AI, education, tools, and the ideas that connect them.
In May 2026, Claude Code's Hooks system received a significant upgrade. PostToolUse hooks can now intercept and replace output from any tool (not just MCP), hooks can read the current effort level via effort.level or $CLAUDE_EFFORT, and duration_ms tracks actual tool execution time. A new claude ultrareview subcommand also enables non-interactive code review from CI pipelines.
On May 5, 2026, Notion officially launched Custom Agents out of beta โ just three months after more than 1 million agents were created during the preview period. The GA release brings new admin controls for creation permissions, per-agent credit limits, a spending dashboard, and automatic safeguards against unexpected costs.
In early 2026, Obsidian released Bases โ a new core plugin that creates table, card, and list views from note properties. It looks similar to Notion databases, but your data stays in Markdown files on your own machine.
The unemployment rate for new college graduates has hit a four-year high of 5.7% in 2026. 82% of companies offer some form of AI training, yet 59% still report an AI skills gap. 87% of graduates wish their college had provided more AI education. The divide between diploma and real-world capability has never been wider.
In December 2025, Purdue University became the first U.S. university to mandate an AI working competency for all undergraduates โ taking effect for Fall 2026 freshmen. The requirement is the centerpiece of a $50 million 'Purdue Computes' strategy. Meanwhile, 134 AI education bills have been introduced across 31 U.S. states. The question of how to integrate AI into classrooms has officially entered the realm of law.