News gathered 2024-01-03

(date: 2024-01-03 17:17:08)

CalArts Alums Capture Emmys at Children’s, Family Awards

date: 2024-01-04, from: SCV New (TV Station)

More than a dozen graduates of California Institute of the Arts were nominated for the second annual National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Children’s and Family Emmy Awards. CalArtians were nominated across the 50 categories

https://scvnews.com/calarts-alums-capture-emmys-at-childrens-family-awards/ Save to Pocket

American Victims of Hamas Attack on Israel Plan to Sue North Korea

date: 2024-01-04, from: VOA News USA

Tel Aviv/Washington, DC — Families of Americans killed and injured in Hamas’ October 7 terror attack in Israel are contemplating a lawsuit against North Korea for indirectly supplying the Palestinian militant group with weapons, according to an Israeli attorney representing the families.

Weapons that Hamas used in its surprise attack on Israel were provided by North Korea “knowingly and intentionally,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an Israeli attorney and human rights activist who spoke with VOA’s Korean Service in Tel Aviv on December 27.

“North Korea knows its weapons go to Iran, and Iran gives the weapons to Hamas,” Darshan-Leitner continued, adding that Pyongyang “never once warned Iran not to send the weapons to Hamas.”

This makes North Korea “liable,” she said, explaining that she and her legal associates are considering filing a lawsuit in U.S. court against those countries that supported Hamas, such as Iran and North Korea, on behalf of American victims of the October 7 attack and their families. 

More than 30 Americans, many of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, were killed in the attack that initiated the latest round of violence between Hamas and Israel.

Darshan-Leitner is representing 10 Americans, including family members who lost their loved ones, as well as U.S. citizens who were injured or who incurred property damage in the attack.

VOA’s Korean Service contacted the North Korean mission to the U.N. seeking a response to a possible lawsuit against the regime by the American victims of the Hamas attack, but it did not respond.

The attorney said she expects more U.S. victims to join the suit, including hostages seized in October if they return safely.

“The burden is on us, the plaintiffs, to prove the case,” Darshan-Leitner said. “We are using experts who know a lot about North Korea, know how North Korean weapons wound up in the hands of Hamas.”

North Korean weapons have been found in Israel and Gaza since the attack on October 7. An Israeli military official said during a media tour in October that about 10% of the Hamas weapons recovered after the attack were made in North Korea.

Lieutenant Colonel Idan Sharon-Kettler, deputy commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) enemy equipment collection unit, told VOA’s Korean Service on December 28 in Tzrifin, Israel, that Hamas modified North Korea’s rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) to make them more powerful.

“We see supplies coming from different countries, among them, North Korea,” said Sharon-Kettler at an IDF facility where recovered weapons were displayed.

“The rockets that we find, even the ones that are produced inside Gaza or the ones that are produced in Iran — all of the RPG-7s, for example — are using parts that come from North Korea,” said Sharon-Kettler.

He said the rockets were assembled with North Korean rocket engines, which give them capabilities to “penetrate heavy armor” and cause greater damage.

Darshan-Leiter said the rockets give Hamas the ability to attack civilians without being inside Israel.

“Once Israel built a fence around Gaza, Hamas terrorists can no longer go into Israel and carry out attacks inside,” she said. Before Hamas breached the border fence on October 7, “the only way that Hamas could kill Israeli people is by these rockets.”

Normally, foreign states are immune from being sued in a U.S. court under the Foreign Service Immunities Act, unless an exception applies. But if a foreign state is listed as a state-sponsored terrorist group, U.S. citizens can bring a lawsuit against that country.

In November 2017, North Korea was redesignated as a state sponsor of terrorism after being taken off the list in 2008. It was first designated in 1988 for blowing up a Korean Airline passenger flight in mid-air the previous year, killing all 115 people aboard.

North Korea was sued a number of times over the past several years. The most notable was a suit brought against the regime by the parents of Otto Warmbier, an American student who in 2017 died shortly after returning to the U.S. in a vegetative state following detention in North Korea.

A judge from a D.C. federal court ruled in 2018 that Cindy and Fred Warmbier were entitled to $500 million in damages from North Korea.

In October, a federal court in New York ordered the New York Mellon Bank to turn over to Cindy and Fred Warmbier approximately $2.2 million in frozen funds originally owned by a sanctioned Russian bank where North Korea’s Air Koryo kept an account.

In another case, Americans who were injured and the family members of U.S. citizens killed in an attack at the Lod Airport in 1972 — now Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv — filed a complaint against North Korea in 2022.

According to court documents, they are seeking damages from North Korea for its role in sponsoring the attack.

The attack killed 26 people and injured 80 and was carried out by three members of the Japanese Red Army who were reportedly recruited by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The U.S. designated the group as a terrorist organization in 1997 but revoked the designation in 2001 when the group disbanded.

https://www.voanews.com/a/american-victims-of-hamas-attack-on-israel-plan-to-sue-north-korea/7426028.html Save to Pocket

Letters: No compassion | Reagan’s ‘ideals’

date: 2024-01-04, from: San Jose Mercury News

East Bay Times Letters to the Editor for Jan. 4, 2024

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/letters-1553/ Save to Pocket

Steamboat Willie Wall Art

date: 2024-01-04, from: Tilde.news

Comments

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Biden’s Unfinished Climate Agenda

date: 2024-01-04, from: Heatmap News

If President Biden chose to sit on his hands for the remainder of his term, he would already have done far more to address climate change than any of his predecessors. But he still has a bunch of unfinished business — half-completed rules that will need to be finalized — that could go a long way toward making sure his initial achievements pay off. And he’s only got a few more months to get it done.

The most consequential items on his to-do list are finalizing two sets of regulations that his administration proposed last spring. The first would require most new cars sold in the U.S., and one-quarter of new heavy-duty trucks, to be electric by 2032; the second would drive more rapid reductions of emissions from the power sector and encourage a shift to renewables. The problem is that if the rules aren’t finalized by the end of this spring, they will be vulnerable to repeal if Republicans win a trifecta in Washington in the fall.

Biden’s biggest climate wins to date have been in the form of incentives, not requirements. The Inflation Reduction Act, the crowning achievement of his presidency, has made hundreds of billions of dollars available to build renewable energy and lower the cost of electric vehicles. Economic modeling by the Rhodium Group, a clean energy research firm, shows that these voluntary incentives make renewable energy so cost-effective that electricity-related emissions could decline by up to 75% from today’s levels by 2035 and transportation emissions could drop by up to 32%.

The operative word, however, is “voluntary.” Just because clean energy and electric vehicles are cheaper doesn’t mean they’ll be adopted with any urgency. Models assume the world optimizes for the best economic outcome, when in reality, there are many non-monetary factors at play — including, simply, resistance to change. The EPA’s rules are a backstop — they are the “sticks” to complement the “carrots” of the IRA.

“The incentives and the standards reinforce one another,” David Doniger, director of the climate and clean energy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told me. “You can’t be sure you’ll get the results with just the incentives. And at the same time, the incentives buy down the costs of the standards that lock in the results. So it’s a very good combination.”

Many environmental groups say the EPA proposals need to be strengthened before they are finalized. “Even if Biden gets elected into the second term, we won’t have the opportunity to open up these rules again,” Rachel Patterson, the deputy policy director of Evergreen Action, told me. For example, only certain kinds of new natural gas plants are covered by the rules, whereas the group wants to see all new fossil fuel plants covered. It is also pushing the agency to require a more rapid transition to electric heavy duty trucks — or at least one in line with rules already in place in California.

Patterson said these rules aren’t just urgent from a climate perspective. “Getting dirty vehicles off the road is going to improve people’s lives through cleaner air, through reduced pollution and health impacts. The same goes for clean power rules.”

The EPA’s most recent timetable shows the agency finalizing the car and truck standards in March and the power plant rules in April.

There’s a number of other ways that Biden could cement his climate legacy in the coming months. His Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, has proposed climate reporting standards that would require public companies to disclose information to investors about their emissions and vulnerabilities to climate-related risks — these have yet to be finalized.

The number of programs in the Inflation Reduction Act is vast and the money is barely out the door. Patterson said Evergreen wants to see the administration getting the word out about the funding and providing technical assistance to states and communities to make sure these programs get fully taken advantage of.

It has also become increasingly clear that a transformation of the power sector is contingent on reforms to permitting processes and better planning for transmission infrastructure. Biden will need the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to finalize rules that require electric grid operators to incorporate clean energy policies into their planning.

At stake is not just Biden’s legacy, but the country’s commitment to the rest of the world to halve emissions by 2030 — a goal that will help prevent the most disastrous climate outcomes.

“You can see the price we’re paying,” Doniger said. “2023 was the hottest year ever, filled with climate driven disasters which killed people and cost gazillions of dollars. There’s no reason not to expect more of the same in 2024 and looking out ahead unless we finally clamp down on emissions.”

https://heatmap.news/politics/bidens-unfinished-climate-agenda Save to Pocket

Download the Newly Unsealed Jeffrey Epstein Documents Here

date: 2024-01-04, from: 404 Media Group

Hundreds of pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were unsealed Wednesday. Here they are.

https://www.404media.co/download-the-jeffrey-epstein-documents/ Save to Pocket

Did Pamela Price recall group exploit Oakland officer’s murder with fundraising thread?

date: 2024-01-04, from: San Jose Mercury News

A war of words between Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s campaign and the group pushing for her ouster has raised questions about the ethics of exploiting violence in Oakland for political purposes, and the increasingly tense recall effort.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/did-pamela-price-recall-group-exploit-oakland-officers-murder-with-fundraising-thread/ Save to Pocket

AVISO GENERAL DE LLUVIA PARA LAS PLAYAS DE TODO EL CONDADO EMITIDO POR LOS SERVICIOS DE SALUD AMBIENTAL

date: 2024-01-04, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

(SANTA BÁRBARA, California) – Debido a las lluvias durante la noche, los Servicios  de Salud Ambiental del Condado de Santa

The post AVISO GENERAL DE LLUVIA PARA LAS PLAYAS DE TODO EL CONDADO EMITIDO POR LOS SERVICIOS DE SALUD AMBIENTAL  appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/aviso-general-de-lluvia-para-las-playas-de-todo-el-condado-emitido-por-los-servicios-de-salud-ambiental/ Save to Pocket

Stockton man suspected of murdering Oakland officer had killed before as a teen; third suspect arrested

date: 2024-01-04, from: San Jose Mercury News

Mark Demetrious Sanders, 27, was on probation for a Contra Costa County burglary that he committed alongside two men also suspected in the cannabis burglary and fatal shooting of Oakland Officer Tuan Le.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/stockton-man-suspected-of-murdering-oakland-officer-had-killed-before-as-a-teen-third-suspect-arrested/ Save to Pocket

GENERAL RAIN ADVISORY FOR COUNTYWIDE BEACHES ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

date: 2024-01-04, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) – Due to overnight rainfall, Santa Barbara County  Environmental Health Services (EHS) wants to remind residents about

The post GENERAL RAIN ADVISORY FOR COUNTYWIDE BEACHES ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICES appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/general-rain-advisory-for-countywide-beaches-issued-by-environmental-health-services-2/ Save to Pocket

Nordic countries shiver in extreme cold as western Europe floods

date: 2024-01-04, from: San Jose Mercury News

Temperatures fell below minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Nordic region for a second day in a row Wednesday. In Kvikkjokk-Årrenjarka in Swedish Lapland, the mercury dropped to minus 43.6 C (minus 46.5 F), the lowest January temperature recorded in Sweden in 25 years, Sweden’s TT news agency reported.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/nordic-countries-shiver-in-extreme-cold-as-western-europe-floods/ Save to Pocket

Blinken Heads to Middle East as Risks of Broader Regional Conflict Grow

date: 2024-01-04, from: VOA News USA

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the Middle East this week amid intense diplomatic efforts to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and increasing international pressure on Israel to reduce civilian casualties among Palestinians. 

Blinken’s visit would come as Israel’s war with Hamas militants approaches its three-month mark. 

Reuters cited a senior U.S. official and reported that Blinken will depart on Thursday for the Middle East, including a stop in Israel. Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, will also travel to Israel to work toward calming tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told reporters Blinken will hold meetings with Turkish officials on Saturday, according to local media. 

Senior U.S. officials’ upcoming meetings in the Middle East come at a time when the risk of a broader regional conflict is escalating, despite the collective efforts of Western and regional powers to confine the Israel-Hamas war to the Gaza Strip. 

Regional stability 

The State Department said the United States remains “incredibly concerned” about the risk of the conflict spreading into other fronts, after the killing Tuesday of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut. 

The Israeli army said it was on high alert for attacks by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. This follows a drone strike in Beirut that killed al-Arouri, who was closely associated with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. In a televised speech, Nasrallah said there would be a “response and punishment,” but he did not clearly declare that his forces would escalate attacks against Israel.

The U.S. has sent a “very direct message to Hezbollah” and other entities in the region that “now is not the time to think of escalating further” since October 7, according to the State Department. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza shortly after the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants. 

“You’ve seen us take deterrence steps to deliver that message. You’ve seen us take diplomatic steps to deliver it. We’ll continue to deliver it,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday. 

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has also voiced deep concern at any potential for escalation, while urging all parties to exercise restraint. 

Earlier this week, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the Israeli strike that resulted in the death of al-Arouri, calling it a “crime” deliberately aimed at dragging Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations. 

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, whose militant allies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have also been carrying out longer-range attacks against Israel. 

Humanitarian aid 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that Gaza is becoming a public health disaster, and recent mass displacement across southern Gaza is fueling disease outbreaks. 

More than 400,000 cases of infectious diseases have been reported since October 7, with some 180,000 people suffering from upper respiratory infections. There have also been more than 136,000 cases of diarrhea reported — half among children under the age of 5, according to OCHA. 

The U.N. is collaborating with countries to facilitate humanitarian delivery, addressing the critical lack of hygiene and safe drinking water in Gaza. 

In Washington, U.S. officials stated their opposition to forcibly removing Palestinians from Gaza. The U.S. is also working on a postwar road map for Palestinian territories. 

“Gaza cannot, once again, serve as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Israel,” Miller told VOA on Wednesday. “What we ultimately want to see is Gaza and the West Bank reunited under Palestinian leadership,” and “certainly there’s no role for Hamas in that.” 

Hostage release 

Meanwhile, intense diplomatic efforts to retrieve the remaining hostages held in Gaza by Hamas militants continue. There are believed to be 129 people still held by Hamas or other militants in Gaza. 

Last week, Egypt proposed a plan to end the current military conflict between Israel and Hamas militants, involving a cease-fire, a phased hostage release, and the formation of a Palestinian government of experts to administer the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Details of the plan were reportedly worked out with the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar and presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments. But the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, stated on Tuesday that the hostages will only be released on Hamas’ terms. 

The State Department said it’s a “top priority” for the U.S. government to bring all hostages home but declined to comment publicly on the negotiations. 

Some material for this report came from Reuters.

https://www.voanews.com/a/blinken-heads-for-israel-other-middle-east-countries-thursday/7425640.html Save to Pocket

SEE International Partners with Savie Health for Vision Clinic in North County

date: 2024-01-04, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

January 2, 2024- Santa Barbara, CA – SEE International is honored to announce the opening of a new vision clinic

The post SEE International Partners with Savie Health for Vision Clinic in North County  appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/see-international-partners-with-savie-health-for-vision-clinic-in-north-county/ Save to Pocket

Iffy Books Permacomputing Meetup – January 14th at 1:00 PM EST

date: 2024-01-04, from: Tilde.news

Comments

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SCV Water OKs purchasing recycled water from Vista Canyon

date: 2024-01-04, from: The Signal

The city of Santa Clarita and the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency entered into an agreement to have SCV Water purchase recycled water from the city for irrigation purposes, according to a SCV Water news release. The recycled water would come from the city’s Vista Canyon Water Factory, which can produce up to 371,000 gallons […]

The post <strong>SCV Water OKs purchasing recycled water from Vista Canyon</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/scv-water-oks-purchasing-recycled-water-from-vista-canyon/ Save to Pocket

Friendship Center to host 25th Annual Festival of Hearts Luncheon

date: 2024-01-04, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Santa Barbara, CA, January 2, 2024 – Friendship Center returns to Rosewood Miramar Beach this February to host the 25th Annual Festival

The post Friendship Center to host 25th Annual Festival of Hearts Luncheon appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/friendship-center-to-host-25th-annual-festival-of-hearts-luncheon/ Save to Pocket

Microsoft kills off Windows app installation from the web, again

date: 2024-01-04, updated: 2024-01-04, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Unpleasant Christmas package lets malware down the chimney

Microsoft has disabled a protocol that allowed the installation of Windows apps after finding that miscreants were abusing the mechanism to install malware.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/04/microsoft_windows_app_installation/ Save to Pocket

Jan. 19-21: ‘Through the Years’ at The MAIN

date: 2024-01-04, from: SCV New (TV Station)

“Through the Years” presented by Off Book Theatre and Eclipse Theatre LA is a funny and poignant coming of age story that follows three best friends, Jack, Julie and Tess from age 5 as they share a lifetime of highs and lows

https://scvnews.com/jan-19-21-through-the-years-at-the-main/ Save to Pocket

Local Grassroots Organization Endorses Slate of Candidates Committed to Immigrant Worker Power, Environmental and Housing Justice for California’s Central Coast

date: 2024-01-04, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

CENTRAL COAST, CA  – Ahead of the statewide primary on March 5, 2024, CAUSE Action endorses a slate of regional, statewide, and

The post Local Grassroots Organization Endorses Slate of Candidates Committed to Immigrant Worker Power, Environmental and Housing Justice for California’s Central Coast appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/local-grassroots-organization-endorses-slate-of-candidates-committed-to-immigrant-worker-power-environmental-and-housing-justice-for-californias-central-coast/ Save to Pocket

Letters: Biden presidency

date: 2024-01-04, from: San Jose Mercury News

Mercury News Letters to the Editor for Jan. 4, 2024

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/letters-1552/ Save to Pocket

Book Review | ‘Piranesi’ by Susana Clarke

date: 2024-01-04, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Novel inspired by the life of 18th century Italian artist and architect.

The post Book Review | ‘Piranesi’ by Susana Clarke appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/book-review-piranesi-by-susana-clarke/ Save to Pocket

U-Haul report cites California as No. 1 again — for exodus

date: 2024-01-04, from: The Signal

An annual report by one of the country’s largest moving companies again puts California as No. 1 in the nation — for people leaving the state on one-way trips.  Or, put another way, No. 50 on the U-Haul Growth Index.  The index, a report from the moving giant analyzing more than 2.5 million rental transactions, indicates […]

The post U-Haul report cites California as No. 1 again — for exodus  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

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@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-03, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

Birb + Fossil: An RSS Revival?

https://timkellogg.me/blog/2024/01/03/birb Save to Pocket

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price barred from prosecuting former prosecutor and loudest critic

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

The case against Amilcar “Butch” Ford will now be handled by the California Attorney General’s Office.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/alameda-county-district-attorney-pamela-price-barred-from-prosecuting-former-prosecutor-and-loudest-critic/ Save to Pocket

Wayland enjoyed many successes in 2023

date: 2024-01-03, from: OS News

The Wayland ecosystem had a phenomenal year from much better NVIDIA proprietary driver support, Firefox ending out the year shipping with Wayland support enabled by default, KDE Plasma 6.0 will default to Wayland following many improvements on the KDE side, the Wine Wayland driver upstreamed in its initial form, XWayland continuing to be enhanced, and a lot of other software from desktop environments to apps continuing to embrace Wayland. ↫ Michael Larabel at Phoronix This train ain’t stopping. Dare I say 2024 will be the year of Wayland on the desktop?

https://www.osnews.com/story/138180/wayland-enjoyed-many-successes-in-2023/ Save to Pocket

Windows 11 is relaxing Microsoft account auto-sign in apps, but only in Europe

date: 2024-01-03, from: OS News

Windows is changing the way apps can access your Microsoft account. Currently, when you sign in to Windows 11 or 10 with your Microsoft account, most apps automatically use that Microsoft account for in-app sign-in. The tech giant plans to change this behaviour by allowing you to decline access to Microsoft accounts in installed apps. ↫ Mayank Parmar at Windows Latest This change, like so many others that are making Windows ever so slightly less of a trashfire, is EU-only.

https://www.osnews.com/story/138178/windows-11-is-relaxing-microsoft-account-auto-sign-in-apps-but-only-in-europe/ Save to Pocket

In LA, Newsom Rallies Support For Proposition 1 And More Mental Health Treatment Beds

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-04, from: The LAist

The proposal on the ballot in March would authorize $6.38 billion in bonds to pay for mental health treatment facilities and housing.

https://laist.com/news/newsom-proposition-1-mental-health-treatment-beds Save to Pocket

A brief retrospective on SPARC register windows

date: 2024-01-03, from: OS News

As I work on moss and research modern processor design patterns and techniques, I am also looking for patterns and techniques from the past that, for one reason or another, have not persisted into our modern machines. While on a run this week, I was listening to an old Oxide and Friends episode where Bryan, Adam, and crew were reminiscing on the SPARC instruction set architecture (ISA). SPARC is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems, with the first machine, the SPARCstation1 (a.k.a. Sun 4/60, a.k.a Campus), being delivered in 1987. It was heavily influenced by the early RISC designs from David Patterson and team at Berkeley in the 1970s and 1980s, which is the same lineage from which RISC-V has evolved. Given the decision to base moss on the RISC-V RV64I ISA, I was interested to learn more about the history and finer details of SPARC. ↫ Daniel Mangum The sad thing is that SPARC is pretty close to dead at this point, with the two major players in the high-end – Oracle and Fujitsu – throwing in the towel half a decade ago. There’s some lower-end work, such as the LEON chips, but those efforts, too, seem to be going nowhere at the moment. Definitely sad, since I’ve always been oddly obsessed with the architecture, and hope to still somehow get my hands on the last UltraSPARC workstation ever built (the Sun Ultra 45, which is, sadly, incredibly expensive on the used market). There’s also a whole boatload of servers on the used market with fancier, newer SPARC processors, but as far as I know, none of those support any form of even barely usable graphics, making them useless for weird people like me who want to run a desktop on them.

https://www.osnews.com/story/138176/a-brief-retrospective-on-sparc-register-windows/ Save to Pocket

Bills of 2023 | Bill signed to limit hand vote counts in elections

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Editor’s note: The Signal is presenting CalMatters’ wrap-up stories on some of the key bills that reached the governor’s desk at the close of the 2023 legislative session. Here’s the CalMatters summary of a bill that requires machine counting of election ballots.  Assembly Bill 969 bans hand-counting of votes, except in very narrow circumstances — […]

The post Bills of 2023 | Bill signed to limit hand vote counts in elections appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/bills-of-2023-bill-signed-to-limit-hand-vote-counts-in-elections/ Save to Pocket

Alzheimer’s Drugs Might Get Into the Brain Faster With New Ultrasound Tool

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

washington — Scientists have found a way to help Alzheimer’s drugs seep inside the brain faster — by temporarily breaching its protective shield.

The novel experiment was a first attempt in just three patients. But in spots in the brain where the new technology took aim, it enhanced removal of Alzheimer’s trademark brain-clogging plaque, researchers reported Wednesday.

“Our goal is to give patients a head start,” by boosting some new Alzheimer’s treatments that take a long time to work, said Dr. Ali Rezai of West Virginia University’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, who led the study.

At issue is what’s called the blood-brain barrier, a protective lining in blood vessels that prevents germs and other damaging substances from leaching into the brain from the bloodstream. But it also can block drugs for Alzheimer’s, tumors and other neurologic diseases, requiring higher doses for longer periods for enough to reach their target inside the brain.

Now scientists are using a technology called focused ultrasound to jiggle temporary openings in that shield. They inject microscopic bubbles into the bloodstream. Next, they beam sound waves through a helmetlike device to a precise brain area. The pulses of energy vibrate the microbubbles, which loosen gaps in the barrier enough for medications to slip in.

Prior small studies have found the technology can safely poke tiny holes that seal up in 48 hours. Now Rezai’s team has gone a step further — administering an Alzheimer’s drug at the same time.

Some new Alzheimer’s drugs, on the market or in the pipeline, promise to modestly slow worsening of the mind-robbing disease. They’re designed to clear away a sticky protein called beta-amyloid that builds up in certain brain regions. But they require IV infusions every few weeks for at least 18 months.

“Why not try to clear the plaques within a few months?” Rezai said, his rationale for the proof-of-concept study.

3 patients, 1 drug, 6 months

His team gave three patients with mild Alzheimer’s monthly doses of one such drug, Aduhelm, for six months. Right after each IV, researchers aimed the focused ultrasound on a specific amyloid-clogged part of each patient’s brain, opening the blood brain-barrier so more of that day’s dose might enter that spot.

PET scans show patients’ amyloid levels before and after the six months of medication. There was about 32% greater plaque reduction in spots where the blood-brain barrier was breached compared to the same region on the brain’s opposite side, researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

This pilot study is elegant but too tiny to draw any conclusions, cautioned Dr. Eliezer Masliah of the National Institute on Aging.

Still, “it’s very exciting, compelling data,” added Masliah, who wasn’t involved with the research. “It opens the door for more extensive, larger studies, definitely.”

More testing on horizon

Rezai is about to begin another small test of a similar but better proven drug named Leqembi. Eventually, large studies would be needed to tell if combining focused ultrasound with Alzheimer’s drugs makes a real difference for patients.

Masliah said it’s also important to closely check whether speedier plaque reduction might increase the risk of a rare but worrisome side effect of these new drugs — bleeding and swelling in the brain.

Alzheimer’s isn’t the only target. Other researchers are testing if breaching the blood-brain barrier could allow more chemotherapy to reach brain tumors, and ways to target other diseases.

https://www.voanews.com/a/alzheimer-s-drugs-might-get-into-the-brain-faster-with-new-ultrasound-tool/7425611.html Save to Pocket

The New California Laws You Need to Know

date: 2024-01-03, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Several significant laws took effect January 1 that will affect schools, workplaces, and pocketbooks.

The post The New California Laws You Need to Know appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/the-new-california-laws-you-need-to-know/ Save to Pocket

Trump Asks US Supreme Court to Review Colorado Ruling Barring Him From Ballot Over Jan. 6 Attack

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

Denver, Colorado — Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling barring him from the Colorado ballot, setting up a high-stakes showdown over whether a constitutional provision prohibiting those who “engaged in insurrection” will end his political career.

Trump appealed a 4-3 ruling in December by the Colorado Supreme Court that marked the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot. The court found that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualified him under the clause.

The provision has been used so sparingly in American history that the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on it.

Wednesday’s development came a day after Trump’s legal team filed an appeal against a ruling by Maine’s Democratic Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, that Trump was ineligible to appear on that state’s ballot over his role in the Capitol attack. Both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of state’s rulings are on hold until the appeals play out.

