a month. The profit is not guaranteed (of course!) but is low risk, in my opinion. To participate in this exchange offer, you must contact your broker (you may be able to participate in the exchange offer online). It will not happen automatically.

Deadline: The exchange offer will expire on November 7, 2025. So this is time sensitive. Brokers typically require investors to give them notice about the exchange well before the official deadline. Schwab’s deadline will likely be November 5, 2025, but it would be prudent to buy on November 3, 2025 at the latest as it takes two days for shares to settle. I’m planning to buy 99 shares of LEN shares on or before November 3rd and then immediately call Schwab and ask to participate in the exchange offer. Other brokers (Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, etc.) have their own internal deadlines which are typically after the Schwab deadline.

Additional Details

Lennar (LEN) spun-off ~80% of Millrose Properties (MRP), its land bank, in February 2025.

It retained ~20% of the business.

On October 10, 2025, Lennar formally announced that it would spin off its remaining ~20% stake in Millrose Properties via an exchange offer.

I’ve highlighted key terms but you can visit the transaction’s live website with additional details.

For every $100 shares of LEN that you own, you will receive $106.38 of MRP shares.

Since this exchange represents an attractive return in a short period of time, I expect the offering to be oversubscribed (similar to previous exchange offers that I’ve covered).

However, there is an odd lot provision such that if you own fewer than 100 shares, you will not prorated.

Here is the exchange offer filing and a website which tracks the exchange offer indicative exchange ratio.

This offering is very similar to the many other split off/exchange offers that we’ve participated in.

Examples:

• CMI/ATMU Exchange – Unhedged trade worked well.
• JNJ/KVUE Exchange – Unhedged trade worked well (Iag shouldn’t have held onto KVUE shares).
• LLY/ELAN Exchange – Unhedged trade worked well.
• DHR/NVST Exchange – Unhedged trade worked well.
• ECL/CHX Exchange – Unhedged trade worked well.
• DD/IFF Exchange – Unhedged trade worked well.
• MMM/NEOG Exchange – Unhedged trade did not work.

How to Execute the Trade

LEN is currently trading at $122.21 per share.
MRP is currently trading at $31.96.
Here’s how the math works at current price levels.

Step 1
Buy 99 shares of LEN for $122.21 per share. Total cost of $12,099.

Step 2
Per the exchange offer, shareholders who elect to exchange their LEN shares will receive MRP shares at a 6% discount or at a price of $30.04 ($31.96 x (1-6%)). The MRP price hasn’t been finalized yet. But I’m using the current price plus the discount as I think that’s the best way to approximate what the actual price will be. The actual price will be determined by a formula laid out here.

$12,099 / $30.04 = 402.72 shares of MRP

402.72 shares of LEN / 99 shares of MRP = 4.07. 4.07 is lower than the max exchange ratio of 4.1367. If the ratio were higher than 4.1367, the number of MRP shares would be maxed out at 409 (4.1367 * 99).

Step 3
Sell MRP shares that are received once the exchange goes through. It usually takes Schwab about a week to process the exchange offer. I expect to receive my MRP shares by November 14, 2025 or shortly thereafter.

At current prices, the trade is expected to generate a profit of $772.

In terms of timing, the exchange offer expires on November 7, 2025 (unless LEN changes it), and so I recommend that you buy LEN shares no later than November 3rd to ensure you make the deadline (it takes two trading days for your purchase to settle and brokers internal deadlines are usually 2 days prior to the official company deadline). After you purchase shares, call your broker and ask them to tender your shares. This is important. Your participation in the exchange isn’t automatic.

I created a spreadsheet to track the profitability of this trade. Here is a screenshot of it:

You can access the spreadsheet here: LEN / MRP Exchange Offer Spreadsheet
(to edit, make a copy of the spreadsheet and plug in your own assumptions)

Thoughts on Millrose Properties?

Millrose was created when Lennar contributed ~$5.5 billion in undeveloped, partially developed, and some fully developed land assets, along with up to $1 billion in cash, to Millrose. Millrose operates as an independent entity, acquiring and developing land to deliver finished homesites under land option contracts. At the time of the spin-off, it only served Lennar but it plans to engage with other homebuilders as well.
Lennar pays Millrose option fees for the right to buy land on Millrose’s balance sheet.

This strategic move is part of Lennar’s ongoing shift toward an asset-light operating model, aiming to reduce financial risk and enhance returns by minimizing direct land ownership.

I’m happy to own Millrose Properties at a 6% discount, but don’t want to own the stock for the long term as I believe its ability to grow and generate upside is limited given Lennar’s right to purchase its land.

What are the risks?

LEN Sells Off
If you buy LEN, and it sells off prior to the exchange, you could lose money. I’m not particularly worried about this risk, as investors will likely continue to bid LEN shares up to take advantage of the share exchange.

