self.md radar — 2026-11-13
Brave’s half-cent search
Brave’s new search proxy asks for payment on each request
the signed USDC payment takes the place of an API key
1. Brave’s new search endpoint takes USDC instead of an API key
Brave has opened a pay-per-request search proxy using x402 payments in USDC on Base
the deployed price list puts a search at $0.005, or $5 per thousand
Brave says it is covering Base gas fees for a limited time
an unpaid request gets a 402 Payment Required challenge
Brave documents the next steps: the agent signs a payment and retries the same request; the service verifies the payment, runs the search, then settles
it says a failed search is not charged
there is no proxy credit balance or top-up
the wallet still needs funding
Autosuggest and Spellcheck are missing because they cost less than the fee for settling one payment
the Answers API is absent too; its per-query and per-token charges do not fit a single fixed payment
the live 402 is the authoritative price, not the cached OpenAPI description
set the client’s payment cap before giving it a wallet
reading: Brave’s agent-payment guide · current prices, excluded endpoints and failure handling
2. ZigZag trades thread cuts for visible connecting stitches
one test design went from 74 thread cuts to 10 in ZigZag 0.1.2
the embroidery editor now routes travel stitches through fills or beneath stitching that comes later
when hidden travel cannot close a gap, its Connect slider offers another choice: sew across it
the canvas highlights those stitches because they will remain visible, while the panel counts the cuts saved
the same release fixes untied cuts on the Brother Skitch
short moves used to be cut without tying off; loose thread could pull back up and bunch at the needle
the release ties off before every cut and ties in afterward
the editor exports machine formats including PES and DST, connects to the Skitch over Bluetooth, and exposes design tools through MCP
the 74-to-10 result is a maintainer’s single example, not a measured average across designs
reading: the release’s routing changes and Skitch fixes
3. Internet Archive announces an experimental Salon Explorer
salon1999.com, salonmag.com, salon.com
Internet Archive’s November 12 announcement follows the publication through all three addresses
after Salon announced it would cease publication, the Archive launched an experimental Salon Explorer
it reports more than 250,000 discoverable articles and work by over 20,000 writers, with filters for finding stories
nearly three decades of Wayback captures precede this interface
the article count does not establish that every article, image or revision survived
reading: Internet Archive’s account of the collection and new Explorer