Trump’s critics have filed dozens of lawsuits seeking to disqualify him in multiple states. He lost Colorado by 13 percentage points in 2020 and does not need to win the state to gain either the Republican presidential nomination or the presidency. But the Colorado ruling has the potential to prompt courts or secretaries of state to remove him from the ballot in other, must-win states.

None had succeeded until a slim majority of Colorado’s seven justices — all appointed by Democratic governors — ruled last month against Trump. Critics warned that it was an overreach and that the court could not simply declare that the Jan. 6 attack was an “insurrection” without a judicial process.

“The Colorado Supreme Court decision would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in their appeal to the nation’s highest court, noting that Maine has already followed Colorado’s lead.

Trump’s new appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court also follows one from Colorado’s Republican Party. Legal observers expect the high court will take the case because it concerns unsettled constitutional issues that go to the heart of the way the country is governed.

All the parties to the case have urged the court to move quickly. Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday asked the court to overturn the ruling without even hearing oral arguments. The lawyers representing the Colorado plaintiffs have urged oral arguments but also seek a vastly accelerated schedule, calling for a resolution by next month. Colorado’s primary is March 5.

Sean Grimsley, an attorney for the plaintiffs seeking to disqualify Trump in Colorado, said late last month on a legal podcast called “Law, disrupted” that he hopes the nation’s highest court hurries once it accepts the case, as he expects it will.

“We have a primary coming up on Super Tuesday and we need to know the answer,” Grimsley said.

The Colorado high court upheld a finding by a district court judge that Jan. 6 was an “insurrection” incited by Trump. It agreed with the petitioners, six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters whose lawsuit was funded by a Washington-based liberal group, that Trump clearly violated the provision. Because of that, the court ruled he is disqualified just as plainly as if he failed to meet the Constitution’s minimum age requirement for the presidency of 35 years.

In doing so, the state high court reversed a ruling by the lower court judge that said it wasn’t clear that Section 3 was meant to apply to the president. That’s one of many issues the nation’s highest court would consider.

Additional ones include whether states such as Colorado can determine who is covered by Section 3, whether congressional action is needed to create a process to bar people from office, whether Jan. 6 met the legal definition of insurrection and whether Trump was simply engaging in First Amendment activity that day or is responsible for the violent attack, which was intended to halt certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.

Trump held a rally before the Capitol attack, telling his supporters that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Six of the U.S. Supreme Court’s nine justices were appointed by Republicans, and three by Trump himself.

The Colorado ruling cited a prior decision by Neil Gorsuch, one of Trump’s appointees to the high court, when he was a federal judge in Colorado. That ruling determined that the state had a legitimate interest in removing from the presidential ballot a naturalized U.S. citizen who was ineligible for the office because he was born in Guyana.

Section 3, however, has barely been used since the years after the Civil War, when it kept defeated Confederates from returning to their former government positions. The two-sentence clause says that anyone who swore an oath to “support” the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection cannot hold office unless a two-thirds vote of Congress allows it.

Legal scholars believe its only application in the 20th century was being cited by Congress in 1919 to block the seating of a socialist who opposed U.S. involvement in World War I and was elected to the House of Representatives.

But in 2022, a judge used it to remove a rural New Mexico county commissioner from office after he was convicted of a misdemeanor for entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Liberal groups sued to block Republican Reps. Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene from running for reelection because of their roles on that day. Cawthorn’s case became moot when he lost his primary in 2022, and a judge ruled to keep Greene on the ballot.

Some conservatives warn that, if Trump is removed, political groups will routinely use Section 3 against opponents in unexpected ways.

Biden’s administration has noted that the president has no role in the litigation.

The issue of whether Trump can be on the ballot is not the only matter related to the former president or Jan. 6 that has reached the high court. The justices last month declined a request from special counsel Jack Smith to swiftly take up and rule on Trump’s claims that he is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the presidential election, though the issue could be back before the court soon depending on the ruling of a Washington-based appeals court.

And the court has said that it intends to hear an appeal that could upend hundreds of charges stemming from the Capitol riot, including against Trump.

https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-asks-us-supreme-court-to-review-colorado-ruling-barring-him-from-ballot-over-jan-6-attack/7425629.html Save to Pocket

Bills of 2023 | New law aims to boost clean energy

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Editor’s note: The Signal is presenting CalMatters’ wrap-up stories on some of the key bills that reached the governor’s desk at the close of the 2023 legislative session. Here’s the CalMatters summary of a bill that, among other things, encourages development of offshore wind energy projects.  By Julie Cart CalMatters Writer  Assembly Bill 1373 gives the […]

The post Bills of 2023 | New law aims to boost clean energy appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/new-law-aims-to-boost-clean-energy/ Save to Pocket

2023 was a great year for Bay Area films and TV shows — here are some of the best

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

From ‘I’m a Virgo’ to ‘Fremont,’ the Bay Area figured in some terrific films and TV shows.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/2023-was-a-great-year-for-bay-area-films-and-tv-shows-here-are-some-of-the-best/ Save to Pocket

Local Beaches Are Glowing Blue Again

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The LAist

The dinoflagellates that cause the waves to light up come and go in seasons.

https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/socal-beaches-bioluminescent-glowing-blue Save to Pocket

House speaker demands hard-line policies during border visit

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

“We’ve got to do something,” President Joe Biden told reporters Tuesday night. He said Congress should approve his national security proposal because it also includes money for managing the influx of migrants. “They ought to give me the money I need to protect the border,” he said.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/house-speaker-demands-hard-line-policies-during-border-visit/ Save to Pocket

New at Starbucks: Customers may use their own cups for mobile, drive-thru orders

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

Here’s how the company plans to maintain hygienic standards while reducing waste

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/new-at-starbucks-customers-may-use-their-own-cups-for-mobile-drive-thru-orders/ Save to Pocket

Eddie Bernice Johnson dies at 88; trailblazing Texas legislator was first nurse elected to Congress

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

She was the first Black woman to chair the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and she also led the Congressional Black Caucus.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/eddie-bernice-johnson-dies-at-88-trailblazing-texas-legislator-was-first-nurse-elected-to-congress/ Save to Pocket

Tip of the Day: Finding Unknown ‘Items’ in Your iCloud Photo Library

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Daring Fireball

https://mastodon.social/@calebhailey/111653442283836729 Save to Pocket

Garcia to hold teleconference town hall Thursday 

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, is scheduled to host a teleconference town hall on Thursday at 5 p.m. when he will address multiple national security issues and host a live question-and-answer session.  Those who join the teleconference can hear Garcia’s thoughts on the border crisis, support for Israel and other pressing national security challenges facing […]

The post <strong>Garcia to hold teleconference town hall Thursday</strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/garcia-to-hold-teleconference-town-hall-thursday/ Save to Pocket

Bills of 2023 | Newsom vetoes bill that would increase stipend to diversify juries

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Editor’s note: The Signal is presenting CalMatters’ wrap-up stories on some of the key bills that reached the governor’s desk at the close of the 2023 legislative session. Here’s the CalMatters summary of a bill that would have increased pay for jury members.  Assembly Bill 881 would expand a test of higher jury service payments […]

The post Bills of 2023 | Newsom vetoes bill that would increase stipend to diversify juries appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/newsom-vetoes-bill-that-would-increase-stipend-to-diversify-juries/ Save to Pocket

Some Wonderful Things from 2023

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/some-wonderful-things-from-2023 Save to Pocket

Feb. 2: SCV Chamber Awards, Installation

date: 2024-01-03, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce 2024 Awards + Installation will be held Friday, Feb. at 6 p.m. The event will be held at the Hytt Valencia

https://scvnews.com/feb-2-scv-chamber-awards-installation/ Save to Pocket

California Could See A Snow Drought This Year. What Will It Mean For The State’s Water Supply?

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-04, from: The LAist

More snow is coming, but the Department of Water Resources said it’s too early to tell if that will make up the snow deficit.

https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/california-could-see-a-potential-snow-drought-this-year-what-will-it-mean-for-the-states-water-supply Save to Pocket

Museum Realizes Ten J.E.H. MacDonald Sketches Are Fakes—and Puts Them on Display

date: 2024-01-03, from: Smithsonian Magazine

A new exhibition showcases how the Vancouver Art Gallery investigated the artworks’ authenticity

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/vancouver-art-gallery-exhibits-10-jeh-macdonald-sketches-uncovered-as-fakes-180983527/ Save to Pocket

Xerox prints pink slips for 15% of workforce

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Happy New Year, now go replace that human resources cartridge

2024 isn’t starting off that well for Xerox: first it said it suffered an IT security breach, and now it’s laying off 15 percent of staff.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/xerox_layoffs/ Save to Pocket

The Next Full Moon is the Cold, Frost or Winter Moon

date: 2024-01-03, from: NASA breaking news

January 2024 The Next Full Moon is the Cold, Frost, or Winter Moon; the Long Night Moon; the Moon after Yule; the Datta Jayanti and Thiruvathira Festival Moon; Unduvap Poya; and the Chang’e Moon. The next full Moon will be Tuesday evening, December 26, 2023, appearing opposite the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 7:33 PM […]

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/the-next-full-moon-is-the-cold-frost-or-winter-moon/ Save to Pocket

Radxa X2L is a pocket-sized PC board with Intel Celeron J4125 for $39 and up

date: 2024-01-03, from: Liliputing

The Radxa X2L is a phone-sized single-board computer that measure 155 x 80mm (6.1″ x 3.1″). But unlike most phones, this little computer has a set of full-sized ports including Gigabit Ethernet, USB-C and USB-A, HDMI, and a headphone jack. It also has an Intel Celeron J4125 processor, which is a 10-watt, 4-core, 4-thread chip […]

The post Radxa X2L is a pocket-sized PC board with Intel Celeron J4125 for $39 and up appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/radxa-x2l-is-a-pocket-sized-pc-board-with-intel-celeron-j4125-for-39-and-up/ Save to Pocket

Jan. 18: 2024 California Employment Law Update

date: 2024-01-03, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce Employment Law Update is returning for 2024. Join Brian Koegle, Partner at Greenspoon Marder LLP, for a comprehensive update on developments in employment law that will be most impactful for your business in the coming year

https://scvnews.com/jan-18-2024-scv-chamber-employment-law-update/ Save to Pocket

NASA Captures Stunning Images of Jupiter’s Moon Io on Closest Flyby in 20 Years

date: 2024-01-03, from: Smithsonian Magazine

The Juno spacecraft’s instruments will help scientists better understand volcanic activity on the volatile moon’s surface

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasa-captures-stunning-images-of-jupiters-moon-io-on-closest-flyby-in-20-years-180983525/ Save to Pocket

NYE The Big 40 Birthday Style

date: 2024-01-03, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Our Publisher, Brandi Rivera, started working with the Independent in 2008. She held a few different roles with us as

The post NYE The Big 40 Birthday Style appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

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People with Charles Bonnet syndrome have visual hallucinations. This man saw people…

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043710-people-with-charles-bonne Save to Pocket

Ken Striplin | Welcoming the New Year

date: 2024-01-03, from: SCV New (TV Station)

As we welcome in 2024, there are several exciting projects, programs and events we can look forward to in the new year. Thanks to the leadership of the Santa Clarita City Council, several new city amenities will welcome residents during the next 12 months.

https://scvnews.com/ken-striplin-welcoming-the-new-year/ Save to Pocket

Stay Out Of The Water: All LA County Beaches Under Rain Advisory

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-04, from: The LAist

The advisory is in effect from Leo Carillo State Beach, out to Catalina Island, all the way down to San Pedro.

https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/stay-out-of-the-water-all-la-county-beaches-under-rain-advisory Save to Pocket

Freight giant Estes refuses to deliver ransom, says personal data opened and stolen

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Pay up, or just decline to submit

One of America’s biggest private freight shippers, Estes Express Lines, has told more than 20,000 customers that criminals stole their personal information.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/estes_ransomware/ Save to Pocket

House Republicans Visit US-Mexico Border as Ukraine Aid Hangs in Balance

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

EAGLE PASS, Texas — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is leading about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit Wednesday to the Mexican border as they demand hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden’s emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine. The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as Senate negotiators keep plugging away in hopes of a bipartisan deal.

With the number of illegal crossings into the United States topping 10,000 on several days last month, the border city has been at the center of Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, his nearly $10 billion initiative that has tested the federal government’s authority over immigration and elevated the political fight over the issue.

An agreement in the lengthy talks in Washington would unlock Republican support for Biden’s $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. security priorities. In meetings, Senators Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent from Arizona, James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, and Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, are trying to make progress before Congress returns to Washington next week.

It is not known whether Johnson, who has called for “transformational” changes to border and immigration policies, would accept a bipartisan deal from the Senate. Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has pointed to a House bill, passed in May without a single Democratic vote, that would build more of the border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers. Democrats said the legislation was “cruel” and “anti-immigrant,” and Biden promised a veto.

Nonetheless, the president has expressed a willingness to make policy compromises as the historic number of migrants crossing the border is an increasing challenge for his 2024 reelection campaign. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House staff have been involved in the Senate negotiations.

“We’ve got to do something,” Biden told reporters Tuesday night. He said Congress should approve his national security proposal because it also includes money for managing the influx of migrants. “They ought to give me the money I need to protect the border,” he said.

Administration officials have criticized Johnson’s trip as a political ploy that will do little to solve the problem.

“When they’re at the border, they’re going to see the magnitude of the problem and why we have said now for about three decades, their broken immigration system is in desperate need of legislative reform,” Mayorkas told CNN on Wednesday. “So, we are focused on the solutions, and we hope that they will return to Washington and focus on the solutions as well.”

House Republicans contend that Mayorkas’ management of the border has amounted to a dereliction of his duties and they are moving ahead with rare impeachment proceedings against a Cabinet member, with a first committee hearing on the matter scheduled for next week. Mayorkas told MSNBC he would cooperate with an inquiry.

During parts of December, border crossings in Eagle Pass, as well as other locations, swamped the resources of Customs and Border Protection officials. Authorities closed cargo rail crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso for five days and shut down border crossings in the Arizona city of Lukeville.

Authorities say the numbers of migrants eased over the December holidays as part of a seasonal pattern. The border crossings are reopening, and illegal crossings in Eagle Pass fell to 500 on Monday, according to administration officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Along the entire border, arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico fell to about 2,500 on Monday, from more than 10,000 on several days in December, officials said.

Republicans, who see the high number of migrants arriving at the border as a political weakness for the president, are pressuring Biden and Democrats to accept strict border measures.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky on Tuesday that in a conversation with 81-year-old Biden, he made the case: “You can’t do anything about how old you are, you can’t do anything about inflation, but this is something that’s measurable that you could claim credit for.”

McConnell also said he was approaching the talks with “optimism that somehow we will get this all together and we’re giving it our best shot.”

Senate negotiators have focused on tougher asylum protocols for migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, bolstering border enforcement with more personnel and high-tech systems, and enforcement measures that would kick in if the number of daily crossings passed a certain threshold.

Murphy, the chief Democratic negotiator, said Tuesday that he hoped that “at some point, Republicans can take the offer that we’ve all been working on together in the room for a long time.”

He raised concern that the longer the talks draw out, the longer it leaves Ukraine’s defenses hanging without assured support from the U.S. in the war with Russia.

The Pentagon in late December announced what officials say could be the final package of military aid for Ukraine if Congress does not approve Biden’s funding request. The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include air munitions and other missiles, artillery, anti-armor systems, ammunition, demolition and medical equipment and parts.

Russia has unleashed a flurry of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in the new year.

“The consequence of Republicans’ decision to tie Ukraine funding to border is that the Ukrainians are already at a moment of real crisis,” Murphy said.

https://www.voanews.com/a/house-republicans-visit-us-mexico-border-as-ukraine-aid-hangs-in-balance/7425478.html Save to Pocket

This small fanless PC is built for networking, with four 10 GbE and five 2.5 Gb Ethernet ports

date: 2024-01-03, from: Liliputing

The QOTOM Q20332G9-S10 is more than just a fanless mini PC with a catchy name. It’s also a system with a lot of connectivity options. Available from Amazon and AliExpress with prices starting under $300, the computer is designed for use as a networking appliance and features four 10 GbE Ethernet ports, five 2.5 GbE Ethernet ports, optional […]

The post This small fanless PC is built for networking, with four 10 GbE and five 2.5 Gb Ethernet ports appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/this-small-fanless-pc-is-built-for-networking-with-four-10-gbe-and-five-2-5-gb-ethernet-ports/ Save to Pocket

No Whine Before It’s Time

date: 2024-01-03, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

If you’re not in denial, you’re not paying attention.

The post No Whine Before It’s Time appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/no-whine-before-its-time/ Save to Pocket

‘Stuffie Sleepover’ Parties at Canyon Country, Newhall Libraries

date: 2024-01-03, from: SCV New (TV Station)

Bring your favorite stuffie to the Santa Clarita Public Library for a Stuffed Animal Sleepover Party. Sleepover parties will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at the Canyon Country Jo Anne Darcy Branch and a Stuffed Toy Slumber Party on Thursday, Jan. 25 at the Old Town Newhall Branch

https://scvnews.com/stuffie-sleepover-parties-at-canyon-country-newhall-libraries/ Save to Pocket

Joshua Schlieder: Feet on the Ground, Head in the Stars

date: 2024-01-03, from: NASA breaking news

Goddard astrophysicist Dr. Joshua Schlieder supports NASA’s Roman Space Telescope and Swift Observatory with creativity, community, and curiosity.

https://www.nasa.gov/people-of-nasa/goddard-people/joshua-schlieder-feet-on-the-ground-head-in-the-stars/ Save to Pocket

Make Myself at Home: Photo Highlights from 2023

date: 2024-01-03, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Happy New Year! As we move forward into 2024, here’s a look at some of the houses we visited in

The post Make Myself at Home: Photo Highlights from 2023 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/make-myself-at-home-photo-highlights-from-2023/ Save to Pocket

Day in Review (January 3–4)

date: 2024-01-03, from: Association of Research Libraries News

Last Updated on January 3, 2024, 4:31 pm ET Sign up to receive the Day in Review by email. Jump to: Thursday, January 4 Wednesday, January 3 Top o’ the…

The post Day in Review (January 3–4) appeared first on Association of Research Libraries.

https://www.arl.org/day-in-review/day-in-review-january-3-4/ Save to Pocket

CodaPet Expands to Santa Clarita Valley

date: 2024-01-03, from: SCV New (TV Station)

CodaPet has expanded compassionate in-home pet euthanasia services to the Santa Clarita Valley and surrounding cities. The veterinarian-owned startup empowers a network of veterinarians who provide peaceful in-home euthanasia to ease the passing of pets at home, surrounded by loved ones

https://scvnews.com/codapet-expands-to-santa-clarita-valley/ Save to Pocket

This guy built his own little railcar and rides it on abandoned…

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043716-this-guy-built-his-own Save to Pocket

Intel and VCs form Articul8 to push chip giant’s AI kit and IP

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

‘Independent’ biz unsurprisingly uses in Xeon and Habana, and patent libraries

In the latest bid to push its AI portfolio, Intel has teamed up with investment firm DigitalBridge to form a software spin-off specializing in the deployment of machine learning and large language models (LLMs).…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/intel_articul8_ai/ Save to Pocket

Exploring the Unique Advantages of Diabetic and Compression Socks

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Foot health is essential, particularly for those with health concerns like diabetes, neuropathy or circulation issues. Understanding the difference between non-binding diabetic socks and compression socks is vital for making informed foot care decisions. This guide compares these two sock types, highlighting their distinct benefits.  Key Features of Diabetic Socks: Tailored for Comfort and Safety  Diabetic socks […]

The post Exploring the Unique Advantages of Diabetic and Compression Socks  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/exploring-the-unique-advantages-of-diabetic-and-compression-socks/ Save to Pocket

SCV Water Releases Popular Annual Financial Report

date: 2024-01-03, from: SCV New (TV Station)

In furtherance of its commitment to providing transparent and open communication regarding the responsible management of ratepayer funds, the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency has announced the creation of SCV Water’s first Popular Annual Financial Report.

https://scvnews.com/scv-water-releases-popular-annual-financial-report/ Save to Pocket

Decades-Long Debate on ‘Teenage’ Tyrannosaur Fossils Takes Another Turn

date: 2024-01-03, from: Smithsonian Magazine

A new paper adds to evidence suggesting a group of disputed fossils, identified by many scientists as young T. rex, are actually another species

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/decades-long-debate-on-teenage-tyrannosaur-fossils-takes-another-turn-180983524/ Save to Pocket

US Renews Protection for Former Secretary of State, Aide Over Iran Threats

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has once again renewed taxpayer-funded protection for former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and one of his top aides, who have been the targets of persistent threats from Iran. 

The State Department notified Congress late last month that the threats against Pompeo and Trump administration Iran envoy Brian Hook remain “serious and credible” and continue to warrant government-provided security details. 

The notifications are dated December 19 but were not transmitted to Congress until December 22. They were obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. 

Tensions in the Middle East have soared since the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and escalated further Wednesday after dozens of people were killed in blasts in Iran at a memorial service for Iran Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020. 

Pompeo and Hook were the public faces of the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. Iran has blamed both for the killing of Soleimani. 

The notifications to Congress, signed by Deputy Secretary of State for Management Richard Verma, marked the 16th time the State Department has extended protection to Hook since he left office in January 2021 and the 13th time it has been extended to Pompeo. 

The discrepancy arises because Pompeo, as a former Cabinet secretary, automatically had government security for several months after leaving office. 

The AP reported in March 2022 that the State Department was paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to Pompeo and Hook. The latest determinations do not give a dollar amount for the protection. 

The notifications do not specifically identify Iran as the source of the threats, but Iranian officials have long vented anger at Pompeo and Hook for leading the Trump administration’s policy against Iran, including designating the Revolutionary Guard Corps a “foreign terrorist organization,” subjecting it to unprecedented sanctions and orchestrating the Soleimani assassination.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-renews-protection-for-former-secretary-of-state-aide-over-iran-threats/7425427.html Save to Pocket

Jan Chipchase reports on a recent trip to Afghanistan under Taliban 2.0…

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043718-jan-chipchase-reports-on- Save to Pocket

What the AI copyright fights are truly about: Human labor versus endless machines

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

The real beef concerns our future to create and be rewarded for it

Kettle  A slew of copyright lawsuits were filed against the makers of text and image-generating AI systems last year. Now in 2024 and beyond, we’re going to see how those play out, and what ramifications and settlements they bring.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/kettle_ai_copyright/ Save to Pocket

CHP in search of speeding suspect 

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

California Highway Patrol officers were unable to locate the driver of a red Chevrolet Camaro that was reportedly speeding in excess of 110 mph on the northbound Highway 14 on Wednesday morning before exiting the freeway, according to officials.  CHP officers began their pursuit at approximately 11:19 a.m. Wednesday after witnessing the driver driving “well […]

The post <strong>CHP in search of speeding suspect</strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/chp-in-search-of-speeding-suspect/ Save to Pocket

Daily Deals (1-03-2024)

date: 2024-01-03, from: Liliputing

Picked up a new gaming PC during the holiday season, or just find yourself with some free time on your hands? The Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store’s winter holiday sales aren’t over just yet – although two out of three do end tomorrow. Meanwhile the Epic Games Store is continuing to give away a free […]

The post Daily Deals (1-03-2024) appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/daily-deals-1-03-2024/ Save to Pocket

1000 Matchsticks Feature in This Epic Stop Motion Animation

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/1000-matchsticks-feature-in-this-epic-stop-motion-animation Save to Pocket

New Jersey Used COVID Relief Funds to Buy Banned Chinese Surveillance Cameras

date: 2024-01-03, from: 404 Media Group

Cameras sold to police throughout New Jersey were made by a banned Chinese company but were modified to have different colors and the company’s logo removed, court records show.

https://www.404media.co/new-jersey-used-covid-relief-funds-to-buy-banned-dahua-chinese-surveillance-cameras/ Save to Pocket

Devices That Are Not USB C in My Life

date: 2024-01-03, from: Michael Tsai

Mere Civilian: First, I give my appreciation to the European Union for their efforts in nudging (we all know it was more than a nudge) Apple to support USB C. However, there are still devices in my life that I use daily that are not USB C. Strangely, as each year passes by, it becomes […]

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/01/03/devices-that-are-not-usb-c-in-my-life/ Save to Pocket

3-in-1 Charging Stations

date: 2024-01-03, from: Michael Tsai

Fernando Silva: I have been on the lookout for a 3-in-1 charging station for my Apple products that doesn’t break the bank. Don’t get me wrong – there are many options for 3-in-1 chargers, but it seems you have to spend upward of $100 or even $200 for a high-quality Apple 3-in-1 charger. But I […]

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/01/03/3-in-1-charging-stations/ Save to Pocket

Gitea Cloud

date: 2024-01-03, from: Michael Tsai

Gitea (Hacker New): With just a few clicks, you can easily deploy your own Gitea instance on Gitea Cloud. Our team will handle all the maintenance, including backups, upgrades, and more. This allows you to focus on business development without worrying about operational issues. […] By using dedicated infrastructure, you don’t have to worry about […]

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/01/03/gitea-cloud/ Save to Pocket

Taligent’s Guide to Designing Programs

date: 2024-01-03, from: Michael Tsai

David Goldsmith (1994, PDF, via Hacker News): If you browse the computer section of any technical bookstore, you’ll find many good books offering advice on how to do object-oriented design—books dealing both with general design principles and with design principles specific to C++. Why then does the industry need another book, one targeted not only […]

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/01/03/taligents-guide-to-designing-programs/ Save to Pocket

Sketch Returns to the Mac App Store

date: 2024-01-03, from: Michael Tsai

Sindre Sorhus (Hacker News): Seems like Sketch is back on the App Store, after leaving it in 2015. They seem be using the original SKU, because the Mac App Store shows it as 4+ years old, but it currently has only 7 ratings with an average of 3 stars. Reviews complain that even though the […]

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/01/03/sketch-returns-to-the-mac-app-store/ Save to Pocket

Retired Akamai CEO sues daughter’s ex-husband over unpaid millions

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

And you thought your in-laws were bad

The next time someone accuses you of being a bad son-in-law, you can counter with the case of retired Akamai chairman and CEO George Conrades, who just sued his daughter’s ex-husband in an attempt to recover millions in unpaid business loans.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/former_akamai_ceo_lawsuit/ Save to Pocket

SCV Water Purchases Vista Canyon Factory Recycled Water From City

date: 2024-01-03, from: SCV New (TV Station)

At its regular board meeting on Jan. 2, the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency Board of Directors approved entering into an agreement with the city of Santa Clarita for the purchase of recycled water from the city’s Vista Canyon Water Factory.

https://scvnews.com/scv-water-purchases-vista-canyon-factory-recycled-water/ Save to Pocket

Nazi-Looted Painting Returned to Collector’s Heir

date: 2024-01-03, from: Smithsonian Magazine

The 16th-century piece was one of more than 1,100 artworks taken from a Dutch-Jewish art dealer’s collection during World War II

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/looted-16th-century-painting-returned-to-collectors-heir-180983523/ Save to Pocket