A major sell off could happen if some random negative news hits LEN (for instance negative news in a lawsuit). This is unlikely but did happen during the MMM/NEOG exchange offer. JNJ also had a negative court ruling during its exchange offer, but the exchange was still profitable.

If LEN does sell off, it would have to sell off by ~6.4% for you to lose money. To minimize risk, you could also short out the MRP exposure.

I looked back at the performance of the parent during similar transactions and found that it usually performs well (average: +2.2%; median: +3.8%)

The Exchange Is Canceled or the Odd Lot Provision is Removed
Lennar wants to distribute its ~20% stake in Millrose Properties and this is an efficient way to do so. I don’t expect it to be canceled, but it’s possible.
The odd lot provision could be removed, however, this has never happened for split off transactions (that I’m aware of). Nonetheless, it could happen!

Millrose Properties (MRP) Stock is Weak After the Share Exchange Closes
If the share exchange closes and investors who’ve exchanged their LEN shares for MRP shares make 6.4%, but then MRP shares immediately depreciate by more than 6.4%, this trade will lose money. In other words, this trade can lose money even though the initial math looks favorable.

While this risk is valid, I’m comfortable participating in this trade and believe it represents an attractive risk/reward.

Disclosure
Rich Howe, owner of Stock Spin-off Investing (“SSOI”), doesn’t own LEN shares but plans to buy them. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice. This article is provided for informational purposes. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of this content. Please do your own due diligence and consult with an investment adviser before buying or selling any stock mentioned on www.stockspinoffinvesting.com.

Pay television penetration in American households fell to 50.2% in the third quarter and is projected to drop to 50% or lower by December, according to Madison and Wall, a technology and media advisory firm. Fifteen years ago, nearly nine in ten households subscribed to pay television services. The decline has prompted major media companies to shed cable assets. Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery, and A&E are seeking to sell or spin off their cable television operations. Paramount stated it would not divest its cable channels but acknowledged that "each quarter is accelerating decline."

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Proton 10 update fixes many games on Linux and Steam Deck  How-To Geek

Assetto Corsa Rally has arrived in Early Access - should work well on Linux / Steam Deck  GamingOnLinux

Assetto Corsa Rally has arrived in Early Access - should work well on Linux / Steam Deck  GamingOnLinux

The Windows president wants it to turn into an 'agentic OS' for some reason  PC Gamer

The Windows president wants it to turn into an 'agentic OS' for some reason  PC Gamer

TV manufacturers are abandoning their attempts to turn TVs into interactive social devices through smart cameras. Sky announced this month that it will discontinue Sky Live, a camera accessory for its Sky Glass televisions that brought video calls, body-tracked workouts, and motion games to the living room. The device will stop working at the beginning of December. Sky will brick the cameras and reimburse customers. Sky launched the product in mid-2023 as part of an effort to transform televisions from passive viewing devices into interactive platforms. That vision has not materialized across the industry. LG's Smart Cam, released in 2023, is out of stock at major retailers and appears discontinued. TCL's smart TV camera is no longer available. Samsung stopped integrating cameras directly into its television sets, though it still sells an external camera accessory.

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Linux Laptop Pioneer Defects to Qualcomm, Shaking x86’s Open-Source Foundations  WebProNews

Cryptocurrency companies and fintech startups are applying to open banks in the United States. Ripple, Coinbase and the UK payments company Wise have submitted applications for national trust charters this year. Trust banks cannot take deposits or make loans but charge fees for safekeeping customer assets and are not FDIC insured. The applications have reached 12 so far this year, more than any of the preceding eight years, according to data compiled by Klaros Group. Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said last month that cryptocurrency activity should be done within the banking system if legally permissible and safe. His agency regulates nationally-chartered U.S. banks. The Bank Policy Institute and the Independent Community Bankers of America oppose the applications. BPI sent letters urging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to reject the Ripple, Wise, and Sony applications. The group said approving Coinbase could significantly increase risks to the U.S. financial system.

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Valve’s Proton 10.0-3 Ushers in New Era for Linux Gaming Compatibility  WebProNews

An anonymous reader shares a report: In October, PUBG and Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton announced that it would be undergoing a "complete reorganization" to become an "AI-first" company, planning to invest over 130 billion won ($88 million) in agentic AI infrastructure and deployment beginning in 2026. This week, as it boasts record-breaking quarterly profits, the Korean publisher has followed that strategic shift by launching a voluntary resignation program for its domestic employees, according to Business Korea reporting. The program, announced internally, offers substantial buyouts for domestic Krafton employees based on their length of employment at the publisher. Severance packages range from 6 months' salary for employees with one year or less of service to 36 months' salary for employees who've worked at Krafton for over 11 years. The voluntary resignation program follows a November 4 earnings call in which Krafton announced a record quarterly profit of $717 million. During the call, Krafton CFO Bae Dong-geun indicated that Krafton had also halted hiring for new positions, telling investors that "excluding organizations developing original intellectual property and AI-related personnel, we have frozen hiring company-wide."

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