@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-03, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

Colorado’s secretary of state blames Trump, GOP for threats.

https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/jena-griswold-colorado-trump-ballot-threats-rcna132050 Save to Pocket

It’s weird seeing Roger Ebert, who was such a keen observer of…

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043714-its-weird-seeing-roger-eb Save to Pocket

Updates on the Haneda Airport Collision (info for email readers).

date: 2024-01-03, from: James Fallows, Substack

What more is known, a day after the crash.

https://fallows.substack.com/p/updates-on-the-haneda-airport-collision Save to Pocket

Foggy Fun with STEM

date: 2024-01-03, from: NASA breaking news

On March 30, 2023, NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Jessica Watkins, and Robert Hines took part in STEM demonstrations with local students in Washington. Lindgren, Hines, and Watkins spent 170 days in space as part of Expeditions 67 and 68 aboard the International Space Station. While aboard, the crew studied ways to reverse the aging of […]

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/foggy-fun-with-stem/ Save to Pocket

MIPS snags top SiFive brains to amp up RISC-V business

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Drew Barbier and Brad Burgess join after restructure at former employer

Chip designer MIPS has picked up two former execs from SiFive in a bid to boost its RISC-V development efforts.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/mips_sifive_hires/ Save to Pocket

Chocolate Chronicles: A Sweet Journey with Compartés Through 75 Years

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Welcome to the delightful world of chocolate, where every bite is a journey through time and taste. In this exploration, we’ll unravel the fascinating evolution of chocolate trends, guided by the iconic brand Compartés. For 75 years, Compartés has been a beacon of innovation and craftsmanship in the chocolate industry, creating a legacy that sweet […]

The post Chocolate Chronicles: A Sweet Journey with Compartés Through 75 Years appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/chocolate-chronicles-a-sweet-journey-with-compartes-through-75-years/ Save to Pocket

NASA Telescopes Start the Year With a Double Bang

date: 2024-01-03, from: NASA breaking news

A colorful, festive image shows different types of light containing the remains of not one, but at least two, exploded stars. This supernova remnant is known as 30 Doradus B (30 Dor B for short) and is part of a larger region of space where stars have been continuously forming for the past 8 to […]

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-telescopes-start-the-year-with-a-double-bang/ Save to Pocket

13-Year-Old Becomes First to Beat NES Tetris

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/13-year-old-becomes-first-to-beat-nes-tetris Save to Pocket

Riding the Waves of Progress: A Deep Dive into E-commerce Fulfillment with AMS Fulfillment

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Navigating the Shores of E-commerce Evolution In the vast ocean of online commerce, the tides of change are constant. As consumers, we click, scroll, and wait for our packages to arrive at our doorsteps, often unaware of the intricate dance happening behind the scenes. E-commerce fulfillment, once a straightforward process, has evolved into a complex […]

The post Riding the Waves of Progress: A Deep Dive into E-commerce Fulfillment with AMS Fulfillment appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/riding-the-waves-of-progress-a-deep-dive-into-e-commerce-fulfillment-with-ams-fulfillment/ Save to Pocket

We Asked: What Self-Help Book Changed Your Life? Here’s What Listeners Said

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The LAist

New Year, new you? These books might help.

https://laist.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/listeners-say-what-self-help-book-changed-their-life Save to Pocket

SpaceX sends first direct-to-cell Starlinks to orbit

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

It’s like a cell tower… in spaaaaace

SpaceX has put the first six Direct to Cell-capable Starlink satellites into orbit following a successful Jan 3, 2023 launch.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/spacex_sends_directtocell_starlinks_into/ Save to Pocket

@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-01-03, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)

On Friday I asked ChatGPT for 1000 words on RSS. The bot sorted through all the nonsense, got the story, where Wikipedia got mired. They left out almost all of the interesting stuff relating to the way it was adopted by the publishing and blogging worlds. The format isn’t all that important, see the rules for standards-makers, what matters is the interop it delivers. The RSS 0.91 to 2.0 thread was what the market built around, because it was promoted to the market and held steady for it. The other thread got bogged down in an academic theory of how the web should evolve. Content syndication was a real application. That’s the story, imho. There was no mention of the NYT in the piece, or Salon, Red Herring, Wired and Motley Fool. Or NPR in re podcasting.

http://scripting.com/2024/01/03.html#a173253 Save to Pocket

Minivans are better than trucks

date: 2024-01-03, from: Jeff Geerling blog

Minivans are better than trucks

        <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>...at least if you have a family, and need to transport datacenter racks.</p>

Consider this:

• You can fit full 4’ x 8’ plywood sheets in the back (assuming you fold down/remove the seats)
• You can fit up to 12’ long dimensional lumber (1x2, 2x4, etc.) inside (passing it through the gap between front seats)
• You can seat 7 or even 8 people inside, somewhat comfortably, with at least 2-3 cupholders per person (still preserving 20-30 ft³ ((0.8m³) of storage space in the back!)
• You can fit a full 42” deep 42U datacenter rack in the back, with space left over for one or two 2U 1500VA UPSes

From: Look at my HUGE RACK! (moving vlog 11).

All that, and all 140ft³ (4.2m³) of interior storage is fully enclosed and climate-controlled.

  <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Jeff Geerling</span></span>

January 3, 2024

https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2024/minivans-are-better-trucks Save to Pocket

Lovely photography by Zay Yar Lin. Several arresting images in his portfolio….

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043715-lovely-photography-by-zay Save to Pocket

What’s on the Ballot in the City of Santa Barbara in 2024?

date: 2024-01-03, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

A ballot measure on city contracts will be in the March primary, and three council seats will be up for grabs in the November general election.

The post What’s on the Ballot in the City of Santa Barbara in 2024? appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/whats-on-the-ballot-in-the-city-of-santa-barbara-in-2024/ Save to Pocket

Open source PostgreSQL named DBMS of the year by DB-Engines

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Already more than 37 years old, the relational system continues to gain popularity

Open source PostgreSQL was today named database management system of the year by popular ranking site DB-Engines.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/opensource_postgresql_named_dbms_of/ Save to Pocket

Passenger on Coast Starlight fatally shot by police officer on Christmas

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

A disturbance aboard the Amtrak train had been reported in Mount Shasta.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/passenger-on-coast-starlight-fatally-shot-by-police-officer-on-christmas/ Save to Pocket

Facing Nearly 100 Sexual-Abuse Lawsuits, Franciscan Friars of California Declare Bankruptcy

date: 2024-01-03, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Santa Barbara attorney says survivors will now “almost certainly never tell their story under oath in a deposition or trial.”

The post Facing Nearly 100 Sexual-Abuse Lawsuits, Franciscan Friars of California Declare Bankruptcy  appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/03/facing-nearly-100-sexual-abuse-lawsuits-franciscan-friars-of-california-declare-bankruptcy/ Save to Pocket

MINISFORUM V3 is a 14 inch Windows tablet with Ryzen 8040, pre-orders begin in Q1, 2024

date: 2024-01-03, from: Liliputing

The MINISFORUM V3 is a Windows tablet with a big, high-resolution display, support for a pressure-sensitive pen and detachable keyboard, two full-function USB4 40 Gbps ports and a third USB-C port that acts as a DisplayPort input, allowing you to use the tablet as a display for other devices. It’s also one of the first tablets announced […]

The post MINISFORUM V3 is a 14 inch Windows tablet with Ryzen 8040, pre-orders begin in Q1, 2024 appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/minisforum-v3-is-a-14-inch-windows-tablet-with-ryzen-8040-pre-orders-begin-in-q1-2024/ Save to Pocket

Plagiarism charges downed Harvard’s president Claudine Gay. A conservative attack helped to fan the outrage

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

The campaign against Gay and other Ivy League presidents has become part of a broader right-wing effort to remake higher education, which has often been seen as a bastion of liberalism.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/plagiarism-charges-downed-harvards-president-a-conservative-attack-helped-to-fan-the-outrage/ Save to Pocket

Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Trying to Make the Science Fiction They…

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043717-tech-billionaires-need-to Save to Pocket

La NASA anticipa el primer vuelo del avión experimental X-59 para 2024

date: 2024-01-03, from: NASA breaking news

Lee esta historia en inglés aquí. La misión Quesst de la NASA ha ajustado la fecha prevista para el primer vuelo de su avión supersónico silencioso X-59 a 2024.  El X-59, un avión experimental único en su clase, ha requerido una compleja labor de ingeniería por parte de los investigadores de la NASA que trabajan […]

https://www.nasa.gov/es/la-nasa-anticipa-el-primer-vuelo-del-avion-experimental-x-59-para-2024/ Save to Pocket

Teen shot in Oakland attempted robbery

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

The youth, an Oakland resident, told police he was standing outside a business when he was approached by thee males who attempted to rob him.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/teen-shot-in-oakland-attempted-robbery/ Save to Pocket

Microsoft prepares Visual Studio 2013 for retirement

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Tick-tock, developers: End of the road comes on April 9, 2024

Microsoft is warning developers that only months remain before extended support for Visual Studio 2013 is pulled on April 9.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/visual_studio_2013_support/ Save to Pocket

Conversion of San Jose tower from offices to homes starts to emerge

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

A project to convert a historic tower in downtown San Jose from offices to housing is starting to take shape – a proposal that could bring a rooftop restaurant to the iconic highrise.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/san-jose-office-home-convert-tower-history-real-estate-build-economy/ Save to Pocket

AYA Neo Flip crowdfunding begins in late January, 2024 (handheld gaming PC with flip-up display and QWERTY keyboard or second screen)

date: 2024-01-03, from: Liliputing

The AYA Neo Flip is a handheld gaming PC with a 7 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS LCD display featuring a 120 Hz refresh rate, an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor with Radeon 780M integrated graphics, and a clamshell design that lets you flip the screen up like a laptop and lock it in […]

The post AYA Neo Flip crowdfunding begins in late January, 2024 (handheld gaming PC with flip-up display and QWERTY keyboard or second screen) appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/aya-neo-flip-crowdfunding-begins-in-late-january-2024-handheld-gaming-pc-with-flip-up-display-and-qwerty-keyboard-or-second-screen/ Save to Pocket

Engineers Design a Vibrating Pill for Weight Loss That Could Create a Feeling of Fullness

date: 2024-01-03, from: Smithsonian Magazine

The capsule is the size of a multivitamin, and in an experiment with pigs, it appeared to reduce the animals’ appetites

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/engineers-design-a-vibrating-pill-for-weight-loss-that-could-create-a-feeling-of-fullness-180983520/ Save to Pocket

@IIIF Mastodon feed (date: 2024-01-03, from: IIIF Mastodon feed)

📣 The Call for Proposals for the 2024 IIIF Annual Conference is now open!

The 2024 #IIIF Conference will be June 4-7 in Los Angeles, CA jointly hosted by UCLA Libraries, Getty, and the #IIIF Consortium.

Read more and submit a proposal: https://bit.ly/24-iiif-cfp

https://glammr.us/@IIIF/111692842013030325 Save to Pocket

Pac-12 WBB power ratings: UCLA repels USC in front of record crowd in Pauley Pavilion as conference play begins

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

The Pac-12 has four teams in the top 10 of the AP rankings

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/pac-12-wbb-power-ratings-ucla-repels-usc-in-front-of-record-crowd-in-pauley-pavilion-as-conference-play-begins/ Save to Pocket

Atos confirms talks with Airbus over cybersecurity wing sale

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

IT service company’s latest move to clear its maturing debts

French IT services provider Atos has entered talks with Airbus to sell its tech security division in an effort to ease its financial burdens.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/atos_confirms_airbus_talks/ Save to Pocket

An “optimistically cautious” forecast for the year ahead

date: 2024-01-03, from: Marketplace Morning Report

Economic forecasts for the coming year are decently optimistic, painting a picture of fairly low unemployment, gradually slowing inflation and continued economic growth. But there are still risks to this mostly sunny outlook — some that are global and some coming from D.C. Plus, soft landing or not, the Richmond Fed president advises us to buckle up. Oh, and Happy Dry January!

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/an-optimistically-cautious-forecast-for-the-year-ahead Save to Pocket

All-Bay Area News Group high school football 2023: Utility players

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

Acalanes, Campolindo, McClymonds, El Cerrito, Las Lomas players among those honored.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/all-bay-area-news-group-high-school-football-2023-utility-players/ Save to Pocket

Teen’s promising swimming career in limbo after he is accused of slapping teammate on the backside

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

For 20 months, a teenage swimmer has been awaiting a decision about ‘sexual misconduct’ accusations filed against him by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Police investigated and dismissed the allegations. But the swimmer remains in limbo.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/teens-promising-swimming-career-in-limbo-after-he-is-accused-of-slapping-teammate-on-the-backside/ Save to Pocket

Biden to Sharpen Attack on Trump in Jan. 6 Anniversary Speech

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-to-sharpen-attack-on-trump-in-jan-6-anniversary-speech/7424982.html Save to Pocket

The ‘Accidental Activist’ Who Changed the Face of Mathematics

date: 2024-01-03, from: Quanta Magazine

The post The ‘Accidental Activist’ Who Changed the Face of Mathematics first appeared on Quanta Magazine

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-accidental-activist-who-changed-the-face-of-mathematics-20240103/ Save to Pocket

@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-03, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

NYT lists their 13 most likely contenders for Best Picture.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/03/movies/oscars-best-picture.html Save to Pocket

Meet the newest breed to join the American Kennel Club, a little dog with a big smile

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

It’s small in stature, big on activity and known for a “smile,” and it’s ready to compete with 200 other dog breeds. Say hello to the Lancashire heeler.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/meet-the-newest-breed-to-join-the-american-kennel-club-a-little-dog-with-a-big-smile/ Save to Pocket

All-Bay Area News Group high school football 2023: Defensive backs

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

Los Gatos, The King’s Academy, Pittsburg, Campolindo, Wilcox players among those honored

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/all-bay-area-news-group-high-school-football-2023-defensive-backs/ Save to Pocket

Japan to test datacenter powered by reused hydrogen fuel cells

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

The source? Repurposed parts from electric vehicles

Honda and Mitsubishi are to test the feasibility of powering a datacenter with fuel cells taken from electric vehicles, using hydrogen produced as a byproduct of an industrial process.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/japan_to_test_datacenter_powered/ Save to Pocket

Driver hospitalized after vehicle was hit by Caltrain in Burlingame

date: 2024-01-03, from: San Jose Mercury News

A person was hospitalized after their vehicle was struck by a Caltrain in Burlingame early Wednesday morning.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/01/03/driver-hospitalized-after-vehicle-was-hit-by-caltrain-in-burlingame/ Save to Pocket

Is your Instagram feed “news”? Depends on how you feel.

date: 2024-01-03, from: Nieman Journalism Lab

We’ve become quite used to the notion that social media platforms’ endless stream of flattened, homogenized “content” has blurred the line between news and other forms of media and information (though, of course, that line was never perfectly clear to begin with). That blurring has allowed new and innovative voices into the news ecosystem, but it has also made news…

https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/01/is-your-instagram-feed-news-depends-on-how-you-feel/ Save to Pocket

Fight Fire With Dragon

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: One Foot Tsunami

https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/01/03/fight-fire-with-dragon/ Save to Pocket

Wickr Is Dead

date: 2024-01-03, from: 404 Media Group

The app was a privacy-championing startup, before becoming an app of choice for drug traffickers and being acquired by Amazon Web Services. Near the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2023, AWS shut down the free version of Wickr for good.

https://www.404media.co/wickr-closed-down-is-dead/ Save to Pocket

Conservatives’ “anti-woke” alternative to Disney has arrived

date: 2024-01-03, from: Nieman Journalism Lab

As fanfare blares, female sprinters at the starting line suspiciously eye a man in a wig. A hulking, goateed wrestler slams a woman half his size to the mat. An ominous voiceover intones that women’s sports are being “trans-formed.” No, this isn’t the beginning of a classic cross-dressing comedy. It’s the trailer for “Lady Ballers,” a…

https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/01/conservatives-anti-woke-alternative-to-disney-has-arrived/ Save to Pocket

Windows boss takes on taskbar turmoil, pledges to ‘make Start menu great again’

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Users aren’t the only ones questioning the Windows 11 feature’s utility

Windows boss Mikhail Parakhin has admitted that the Start menu needs a bit of work.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/windows_11_start_great_again/ Save to Pocket

Guam Youth Congress resolution: More funding for FSM students

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

The 34th Guam Youth Congress introduced a new resolution that sheds light on the abrupt cut in scholarship funding for Federated States of Micronesia students at the University of Guam.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/guam-youth-congress-resolution-more-funding-for-fsm-students/article_a28549d0-a91a-11ee-bd98-874a109ce3c3.html Save to Pocket

UOG launches magazine for kids

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

The University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant launched a new science, technology, engineering and math magazine, CHalan Deskubre, in December 2023 for children on Guam and the Northern Marianas.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/uog-launches-magazine-for-kids/article_72f43f98-a472-11ee-a49c-8f4c64cea8ec.html Save to Pocket

Suspect allegedly stabbed victim in Mangilao death investigation

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

A man was accused of stabbing Mike Tithin, whose body was found behind a Mangilao home last month.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/suspect-allegedly-stabbed-victim-in-mangilao-death-investigation/article_d47e9fc4-a9e5-11ee-9206-679f1a18dc88.html Save to Pocket

Book details Babauta’s undercover gator mission

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

Nobody will miss it.

https://www.postguam.com/entertainment/lifestyle/book-details-babauta-s-undercover-gator-mission/article_d73824be-a9c8-11ee-90ea-3fb23d824068.html Save to Pocket

Court reverses OPA dismissed baggage procurement appeal

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

Superior Court of Guam Judge Elyze Iriarte has determined that Public Auditor Benjamin Cruz improperly dismissed the procurement appeal filed by JMI-Edison Inc. regarding baggage conveyance system management and support services at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport.The decision boiled…

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/court-reverses-opa-dismissed-baggage-procurement-appeal/article_ca6dd746-a9d3-11ee-a513-f316714cc15e.html Save to Pocket

UOG seeking US District Court’s dismissal of discrimination suit

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

The University of Guam is seeking to dismiss the discrimination lawsuit filed by Ye-Kyoung Kim, arguing that her case failed to state a valid claim. The motion was filed by Deputy Attorney General Darlow Graham Botha and Special Assistant AG…

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/uog-seeking-us-district-court-s-dismissal-of-discrimination-suit/article_4ebab334-a86c-11ee-8cdc-a316a545d06e.html Save to Pocket

Guam Green Growth accepting Conservation Corps applications

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

Applications are now being accepted for the fourth cohort of Guam Green Growth’s Conservation Corps program.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/guam-green-growth-accepting-conservation-corps-applications/article_b15cba74-a915-11ee-b468-1369c1ed57e5.html Save to Pocket

Gary Horton | Are We Who We Think We Are?

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Happy New Year to the Santa Clarita Valley! On to what will prove, one way or another, a monumentally important year.  Americans have long thought of themselves as an exceptional people, blessed of God. Some speak of us as a “Shining City on a Hill.” Our compassion and empathy are said to be unmatched. Britannica […]

The post Gary Horton | Are We Who We Think We Are? appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/gary-horton-are-we-who-we-think-we-are/ Save to Pocket

Stephen Maseda | Noble Lies and Logic

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Mr. Ron Perry’s (Dec. 21) reply to Pastor David Hegg’s column of Dec. 15 concerning “Noble Lies” contains a number of assertions that do not withstand even cursory analysis.  We start from the conclusion that Mr. Perry is a non-believer, I assume an atheist. Based on his beliefs he asserts that religion is a “lie” […]

The post Stephen Maseda | Noble Lies and Logic appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/stephen-maseda-noble-lies-and-logic/ Save to Pocket

Rob Kerchner | It Was Inevitable

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Once America began saying two men could be married, it wasn’t long before two men could be two women. Rob Kerchner Valencia 

The post Rob Kerchner | It Was Inevitable appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/rob-kerchner-it-was-inevitable/ Save to Pocket

AM Briefing: A Deadline Blown​

date: 2024-01-03, from: Heatmap News

Current conditions: Parts of northern France are flooded after Storm Henk • China confirmed 2023 broke extreme heat records • A California-bound ship carrying 800 metric tons of lithium batteries is stuck in Alaska, riding out a major winter storm.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Tesla and Rivian release Q4 sales numbers

Tesla and Rivian yesterday reported their production and sales figures for the final three months of 2023: Tesla delivered 484,507, besting expectations. Rivian, a newcomer still trying to secure itself a foothold in the market, delivered 13,972 cars over the same time period, missing estimates by a hair. “The two companies’ numbers serve as snapshots of both the promise and peril of auto electrification as we roll into 2024,” writes Matthew Zeitlin at Heatmap. Tesla, having been overtaken by BYD in the global EV market, must now focus on scaling beyond the early EV adopters. Rivian, however, is at a very different stage, Zeitlin says: “not the early days of using investor money to develop a new vehicle, but the next stage, where you have an actual car to sell but you have to figure out a way to make money doing it.”

2. Vineyard Wind 1 project misses 2023 grid deadline

One of America’s first large-scale offshore wind farms missed its deadline to start supplying energy to the grid by the end of 2023. The Vineyard Wind 1 project is situated about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and will eventually consist of 62 turbines that can power more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts. Its first five turbines have been installed, and things were looking good for a December 31 launch. But at the very last minute a spokesperson said the project needed more testing. No timeline was given but the spokesperson said the goal was to “deliver power to shore soon.” The project was supposed to be fully operational by the middle of 2024 but developers have now “clarified” that the timeline is sometime within 2024. In December, the South Fork Wind project in New York became the first utility-scale offshore wind farm to generate power in the U.S.

3. U.K. fossil fuel electricity generation drops to 66-year low

The amount of the United Kingdom’s electricity that came from fossil fuels dropped by 22% last year to the lowest level since 1957, according to CarbonBrief. Electricity from coal, oil, and gas peaked in 2008 but has since plummeted thanks to the rapid expansion of renewables like wind and solar, a drop in electricity demand, and a boost in electricity imports. Coal use is down 97% since 2008; gas is down by 45%. Meanwhile, renewables output has increased six-fold, and last year renewable energy was the UK’s single largest source of power. “Overall, the electricity generated in the UK in 2023 had the lowest-ever carbon intensity,” CarbonBrief concludes.

On the flip side, UK power generation from nuclear plants dropped to a 42-year low last year as old stations were decommissioned. Without more nuclear power to fall back on during cloudy or wind-free days, the country may have to rely more on fossil fuels, explains Bloomberg.

Get Heatmap AM delivered to your inbox every weekday morning:

4. Wyoming carbon removal project would rely on small modular nuclear reactors

A major carbon removal project planned for Wyoming would rely on small modular nuclear reactors – a new kind of nuclear power plant that has never been built in the U.S. – prompting concerns about its feasibility, reports E&E News. Climate tech startup CarbonCapture recently received more than $10 million from the Department of Energy to explore plans for a direct air capture hub in Wyoming, dubbed “Project Bison.” Scientists say removing carbon from the air is necessary to help fight global warming. Small modular reactors could, in theory, provide carbon capture facilities with emissions-free power, but the nation’s first small modular reactors were axed last year as costs spiraled out of control. “It adds complication upon complication,” says Wil Burns, co-director of American University’s Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy. “You’re starting off with a complex new technology, and now you’re trying to wed another complex technology, including one that’s in transition.”

CarbonCapture

5. Study: Major East Coast cities are sinking

New research from Virginia Tech and the U.S. Geological Survey finds that major cities on the East Coast – from New York to Virginia Beach – are sinking. The team analyzed satellite data to spot land subsidence and found that some areas are sinking by as much as 5 millimeters per year. This subsidence, when combined with sea level rise caused by climate change, means essential structures like roads to airports are at risk in many major U.S. cities. “The problem is that the hotspots of sinking land intersect directly with population and infrastructure hubs,” says lead author Leonard Ohenhen.

THE KICKER

If you’re a journalist seeking comment on last year’s record temperatures, look no further than climate scientist Andrew Dressler’s “last year was hot” auto-response:

X/AndrewDressler

https://heatmap.news/climate/am-briefing-a-deadline-blown Save to Pocket

Copy that? Xerox confirms ‘security incident’ at subsidiary

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Company’s removal from ransomware gang’s leak blog could mean negotiations underway

Xerox has officially confirmed that a cyber baddie broke into the systems of its US subsidiary - a week after INC Ransom claimed to have exfiltrated data from the copier and print giant.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/xerox_inks_confirmation_of_security/ Save to Pocket

What Parents Of English Learners Need To Know | Quick Guide

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-04, from: The LAist

It can be difficult to understand whether your child is progressing toward proficiency in English. Here’s a quick guide for parents.

https://laist.com/news/education/what-parents-of-english-learners-need-to-know-quick-guide Save to Pocket

Education Doesn’t Solve The Pay Gap. Experts Say They’re Not Surprised

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The LAist

The gap exists across industries but is bigger in higher-paying fields, leading to more calls for policies that aid women in the workforce.

https://laist.com/news/education/education-doesnt-solve-the-pay-gap-experts-say-theyre-not-surprised Save to Pocket

It Keeps People With Schizophrenia In School And On The Job. Why Won’t Insurance Pay?

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The LAist

A new approach to schizophrenia involves managing early psychosis symptoms and keeping young people in school or jobs. The treatment is effective, but private insurance plans don’t usually cover it.

https://laist.com/news/education/schizophrenia-in-school-on-the-job-insurance Save to Pocket

Gặp Bà Nội/Bà Ngoại Việt Nam Chiến Đấu Chống Tin Tức Không Đúng, Mỗi Lần Một Video trên YouTube

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Markup blog

“Tôi nghĩ rằng người Việt ở Hoa Kỳ không có nhận được đầy đủ tin tức đáng tin cậy. Và tôi không biết làm sao để giúp họ có được tin tức đáng tin cậy, ngoại trừ bằng cách làm hết sức mình qua video”.

https://themarkup.org/languages-of-misinformation/2024/01/03/gap-ba-noi-ba-ngoai-viet-nam-chien-dau-chong-tin-tuc-khong-dung-moi-lan-mot-video-tren-youtube Save to Pocket

Put a Privacy Protector on Your Screen

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Markup blog

Prying eyes (like mine!) might be shoulder surfing your devices. Here’s how to protect yourself

https://themarkup.org/gentle-january/2024/01/03/put-a-privacy-protector-on-your-screen Save to Pocket

California Rose Parade Features Float for Armenian Mothers

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

Armenian Americans in Southern California celebrated their culture with a flowered float in the annual Rose Parade, moving on from a turbulent year that included Armenians’ exodus from their former enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan’s borders. Genia Dulot has our story from Pasadena.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-rose-parade-armenians-web-mp4/7424744.html Save to Pocket

CloudBees co-founder buzzes about open source drama and AI

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Sacha Labourey on the HashiCorp license, Jenkins X experiments, and when LLMs will come for your job

Interview  “It’s the experiment that went too far,” says CloudBees’ Sacha Labourey of HashiCorp’s licensing change.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/cloudbees_sacha_labourey_interview/ Save to Pocket

What might reparations look like? California could find out.

date: 2024-01-03, from: Marketplace Morning Report

After a California task force issued an 1,100-page report last summer, lawmakers there are starting to look at policy options to compensate Black residents descended from enslaved ancestors. Now, a state reparations bill could be voted on this year. As part of a three-part series, we’re chronicling the history, details and challenges of California’s reparations movement. But first, markets start 2024 with a course reversal.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/what-might-reparations-look-like-california-could-find-out Save to Pocket

Facial Recognition Systems in the US

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2023-12-28, from: Bruce Schneier blog

A helpful summary of which US retail stores are using facial recognition, thinking about using it, or currently not planning on using it. (This, of course, can all change without notice.)

Three years ago, I wrote that campaigns to ban facial recognition are too narrow. The problem here is identification, correlation, and then discrimination. There’s no difference whether the identification technology is facial recognition, the MAC address of our phones, gait recognition, license plate recognition, or anything else. Facial recognition is just the easiest technology right now…

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/01/facial-recognition-systems-in-the-us.html Save to Pocket

More vessels avoid the Red Sea

date: 2024-01-03, from: Marketplace Morning Report

From the BBC World Service: One in five major commercial ships is now avoiding the Red Sea because of the threat of attack, according to the head of the International Chamber of Shipping. Tesla has been toppled off its top slot as the global leader of electric car sales by Chinese rival BYD. And a cuckoo clock museum in the U.K. is looking for a someone to take the reins.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/more-vessels-avoid-the-red-sea Save to Pocket

EU lassos tech giants in bid to rein in the AI Wild West

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Interpretation, debate, and judges set to decide how the rubber hits the road

Analysis  As 2023 drew to a close, the year of AI hype was ending as it began. According to figures from Pitchbook, Big Tech spent twice as much on deals with Generative AI startups than venture capital groups during the year.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/eu_ai_legistlation/ Save to Pocket

The Michael Pollan Rule Applies to Fashion, Too

date: 2024-01-03, from: Heatmap News

News broke in early November that the U.S. federal dietary guidelines might soon warn Americans against eating “ultraprocessed food.”

It’s far from a done deal — an advisory committee is merely examining the issue, with no action expected before 2025. But it’s still somewhat of a duh moment for the millions of people who, over the past two decades, have turned away from food that comes in instant packets, boxes, and cans, and toward things that come from the produce aisle or the farmers market. Recent research makes a strong case that — more than individual villains like sugar, corn syrup, trans fats, and salt — it’s the way all these ingredients and more are pounded, mixed, extruded, and stuffed into shelf-stable forms that lead to health problems and weight gain.

Michael Pollan — the author who brought you the mantra “Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants” — is arguably one of the biggest catalysts for the real food movement. In a lesson from his Masterclass on intentional eating, he warns against foods with “very long ingredient lists,” saying that “the simplest way to think about an ultraprocessed food is you can’t imagine making it at home.”

You’ve heard of fast food and its linguistic child: the environmental scourge that is fast fashion. I would like to add a new term to the health and environmental zeitgeist:

Ultraprocessed fashion.

Corn Syrup versus Gore-Tex

In the early 2010s, I saw my own health and happiness vastly improve after overhauling my diet to eat whole, farm-fresh foods. But I wanted to take it further. I figured that if it matters to the environment and our health where we buy our food from, it might matter where we get other things, like beauty products, home goods, and fashion.

Still, for a long, the argument for U.S. shoppers in favor of buying more sustainable fashion — the kind of classic, durable pieces skillfully made of natural fibers by artisans and American factories — was largely an altruistic one. Sustainable fashion purchases were meant to benefit a cotton farmer in India you would never meet, to protect a river in Kenya you would never see, or support a community of craftspeople in Thailand you would never have the privilege of knowing.

Even more nebulous, arguments that purchasing this instead of that would prevent the release of (super rough estimate) a few pounds of invisible climate-polluting gas into the atmosphere have not proven to be a very strong motivator for shoppers. In survey after survey, consumers swear up and down that they care deeply about sustainability … as long as it doesn’t inconvenience them, cost more money, or look too crunchy.

That’s an impossible standard. Sustainable fashion, whether it takes the form of a 100% wool sweater from California, a hand-block-printed cotton sundress, or a naturally dyed button-down, is always going to be more expensive than its synthetic counterpart made in a sweatshop somewhere where the workers are cheap and the laws are loose. Neither does slow fashion keep up with TikTok trends, by definition.

I initially had a hard time connecting sustainable fashion to Western shoppers’ well-being beyond the argument that an overstuffed, chaotic closet full of fast fashion can’t be good for your mental health or time management. After all, we’re not eating our clothing, right?

That all changed in 2019, when I first heard that Delta Air Lines attendants were suing Lands’ End, the maker of their uniforms, saying the new clothes were making them sick.

If you could call any clothing ultraprocessed, it would be these uniforms. While old airline outfits were made of traditional wool suiting and cotton button-downs in staid colors, the uniforms introduced in the past decade or so at Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, and Southwest all were made of synthetic blends. They came in super-saturated colors and were coated in layers of performance chemicals: flame retardants, Teflon for stain resistance, and formaldehyde-based wrinkle-free finishes. They were made fast and cheap by suppliers in countries with lax environmental standards.

As I reported in my book To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick – and How We Can Fight Back, at every single one of those four major airlines, up to a quarter of the attendants reported having health reactions, including rashes and skin burns, breathing problems, hair loss, blurry vision, brain fog, and extreme fatigue. Some attendants had to be taken off their planes and brought to the ER. Though the lawsuit by Delta flight attendants didn’t move forward, in November of this year a jury awarded over $1 million to four American Airlines flight attendants who said their Twin Hill uniforms made them sick.

The next question that arises is: Is this happening to regular folks, too? And the answer is yes, but in more subtle and insidious ways. For example, the kinds of dyes used on synthetic materials like polyester (disperse dyes) are well-known to dermatologists to be common skin sensitizers. But many people may not know it’s clothing exacerbating their toddler’s eczema or setting off their own skin problems.

But the issue is more serious than just rashes, though rashes are often the first sign that something is wrong. Researchers and advocacy groups have tested fashion from well-known brands and counterfeits alike and found heavy metals like lead, chromium, and cadmium; endocrine disruptors like Bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); biocides, pesticides, and fungicides; and known carcinogens like benzene, certain azo dyes, and formaldehyde. (This is an abbreviated list, by the way.)

We’ve known for a long time these chemicals end up in our water and environment. PFAS, a toxic class of chemicals used for imbuing synthetics with water resistance, has been found all over Mount Everest’s summit, for example. But what we’re increasingly seeing is that our fashion, like our diets, affects our physical health.

Take microfibers, which in Heatmap’s recent survey were deemed to be a problem by 61% of respondents, and an “extremely serious” problem by 25% of respondents. When microfibers come off our clothes in the wash or break off our clothes and become part of our house dust, they bring with them everything that is in and on clothing. Given that we’re ingesting microfibers every day, we are eating our clothes. We’re also breathing in their VOCs, and our sweat is pulling those chemicals out of fibers onto our skin, where they can be absorbed into our bloodstream.

One of the main reasons fashion has turned from a field-to-closet endeavor to a chemistry experiment is the same as for food: It’s more profitable to sell highly processed, branded products made exclusively from petrochemicals and with a lot of marketing promises than it is to sell traditional pieces made from natural materials.

This happens at both ends of the fashion spectrum. At the low end, as Shein has shown, you can grow your company at an unprecedented speed by sourcing huge volumes of $5 polyester minidresses from garment factories with dubious working conditions, according to numerous reports.

At the other end, a company can add proprietary, brand-name chemistry like Gore-Tex to outdoor gear and sell it at a huge markup. Just observe a bit currently going around on TikTok where a spouse or partner requests you wear your most expensive clothing to an event or to meet the parents, so you show up in hiking gear.

Sure, if you’re a professional fisherman plowing through rough seas for your catch, a first responder, or a scientist living in the Arctic, you may well need high-performance gear. But for the rest of us, it’s just aspirational marketing, kind of like drinking Gatorade while you’re on the couch watching football.

Yes, It’s That Bad

Like the food industry before it, the fashion industry’s focus when it comes to safe and non-toxic fashion has been on individual chemicals or classes of chemicals instead of the holistic picture. The (completely voluntary) standards used by some fashion brands and certifications will test a textile for a tiny percentage of the tens of thousands of possible chemical substances in circulation, and if each is under the (often arbitrary) limit, the fashion piece will be declared safe.

This approach, however, doesn’t take into account how chemicals can mix to have synergistic effects on the same organs or cause the same health effects.

For example, it’s completely within the realm of possibility for one clothing item or outfit to have BPA, phthalates, and PFAS, each of which by itself wreaks havoc on our hormonal system, even in tiny, tiny amounts. Some of these chemicals are used to process fibers. Some chemicals such as finishes, dyes, and glues are used deliberately and are meant to stay in and on the fashion. Some chemicals are accidental contaminants, as fabrics and components flow through an opaque, unregulated, and just plain sloppy supply chain.

That then can affect everything from our reproductive system and energy levels to our skin appearance and weight. And all this while you’re trying to take care of your health by taking a hike or hitting the gym. It kind of reminds me of when cereal brands will brag about the vitamins they’ve added to their sugary, processed cereal.

What’s more, unlike food, cleaning products, and beauty products, clothing doesn’t come with a complete ingredient list. Anything under 5% of the weight of the product doesn’t have to be included. So what kind of finishes, dyes, threads, or contaminants are present in any piece of fashion is somewhat of a mystery.

When people ask me what they should buy or what they should clean out of their closets, I usually give them a list of things to look for and things to avoid — yes to natural fibers like cotton, wool, linen, bamboo rayon, and silk; no to toxic “vegan” leather polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other synthetics, which are more likely to contain hazardous or sensitizing chemicals; avoid neon bright colors and buy naturally dyed or undyed products when you can; don’t dry clean your clothes.

But a simpler way to think about it would be to avoid clothing and accessories that your grandparents would look askance at, just like Pollan has encouraged us to do at the grocery store. Wait, what is Pertex® 20D Diamond Fuse Ripstop nylon? Or a polyester Lycra® elastane blend with anti-odor technology? What does it mean when something has Durable Water Repellant? What is actually in Memory Foam™ or the smelly glue that bonds it to the bottom of a sneaker? Do you really believe that a piece of clothing that smells like gasoline out of the box is okay for your health — or for anyone’s health? Which sounds better to you: chromium-tanned leather or vegetable-tanned leather?

Sure, it may take a bit more time, skill, and investment than buying synthetic clothing that you drop off at the dry cleaner. But then again, so does making a nutritious meal from ingredients you get at the farmer’s market. And, I would argue, both are a core part of cultivating a healthier, more vibrant, community-oriented, and nurturing life.

https://heatmap.news/lifestyle/ultraprocessed-fashion-forever-chemicals Save to Pocket

Japanese earthquake disrupts chip industry operations

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Industry lull good for tech, but human toll is grim reading

The 7.6 preliminary magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on New Year’s Day is forcing Ishikawa Prefecture chip and electronics companies to temporarily shut their doors, with affected companies including Toshiba, GlobalWafers, Murata and others.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/japanese_earthquake_disrupts_chip_industry/ Save to Pocket

Office Hours: Our start-of-year presidential poll

date: 2024-01-03, from: Robert Reich on Substack

Who in your view will win (not who should win, but who will win) the presidency?

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/office-hours-our-start-of-year-presidential Save to Pocket

NASA Invites You to X-59 Rollout Watch Party

date: 2024-01-03, from: NASA breaking news

It’s almost time for NASA’s supersonic X-59 airplane to make its red, white, and blue public debut, and you’re invited to join friends and family in taking a front-row, virtual VIP seat to the rollout ceremony in the California high desert. As a historic milestone in aviation history, NASA is encouraging people across the nation […]

https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/x-59-rollout-watch-party/ Save to Pocket

Huge Number of Migrants Highlights Border Crisis

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

https://www.voanews.com/a/huge-number-of-migrants-highlights-border-crisis/7424665.html Save to Pocket

@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-03, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

Driverless cars swerve traffic citations in California.

https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/driverless_cars_tickets/ Save to Pocket

In surprise move, Gentoo Linux starts offering binaries

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

The most successful compile-it-yourself Linux distro now has compiled, packaged executables

Gentoo now offers 20-plus gigabytes of pre-compiled binaries, from desktops to office suites, to speed up installations and updates.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/gentoo_starts_offering_binaries/ Save to Pocket

First Pooh, now Mickey. In public domain, early Mickey Mouse version will star in horror movies

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>LOS ANGELES (AP) &#8212; The earliest iteration of Mickey Mouse is on a rampage, barely two days in the public domain.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/first-pooh-now-mickey-in-public-domain-early-mickey-mouse-version-will-star-in-horror-movies/ Save to Pocket

Obituares for January 3

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Lordes Lauro Galapir, 88, of Hilo, died Dec. 25. Born in Pahala, she was a homemaker. Visitation to be held from 8-9:30 a.m. Jan. 9 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hilo, with funeral to take place at 9:30 a.m. and a committal service and burial to be held at noon the same day at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery #2. Survived by sons Harvey (Debbie) Galapir of Pahala, Wesley (Ella) Galapir of Keaau and Patrick (Charlene) Galapir of Hilo; daughters Josephine (Steven) Pelayo of Keaau, Faith (Michael) Derasin of Waiohinu and Zina (Payton) Hough of Kauai; sister Encarnation Evangelista of Ainaloa; brother Alfred (Leslie) Lauro of Hilo; 14 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Arrangements by Dodo Mortuary.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/obituaries/obituares-for-january-3/ Save to Pocket

Trump appeals Maine ruling barring him from ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>PORTLAND, Maine &#8212; Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday appealed a ruling by Maine&#8217;s secretary of state barring him from the state&#8217;s 2024 ballot over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, contending she had no authority, that he incited no riot, never swore to &#8220;support&#8221; the Constitution and was not a government officer as stipulated in the constitutional amendment she cited.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/trump-appeals-maine-ruling-barring-him-from-ballot-under-the-constitutions-insurrection-clause/ Save to Pocket

Armed man breaks into Colorado Supreme Court building, causes ‘significant and extensive’ damage

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>DENVER &#8212; A man shot through a window and broke into the Colorado Supreme Court building early Tuesday, causing &#8220;significant and extensive&#8221; damage in several areas of the building before surrendering to police, authorities said.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/armed-man-breaks-into-colorado-supreme-court-building-causes-significant-and-extensive-damage/ Save to Pocket

Judges let new California ban on guns in many public places take effect amid legal fight

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>A new California law barring licensed gun holders from carrying their firearms into an array of public places took effect Monday despite an ongoing legal challenge to its legitimacy.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/judges-let-new-california-ban-on-guns-in-many-public-places-take-effect-amid-legal-fight/ Save to Pocket

Harvard president Claudine Gay resigns amid plagiarism claims, backlash from antisemitism testimony

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p> Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned Tuesday amid plagiarism accusations and criticism over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say unequivocally that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school&#8217;s conduct policy.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/harvard-president-claudine-gay-resigns-amid-plagiarism-claims-backlash-from-antisemitism-testimony/ Save to Pocket

Planes collide and catch fire at Japan’s busy Haneda airport, killing 5. Hundreds evacuated safely

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>TOKYO &#8212; A large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo&#8217;s Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing five people aboard the coast guard plane, officials said.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/planes-collide-and-catch-fire-at-japans-busy-haneda-airport-killing-5-hundreds-evacuated-safely/ Save to Pocket

2 Honolulu police officers shot, gunman dead after chase

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>HONOLULU (AP) &#8212; A man in Honolulu shot and wounded a woman, stole a car at gunpoint and was later killed in a shootout with police that left two officers wounded, authorities said.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/hawaii-news/2-honolulu-police-officers-shot-gunman-dead-after-chase/ Save to Pocket

Apparent Israeli strike kills senior Hamas figure in Beirut and raises fears conflict could expand

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>BEIRUT &#8212; An apparent Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut killed Hamas&#8217; No. 2 political leader Tuesday, marking a potentially significant escalation of Israel&#8217;s war against the militant group and heightening the risk of a wider Middle East conflict.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/apparent-israeli-strike-kills-senior-hamas-figure-in-beirut-and-raises-fears-conflict-could-expand/ Save to Pocket

LaPierre, longtime NRA leader, faces trial that could end his reign

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>NEW YORK &#8212; For decades, Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association&#8217;s longtime leader, has been a survivor. He has endured waves of palace intrigue, corruption scandals and embarrassing revelations, including leaked video that captured his inability to shoot an elephant at point-blank range while on a safari.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/lapierre-longtime-nra-leader-faces-trial-that-could-end-his-reign/ Save to Pocket

States and Congress wrestle with cybersecurity after Iran attacks small town water utilities

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>HARRISBURG, Pa. &#8212; The tiny Aliquippa water authority in western Pennsylvania was perhaps the least-suspecting victim of an international cyberattack.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/states-and-congress-wrestle-with-cybersecurity-after-iran-attacks-small-town-water-utilities/ Save to Pocket

More bike-share stations constructed for Hilo and Kona

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Pedestrians can find more public bicycles in convenient locations thanks to the recent addition of HIBIKE bike-share stations in Hilo and Kailua-Kona.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/hawaii-news/more-bike-share-stations-constructed-for-hilo-and-kona/ Save to Pocket

County seeks members for CDP Action Committees

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Hawaii County is seeking civic-minded residents to join action committees around the island to help shape policy for most of the island&#8217;s districts.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/hawaii-news/county-seeks-members-for-cdp-action-committees/ Save to Pocket

Powerful earthquakes in Japan leave at least 62 dead. Fears grow about saving people still trapped

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>SUZU, Japan &#8212; A series of powerful earthquakes that hit western Japan left at least 62 people dead Wednesday, as rescue workers fought to save those feared trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/nation-world-news/powerful-earthquakes-in-japan-leave-at-least-62-dead-fears-grow-about-saving-people-still-trapped/ Save to Pocket

Hawaii welcomes first babies of the new year

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>About 20 minutes into the new year, Queen&#8217;s North Hawaii Community Hospital welcomed the first baby to be born in a Big Island hospital in 2024.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/hawaii-news/hawaii-welcomes-first-babies-of-the-new-year/ Save to Pocket

Government proposals worry Maui short-term rental owners

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>MAKAWAO &#8212; Finding housing for survivors has emerged as a top priority in the wake of the devastating Maui wildfires, but many fear that proposals coming forth to convert vacation rental units will jeopardize some businesses still struggling to stay afloat after the pandemic and since Lahaina&#8217;s destruction.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/hawaii-news/government-proposals-worry-maui-short-term-rental-owners/ Save to Pocket

Plein aire exhibit and more open at Wailoa Center

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>The Wailoa Center and the Hawaii Island Art Alliance will be kicking off 2024 with the opening of multiple exhibits from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the center.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/community/plein-aire-exhibit-and-more-open-at-wailoa-center/ Save to Pocket

UH-Hilo students work on Helelani planetary rover

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Four University of Hawaii at Hilo computer science and engineering students closed out 2023 by working to improve the computing code for the Helelani planetary rover.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/community/uh-hilo-students-work-on-helelani-planetary-rover/ Save to Pocket

HFS offers $45K in scholarships

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Applications for the 2024 HFS Federal Credit Union Scholarship Program are now being accepted online from current Big Island high school seniors in the graduating class of 2024 and existing college students.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/community/hfs-offers-45k-in-scholarships/ Save to Pocket

CERT training course slated for Jan. 27-28

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency has scheduled a two-day Community Emergency Response Team Basic Training course from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27, and Sunday, Jan. 28, at the Aupuni Center Conference Room at 101 Pauahi St. in Hilo.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/community/cert-training-course-slated-for-jan-27-28/ Save to Pocket

Man identified in apparent murder/suicide in Kealakekua

date: 2024-01-03, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>The Hawaii Police Department has identified the male victim in an apparent murder/suicide that took place New Year&#8217;s Day in Kealakekua.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/03/hawaii-news/man-identified-in-apparent-murder-suicide-in-kealakekua/ Save to Pocket

SBF’s Victory From Behind Bars

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Lever News

Federal regulators allow a small cryptocurrency firm to vertically integrate, deregulating the industry just like Sam Bankman-Fried wanted.

https://www.levernews.com/sbfs-victory-from-behind-bars/ Save to Pocket

Google flaunts concurrency, optimization as cloud rivals overhaul platforms

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Details sub-CPU allotments, performant Iceberg tables after Microsoft, Databricks bring market noise

Feature  Last year was a big one for data analytics and ML in the cloud. Two of the biggest players, Microsoft and Databricks, both overhauled their platforms, with the former also managing to launch products.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/google_flaunts_concurrency_and_optimizstion/ Save to Pocket

Careful what you wish for

date: 2024-01-03, from: Bloonface Blog

I want to preface this by saying that I think Liz Truss is an idiot whose programme for government would have been very harmful, at the very least socially and in terms of public services, had it actually been implemented in any coherent sense, and is in basic opposition to almost everything I believe in. […]

http://blog.bloonface.com/2024/01/03/careful-what-you-wish-for/ Save to Pocket

Togo hospital employs Raspberry Pi 400 as a thin client

date: 2024-01-03, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)

Raspberry Pi 400 is helping to transform essential record-keeping at Bethesda Hospital in Togo, West Africa.

The post Togo hospital employs Raspberry Pi 400 as a thin client appeared first on Raspberry Pi.

https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/togo-hospital-employs-raspberry-pi-400-as-a-thin-client/ Save to Pocket

The Savvy Senior | How to Close Social Media Accounts of a Deceased Loved One

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Dear Savvy Senior,   How do I go about canceling a person’s social media accounts when they die? My wife passed away a few months ago and her social media accounts are still active.    — Sad Spouse   Dear Sad,   I’m very sorry for your loss, but this is a smart move on […]

The post The Savvy Senior | How to Close Social Media Accounts of a Deceased Loved One appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/the-savvy-senior-how-to-close-social-media-accounts-of-a-deceased-loved-one/ Save to Pocket

Formal ban on ransomware payments? Asking orgs nicely to not cough up ain’t working

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

With the average demand hitting $1.5 million, something’s gotta change

Emsisoft has called for a complete ban on ransom payments following another record-breaking year of digital extortion.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/ban_ransomware_payments/ Save to Pocket

Tim Button on sets and functions

date: 2024-01-03, from: Logic Matters blog

A very interesting new piece on the arXiv by Tim Button, on “The iterative conception of function and the iterative conception of set” — what’s to choose between a universe of sets and a universe of functions as a “foundation”? Technically inventive, conceptually challenging.

The post Tim Button on sets and functions appeared first on Logic Matters.

https://www.logicmatters.net/2024/01/03/tim-button-on-sets-and-functions/ Save to Pocket

Answers to my analytics inquiry

date: 2024-01-03, from: Manu - I write blog

I’m aware it’s not Saturday but I realised I didn’t need to collect a full week worth of data to get an answer to my question and so I decided that three full days were enough. I have data for December 30th and 31st and January 1st. That’s more that enough. So let’s do some digging shall we.

A quick acknowledgement

Before I cruch the numbers I want to highlight two people who got in touch mentioning their similar experiments: Jim Nielsen—who’s also a P&B guest—and Chris Krycho.

The metrics

I think it’s important to first establish what these tools are measuring. I’m interested in one single data point: how many people have accessed my content. Should be simple enough in theory. That information is often referred to as Unique user or Unique visitor. But how are these tools determining what counts as unique?

Plausible doesn’t use cookies and to track unique visitors they do the following:

Every single HTTP request sends the IP address and the User-Agent to the server so that’s what we use. We generate a daily changing identifier using the visitor’s IP address and User-Agent. To anonymize these datapoints and make them impossible to relate back to the user, we run them through a hash function with a rotating salt.

So a combination of IP and User Agent. So if someone if browsing from different devices they’d probably be counted multiple times. More info are available on the Plausible website.

Simple Analytics tracks a slightly different metric called “unique visits” which is based, according to their docs, on the referrer. More info at this page.

Fathom tracks “Visitors” defined as:

A visitor is a unique person who’s visited your site.

Not very helpful. I tried to poke around the docs but I couldn’t find how they track it so I’ll move on to the final platform, Pirsch. They do something similar to what Plausible is doing

Pirsch generates a unique number for each visitor calculated from the visitor’s IP address, the User-Agent, and a random string that is set for each website.

Finally, we have Goaccess, the tool I’m going to use to analyse my server logs. Goaccess defines a Unique Visitor as

HTTP requests containing the same IP, the same date, and the same user agent are considered a unique visitor. By default, it includes web crawlers/spiders.

We have our definitions, it’s time to get to some numbers.

The numbers

These are the (Unique) Visitors reported by the four online services and my server logs

• Plausible 358
• Fathom 403
• Pirsch 273
• Simple Analytics 728
• Server Logs 3894

Already, the difference between logs and client analytics is HUGE. But we need to dig a bit deeper into the logs because the situation there is messy. To start, there’s the issue of bots, spiders and crawlers. Goaccess has an optional flag I turned on to ignore a huge number of those. That 3894 is already ignoring a good % of non-human traffic. But I am sure something is still slipping through. Another thing that is present in my server logs that is obviously not present in the other four tools is RSS traffic because the JS necessary to keep track of the traffic is not included in the RSS feed. If I remove all the entries in my logs mentioning either rss or feed the Unique Visitors go from 3894 to 2111. Lower but still way higher than the client side data that was averaging around 440.

Clearly more work is needed on these logs because they’re incredibly noisy. I removed all 404s, manually removed all the entries mentioning any type of bot, I also grabbed only entries matching this regex (Gecko|Chrome|Firefox|AppleWebKit|Mac OS|Windows NT|Android). And that leaves us with 1821 unique visitors, according to my logs.

That number is still a lot higher than what I’m seeing in the online dashboard so what gives? Well, I think something obvious is happening here. I am a web developer with an indie blog that is followed by a lot of people who are also passionate about the web and are tech savvy. So I’d bet the % of people running one or multiple ad blockers between my readers is quite high. An article from the Plausible blog reports that a huge % of people is blocking google analytics for example but I’m sure modern ad blockers are also preventing these tools to work properly. Hell I had to disable mine just to access those dashboards. My visits to my site were not counted. Estimating the number of people running ad blockers is impossible and a quick online search tells me the numbers are anything between 30% to 65%.

If I were to adjust the numbers coming out of the four tools I used based on the 65% which is probably reasonable considering my type of audience we’d get

• Plausible 967
• Fathom 1089
• Pirsch 737
• Simple Analytics 1967

A lot closer to the 1821 coming out of my server logs. We can probably safely assume that some of those 1821 are bots cleverly disguised as genuine traffic and the true number has to be somewhere in the ~1200 range.

So, do I finally have an answer? Is ~1200 the answer I was looking for? Well, not quite. We excluded RSS earlier because it was not part of the data gathered by the four client side tools but RSS traffic is still traffic worth counting. Especially in 2024! Figuring out actual RSS traffic is close to impossible. Goaccess tells me there were 1973 unique IPs pinging the various feeds on my site. I’m going to follow Darek lead here and simply count exposed subscribers. According to my logs we have:

• 12 different Feedbin feeds with unique feed-id for a total of 439 subscribers;
• 3 instances of Inoreader with very distinct subscribers number for a total of 126
• 4 Feedly instances with very distinct subscribers number for a total of 391
• NewsBlur, BazQux Reader, and The Old Reader are the other services exposing subscribers number and combined are other 70

So the total, according to these services is 1026 subscribers, if my math is correct. Only thing missing to this weird roundup is the 110 people who are getting my posts directly in their inbox.

The conclusion

Is there even a lesson to be learn here? Don’t trust numbers blindly perhaps? Server logs are messy and can be over inflated while client based analytics can greatly under report your numbers if you have a very tech savvy audience. Also RSS is still doing fine and you should definitely have an RSS feed if you have a personal blog. And if you don’t have a personal blog I don’t know what you’re waiting for. Ditch social media and start blogging. You can thank me later. And if you don’t know where to start hit me up and I’ll be happy to help.

https://manuelmoreale.com/@/page/9ySjx3UbapdId1mz Save to Pocket

OPA: procurement deficiencies, other issues with hospital consultancy contract

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

The Office of Public Accountability has found several issues with a performance revenue cycle management (RCM) services contract for the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/opa-procurement-deficiencies-other-issues-with-hospital-consultancy-contract/article_5ef057f6-a9e6-11ee-accd-1f9f7fe4706a.html Save to Pocket

January 2, 2024

date: 2024-01-03, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog

The new year has hit with news flying in from a number of quarters. At home, minimum wage increased in nearly half of U.S. states; it has been 14 years since the last increase in the federal minimum wage, the longest stretch since 1938 according to the AFL-CIO. NPR correspondent David Gura quoted Goldman Sachs’s chief equity strategist to note, ​​”The S&P 500 index returned 26% including dividends in 2023, more than 2x the average annual return of 12% since 1986.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-2-2024 Save to Pocket

Is Optimism Wired or Tired?

date: 2024-01-03, from: Om Malik blog

On January 2nd, 1993, Wired burst onto the scene, and let me tell you, it transformed the way many of us looked at technology and its impact on our future. It was like part field notes, part research lab, and a whole lot of fantastic storytelling. That magazine infused us with the kind of wild …

https://om.co/2024/01/02/is-optimism-wired-or-tired/ Save to Pocket

Vape stores to close to testify against Bill 50

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

Vape shops across the island will close their doors Thursday as a demonstration of unity to testify against Bill 50-37, legislation that would prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products within Guam.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/vape-stores-to-close-to-testify-against-bill-50/article_959982d0-a9e8-11ee-8247-ab3c057ac7c5.html Save to Pocket

India inches space program forward with launch of X-ray polarimetry satellite

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Meanwhile, ISRO chief sets sights on next crewed mission

India kicked off the new year with the launch of an X-ray polarimetry space observatory to research cosmic radiation.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/india_x_ray_polarimetry_satellite/ Save to Pocket

US to Reopen Border Crossings as Illegal Immigration Drops

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-to-reopen-border-crossings-as-illegal-immigration-drops/7422557.html Save to Pocket

US National Debt Hits Record $34 Trillion as Congress Gears up for Funding Fight

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

WASHINGTON — The federal government’s gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America’s balance sheet in the coming years. 

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a report Tuesday logging U.S. finances, which have become a source of tension in a politically divided Washington that could possibly see parts of the government shut down without an annual budget in place. 

Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed last June to temporarily lift the nation’s debt limit, staving off the risk of what would be a historic default. That agreement lasts until January 2025. Here are some answers to questions about the new record national debt. 

How did the national debt hit $34 trillion?  

The national debt eclipsed $34 trillion several years sooner than pre-pandemic projections. The Congressional Budget Office’s January 2020 projections had gross federal debt eclipsing $34 trillion in fiscal year 2029. 

But the debt grew faster than expected because of a multiyear pandemic starting in 2020 that shut down much of the U.S. economy. The government borrowed heavily under then-President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden to stabilize the economy and support a recovery. But the rebound came with a surge of inflation that pushed up interest rates and made it more expensive for the government to service its debts. 

“So far, Washington has been spending money as if we had unlimited resources,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at Loyola Marymount University. “But the bottom line is, there is no free lunch,” he said. “And I think the outlook is pretty grim.” 

The gross debt includes money that the government owes itself, so most policymakers rely on the total debt held by the public in assessing the government’s finances. This lower figure — $26.9 trillion — is roughly equal in size to the U.S. gross domestic product. 

Last June, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in its 30-year outlook that publicly held debt will be equal to a record 181% of American economic activity by 2053. 

What is the impact to the economy?  

The national debt does not appear to be a weight on the U.S. economy right now, as investors are willing to lend the federal government money. This lending allows the government to keep spending on programs without having to raise taxes. 

But the debt’s path in the decades to come might put at risk national security and major programs, including Social Security and Medicare, which have become the most prominent drivers of forecasted government spending over the next few decades. Government dysfunction, such as another debt limit showdown, could also be a financial risk if investors worry about lawmakers’ willingness to repay the U.S. debt. 

Foreign buyers of U.S. debt — like China, Japan, South Korea and European nations — have already cut down on their holdings of Treasury notes. 

A Peterson Foundation analysis states that foreign holdings of U.S. debt peaked at 49% in 2011 but dropped to 30% by the end of 2022. 

“Looking ahead, debt will continue to skyrocket as the Treasury expects to borrow nearly $1 trillion more by the end of March,” said Peterson Foundation CEO Michael Peterson. “Adding trillion after trillion in debt, year after year, should be a flashing red warning sign to any policymaker who cares about the future of our country. 

How could it affect me?  

The debt equates to about $100,000 per person in the U.S. That sounds like a lot, but the sum so far has not appeared to threaten U.S. economic growth. 

Instead, the risk is long term if the debt keeps rising to uncharted levels. Sohn said a higher debt load could put upward pressure on inflation and cause interest rates to remain elevated, which could also increase the cost of repaying the national debt. 

And as the debt challenge evolves over time, choices may become more severe as the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid increasingly outstrip tax revenues. 

When it could turn into a more dire situation is anyone’s guess, says Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “But if and when that happens, it could mean very significant consequences that occur very quickly. 

“It could mean spikes in interest rates. It could mean a recession that leads to lots more unemployment. It could lead to another bout of inflation or weird goings-on with consumer prices — several of which are things that we’ve experienced just in the past few years,” he said. 

How do Republicans and Democrats differ?  

Both Democrats and Republicans have called for debt reduction, but they disagree on the appropriate means of doing so. 

The Biden administration has been pushing for tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations to reduce budget deficits, in addition to funding its domestic agenda. Biden also increased the budget for the IRS so that it can collect unpaid taxes and possibly reduce the debt by hundreds of billions of dollars over 10 years. 

Republican lawmakers have called for large cuts to non-defense government programs and the repeal of clean energy tax credits and spending passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. But Republicans also want to trim Biden’s IRS funding and cut taxes further, both of which could cause the debt to worsen. 

A Treasury Department representative did not respond to a request for comment. 

“There is growing concern among investors and rating agencies that the trajectory we’re on is unsustainable — when that turns into a more dire situation is anyone’s guess,” Akabas said.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-national-debt-hits-record-34-trillion-as-congress-gears-up-for-funding-fight-/7422514.html Save to Pocket

State water officials: Season’s first survey finds below-average snowpack

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

By Signal Staff  The California Department of Water Resources on Tuesday conducted the first snow survey of the season at Phillips Station — and the results showed a below-average snowpack for this time of year.  The manual survey recorded 7.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 3 inches, which is 30% of […]

The post State water officials: Season’s first survey finds below-average snowpack appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/state-water-officials-seasons-first-survey-finds-below-average-snowpack/ Save to Pocket

@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-01-03, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)

Gaza

additional coverage: https://x.com/zei_squirrel/status/1742252796777505007?s=46

https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/111689278053543053 Save to Pocket

@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-01-03, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)

Gaza

Today in scandals:

• Israel assassinated the Hamas dude in Lebanon that was in charge of hostage release negotiations.
  • Israel Minister of National Security stated that ethnic cleansing of Gaza is the goal.
    • evidence is crumbling on the sex assault claims.

      Sorry for the twitter links:

      https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1742329879226368177?s=46

      https://x.com/dancohen3000/status/1742328782998905034?s=46

      https://x.com/shaykhsulaiman/status/1742191943243764084?s=46

https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/111689270780796197 Save to Pocket

Santa Clarita Walk to End Alzheimer’s Exceeds Goal

date: 2024-01-03, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The Santa Clarita Walk to End Alzheimer’s held in October at Bridgeport Park raised nearly $173,000, exceeding the goal set for the event of $155,000. The fundraiser was held to benefit the care, support, advocacy and research programs of the Alzheimer’s Association.

https://scvnews.com/santa-clarita-walk-to-end-alzheimers-exceeds-goal/ Save to Pocket

SCV holiday hoops roundup

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Nearly every local basketball team was in tournament action over the winter break. Several teams made runs at championships while others are still putting the pieces together for a late-season push.   Here are some headlines from the holiday break:  Canyon boys win first tourney in 10 years  Canyon went a perfect 6-0 over the holiday […]

The post <strong>SCV holiday hoops roundup</strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/scv-holiday-hoops-roundup/ Save to Pocket

X reverses course on headlines in article links – but just a little and maybe not

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Meanwhile: Fidelity downgrades social network’s valuation by 71%, so far

Updated  Links to articles and pages on the web made sense again on X, for a short while at least, as headlines and titles returned to preview cards shown in tweets in the digital land formerly known as Twitter. …

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/03/x_headlines_valuation/ Save to Pocket

Wednesday 3 January, 2024

date: 2024-01-03, from: John Naughton’s online diary

Boxed set Cycling past the University Library in Cambridge over Christmas, I noticed that some genius — in a neat touch — had placed a classic red telephone box on the forecourt. Why ‘neat’? Simply that the phone box as … Continue reading →

https://memex.naughtons.org/wednesday-3-january-2024/38977/ Save to Pocket

California reverses course on travel ban

date: 2024-01-03, from: The Signal

Editor’s note: The Signal is presenting CalMatters’ wrap-up stories on some of the key bills that reached the governor’s desk at the close of the 2023 legislative session. Here’s the CalMatters summary of a bill that ends California’s ban on state-funded travel to states whose laws are deemed “anti-LGBTQ.”  By Alexei Koseff  CalMatters Writer  Seven […]

The post California reverses course on travel ban appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/california-reverses-course-on-travel-ban/ Save to Pocket

Flowing Like a River, Alan Parsons in the Birthday Spotlight at 75

date: 2024-01-03, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Famed producer and musician Alan Parsons was paid a grand concert tribute at the Lobero, benefitting One805.

The post Flowing Like a River, Alan Parsons in the Birthday Spotlight at 75 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/02/flowing-like-a-river-alan-parsons-in-the-birthday-spotlight-at-75/ Save to Pocket

Man arrested in Mangilao death investigation

date: 2024-01-03, from: Guam Daily Post

A man has been arrested in connection to a lifeless body being found in Mangilao almost two weeks ago.

https://www.postguam.com/news/man-arrested-in-mangilao-death-investigation/article_61036158-a9c5-11ee-9c4d-2fb1214c2da9.html Save to Pocket

Prosecutors Add Accusations to Bribery Indictment of US Senator

date: 2024-01-03, from: VOA News USA

new york — Federal authorities are accusing U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of introducing a member of the Qatari royal family to a New Jersey businessman seeking investments in a real estate project, an indictment said Tuesday.

The indictment against the New Jersey Democrat in Manhattan federal court did not identify the member of the Qatari royal family, but it said the individual was a principal of the Qatari Investment Company.

The indictment said the Qatari investor negotiated a multimillion-dollar investment in the real estate project planned by Fred Daibes, one of three businessmen charged in the indictment along with the senator and his wife. All have pleaded not guilty.

Messages left with lawyers and a spokesperson for Menendez were not immediately returned.

Tim Donohue, a lawyer for Daibes, said he had no immediate comment.

The indictment is the latest version of one that already charged Menendez in a bribery conspiracy that allegedly enriched the senator and his wife with cash, gold bars and a luxury car. The charges involving Qatar allegedly occurred from 2021 through 2023, according to the indictment, which did not add any new charges.

After his September arrest, the senator gave up his position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has resisted calls to resign from his Senate seat.

According to the indictment, Menendez accepted cash and gold bars in exchange for seeking to induce the Qatari Investment Company to invest with Daibes, including by taking actions favorable to the government of Qatar.

The indictment said that while the Qatari Investment Company was considering its investment in the real estate development owned by Daibes, Menendez made multiple public statements supporting the government of Qatar and then provided them to Daibes so he could share them with a Qatari investor and a Qatari government official.

In an earlier version of the indictment, Menendez, his wife and one of the businessmen were charged with conspiring to illegally use the senator as an agent of the Egyptian government.

Judge Sidney H. Stein, who is presiding over the case, refused last week to extend a May 5 trial date after defense lawyers requested more time to prepare for a trial that they said already includes more than 6.7 million documents.

https://www.voanews.com/a/prosecutors-add-accusations-to-bribery-indictment-of-us-senator-/7422490.html Save to Pocket

The Web Renaissance Takes Off

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Anil Dash

https://anildash.com/2024/01/03/human-web-renaissance/ Save to Pocket

Birb + Fossil: An RSS Revival?

date: 2024-01-03, updated: 2024-01-03, from: Tom Kellog blog

http://timkellogg.me/blog/2024/01/03/birb Save to Pocket

Urinary microbiota signatures associated with different types of urinary diversion: a comparative study

date: 2024-01-03, from: Frontiers in Cellar and Infection Microbiology

Our study first presented urinary microbial landscapes of UD patients and demonstrated the microbiological advantage of orthotopic neobladder. Microbiota might be a potential tool for optimization of UD management.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1302870 Save to Pocket

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Human and animal exposure to newly discovered sand fly viruses, China

date: 2024-01-03, from: Frontiers in Cellar and Infection Microbiology

The Hedi virus (HEDV) and Wuxiang virus (WUXV) are newly discovered Bunyaviruses transmitted by sandflies. The geographical distribution of isolation of these two viruses continues to expand and it has been reported that WUXV causes neurological symptoms and even death in suckling mice. However, little is known about the prevalence of the two viruses in mammalian infections.

In order to understand the infection status of HEDV and WUXV in humans and animals from regions where the viruses have been isolated, this study used Western blotting to detect the positive rates of HEDV and WUXV IgG antibodies in serum samples from febrile patients, dogs, and chickens in the forementioned regions.

The results showed that of the 29 human serum samples, 17.24% (5/29) tested positive for HEDV, while 68.96% (20/29) were positive for WUXV. In the 31 dog serum samples, 87.10% (27/31) were positive for HEDV and 70.97% (22/31) were positive for WUXV, while in the 36 chicken serum samples, 47.22% (17/36) were positive for HEDV, and 52.78% (19/36) were positive for WUXV.

These findings suggest there are widespread infections of HEDV and WUXV in mammals (dogs, chickens) and humans from the regions where these viruses have been isolated. Moreover, the positive rate of HEDV infections was higher in local animals compared to that measured in human specimens. This is the first seroepidemiological study of these two sandfly-transmitted viruses. The findings of the study have practical implications for vector-borne viral infections and related zoonotic infections in China, as well as providing an important reference for studies on the relationship between sandfly-transmitted viruses and zoonotic infections outside of China.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1291937 Save to Pocket

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Transovarial transmission of mosquito-borne viruses: a systematic review

date: 2024-01-03, from: Frontiers in Cellar and Infection Microbiology

A number of mosquito-borne viruses (MBVs), such as dengue virus (DENV), zika virus (ZIKV), chikungunya (CHIKV), West Nile virus (WNV), and yellow fever virus (YFV) exert adverse health impacts on the global population. Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the prime vectors responsible for the transmission of these viruses. The viruses have acquired a number of routes for successful transmission, including horizontal and vertical transmission. Transovarial transmission is a subset/type of vertical transmission adopted by mosquitoes for the transmission of viruses from females to their offspring through eggs/ovaries. It provides a mechanism for these MBVs to persist and maintain their lineage during adverse climatic conditions of extremely hot and cold temperatures, during the dry season, or in the absence of susceptible vertebrate host when horizontal transmission is not possible.

The publications discussed in this systematic review were searched for using the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, and websites such as those of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, using the search terms “transovarial transmission” and “mosquito-borne viruses” from 16 May 2023 to 20 September 2023.

A total of 2,391 articles were searched, of which 123 were chosen for full text evaluation, and 60 were then included in the study after screening and removing duplicates.

The present systematic review focuses on understanding the above diseases, their pathogenesis, epidemiology and host–parasite interactions. The factors affecting transovarial transmission, potential implications, mosquito antiviral defense mechanism, and the control strategies for these mosquito-borne viral diseases (MBVDs) are also be included in this review.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1304938 Save to Pocket

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The impact of Helicobacter pylori infection on low skeletal muscle mass risk in Chinese women over 40: a cross-sectional analysis

date: 2024-01-03, from: Frontiers in Cellar and Infection Microbiology

Sarcopenia can lead to significant personal, social, and economic burdens. The diagnosis of sarcopenia heavily relies on the identification of Low Skeletal Muscle Mass (LSMM), which is an independent predictor of frailty, disability, and increased risk of death among seniors. Women have physiologically lower levels of skeletal muscle mass than men, and female sarcopenia appears to be more influenced by menopause. They also tend to have higher body fat levels than man, which increases the risk of sarcopenia obesity. On another front, it’s also recognized that humans are largely prone to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, with global prevalence rates often surpassing 50%. Nevertheless, the interconnection between H. pylori infection and LSMM remains relatively unexplored. Hence, our study specifically targeted women as the research population and sought to explore several risk factors for LSMM. Additionally, we delved into the potential correlation between LSMM and H. pylori infection in women, hoping to gain insights into potential preventative measures or treatment options that may enhance the quality of life for women affected by sarcopenia.

We conducted a cross-sectional study among women aged over 18 years undergoing physical examination. We performed 13C-urea breath test (UBT) for diagnosis of H. pylori infection and Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) for the assessment of LSMM. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations of H. pylori infection with LSMM.

This study enrolled 1984 Chinese women who were undergoing health check-ups. A univariate logistic regression analysis did not reveal a direct correlation between H. pylori infection and LSMM among this female population (OR=1.149, 95% CI 0.904-1.459, p=0.257). Yet, upon dividing the participants into age-based subgroups, an evident link was observed between H. pylori infection and LSMM in women aged 40 or above (OR=1.381, 95%CI 1.032-1.848, p= 0.030). After adjusting for variables including Age, BMI, TP, ALK, Cre, this relationship remained statistically relevant (OR=1.514, 95%CI 1.085-2.113, p= 0.015).

Women who are over 40 years old and currently infected with H. pylori have an increased risk of developing LSMM. Therefore, timely treatment for H. pylori eradication is recommended for this group of women to reduce the occurrence of LSMM.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1289909 Save to Pocket

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The crosstalk of intratumor bacteria and the tumor

date: 2024-01-03, from: Frontiers in Cellar and Infection Microbiology

The in-depth studies reveal the interaction between the host and commensal microbiomes. Symbiotic bacteria influence in tumor initiation, progression, and response to treatment. Recently, intratumor bacteria have been a burgeoning research field. The tumor microenvironment is under vascular hyperplasia, aerobic glycolysis, hypoxia, and immunosuppression. It might be attractive for bacterial growth and proliferation. As a component of the tumor microenvironment, intratumor bacteria influence tumor growth and metastasis, as well as the efficacy of anti-tumor therapies. Therefore, understanding the intricate interplay of intratumoral bacteria and the host might contribute to better approaches to treat tumors. In this review, we summarize current evidence about roles of intratumor bacteria in tumor initiation and anti-tumor therapy, and what is remained to be solved in this field.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1273254 Save to Pocket

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Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum ZFM4 in Helicobacter pylori-infected C57BL/6 mice: prevention is better than cure

date: 2024-01-03, from: Frontiers in Cellar and Infection Microbiology

This study was performed to explore the preventive and therapeutic effects of Lactobacillus plantarum ZFM4 on H. pylori infections of the stomach tissue in C57BL/6 mice.

In this study, 40 specific-pathogen-free female C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into five groups, namely, the control, ZFM4 pretreatment) ZFM4 pretreatment before H. pylori infected), model (H. pylori infected), triple therapy (H. pylori infected and treated with triple therapy), and ZFM4 treatment groups (H. pylori infected and treated with ZFM4). The preventive and therapeutic effects of Lactobacillus plantarum ZFM4 were evaluated in H. pylori-infected C57BL/6 mice by assessing gastric tissue morphology, inflammatory cytokine levels, microbial composition, and microbial diversity.

Lactobacillus plantarum ZFM4 was able to survive in low gastric pH and play a role in preventing H. pylori infection. This was evident from a reduction in both, the gastric inflammatory response and expression of inflammatory factors caused by H. pylori infection. Lactobacillus plantarum ZFM4 could also inhibit the growth of H. pylori via its beneficial impact on the gastric microbiota.

Our findings suggest that Lactobacillus plantarum ZFM4 offers superior preventive effects against H. pylori infections when used alone. However, the therapeutic effect on established infections is weaker. Further clinical trials are needed to confirm the specific dosage, duration, and other aspects of administration.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1320819 Save to Pocket

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AMR Wins Big in Showdown with Santa Barbara County Fire

date: 2024-01-02, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Judge Donna Geck rules in favor of American Medical Response in its lawsuit against the county, ordering AMR to continue ambulance service at least until July.

The post AMR Wins Big in Showdown with Santa Barbara County Fire appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/02/amr-wins-big-in-showdown-with-santa-barbara-county-fire/ Save to Pocket

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Sinajana Vice Mayor Rudy Iriarte has died

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

Sinajana Vice Mayor Rudy D. Iriarte died early Wednesday morning after a long battle with diabetes, according to village Mayor Robert Hofmann.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/sinajana-vice-mayor-rudy-iriarte-has-died/article_0746c3d4-a9c6-11ee-b1b7-0363d9531a5e.html Save to Pocket

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Canceled Streams

date: 2024-01-02, from: Om Malik blog

Subscription overload is a problem that is finally being discussed in the open. The mainstream spenders seem to have had enough of it — especially when it comes to streaming services. The Wall Street Journal, citing research from analytics company Antenna, writes: About one-quarter of U.S. subscribers to major streaming services—a group that includes Apple TV+, Discovery+, …

https://om.co/2024/01/02/canceled-streams/ Save to Pocket

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Jan. 19: VIA 2024 Update Santa Clarita Luncheon

date: 2024-01-02, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The Valley Industry Association will host the 2024 Update Santa Clarita luncheon with Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth on Friday, Jan. 19 at the Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook University Center

https://scvnews.com/jan-19-via-2024-update-santa-clarita-luncheon/ Save to Pocket

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Claudine Gay is ousted at Harvard

date: 2024-01-02, from: Robert Reich on Substack

It sets a dangerous precedent of big-money intrusion

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/claudine-gay-is-ousted-at-harvard Save to Pocket

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Port of Hueneme Ends Year with Big Splash in the Community!

date: 2024-01-02, from: Port Hueneme

5,000 lbs. of Masa for Tamales, toys, and bananas distributed to two local communities! Download Press Release [Port Hueneme, CA – Jan. 2, 2024] – For the past two weekends, the Port of Hueneme alongside local collaborative groups such as; Ser Humano partnered with Nyeland Promise and the Southwinds Community Council to co-host their first Read More

https://www.portofhueneme.org/masa-1-2-2024/ Save to Pocket

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Today’s Runway Collision in Japan (UPDATED)

date: 2024-01-02, from: James Fallows, Substack

What is known about this tragedy. Plus what is suspected. What is still a mystery. And, most urgently, what is to be learned.

https://fallows.substack.com/p/todays-runway-collision-in-japan Save to Pocket

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SCV Law Enforcement: 12 DUI arrests over holiday weekend 

date: 2024-01-02, from: The Signal

The holiday weekend saw quite a few instances of driving under the influence, as the Califonia Highway Patrol made nine local DUI arrests during its New Year’s Maximum Enforcement Period, according to Officer Josh Greengard, a spokesman for the CHP Newhall-area.   There were eight instances of DUI misdemeanor arrests, as well as one DUI felony […]

The post SCV Law Enforcement: 12 DUI arrests over holiday weekend  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/scv-law-enforcement-12-dui-arrests-over-holiday-weekend/ Save to Pocket

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Bills of 2023 | Newsom signs bill intended to clear up the ballot

date: 2024-01-02, from: The Signal

Editor’s note: The Signal is presenting CalMatters’ wrap-up stories on some of the key bills that reached the governor’s desk at the close of the 2023 legislative session. Here’s the CalMatters summary of a bill that aims to clear up voter confusion.  By Sameea Kamal  CalMatters Writer   Assembly Bill 421 started out as an ambitious […]

The post Bills of 2023 | <strong>Newsom signs bill intended to clear up the ballot </strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/bills-of-2023-newsom-signs-bill-intended-to-clear-up-the-ballot/ Save to Pocket

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After 35 Years, Popular Bakery Sweet Lady Jane Closes Its Doors

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The LAist

The bakery’s announcement came after another beloved L.A. institution, Milk Jar Cookies, announced its closure on social media.

https://laist.com/news/food/sweet-lady-jane-closes Save to Pocket

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2024 Man, Woman of the Year Nominations Sought

date: 2024-01-02, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The 2023 Santa Clarita Valley Man and Woman of the Year, Don Kimball and Jenny Ketchepaw have announced the annual premier volunteer recognition event, the 2024 Santa Clarita Valley Man and Woman of the Year dinner, will be held at 6 p.m., on Friday, May 3 at the Hyatt Valencia

https://scvnews.com/2024-man-woman-of-the-year-nominations-sought/ Save to Pocket

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Regulate: Warren G × Kenny G

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/regulate-warren-g-kenny-g Save to Pocket

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Driverless cars swerve traffic tickets in California even if they break the law

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-04, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Arizona and Texas are ahead in terms of regulating autonomous vehicles

Updated  Driverless cars are not subject to traffic citations in California even if they break the state’s laws as they stand.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/driverless_cars_tickets/ Save to Pocket

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@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-02, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

BYD overtakes Tesla in overall battery-electric vehicle volume.

https://electrek.co/2024/01/02/byd-overtakes-tesla-battery-electric-vehicle-volume/ Save to Pocket

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Trump Appeals Ruling That Bars Him From Maine’s Ballot

date: 2024-01-02, from: VOA News USA

https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-appeals-ruling-that-bars-him-from-maine-s-ballot-/7422097.html Save to Pocket

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@Tomosino’s Mastodon feed (date: 2024-01-02, from: Tomosino’s Mastodon feed)

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023/1204542

My year in books! I read 149 last year, a personal best.

https://tilde.zone/@tomasino/111688740032950122 Save to Pocket

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US Condemns Israeli Ministers’ Call for Palestinians to Emigrate

date: 2024-01-02, from: VOA News USA

washington — The United States on Tuesday denounced controversial comments by two Israeli ministers who said Palestinians should be encouraged to emigrate from Gaza and for Jewish settlers to return to the besieged territory.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington “rejects recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.”

“This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible,” added Miller, who reiterated the “clear, consistent, and unequivocal” U.S. position that “Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land, with Hamas no longer in control of its future and with no terror groups able to threaten Israel.”

Ben Gvir, Israel’s firebrand national security minister, had called on Monday for promoting “a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza’s residents.”

Israel unilaterally withdrew the last of its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, ending a presence inside Gaza that began in 1967 but maintaining near complete control over the territory’s borders.

The government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not officially suggested it has any plans to evict Gazans or to send Jewish settlers back to the territory since the current war broke out on October 7.

But Ben Gvir argued that the departure of Palestinians and re-establishment of Israeli settlements “is a correct, just, moral and humane solution.”

“This is an opportunity to develop a project to encourage Gaza’s residents to emigrate to countries around the world,” he told a meeting of his ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit, or “Jewish Power,” party.

His comments came the day after Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Smotrich also called for the return of settlers to Gaza, equally saying Israel should “encourage” the territory’s 2.4 million Palestinians to leave.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israel.

After the worst attack in its history, Israel began a relentless bombardment and ground offensive that has killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

With heavy combat raging on, 85% of the people in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced, according to the United Nations.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-condemns-israeli-ministers-call-for-palestinians-to-emigrate-/7422095.html Save to Pocket

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Jan. 1-7: Three Productions Filming in Santa Clarita

date: 2024-01-02, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The city of Santa Clarita’s Film Office released the name of the three productions currently filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week of Monday, Jan. 1 - Sunday, Jan. 7.

https://scvnews.com/jan-1-7-three-prouductions-filming-in-santa-clarita/ Save to Pocket

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Public Libraries Reveal the Most Borrowed Books From 2023

date: 2024-01-02, from: Smithsonian Magazine

Titles that appeared on multiple lists include “Lessons in Chemistry,” “Spare” and “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-most-borrowed-books-from-public-libraries-in-2023-180983521/ Save to Pocket

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The Best Podcasts of 2023, According to People Who Make Podcasts. Lots…

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043711-the-best-podcasts-of-2023 Save to Pocket

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Could A.I. Help Seismologists Predict Major Earthquakes?

date: 2024-01-02, from: Smithsonian Magazine

The 7.5 magnitude quake in Japan highlights the need for earthquake prediction, a science shedding its “unserious” reputation and inching toward reality

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ai-help-seismologists-predict-major-earthquakes-180983519/ Save to Pocket

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Masks Back On In LA Hospitals As Respiratory Illnesses Surge

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The LAist

Colder weather and indoor gatherings — coupled with millions of people traveling for the holidays — are contributing to the expected surge of respiratory illnesses.

https://laist.com/news/health/masks-back-on-in-la-hospitals-as-respiratory-illnesses-surge Save to Pocket

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Grand Central Collective to Offer Before, After School Care

date: 2024-01-02, from: SCV New (TV Station)

Grand Central Collective, a Christian church in Newhall will offer licensed early drop off and after school care for all local schools in the Santa Clarita Valley

https://scvnews.com/grand-central-collective-to-offer-before-after-school-care/ Save to Pocket

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Supreme Court supremo ponders AI-powered judges, concludes he’s not out of a job yet

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Justice Roberts thinks ML can help in legal cases, if humans keep their hands on the tiller

US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts believes that artificial intelligence will play an increasingly important role in the legal process, but he expects “human judges will be around for a while.”…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/supreme_court_ai_roberts/ Save to Pocket

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Bad Actors Not Welcome

date: 2024-01-02, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Chris Christie and Gavin Newsom both say Donald Trump must not be kicked off the ballot, because, apparently, voting is the only way to prevent someone from office-holding in America.

The post Bad Actors Not Welcome appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/02/bad-actors-not-welcome/ Save to Pocket

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Seriously, I would really like a Lego set of Delia Derbyshire in…

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043713-seriously-i-would-really- Save to Pocket

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Gentle January: The Least Intimidating Privacy Tips from The Markup

date: 2024-01-02, from: The Markup blog

One practical privacy tip a day from a Markup staffer who actually uses the advice in their own life

https://themarkup.org/gentle-january/2024/01/02/gentle-january-the-least-intimidating-privacy-tips-from-the-markup Save to Pocket

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Body found in Big 5 Sporting Goods parking lot

date: 2024-01-02, from: The Signal

The body of a woman in her 60s was found in a shopping center parking lot on the 24300 block of Magic Mountain Parkway Tuesday morning, according to Sgt. Mark Perkins of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.   The body was found near Big 5 Sporting Goods. According to Perkins, deputies were dispatched at 10:12 a.m.  […]

The post Body found in Big 5 Sporting Goods parking lot  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/01/body-found-in-big-5-sporting-goods-parking-lot/ Save to Pocket

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@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-02, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

How death threats influence Republicans to follow Trump.

https://www.vox.com/23899688/2024-election-republican-primary-death-threats-trump Save to Pocket

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Snow on California’s 2024 Wish List

date: 2024-01-02, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The drive to the University of California, Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains shouldn’t have been easy this week

https://scvnews.com/snow-on-californias-2024-wish-list/ Save to Pocket

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This Mysterious Hillside Carving Is Actually Hercules, Researchers Say

date: 2024-01-02, from: Smithsonian Magazine

England’s 180-foot-tall Cerne Abbas Giant may have served as a landmark for gathering troops

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/england-cerne-abbas-giant-is-really-hercules-once-used-to-rally-troops-180983522/ Save to Pocket

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Inmate Dies After Jump from Second Story of Santa Barbara County Main Jail

date: 2024-01-02, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the apparent suicide of Scott Powers, 61, on December 31.

The post Inmate Dies After Jump from Second Story of Santa Barbara County Main Jail appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/02/inmate-dies-after-jump-from-second-story-of-santa-barbara-county-main-jail/ Save to Pocket

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Schools Can Schedule Free Environmental Defenders Assembly

date: 2024-01-02, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works is offering free “Environmental Defenders” school assemblies to elementary schools in the Santa Clarita Valley

https://scvnews.com/schools-can-schedule-free-environmental-defenders-assembly/ Save to Pocket

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In Memoriam: Laszlo “Laz” Hodosy 1962–2023

date: 2024-01-02, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

‘Indy’ ad guy.

The post In Memoriam: Laszlo “Laz” Hodosy </br> 1962–2023 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/02/in-memoriam-laszlo-laz-hodosy-1962-2023/ Save to Pocket

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Lompoc Mayor Looks to Unseat Former Political Ally Joan Hartmann

date: 2024-01-02, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Jenelle Osborne seeks the 3rd District seat of incumbent Santa Barbara County Supervisor Hartmann in three-way race.

The post Lompoc Mayor Looks to Unseat Former Political Ally Joan Hartmann appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/02/lompoc-mayor-looks-to-unseat-former-political-ally-joan-hartmann/ Save to Pocket

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US Women Stock Up on Abortion Pills, Especially When Restrictions in News

date: 2024-01-02, from: VOA News USA

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-women-stock-up-on-abortion-pills-especially-when-restrictions-in-news-/7421959.html Save to Pocket

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How I forked SteamOS for my living room PC

date: 2024-01-02, from: OS News

SteamOS 3 (“Holo”) is the Arch-based Linux distribution built for the Steam Deck, Valve Software’s portable PC gaming device. It’s a very interesting Linux distribution even when you only focus on how it updates itself: updates are performed atomically by downloading a new read-only root filesystem to an inactive partition, then rebooting into that partition. But consumers can also run steamos-devmode to unlock the root filesystem, put the pacman database in working order, and give them a working Linux distro with a normal package manager. This A/B atomic updates system is pretty standard for OSes these days, but there’s a lot going on in SteamOS that makes them work even with heavy customization by the end-user. I wanted to explore that while still being able to make changes to the root filesystem images. steamos-devmode is the easy way out; I wanted to make a proper fork. Here’s how I did it. ↫ iliana etaoin This article has sparked my interest to build a living room PC for Steam gaming for my wife and I, so we can play couch coop Steam games on an actual couch instead of behind our PC desk. Very detailed and in-depth, this article also teaches a lot about how SteamOS works under the hood.

https://www.osnews.com/story/138172/how-i-forked-steamos-for-my-living-room-pc/ Save to Pocket

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Oldest known version of DOS archived

date: 2024-01-02, from: OS News

This is the precursor to MS-DOS and is likely the oldest known version to survive. (I had previously uploaded Version 0.34, which was at the time thought to hold that honor.) ↫ Archive.org The longer we wait, the harder it’s going to be to archive and preserve software like this.

https://www.osnews.com/story/138169/oldest-known-version-of-dos-archived/ Save to Pocket

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MINISFORUM EM780 palm-sized PC with Ryzen 7 7840U ships this month (in select regions)

date: 2024-01-02, from: Liliputing

The MINISFORUM EM780 is a tiny desktop computer with the heart of a decent laptop (but a smaller footprint, more full-sized ports, and no built-in screen, battery, or keyboard). First unveiled in June, 2023, the MINISFORUM EM780 is now available for pre-order in select markets (including Europe, Japan, and China). Prices start at €699, JP¥67,980, CN¥3,999 for […]

The post MINISFORUM EM780 palm-sized PC with Ryzen 7 7840U ships this month (in select regions) appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/minisforum-em780-palm-sized-pc-with-ryzen-7-7840u-ships-this-month-in-select-regions/ Save to Pocket

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Motion Extraction

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/motion-extraction Save to Pocket

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Google password resets not enough to stop these info-stealing malware strains

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Now every miscreant is jumping on Big G’s OAuth account security hole

Updated  Security researchers say info-stealing malware can still access victims’ compromised Google accounts even after passwords have been changed.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/infostealer_google_account_exploit/ Save to Pocket

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Free Will Astrology

date: 2024-01-02, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Week of January 4.

The post Free Will Astrology appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/02/free-will-astrology-193/ Save to Pocket

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@Tomosino’s Mastodon feed (date: 2024-01-02, from: Tomosino’s Mastodon feed)

I’d like to congratulate #Ireland on its reunification.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbSGp4WIBsQ

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Jan. 17: SCV Chamber After Hours Mixer

date: 2024-01-02, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce invites the SCV business community to start the new year off with a business networking mixer at Thermal Horizons Yoga and Wellness Center for the chamber’s first Business After Hours Mixer of

https://scvnews.com/jan-17-scv-chamber-after-hours-mixer/ Save to Pocket

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What Are These Mysterious Dark ‘Spokes’ on Saturn’s Rings?

date: 2024-01-02, from: Smithsonian Magazine

A Hubble image highlights the seasonal features, which scientists think could be caused by interactions between the planet’s magnetic field and solar wind

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-dark-spokes-on-saturns-rings-180983518/ Save to Pocket

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Santa Barbara Grandfather Dies After Being Hit by Truck in Crosswalk

date: 2024-01-02, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Bonifacio Sixto Carachure, 80, was struck while crossing the street by Cota and Garden streets and died in the hospital 10 days later.

The post Santa Barbara Grandfather Dies After Being Hit by Truck in Crosswalk appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/01/02/santa-barbara-grandfather-dies-after-being-hit-by-truck-in-crosswalk/ Save to Pocket

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Valve celebrates New Year by blowing off Steam support for Windows 7 and 8

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Updates for the 1% of holdouts halt

Valve rang in the New Year by dropping Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 support on its Steam gaming platform, giving your gaming grandparets yet another reason to upgrade.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/steam_windows_eol/ Save to Pocket

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Translation of a New York Times’ Real Estate Article for Those Living…

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043707-translation-of-a-new-york Save to Pocket

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ONEXPLAYER X1 handheld with Intel Meteor Lake coming in 2024

date: 2024-01-02, from: Liliputing

Intel’s Meteor Lake chips promise longer battery life and better graphics performance than the company’s previous-gen mobile processors. So it’s not surprising that laptop makers aren’t the only companies using the new chips. Handheld gaming PC maker One Netbook has begun to tease an upcoming handheld powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor […]

The post ONEXPLAYER X1 handheld with Intel Meteor Lake coming in 2024 appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/onexplayer-x1-handheld-with-intel-meteor-lake-coming-in-2024/ Save to Pocket

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@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-02, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

Armed Man Shoots Up Colorado Supreme Court.

https://politicalwire.com/2024/01/02/armed-man-shoots-up-colorado-supreme-court/ Save to Pocket

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How Linux rescues slow computers (and the planet)

date: 2024-01-02, from: Tilde.news

Comments

https://www.both.org/?p=2799 Save to Pocket

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Harvard President Gay Resigns After Rocky Testimony, Plagiarism Allegations

date: 2024-01-02, from: VOA News USA

WASHINGTON — Harvard President Claudine Gay said she would resign from her position on Tuesday, after her first months in the role were rocked by her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus and allegations of plagiarism.

Gay had faced pressure to resign from Harvard’s Jewish community and some members of Congress over her comments at the Dec. 5 congressional hearing, and she has also faced several allegations of plagiarism for her academic work in recent months.  

In a letter to the Harvard community, Gay said her decision to step down had been “difficult beyond words.”

“After consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual.”

The Harvard Corporation, the university’s 11-member governing body, said in an email to the community that its members had accepted Gay’s resignation “with sorrow.”

Gay, former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth testified before a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Dec. 5 about a rise in antisemitism on college campuses following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October.

The trio declined to give a definitive “yes” or “no” answer to Republican Representative Elise Stefanik’s question as to whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ codes of conduct regarding bullying and harassment, saying they had to balance it against free speech protections.

More than 70 U.S. lawmakers signed a letter demanding that the governing boards of the three universities remove the presidents, citing dissatisfaction with their testimony.

Magill resigned after receiving backlash for her comments.

“Harvard knows that this long overdue forced resignation of the antisemitic plagiarist president is just the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history,” Representative Stefanik said in a statement on Tuesday.

Despite the controversy ensnaring Gay, the Harvard Corporation last month reaffirmed its confidence that she could lead the school through a period of high tension over the war in the Middle East. It also said an independent review of Gay’s academic work found she had not committed research misconduct. She has submitted several corrections for citation errors in recent weeks.

Gay, who became the university’s first Black president six months ago, and the members of the Harvard Corporation said in their letters to the community on Tuesday that she had been subject to racist attacks.  

Some of Gay’s critics, including billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, have argued that she was chosen for the role as part of the school’s effort to promote diversity rather than for her qualifications.

Ackman could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday. He reposted the Harvard Crimson’s story about Gay’s resignation on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor - two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am - and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus,” Gay said in her statement.

The Harvard Corporation wrote that she had been subjected to “deeply personal and sustained attacks” that included “racist vitriol directed at her through disgraceful emails and phone calls.”

https://www.voanews.com/a/student-newspaper-harvard-president-gay-resigns-/7421826.html Save to Pocket

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What Cookbooks Reveal About American Culture

date: 2024-01-02, from: VOA News USA

https://www.voanews.com/a/7417662.html Save to Pocket

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Brain boffins think they’ve found the data format we use to store images as memories

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-03, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

No, you aren’t special - we’re probably all visual learners

Scientists say they have discovered the neural coding system our brains use to transform images into memories, suggesting we’re all visual thinkers deep down.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/dartmouth_visua_brain_memory/ Save to Pocket

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Crescent Moon Over NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

date: 2024-01-02, from: NASA breaking news

The crescent moon, along with Jupiter (top right of Moon) and Venus (below Moon) appeared over the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Feb. 22, 2023, as preparations continued for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos […]

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/crescent-moon-over-nasas-kennedy-space-center/ Save to Pocket

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UnixWorld NeXT Workstation Review from September 1989

date: 2024-01-02, from: Tilde.news

Comments

https://archive.org/details/unixworld-next-workstation-review-september-1989/ Save to Pocket

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A Beaver-Mapping Model Named EEAGER

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: One Foot Tsunami

https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/01/02/the-beaver-mapping-model/ Save to Pocket

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A Car Buyer’s Guide to the 2024 EV Tax Credit

date: 2024-01-02, from: Heatmap News

The Department of Treasury published new rules last year that will determine which new electric vehicles, purchased for personal use, will qualify for a $7,500 tax credit. They went into effect on April 18, 2023, and last for the next decade or so.

These new tax credit rules are complicated. The list of cars that qualify for the new tax credit can change from year to year — and even month to month. Many buyers in the EV market might have a few questions, including: Should I buy that new car now, or should I wait? Which cars qualify for the current tax credit, and which ones will earn the new one?

This is Heatmap’s guide to the new tax credit, why it matters, and what to keep in mind as you go EV shopping.

Who is affected by these new rules?

If you’re an ordinary American buying a brand-new EV to run errands and pick up the kids, these new rules apply to you. They will determine which cars you can get a federally funded discount on.

If you’re not buying a new car for personal use — because you’re getting it for your business, say, or because you’re buying a used EV — these new rules don’t apply to you. But you may qualify for other new subsidies. We get into those below.

And even if you are in that first category, you may discover it’s much cheaper to lease a new EV instead of buying it outright. We get into why below, too.

Why are these new rules important?

They completely change how the United States approaches the EV industry.

During the Bush and Obama administrations, the U.S. was focused mostly on getting automakers to begin to experiment with EVs. So it discounted the first 200,000 or so electric vehicles that each manufacturer sold by up to $7,500. If a company had cumulatively sold more than that number over time, as Tesla and General Motors eventually did, then the discount expired. By 2022, that had led to a peculiar situation where foreign automakers, such as Hyundai, could use the subsidy, while some of the largest American automakers couldn’t.

Now, U.S. policy is focused on two goals: (1) building up a domestic supply chain for EVs and (2) getting more EVs on the road. So the tax break is completely uncapped — any automaker can use it as many times as possible if they meet the criteria.

But many new requirements apply: Only cars that undergo final assembly in North America will qualify for any of the tax credit. Then, cars with a battery that was more than 50% made in North America will qualify for a $3,750 subsidy. And cars where at least 40% of the “critical minerals” used come from the U.S. or a country with whom we have a free-trade agreement will qualify for another $3,750 subsidy.

Those percentage-based requirements will ramp up over time. By 2029, for instance, 100% of a car’s battery and battery components must be made in North America.

Why is this change happening now?

Because Congress said so. The Inflation Reduction Act, which Democratic majorities in the House and Senate passed last year, mandated this change to the EV tax credit as part of its broad expansion of American climate policy.

Will more EVs or fewer EVs qualify for a subsidy under those new rules?

Initially, fewer EVs will receive a subsidy under the new rules, Biden officials say. On a press call with reporters, a senior Treasury official argued that more cars will eventually qualify under the new rules than qualified under the old ones.

Which EVs will qualify under the new rules in 2024?

This year, at least 14 car or light trucks will receive some or all of the credit. Only some of those vehicles will qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit; some will qualify for a partial $3,750 tax credit. Here is the full list of qualifying models, along with the amount of the tax credit that they will earn:

• Chevrolet Bolt ($7,500)
• Chevrolet Bolt EUV ($7,500)
• Chrysler Pacifica PHEV ($7,500)
• Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid ($3,750)
• Ford F-150 Lightning, Standard & Extended Range ($7,500)
• Jeep Wrangler PHEV 4xe ($3,750)
• Jeep Grand Cherokee PHEV 4xe ($3,750)
• Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring ($3,750)
• Rivian R1S, Dual Large & Quad Large ($3,750)
• Rivian R1T, Dual Large, Dual Max, & Quad Large ($3,750)
• Tesla Model X Long Range ($7,500)
• Tesla Model 3 Performance ($7,500)
• Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD ($3,500)
• Tesla Model Y AWD, Rear-Wheel Drive, & Performance ($7,500)

Some vehicles that earned the full tax credit in 2023, such as the Ford Mustang Mach E or Volkswagen ID.4, don’t qualify for any benefit as of January 2, 2024.

Are there any EVs that definitely do not qualify for either tax credit?

Yes. A few examples: The Hummer EV, which costs more than $110,000 a piece, won’t qualify for either the new or old tax credit — it’s too expensive. And the Polestar 2 won’t qualify because it’s assembled in China.

Have there been any other recent changes to the EV tax credit? 

Yes. Starting this year, the U.S. is preventing cars that receive too much manufacturing input from a “foreign entity of concern” — that is, China — from qualifying for any of the tax credit. This has reduced the number of vehicles that qualify for the $7,500 bonus.

This year, the government will also allow buyers to refund their EV tax credit at the dealership. That means buyers can now get up to a $7,500 discount at the moment when they buy their car instead of waiting until they file their taxes in the following year.

Are there any income caps on the $7,500 tax credit?

Yes. A married couple must have an adjusted gross income of less than $300,000 a year, and a single filer must have an AGI of less than $150,000 a year, to qualify for any aspect of the subsidy. A head-of-household must have an income of less than $225,000 a year.

Lots of rules! Is there a price limit on the EVs that can qualify for this new subsidy?

Yes. Under the proposed rule, cars must have an MSRP below $55,000 to qualify for the credit. Vans, pickup trucks, and SUVs must have an MSRP below $80,000.

If my household makes more than that, do I have any other options?

Yes. The Inflation Reduction Act also included a new $7,500 tax credit for EVs used for any commercial purpose. The Treasury Department is expected to interpret that provision to cover leasing, but it hasn’t announced the guidelines for that rule yet, so we don’t know for sure.

But the provision will probably tilt new EV drivers toward leasing their car rather than buying it outright, because the dealer should — emphasis on should — offer relative discounts on leasing vehicles as compared to buying them.

There’s no way I can afford a new EV. Does the IRA contain any subsidies for buying a used EV?

Yes. There’s also a new $4,000 tax credit for buying a used EV that costs $25,000 or less. It went into effect on January 1, 2023, so you can go ahead and use it today.

But note that it has even stricter income limits: Married couples can only take advantage of it if they make $150,000 or less, and other filers if they make $75,000 or less.

Out of the curiosity, what models qualified for the $7,500 credit before April 18?

Here’s the list of cars that qualified for the $7,500 tax credit before April 18, 2023, according to the Department of Energy.

• Audi Q5 TFSI e Quattro (PHEV)
• BMW 330e *
• BMW X5 xDrive45e**
• Cadillac Lyriq
• Chevrolet Bolt
• Chevrolet Bolt EUV
• Chevrolet Silverado EV
• Chrysler Pacifica PHEV
• Ford E-Transit
• Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid
• Ford F-150 Lightning
• Ford Mustang Mach-E
• Genesis Electrified GV70
• Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe
• Jeep Wrangler 4xe
• Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring
• Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring
• Nissan Leaf
• Nissan Leaf (S, SL, SV, and Plus models)
• Rivian R1S
• Rivian R1T
• Tesla Model 3 Long Range
• Tesla Model 3 Performance
• Tesla Model 3 RWD
• Tesla Model Y All-Wheel Drive
• Tesla Model Y Long Range
• Tesla Model Y Performance
• Volkswagen ID.4
• Volkswagen ID.4 AWD, Pro, and S models
• Volvo S60 PHEV
• Volvo S60 Extended Range
• Volvo S60 T8 Recharge (Extended Range)

• These cars don’t qualify for the full $7,500 subsidy, although they all receive at least a $5,400 tax credit.

  ** Only some BMW X5 xDrive45e vehicles qualify — it depends where the car was made. Check the VIN or ask the dealership to confirm it was made in North America before buying.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  This story was originally published on March 31, 2023. It was last updated on April 19 at 2:01 p.m. ET.

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https://heatmap.news/guides/ev-tax-credit-new-2024 Save to Pocket

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Steamboat Willie and ChatGPT

date: 2024-01-02, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News

I got this idea from Mike Masnick on Bluesky.

I asked ChatGPT if Steamboat Willie is now public domain. It said yes.

I asked if it could draw me a picture of SW saying he’s now public domain.

Not quite. Public dombat.

Was that intentional, I asked?

No. Apology. Let’s try again.

Now he’s public domant.

But the pictures are cool!

http://scripting.com/2024/01/02/181106.html?title=steamboatWillieAndChatgpt Save to Pocket

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Tesla’s and Rivian’s Year-End Sales Are Messy

date: 2024-01-02, from: Heatmap News

How is the electric car industry doing? It depends on how you ask the question and who you ask it of.

Two leading U.S. companies — one a startup turned stalwart, the other still trying to secure itself a foothold in the market — reported their production and sales figures for the final three months of 2023. The behemoth Tesla delivered 484,507, besting expectations, according to Bloomberg. Rivian, the newcomer, delivered 13,972 cars over the same time period, missing estimates by a hair. The stock market response tells the rest of the story: Rivian shares were down around 10% in morning trading Tuesday, while Tesla shares are basically flat.

While the more-than-30-times difference is scale is obvious, the two companies’ numbers serve as snapshots of both the promise and peril of auto electrification as we roll into 2024. EVs are a real business, in which Tesla is a large but no longer dominant player. Elon Musk’s company has slipped into the number two slot behind China’s BYD. Rivian, meanwhile, is not just competing with Tesla to sell electric vehicles in the United States, but also with legacy automakers who have ramped up their electric vehicle businesses to the tune of about 10% of the American car market.

For Tesla, everything now is about scale — how it can pump out as many (increasingly competitively priced) cars to snare the average car buyer’s dollar. Rivian is at a different stage of its evolution, more reminiscent of the Tesla of more than a decade ago. The company still loses a staggering amount of money on every car it sells (although that figure is narrowing) and competes in a defined sector that Tesla has notably declined to directly play in: full-size luxury trucks and SUVs. And on another worrying note, while Rivian’s full-year production numbers came in more than 3,000 vehicles over its own guidance, its fourth quarter deliveries were short of the third quarter’s 15,564 deliveries.

While the challenge for Tesla is to sell as many cars as it can, the challenge for Rivian is to navigate the most dangerous part of a new car company’s growth — not the early days of using investor money to develop a new vehicle, but the next stage, where you have an actual car to sell but you have to figure out a way to make money doing it.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the difference in scale between Tesla and Rivian deliveries. We regret the error.

https://heatmap.news/sparks/tesla-rivian-q4-ev-market Save to Pocket

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Cathedral, Mountain, Moon

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/cathedral-mountain-moon Save to Pocket

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Payroll

date: 2024-01-02, from: NASA breaking news

The NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) Payroll Office (NPO) reviews, validates, and delivers time and attendance data to the Department of the Interior (DOI) Interior Business Center (IBC) for NASA Centers.  NPO acts as liaison between Centers, employees and IBC for other payroll related activities such as supplemental payments, prior pay period adjustments  (PPPA) and […]

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/nssc/payroll/ Save to Pocket

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US reportedly pushed ASML to cancel chipmaking kit for China early

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Dutch photolithography giant claims export control not hurting its bottom line

Washington reportedly pressed chipmaking equipment giant ASML to cancel some deliveries to China ahead of updated restrictions coming into force, but the company itself is declining to confirm if this is the case.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/us_pushed_asml_to_cancel/ Save to Pocket

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Juno’s joyride around Jupiter snaps stellar shots of Io

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

‘Magnificent’ image shows violent volcanic surface

New images of Jupiter’s moon, Io, were this week released by NASA following the flyby of the Juno spacecraft on December 30.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/junocam_io_closeup/ Save to Pocket

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Welcoming the University of Sussex as our latest member, providing their faculty with APC-free OA

date: 2024-01-02, from: PeerJ blog

The University of Sussex joins PeerJ’s Institutional Membership program, giving their faculty unlimited, fee-free publishing We are delighted to welcome the University of Sussex to the AIMs program, meaning Sussex authors can enjoy unlimited, APC-free Open Access publishing in any PeerJ journal. Any corresponding or admin/submitting author who submits to PeerJ with a valid University […]

https://peerj.com/blog/post/115284888727/welcoming-the-university-of-sussex-as-our-latest-member-providing-their-faculty-with-apc-free-oa/ Save to Pocket

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This expansion boards gives ROC-RK3588-RT 4 more Ethernet ports (for a total of 7)

date: 2024-01-02, from: Liliputing

Firefly’s ROC-RK3588-RT is a single-board computer with a Rockchip RK3588 processor, up to 16GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage, and a lot of connectivity and expansion options. First unveiled in November, the board includes including an M.2 2242 connector and three Ethernet ports. Need even more Ethernet ports? Firefly is now offering an expansion board […]

The post This expansion boards gives ROC-RK3588-RT 4 more Ethernet ports (for a total of 7) appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/this-expansion-boards-gives-roc-rk3588-rt-4-more-ethernet-ports-for-a-total-of-7/ Save to Pocket

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Wow, look at this recently discovered collection of baseball cards from the…

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043705-wow-look-at-this-recently Save to Pocket

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North Carolina and Montana Just Lost Access to Pornhub

date: 2024-01-02, from: 404 Media Group

As North Carolina and Montana enact new age verification laws effective January 1, residents can’t view sites in Pornhub’s parent company network.

https://www.404media.co/north-carolina-montana-pornhub-blocked-vpn/ Save to Pocket

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Court hearings become ransomware concern after justice system breach

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

From legal proceedings to potential YouTube fodder

The court system of Victoria, Australia, was subject to a suspected ransomware attack in which audiovisual recordings of court hearings may have been accessed.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/victoria_court_system_breach/ Save to Pocket

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Nothing Can Stop These Trans Footballers from Playing. “We spoke to [three…

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043704-nothing-can-stop-these-tr Save to Pocket

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Good News For Tether

date: 2024-01-02, from: David Rosenthal’s blog

USDT “market cap”

The good news for Tether is shown in this graph, with two huge surges in “market cap” this year. One of about $15B early in the year, and another of about $6B recently. It looks like the euphoria over the prospect of spot Bitcoin ETFs has solved the Greater Fool Supply-Chain Crisis with the cryptosphere experiencing a massive inflow of around $20B actual dollars. As one might expect from injecting $20B whose only uses are to HODL or to buy cryptocurrency into the market, the result has been a massive bubble in cryptocurrency “prices”.

BTC “price”

Bitcoin has gone from about $16K at the start of the year to around $42K recently. Ethereum has merely doubled, from about $1.2K to about $2.4K.

So all is well with the world; Tether gets to keep the interest on another $20B, which at say 4% is an extra $800M/year on their bottom line, and the Bitcoin HODL-ers see their investment gamble return a 160% gain. Is all really well with the world? Follow me below the fold.

Did hordes of retail investors gamblers really send $20B in cash to Tether? No, because Tether only deals with authorized institutions, and only in amounts over $100K, Did institutions send Tether $20B in cash? It seems unlikely. At various times over its history Tether has been caught minting USDT in return for things other than cash, such as loans to mysterious Chinese companies, or even thin air. It has never been audited, and has been described as being “practically quilted out of red flags”. Matt Levine says “I feel like eventually Tether is going to be an incredibly interesting story, but I still don’t know what it is.”

Part of the story was revealed by Dirty Bubble Media in Tether’s Secret Agent:

When people talk about the leaders of Tether, a few names typically occupy the conversation. Paolo Ardoino, recently promoted from CTO to CEO of the company, is the public face of Tether on Twitter and in the media. Giancarlo Devasini, the failed plastic surgeon, then failed software pirate, now billionaire CFO (how’s that for a career trajectory?), is widely regarded as the de facto leader of the company. And people often joke about Tether’s absentee former CEO, JL van der Velde, asking whether he even exists (he does, and he also was a serial failure before joining Tether).
…
We have been puzzled by Tether’s leadership for some time. The massive success of the company and the complexity of its operations seem beyond the abilities of a small-time scam operator and repeat failure (Giancarlo), an inexperienced and sweaty front man (Paolo), and another failed businessman and absentee executive (JL). Notably, none of these guys had any significant prior experience in finance, and it is unlikely that any of them had the sorts of business and political ties that would be essential for keeping a controversial company like Tether afloat.

Harborne?

But Dirty Bubble Media identifies someone else involved:

His name is Christopher Charles Sherriff Harborne, AKA Chakrit Sakunkrit. Styling himself a “digital nomad,” Mr. Harborne’s busy hands reach across continents, industries, and political movements. The scope of Mr. Harborne’s activities and the apparent wealth backing his activities is staggering. Among those many diverse interests, it appears that Tether has become one of his most important interests. And Mr. Harborne has been far more than a passive investor in the company. Indeed, the available evidence suggests that Mr. Harborne’s involvement in Tether is far more significant than generally recognized…

The details of Harborne’s career are fascinating:

Mr. Harborne has major ownership interests in other notable companies. Through a Delaware corporation he is the largest minority shareholder in QinetiQ, a major British defense contractor; this stake is worth around $200 million at present. He is also the sole owner of IFX Payments, a British fintech company specializing in moving large sums of money around the globe (hm). In total, over a dozen corporate entities spread across the globe have been linked to Mr. Harborne, with many more likely still hidden.

He was a major funder of the disastrous Brexit campaign and the UK’s second worst recent Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. He owns “around 12% of Tether and a similar percentage of equity in Bitfinex”. After the Crypto Capital Corp seizure they lost access to the US banking system, and Harborne was apparently critical to rescuing them both:

He used his fuel-selling business AML Global to obtain an account with the crypto-friendly Signature Bank. On the account application, Mr. Harborne did not disclose his significant stake in Tether, nor did he indicate the true purpose of the new account: It was intended to serve as a backdoor for Bitfinex to access the U.S. banking system. However, Signature caught on shortly thereafter and closed the account.

In other words, Mr. Harborne cared so deeply for the fate of Bitfinex and Tether that he risked the welfare of one of his primary companies, and a conviction for bank fraud, to try to save the company. It’s worth noting that Mr. Harborne received some $70 million in Tether stablecoins over 2019, making him one of the largest individual recipients of the token.

With a cast of characters this sketchy, skepticism is warranted, and in Bitcoin goes up! Can 5 billion unbacked tethers kickstart a fresh crypto bubble? Amy Castor and David Gerard supply some:

Bitcoin is over $44,000! In just the last week, the invisible hand of the market suddenly decided that bitcoins are really good now!

By complete coincidence, Tether has printed five billion USDT stablecoins in the past month out of thin air as “loans” — backed in the Tether reserve only by the “loans” themselves.

How high can you pump a number with five billion fake dollars to deploy?
…
In just one month, from November 5 to December 5, Tether’s issuance climbed from 85 billion to 90 billion.

And the printer is still going. Molly White reports that Tether mints itself a $1 billion Christmas present:

On December 25, Tether minted 1 billion of its USDT dollar-pegged stablecoin. CEO Paolo Ardoino announced on Twitter that the mint was an “authorized but not issued transaction, meaning that this amount will be used as inventory for next period issuance requests and chain swaps”. This seems to be a recent trend for Tether, as similar language was used for a $1 billion mint in September.

The activity has raised more questions around where the real money backing Tether is coming from, and if it even exists at all. Some have argued that these recent Tether mints are being used to artificially inflate the price of Bitcoin, which has been on an upward trend since mid-October.

USDC “market cap”

Amy Castor and David Gerard ask the right question:

You would think, with that kind of totally genuine and organic market demand for stablecoins, USDC’s issuance would also be going up — but no. USDC’s issuance is 24.4 billion, having seen a steady decrease from 44 billion in March 2023.

So where is Tether getting all the dollars to back these tethers?

It isn’t. Tether’s printing press is not fueled by demand. This is Tether issuing loans to some of its biggest customers — printing pseudo-dollars out of thin air, with the only “backing” being the loan itself, counted as an asset. The loans are secured by cryptos held as collateral — not as reserves. No actual dollars flow into the system this way.

Why would crypto-bros prefer USDT to USDC if it is doubtful that it is fully backed? It might have something to do with USDT lacking “regulatory clarity”. How do we know Tether is printing USDT out of thin air? Because:

Tether spent years denying that they issued tethers from thin air as loans — then Alex Mashinsky of Celsius Network confirmed in October 2021 that Celsius had been taking out such loans from Tether. It came out in the CFTC settlement later that month that they had been doing this precise thing for a while.

Tether admitted in September that it was making “secured” loans again — after saying in December 2022 that it would reduce its secured loans to zero. [WSJ]

Presumably, during the “crypto winter”, there would have been a need for customers to exchange USDT for USD. But did they?:

In mid-2022, after the Terra-Luna collapse, Tether bragged that it had “redeemed” 16 billion USDT. We would assume most or all of that was loans being canceled and the tethers burned. We certainly don’t know of any independently verifiable evidence that a single actual dollar was transferred in return.

For comparison, USDC reserves are held in short-term treasuries and cash in US bank accounts. A USDC appears to have an actual dollar backing it — and now that interest rates are up, Circle has been making a ton of money.

If Tether had billions of real dollars backing its tethers — as it claims — then the folks running Tether could also make a ton of money simply by putting the reserve into Treasury bills. They do not need to be making loans.

In late 2022, CZ from Binance was deeply upset that Sam Bankman-Fried from FTX might destabilize tethers by trying to cash out … $250,000 worth. That’s out of a supposed reserve in the billions. This brings into serious question how many actual dollars are anywhere near Tether — clearly not enough.

What is going on has similarities with Celsius’ “flywheel”. Castor and Gerard explain:

Crypto institutions — exchanges, hedge funds — use the tethers to buy leverage and pump the price. They post their inflated crypto as collateral to borrow more USDT and keep pumping. [Dirty Bubble]

These crypto-backed loans are the fuel for the pump inflating the cryptocurrency bubble. Dirty Bubble Media concludes:

Based on the current dataset, we can estimate that Tether issued many billions of USDT backed by crypto collateral. The impact is far larger than one might assume just from looking at the loan balances. For example, Tether lent Celsius Network just over $4 billion in total. Our data indicates that other parties like Amber and 3AC similarly received billions in loans, which round-tripped their way through the crypto-conomy without ever touching the real financial system or ever being backed by real money….

Many questions remain unanswered:

• What percentage of Tether’s “redemptions” are actually loan repayments?
• What is the impact of cycling billions of crypto-backed USDT through the crypto markets?
• And, why did Tether’s reported secured loans massively diverge from this data starting in May/June 2022, around the same time as Terra, Celsius Network, and Three Arrows Capital collapsed?

US regulators have been suspicious of Tether for a long time, and they seem to have lost patience:

The US government isn’t entirely happy with Tether’s financial shenanigans. But they’re really unhappy about sanctions violations, especially with what’s going on now in the Middle East.

So Tether has announced that it will now be freezing OFAC-sanctioned blockchain addresses — and it’s onboarded the US Secret Service and FBI onto Tether! [Tether, archive; letter, PDF, archive]

Tether doesn’t do anything voluntarily. We expect they were told that they would allow this or an extremely large hammer would come down upon them.

It looks like Tether has achieved some “regulatory clarity”. It isn’t just US authorities who can get Tether to freeze wallets. Patrick Tan asks What happens when Tether “freezes” your Tether?, and recounts the tale of The Victim, whose wallet was frozen at the request of Indian law enforcement. Tan concludes:

The Victim’s transactions are at very most 3 hops away from known bad actors, so it’s not entirely unreasonable for Indian authorities to require more information and detailed documents, not to mention the backdrop of ongoing scams abusing already stretched Indian law enforcement agencies.

For Tether’s part, it looks as though they received a request from Indian law enforcement and followed it.

But perhaps, and somewhat more significantly, there is also the risk that Tether blacklists the USDT in your wallet, in response to government requests, regardless if those requests are lawful or not.

It’s entirely possible for government officials or authorities with a personal vendetta, to target causes, or political opponents who receive donations or are known to transact in USDT, and for Tether to err on the side of caution and comply.

It’s entirely possible that many “innocent” addresses are blacklisted in such opaque processes, collateral damage in purges.

The Victim might well be collateral damage, but it was essentially impossible to supply the “more information and detailed documents” that law enforcement required to lift the freeze. Such are the risks of operating without “regulatory clarity”. But the kind of “regulatory clarity” the US has imposed on Tether isn’t likely to help The Victim or others who become collateral damage, it is likely to increase their numbers. An increasing number of users unable to access their funds is a double-edged sword for Tether; the good news is that Tether gets to keep the interest on frozen funds, the good news is that more and more people figure out how risky USDT is.

https://blog.dshr.org/2024/01/good-news-for-tether.html Save to Pocket

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Afghan women grapple with the Taliban’s university ban, one year on

date: 2024-01-02, from: Marketplace Morning Report

The Taliban banned women from attending universities in Afghanistan in December 2022, a move that the World Bank warns will hinder the country’s prospects for economic growth. We’ll hear from three women who share how the lack of educational opportunities has affected their lives. Plus, the stock market opens for the year. And later: What we can expect from video games and rapidly evolving AI in 2024?

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/afghan-women-grapple-with-the-talibans-university-ban-one-year-on Save to Pocket

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Evolution: Fast or Slow? Lizards Help Resolve a Paradox.

date: 2024-01-02, from: Quanta Magazine

Why does natural selection appear to happen slowly on long timescales and quickly on short ones? A multigenerational study of four lizard species addresses biology’s “paradox of stasis.”

The post Evolution: Fast or Slow? Lizards Help Resolve a Paradox. first appeared on Quanta Magazine

https://www.quantamagazine.org/evolution-fast-or-slow-lizards-help-resolve-a-paradox-20240102/ Save to Pocket

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Windows 11 unable to escape the shadow of Windows 10

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

December figures give Redmond little reason to cheer ahead of OS changes to meet EU law

Many users are still steering clear of Windows 11 as Microsoft continues to shovel AI into its flagship operating system and prepares updates to mollify regulators.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/windows_11_unable_to_escape/ Save to Pocket

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Tom Scott Stops Making Weekly Videos After 10 Years

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/tom-scott-stops-making-weekly-videos-after-10-years Save to Pocket

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13-Year-Old Becomes First Person to Ever Beat Tetris

date: 2024-01-02, from: 404 Media Group

34 years after its release on NES, Blue Scuti has become the first human to ever reach Tetris’ Kill Screen.

https://www.404media.co/13-year-old-becomes-first-person-to-ever-beat-tetris/ Save to Pocket

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ottopot MIDI controller

date: 2024-01-02, from: Tilde.news

Comments

https://gerotakke.de/ottopot/ Save to Pocket

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The End of Snow. “‘I’m not sure our grandkids will even know…

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/01/0043701-the-end-of-snow-im Save to Pocket

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US fusion energy dreams edge closer to reality, Congress permitting

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Yields could double next year – provided the budget is passed

To say 2023 was a big year in the world of fusion research would be an understatement.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/fusions_future_is_looking_bright/ Save to Pocket

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Real Estate ‘Visionary’ Allegedly Behind Massive, Viral Airbnb Fraud Charged

date: 2024-01-02, from: 404 Media Group

Shray Goel allegedly duped guests to properties that didn’t exist and then refused to issue refunds. Years after a media report outed his scheme, authorities caught up with Goel last month.

https://www.404media.co/airbnb-scam-shray-goel-charged/ Save to Pocket

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NASA’s VIPER is half-built, with launch plans for this year

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Ice, ice maybe – water-seeking lunar trundlebot overcomes iffy connectors

NASA’s much-delayed Moon rover, VIPER, is progressing toward a 2024 launch, with its project manager declaring the trundlebot half-built.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/nasas_viper_is_halfbuilt/ Save to Pocket

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Speaker Terlaje bill proposes $5M for nurse pay increases

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

Speaker Therese Terlaje has introduced legislation that would appropriate $5 million to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority from fiscal year 2024 general fund excess revenues for the purpose of funding a six-step base pay increase for nurses.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/speaker-terlaje-bill-proposes-5m-for-nurse-pay-increases/article_7f743c4a-a919-11ee-b7eb-fb6fee04b292.html Save to Pocket

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Bill enhancing OPA budgetary independence is introduced

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

Just as the Office of Public Accountability has published a four-year strategic plan that includes the goal of enhancing its independence, two senators have introduced legislation that would grant the OPA its desired language for budgetary control.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/bill-enhancing-opa-budgetary-independence-is-introduced/article_a18941a8-a90b-11ee-a90f-1f1068169472.html Save to Pocket

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Torres: Treatment courts, pretrial performance highlight past year

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

Days before the start of the new year, Supreme Court of Guam Chief Justice Robert Torres spoke to The Guam Daily Post and reflected on the first year of his third term as the leader of the Judiciary of Guam.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/torres-treatment-courts-pretrial-performance-highlight-past-year/article_415abb76-a91b-11ee-8f0f-17705032a185.html Save to Pocket

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No injuries from Chalan Pago fire

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

There were no injuries reported after a fire on New Year’s Day in Chalan Pago.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/no-injuries-from-chalan-pago-fire/article_72ed36de-a919-11ee-b516-c7ba743f25a2.html Save to Pocket

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1-year sentence for family violence, violating court order

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

A man will serve one year in prison for misdemeanor charges of family violence and violation of a court order.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/1-year-sentence-for-family-violence-violating-court-order/article_78148fcc-a90a-11ee-b3bf-872fe0a01e25.html Save to Pocket

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High court affirms convictions for rape of minor

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

A man’s 90-year sentence for raping a minor was upheld by the Supreme Court of Guam.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/high-court-affirms-convictions-for-rape-of-minor/article_24170c12-a52f-11ee-af49-3ff82fa6cced.html Save to Pocket

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Ethics Commission to look into fair treatment complaint

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

The Guam Ethics Commission has adopted a resolution to exercise jurisdiction over a complaint related to fair treatment, and to investigate whether an employee who is or was employed at an agency violated those ethics standards.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/ethics-commission-to-look-into-fair-treatment-complaint/article_092619aa-a86f-11ee-8fd3-9b4a1e2040d4.html Save to Pocket

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2 plead guilty to selling meth from Hågat home

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

Two men pleaded guilty to their involvement in a conspiracy to sell methamphetamine from a Hågat residence.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/2-plead-guilty-to-selling-meth-from-h-gat-home/article_bbf8ee4a-a914-11ee-b86d-27ecd14d6f8c.html Save to Pocket

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Japan Airlines plane bursts into flames at Tokyo airport

date: 2024-01-02, from: Marketplace Morning Report

From the BBC World Service: A plane carrying nearly 400 passengers caught fire while landing at Haneda Airport in Tokyo; everyone aboard the passenger aircraft successfully evacuated after a collision with coast guard plane. We bring you the latest developments. Also on the show: a Hong Kong mogul pleads not guilty to national security crimes, the Czech president calls for euro adoption, and a look ahead to the year in tech.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/japan-airlines-plane-bursts-into-flames-at-tokyo-airport Save to Pocket

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BT misses deadline for removing Huawei from network core

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Former British state telco claims only tiny percentage of voice and data traffic passes over kit

The deadline for UK telcos to remove Huawei equipment from their core networks has now passed, with BT admitting 2G and 3G services are still served by infrastructure that is not compliant. Yet it isn’t clear what measures, if any, BT may face for this.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/bt_missed_deadline_for_removing/ Save to Pocket

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California New Laws For 2024: Longer Prison Sentences For Fentanyl Trafficking

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The LAist

Fentanyl is driving California’s deadly overdose crisis. A new law that took effect Jan. 1 targets dealers by increasing criminal penalties for trafficking the drug.

https://laist.com/news/california-new-laws-for-2024-longer-prison-sentences-for-fentanyl-trafficking Save to Pocket

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AM Briefing: BYD vs. Tesla

date: 2024-01-02, from: Heatmap News

Current conditions: States in the Northeast are bracing for a major winter storm • Two months’ worth of rain fell in just three days in eastern Australia • Major floods brought parts of Saudi Arabia to a standstill.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Fewer cars eligible for 2024 EV tax credit

The number of electric vehicle models that are eligible for the government’s $7,500 tax credit has been more or less cut in half after new battery sourcing rules came into effect on January 1. Thirteen models now qualify, including the Tesla Model Y, the Chevy Bolt EV, and the Ford F-150 Lightning. Under the new rules, cars that use battery components made by Chinese manufacturers are disqualified, a move meant to wean the U.S. market off the Chinese supply chain. And the restrictions will become even tighter in 2025, targeting raw materials like lithium. U.S. automakers are working to expand their domestic manufacturing capabilities but this won’t happen overnight. In the meantime, propsective EV owners could consider leasing rather than buying, which will let you “skirt much of the red tape,” notes Heatmap’s Andrew Moseman.

2. BYD closes in on Tesla’s global EV lead

Tesla is expected to release its fourth quarter sales figures today and the big question is whether it will hold onto its position as the world’s top-selling EV maker. Yesterday Chinese automaker BYD announced it had sold 526,409 fully electric vehicles in the final three months of the year; analysts forecast Tesla’s sales to come in at around 483,200. BYD has been closing in on Tesla for a while, and if it takes the top spot, “it will be both a symbolic turning point for the EV market and further confirmation of China’s growing clout in the global automotive industry,” explains Bloomberg Green. Both BYD and Tesla are facing increasing competition from legacy automakers racing to catch up to their leads.

3. 2024 expected to bring more record-breaking weather

While 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded, experts predict 2024 will bring more extreme weather driven by a combination of man-made global warming and the El Niño weather pattern. The United Kingdom’s Met Office says the average global temperature for 2024 is forecast to be between 1.34 degrees and 1.58 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. “We expect two new global temperature record-breaking years in succession, and, for the first time, we are forecasting a reasonable chance of a year temporarily exceeding 1.5 °C,” says the Met Office’s Dr. Nick Dunstone.

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4. ‘Warming stripes’ updated for 2023

One of the researchers behind the iconic “warming stripes” – a visual representation of annual global temperatures over time – has updated the graphics to include 2023. Climate scientist Ed Hawkins says last year was so warm, he may need to update his color palette:

X/ed_hawkins

5. U.S. property catastrophe reinsurance rates jump 50%

A rise in extreme weather and natural disasters in the U.S. is prompting a big hike in so-called reinsurance rates, which is likely to trickle down to propery insurance costs. As Reuters explains, “reinsurers provide insurance for insurers and the prices they agree at the beginning of each year set the trend for the cost of insurance for the next 12 months.” On January 1, U.S. property catastrophe reinsurance rates jumped by as much as 50% for policies that previously experienced natural disasters, according to broker Gallagher Re. The U.S. experienced at least 25 climate-related weather disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion last year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The annual average between 1980 and 2022 is about 8 events.

THE KICKER

“Solar is quietly eating the world. This is what an energy transition looks like.” –Eric Wesoff at Canary, on reasons to be optimistic about the energy transition

https://heatmap.news/climate/am-briefing-byd-vs-tesla Save to Pocket

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NHS England published heavily redacted Palantir contract as festivities began

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Health org that previously promised it learned its lesson on transparency will ███, ███, and ███

NHS England picked the last working day before Christmas to publish a heavily redacted contract for the controversial Federated Data Platform, which it awarded to US spy-tech firm Palantir in November.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/nhs_england_published_heavily_redacted/ Save to Pocket

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Expect drug price hikes this month

date: 2024-01-02, from: Marketplace Morning Report

While people on Medicare are increasingly shielded from rising drug prices, that’s not the case for everyone else. And drugmakers plan to raise prices on more than 500 drugs in January. We dig in. Plus, millions of Americans will be getting pay bumps in the new year, and the IRS is trying out a free online tax-filing system that cuts out vendors.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/expect-drug-price-hikes-this-month Save to Pocket

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@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-01-02, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)

Basketball is the best game to watch because you get to know the players. Only five players on the court at once, they play both offense and defense, and they aren’t wearing armor like football players, you see their faces, whether they’re cool or hot, emotional or stoic, up or down. So when your team trades two of its best-known players for three players you’ve never heard of, to a team that’s rebuilding, first you feel sad, and then you wonder what the new teams will be like. One of the traded players, Immanuel Quickley, is a young, happy warrior with a deadly offense, but he was a Knicks bench player because they already had an All-Star quality player at his position, point guard, the quarterback of a basketball team. He led the second unit, and probably had a lot to do with the Knicks’ success last year. I watched the Raptors game last night, and while the joy seemed to be gone from his demeanor, he was their starting point guard, and now he gets a chance to prove himself. The Knicks got something they needed, desperately, now that their defensive leader, Mitchell Robinson, is injured and out for the season – OG Anunoby – who fit in so well into the starting lineup, in place of the other player the Knicks traded, RJ Barrett, who never became the producer we hoped he would. The new Knicks starting five are a much better team than they were before the trade, or so it seems after one game. I admit, I had gotten bored with Knicks this season, but yesterday’s game was interesting and exciting, and even better the Knicks won, against one of the best teams in the NBA. Yet we will miss IQ in New York, and hope for him to have a great career in Toronto and beyond.

http://scripting.com/2024/01/02.html#a123238 Save to Pocket

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TikTok Editorial Analysis

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2023-12-28, from: Bruce Schneier blog

TikTok seems to be skewing things in the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. (This is a serious analysis, and the methodology looks sound.)

Conclusion: Substantial Differences in Hashtag Ratios Raise
Concerns about TikTok’s Impartiality

Given the research above, we assess a strong possibility that content on TikTok is either amplified or suppressed based on its alignment with the interests of the Chinese Government. Future research should aim towards a more comprehensive analysis to determine the potential influence of TikTok on popular public narratives. This research should determine if and how TikTok might be utilized for furthering national/regional or international objectives of the Chinese Government…

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/01/tiktok-editorial-analysis.html Save to Pocket

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308 Days

date: 2024-01-02, from: Dan Rather’s Steady

It was a crisp and clear New Year’s in Texas, a good day for a walk — but every day I wake up is a good day and a blessing. I have seen my fair share of New Year’s Days, and I can report that this one may be the best yet. Why? Because I enjoyed the hell out of it. Friends, family and football is a holiday trifecta that’s hard to beat.

https://steady.substack.com/p/308-days Save to Pocket

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Mozilla CEO pockets a packet, asks biz to pick up pace the ‘Mozilla way’

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Which is all about privacy and encryption, apparently

Mozilla closed out 2023 with a report that dodges its flatlining browser market share and Mozilla.social beta in favor of calls for a faster pace from its highly paid CEO.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/mozilla_in_2024_ai_privacy/ Save to Pocket

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The I in LLM stands for intelligence

date: 2024-01-02, from: Daniel Stenberg Blog

I have held back on writing anything about AI or how we (not) use AI for development in the curl factory. Now I can’t hold back anymore. Let me show you the most significant effect of AI on curl as of today – with examples. Bug Bounty Having a bug bounty means that we offer … Continue reading The I in LLM stands for intelligence →

https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2024/01/02/the-i-in-llm-stands-for-intelligence/ Save to Pocket

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The Real Value of a Catholic Modernity

date: 2024-01-02, from: Ayjay blog

In 1996 the philosopher Charles Taylor delivered a lecture – later to be published with several responses – called “A Catholic Modernity?” But do you know what the truly essential value of a Catholic modernity is? It was a Catholic modernity that defeated Dracula. The Catholic elements of the story are memorable. Most readers will […]

https://blog.ayjay.org/the-real-value-of-a-catholic-modernity/ Save to Pocket

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Why is the mainstream media failing to report accurately on the upcoming election?

date: 2024-01-02, from: Robert Reich on Substack

Outmoded “standards” of journalism are preventing voters from knowing the truth

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-is-the-mainstream-media-failing Save to Pocket

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The Arguments Against EVs Are All Bad

date: 2024-01-02, from: Heatmap News

Suppose you’d never heard of the gas-powered car. One day, someone comes along to evangelize a new Honda CR-V as the hottest thing in technology. You might rightfully ask: Are you serious? You want me to put my family inside a box propelled by petroleum explosions? I’m supposed to maintain a machine made of thousands of moving parts ready to fail at any time, and that needs a fossil fuel imported largely from hostile nations?

Hank Green of YouTube fame recently posted such a thought experiment on Threads to point out the power of the status quo. After a century of our burning gasoline to get around, the frankly bizarre nature of internal combustion has become invisible. Instead, it is the ascendant electric car that is met by the doubt and derision that scoffs at anything new and different.

I’m not going to tell you EVs don’t have growing pains. But the big arguments against them aren’t as impressive as they sound.

Some anti-EV complaints are little more than bad-faith attacks drummed up by petroleum partisans and others with an ax to grind against electrification. For example, there is the notion that EVs aren’t actually better for the climate because they produce more emissions than gas cars. Opponents adore this one, since it would negate the rationale for electrifying the car fleet.

Except, it’s wrong. It may be true that building an EV requires slightly more upfront carbon emissions, which are caused by mining the essential materials and making the battery. However, combustion cars more than make up the difference by burning fossil fuels, and spewing a constant stream of climate pollution, for as many years as they run. Meanwhile, an EV gets cleaner and cleaner as the grid that supplies its electricity adds more and more renewables to its makeup. You’d basically have to burn nothing but coal for EVs to be worse over their lifespans.

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What about the annoyance of EV ownership? Some antagonists suggest driving electric is like using cloth diapers: an onerous, soul-sucking inconvenience taken on for the sake of saving the planet. Don’t believe it. EV life has its quirks, sure. On the other hand, I’ve covered the numerous ways that EVs are just plain better than gas cars, which includes the impressive zoom off the starting line, the ability to use your garage as a refueling station, and much more.

Range anxiety, held up as a dealbreaker for some buyers considering an EV, isn’t the problem you think it is. The fear is essentially nil for people who can charge an EV at home: You’ll wake up each morning with 80 or 90 percent of battery capacity, which is more than enough for all your daily driving needs. Finding a public charger is mainly a problem for longer trips, and the growing number of fast-charging stations means there’ll be one. Furthermore, battery ranges are getting longer and charging times are getting shorter. As this trend continues, range anxiety is quickly diminishing, as is the convenience difference between gas and electric.

Some naysayers say it’s impossible for an electric vehicle to meet their needs. I get it. It’d be easy to look at maps of U.S. charging infrastructure and conclude that if you don’t live in one of the big metropolitan areas where plugs are abundant, then EV ownership is impossible or impractical. Well, not necessarily.

Yes, those who reside in truly rural parts of America, and drive many miles far from the interstate highway system, ought to wait on going electric. But you don’t need to live in Los Angeles to live with an EV. Remember, if you can charge at home, then your house supplies the energy for the vast majority of your driving. Fast chargers now line the major highways even in states with low EV ownership to date, so you could drive a long distance as long as it’s not into the hinterlands. Having an EV especially makes sense in a two-car family where the other car is, say, a traditional hybrid. Simply accomplish most of your local driving on cleaner, electric power, and take out the Prius if you’re driving to a far-flung national park.

EVs are too expensive, they say. That one is true. However, while the federal tax credits for electric vehicles were already perplexing and are getting worse, they exist. If you can manage to navigate them, it is still possible to save $7,500 up front on buying an EV, an amount that brings them much closer to their gasoline counterparts. And that’s before the credits and rebates available in many states for buying zero-emissions cars or installing home charging stations. It also doesn’t include the savings from reduced routine maintenance and low fuel costs, both of which make electrics cheaper to operate as the years go by.

In addition, those high sticker prices won’t stay high forever. A lot of the EVs that have hit the market so far are high-end, and their eye-popping MSRP helps carmakers cover the costs of designing new all-electric platforms and building big batteries. As the electric market matures, more entry-level models will emerge, made possible in part by the cost of batteries falling as the industry reaches a bigger scale.

There is a long list of alleged reasons why electrification supposedly cannot work across an entire country or the world. Among them: Battery materials are scarce, and must be mined in problematic areas. The grid supposedly can’t handle the extra demand (it can), and we can’t put enough renewable energy on the grid for EVs to make a maximum climate impact. Charging infrastructure is woefully inadequate.

These all are issues to be sorted, surely. The fundamental problem with this kind of anti-electric rhetoric around them, though, is that it suggests such problems are unsolvable. They’re not. New sources for raw materials are being found, such as the giant lithium deposit discovered this year near the Oregon-Nevada border. The ascendant EV battery recycling has the potential to recover most of the precious metals from spent cells. In the longer term, scientists are at work on novel chemistries that could use more abundant and easily obtained materials to make the batteries of tomorrow from something other than lithium, cobalt, and nickel.

The electricity grid does need to be improved, with more high-capacity transmission lines and energy storage solutions to allow for saving solar and wind energy for later. Frankly, though, our decaying infrastructure needs hardening anyway, and the EV revolution may help provide the push to get such projects past political gridlock. In the meantime, there are available smart solutions such as trying to line up energy demand with renewable supply — for example, by charging all our new EVs in midday when the sun is shining.

Maybe the people who say those solutions are too expensive or too difficult simply have no vision. After all, many of them would be out there stumping about the power of American ingenuity — if that ingenuity were in pursuit of a technology that profited them or appealed to their voters. While the EV transition will be hard, what would be even harder is giving up and living with the effects of unmitigated climate change, or trying to realize 11th-hour miracle solutions to save the planet like direct air capture.

The only truly compelling argument against EVs is that they don’t go far enough. They are still cars, after all, and a society that drives electric cars still wastes its land on parking lots and kills thousands of its citizens each year through crashes and collisions with other vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians. Sticking with cars just because they fit into the civilization we’ve built is a missed opportunity to build a walkable, bikeable, better future. There’s no arguing with that one.

https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/arguments-against-evs-bad Save to Pocket

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2024 sure looks like an exciting year for datacenter silicon

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Loads of chips from Nvidia, AMD, Intel on the way – and very probably some surprises along the way as well

Comment  The new year is already shaping up to be one of the most significant in terms of datacenter silicon we’ve seen in a while. Every major chip house is slated to refresh their CPU and/or GPU product lines over the coming twelve months.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/2024_dc_chip_preview/ Save to Pocket

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New year, new goals? | #MagPiMonday

date: 2024-01-02, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)

On planning out what to do in 2024, with The MagPi magazine’s perpetual procrastinator Rob Zwetsloot

The post New year, new goals? | #MagPiMonday appeared first on Raspberry Pi.

https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/new-year-new-goals-magpimonday/ Save to Pocket

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Create more. Consume less.

date: 2024-01-02, from: Manu - I write blog

I spend a lot of time online. One could argue it’s too much time. And in that time, I consume content. Mountains of content. Huge mountains of content. Maybe insurmountable mountains of content. No matter how much I try, there will always be another interesting blog post, YouTube video, or podcast episode. I consume a lot more than I create. I suspect I’m not alone in this. And I think there’s a good balance to be found here. Right now I feel the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of the consumption and I have to bring it back towards the middle.

I feel that is something I need to do for myself, for the sake of my mental sanity but I also think that’s something the internet as a whole would benefit from. Consuming content online is, for the most part, a mindless act. But creating content forces you to reflect, to introspect, to look at yourself and the world around you in different ways.

More people should follow Matt’s advice:

Publish a post. About anything! It can be long or short, a photo or a video, maybe a quote or a link to something you found interesting. Don’t sweat it. Just blog. Share something you created, or amplify something you enjoyed. It doesn’t take much. The act of publishing will be a gift for you and me.

I think this is going to be my 2024 mantra: Create more. Consume less.

https://manuelmoreale.com/@/page/CNGrtkaiFN9Kh0Pp Save to Pocket

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Joey Daccord posts second career shutout as Seattle topples Vegas 3-0 in Winter Classic

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>As the last one on the ice, Joey Daccord skated in a circle with his goalie stick in the air and the home fans chanting his name in unison.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/sports/joey-daccord-posts-second-career-shutout-as-seattle-topples-vegas-3-0-in-winter-classic/ Save to Pocket

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Maui wildfires’ impact widespread in Hawaii sports

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>The three biggest stories of the Hawaii sports year did not end with victories on fields or courts. But they commanded the attention of fans for various reasons. Their news value came from the human interest of rising from the ashes of tragedy, a flawed process in leadership transition, and appreciation for the prolonged excellence of a team that came very close to unprecedented achievement.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/sports/maui-wildfires-impact-widespread-in-hawaii-sports/ Save to Pocket

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Analysis: Cowboys got all the breaks while Ravens and 49ers were big winners, locking up No. 1 seeds

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>The Dallas Cowboys got another big victory without taking the field Sunday. The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers took care of business to make sure they get an extra week of rest.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/sports/analysis-cowboys-got-all-the-breaks-while-ravens-and-49ers-were-big-winners-locking-up-no-1-seeds/ Save to Pocket

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Michigan beats Alabama 27-20 in overtime on Blake Corum’s TD run to reach national title game

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>PASADENA, Calif. &#8212; Blake Corum rushed for a 17-yard touchdown on the second snap of overtime, and top-seeded Michigan advanced to its first College Football Playoff championship game with a 27-20 victory over fourth-seeded Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Monday.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/sports/michigan-beats-alabama-27-20-in-overtime-on-blake-corums-td-run-to-reach-national-title-game/ Save to Pocket

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Russia launches record number of drones in Ukraine, and Putin says Moscow will intensify its attacks

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) &#8212; Russia launched a record 90 Shahed-type drones across Ukraine during the early hours of the new year, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would &#8220;intensify&#8221; its attacks on its neighbor.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/russia-launches-record-number-of-drones-in-ukraine-and-putin-says-moscow-will-intensify-its-attacks/ Save to Pocket

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Migrant-filled buses from Texas arrive in NJ, skirting NYC’s new rules

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>NEW YORK &#8212; After New York City moved last week to slow the pace of migrant-filled charter buses from Southern states, roughly a dozen buses have arrived outside the city in New Jersey since Saturday, according to officials.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/migrant-filled-buses-from-texas-arrive-in-nj-skirting-nycs-new-rules/ Save to Pocket

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Labor unrest defined Hollywood in 2023. Here’s what we learned from the twin strikes

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Writers dropped their pens and picked up megaphones. Movie and TV stars walked picket lines instead of red carpets. A sitcom legend became the face of the entertainment labor movement.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/labor-unrest-defined-hollywood-in-2023-heres-what-we-learned-from-the-twin-strikes/ Save to Pocket

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Japan lowers tsunami warning after a series of earthquakes but tells people to stay away from coast

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>TOKYO &#8212; Japan dropped its highest-level tsunami alert after issuing one following a series of major earthquakes Monday but told residents of coastal areas not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/japan-lowers-tsunami-warning-after-a-series-of-earthquakes-but-tells-people-to-stay-away-from-coast/ Save to Pocket

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Firefighter to lead Maui Emergency Management Agency

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>The Maui Emergency Management Agency has a new administrator.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/hawaii-news/firefighter-to-lead-maui-emergency-management-agency/ Save to Pocket

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Iran sends warship to Red Sea after US sinks Houthi boats

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Iran dispatched a warship to the Red Sea after the U.S. Navy destroyed three Houthi boats, a move that risks ratcheting up tensions and complicates Washington&#8217;s goal of securing a waterway that&#8217;s vital to global trade.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/iran-sends-warship-to-red-sea-after-us-sinks-houthi-boats/ Save to Pocket

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Looking ahead to 5 things that will shape the 2024 election

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>It&#8217;s divisible by four. It&#8217;s a leap year. It&#8217;s a Summer Olympics year.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/looking-ahead-to-5-things-that-will-shape-the-2024-election/ Save to Pocket

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Israel’s Supreme Court overturns a key component of Netanyahu’s polarizing judicial overhaul

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>JERUSALEM &#8212; Israel&#8217;s Supreme Court struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#8217;s contentious judicial overhaul Monday, delivering a landmark decision that could reopen the fissures in Israeli society that preceded the country&#8217;s ongoing war against Hamas.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/israels-supreme-court-overturns-a-key-component-of-netanyahus-polarizing-judicial-overhaul/ Save to Pocket

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Hawaii economy top of mind in the new year

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Maui&#8217;s struggle following the Aug. 8 wildfires should continue to drag down Hawaii&#8217;s overall economy this year even as 9.8 million visitors are forecast statewide.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/hawaii-news/hawaii-economy-top-of-mind-in-the-new-year/ Save to Pocket

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The New Year offers a clean slate for long-elusive resolutions. Will 2024 be the year to keep them?

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>It&#8217;s an annual end-of-year exercise in futility for many. But a clean slate awaits at the stroke of midnight for the next round of resolutions.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/the-new-year-offers-a-clean-slate-for-long-elusive-resolutions-will-2024-be-the-year-to-keep-them/ Save to Pocket

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More Americans think foreign policy should be a top US priority for 2024, an AP-NORC poll finds

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>WASHINGTON &#8212; In this time of war overseas, more Americans think foreign policy should be a top focus for the U.S. government in 2024, with a new poll showing international concerns and immigration rising in importance with the public.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/more-americans-think-foreign-policy-should-be-a-top-us-priority-for-2024-an-ap-norc-poll-finds/ Save to Pocket

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Israel is pulling thousands of troops from Gaza in a possible precursor to a scaled-back offensive

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>JERUSALEM &#8212; The Israeli military confirmed Monday that it was pulling thousands of troops out of the Gaza Strip, a step that could clear the way for a new long-term phase of lower-intensity fighting against the Hamas militant group.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/nation-world-news/israel-is-pulling-thousands-of-troops-from-gaza-in-a-possible-precursor-to-a-scaled-back-offensive/ Save to Pocket

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Let’s Talk Food: New Year’s resolution

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Happy New Year! As we welcome 2024, we always try to make a new year&#8217;s resolution or two, hoping for a better year to come.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/features/lets-talk-food-new-years-resolution/ Save to Pocket

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Big, bold flavors of citrus brighten up winter days

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>In the dead of winter, citrus gives our plates one big zap of color and flavor. We deserve this in excess.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/features/big-bold-flavors-of-citrus-brighten-up-winter-days/ Save to Pocket

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Salty ice cream, aged fish, Hanwoo beef: A food editor’s 16 best dishes of the year

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Every year around this time, Google Trends releases its top searched recipes of the year. In 2023, there was a surprise: TikTok trends dominated the list as usual (lasagna soup, cottage cheese), but there was also a dish that will never again make an appearance on the list. It was Coronation Quiche, a cheesy, vegetarian number that celebrated Britain&#8217;s newly crowned King Charles. That quiche might have flooded the internet this year, but I didn&#8217;t have one bite of it. Even if I had, and even though I have a thing for cheese, it&#8217;s highly doubtful that Coronation quiche would have made it onto my list of the best dishes I got to eat in 2023. I&#8217;ve eaten in literally hundreds of restaurants and tasted a thousand dishes; now is my moment to look back. Last year, my theme was butter; this year, I gravitated towards birds, in particular a glorious, bacon-butter roasted chicken at Dovetale in 1 Hotel Mayfair in Central London. (It&#8217;s been a great year to eat chicken &#8212; shout out to the rotisserie options at Bebe Bob in London and whole roasted bird, at Sailor in Brooklyn, New York.) Meaty duck featured in exquisite stuffed pasta at another new hotel restaurant, Cafe Carmellini in New York, and also in an intense game bird sauce for pasta at a fantastic East Village joint, Foul Witch. Although in my job as a restaurant editor, I primarily focus on new and new-to-me dining spots, there are a couple innovative dishes on this list from established hangouts that had to feature on my roster. One of the very best came courtesy of chef James Lowe at Lyle&#8217;s in London for a very delightful reason: Though he has been cooking for a couple decades, he hadn&#8217;t served tuna. The fish &#8220;is ubiquitous around the world, on menus everywhere. But it&#8217;s the first time it&#8217;s been fished off the coast in the UK since the 60s,&#8221; he says. &#8220;To be cooking for 20 years and all of a sudden have an ingredient I haven&#8217;t cooked with, it&#8217;s great fun.&#8221; In fact, so unfamiliar was a whole tuna to the chef that he and his team had to watch YouTube videos to master the art of butchering a 200-plus kilo (more than 440 pound) fish, a procedure that took over five dining room tables the first time they tried it. The dish he settled on for the fall, while the fish was in season, was sublime tuna belly alongside a toast that was topped with fatty scrapings from the bones; you&#8217;ll find more details below.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/features/salty-ice-cream-aged-fish-hanwoo-beef-a-food-editors-16-best-dishes-of-the-year/ Save to Pocket

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Supreme Court has tough tiebreaker on Trump ballot case

date: 2024-01-02, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>In a ruling last week, the Michigan Supreme Court allowed Donald Trump to remain on the Republican primary ballot, rejecting the argument that the 14th Amendment&#8217;s ban on holding public office for government officials who&#8217;d previously engaged in insurrection against the United States disqualified the former president.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/02/opinion/supreme-court-has-tough-tiebreaker-on-trump-ballot-case/ Save to Pocket

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The Case Of The Missing Health Care Providers

date: 2024-01-02, from: The Lever News

Many health insurers’ online provider directories are inaccurate or out-of-date, to the detriment of patients and health care professionals alike.

https://www.levernews.com/the-case-of-the-missing-health-care-providers/ Save to Pocket

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Navigating the truth maze in a world of clever machines and cleverer marketers

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Recognizing what’s unique about AI will give us the tools to keep it in check

Opinion  All the worries and fears about AI boil down to one. How do we know how well it’s working?…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/opinion_ai/ Save to Pocket

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UK government lays out plan to divert people’s broken gizmos from landfill

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Right to repair meets right to recycle

The UK government hopes to make it easier for folks to reuse and recycle electrical goods rather than consign old gear to the landfill.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/uk_government_recycling/ Save to Pocket

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Today in SCV History (Jan. 2)

date: 2024-01-02, from: SCV New (TV Station)

1855 – American Land Commission confirms 48,612-acre Rancho San Francisco to Jacoba Feliz, widow of Antonio del Valle [story] &nbsp

https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-jan-2/ Save to Pocket

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CSUN women’s basketball loses 10th straight to end the year

date: 2024-01-02, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)

Entering the game against Long Beach State (6-6, 1-1 Big West), the Matadors (2-10, 0-2 Big West) were hoping to snap their nine-game losing streak and end the year on a positive note, and through two quarters, were on pace to do just that. But the Matadors’ hopes were crushed in the third when they…

https://sundial.csun.edu/177759/sports/csun-womens-basketball-loses-10th-straight-to-end-the-year/ Save to Pocket

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Crypto-crook Sam Bankman-Fried spared a second trial

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Eighth charge related to campaign contributions would just take too dang long

US prosecutors do not plan to proceed with a second trial of convicted and imprisoned crypto-villain Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), according to a Southern District of New York court letter filed on December 29.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/sam_bankman_fried_spared_a/ Save to Pocket

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While you holidayed, Microsoft brought Copilot to mobile devices, again

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Redmond’s AI assistant bounds onto Android and iOS without Bing branding

First Look  While many readers enjoyed holiday downtime, Microsoft was busy bringing its Copilot AI to Android and iOS.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/copilot_android_ios_apps/ Save to Pocket

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GPA extends potential outage schedule through January

date: 2024-01-02, from: Guam Daily Post

The Guam Power Authority has announced that preventative maintenance and necessary repairs to baseload generators and combustion turbines managed to get completed in December 2023 with only two instances of load shedding, but the utility is still extending the December…

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/gpa-extends-potential-outage-schedule-through-january/article_a02c6788-a931-11ee-a3ab-2f30f934cd63.html Save to Pocket

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Twenty Twenty-Three

date: 2024-01-02, from: Dave Rupert blog

2023 has been a memorable year and –at times– downright existential. Looking at the scorecard, it’s pretty clear there’s been more downs than ups. Despite everything, I maintain a positive outlook and am forward-looking.

I’m happy to report that I failed at all my SMART goals from 2022. Every. Single. One. Zero KPIs were harmed during the course of the last year. Running a quick postmortem, I think setting goals like this is stupid now. That said, I love data. So as I wrap up this year, I’ll start with the quantifiable outcomes and move into the less quantifiable aspects of 2023…

Fell short in the books department

I read or listened to 39 books this year which means I officially fell out of the “Book-A-Week” club and I’m glad about that outcome. Rather than powering through an endless backlog, I took a more one-in/one-out approach with the library. I feel like I got more enjoyment out of the books I picked up this year by taking it slower.

I had a goal of reading four Japanese language manga but failed at that. I started two (Delicious in Dungeon and Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island) but got hung up on cooking and military vocabulary. Japanese has always been like that for me, it takes a lot to load the “domain” into my Brain RAM. With some effort this may be something I can re-pick up in 2024.

I planned to read less in 2023, so I guess I succeeded there. I had another goal of watching more TV, but that didn’t happen. I watched some anime (Gundam) so perhaps I qualified but I didn’t keep track. I also switched from audiobooks to catching up on podcasts. No regrets.

The year of the personal website

I wrote ~70 blog posts this year between my blog and the Luro blog. That’s not a good year… that’s my best year yet! And I have 39 drafts in the hopper. My short term goal is to push publish on half of them. But let’s look back at some of the greatest hits from this year.

• Most popular posts
  • Getting started with View Transitions on multi-page apps
  • If Web Components are so great, why am I not using them?
  • CSS Wishlist 2023
• Favorite posts
  • Lessons from Soviet Russia on deploying small nuclear generators
  • The case for Flex applications
  • Quick thoughts on chips
• Posts I spent the most time on but got the least attention:
  • The Feature Work → Maintenance Work Loop
  • My double standards about JS framework compilers
  • Lessons from my Gunpla Tools

And it’s not just a good year of blogging for me, I can feel the resurgence of blogging in my bones. I cleared out over 2000 items in my RSS queue and there’s 500 more unreads in there again. If I were running a clandestine XML-based social network, then I bet the number of people in that club would have tripled this year. More people blogging on their personal sites makes the web feel small and weird again, like walking through a friendly neighborhood as opposed to being under the florescent lights of a giant shopping mall.

It will be interesting to see what happens with websites in 2024 and beyond. We’re at a weird tipping point for the web where ChatGPT makes it trivial to flood the internet with disingenuous, cheaply generated content spam. What’s the point of writing if a machine can bullshit faster than I can? Why would I put effort into reading that which you didn’t put effort into writing? Did you hear that story about the male conference organizer who was also a fake dev influencer e-girl? Big yikes.

I wonder if the “personal” part of personal websites is the difference maker going forward. I’m more apt to share something written by someone I know than some AI content farm.

A year of emergencies, loss, maladies, and stress

We hit the deductible on our health insurance this year and I think that’s a perfect metaphor for 2023. A brief chronological recounting of this year’s trauma…

• (Feb) Austin froze again - 125 hours without power. Thankful for friends who housed us and helped us chainsaw branches.
• (Apr) Goodbye, Rudy - Our sweet dog crossed the rainbow bridge.
• (Apr) An emergency appendectomy - As family boarded a plane to visit us, an appendix decided to leave town. Thanks to Mark, our friend, who performed the surgery.
• (May) Back-to-back-to-back-to-back cases of strep - Thank you, public school system.
• (May) Stress attack - Ack! Began dieting and trying to relax.
• (Sept) Root canal to kill a jaw-eating bacteria in tooth - No more purple tooth!
• (Sept) Diagnosing a mysterious foot fungus - Not fungus, Disney rash.
• (Oct) Physical therapy and an MRI for a herniated L4 - Back pain is the dumbest pain

Managing stress and losing weight was my big personal focus this year. It feels good to lose 30 pounds, but it feels even better to lower my resting heart rate 10+ BPM. Being on a “no fun” diet for 7+ months is good for me but contributes to a feeling of a boring year. I’ll take that trade I guess or sell a kidney so I can afford Ozempic.

The Good Parts

2023 wasn’t all bad vibes! Some notable and good events happened this year…

• My wife and I celebrated 15 years of marriage.
• Vacationed in San Diego with friends and family.
• I got a recliner that I use often, like a true dad.
• Went to Figma’s Config as an “influencer”
  • Played dice for drinks in a bar in Chinatown, will never forget this night
• Got Luro out of Beta ❤️ Thanks to everyone who has given feedback.
• Web components are having a moment and I like web components.
• ShopTalk wrapped our 12th year and we’ll hit Episode 600 in a few weeks.

What made this year were the small moments that don’t make the “Year in Review” lists. Like watching my son play baseball, or my daughter master new cheer skills, the jokes and tickles, playing Christmas songs on the piano, building the occasional plastic model, or playing games with the family. Those are the moments that make up the majority of my days.

🔮 What’s in store for 2024…

2024 is gearing up to be a year of big changes, hopefully with less medical surprises… but it’s New Year’s Day and I already know that’s not the case. Ughck. Nevertheless, we persist. For me it’s a season of reassessing, reprioritizing, and rethinking my personal goals. What do I want for ol’ Dave Rupert and how do I get there? Not an easy question to ask myself, but worthwhile.

Since I failed at quantifiable goals, I’m not doing those again. Here’s what I have on my brain that would make for a successful 2024.

• Activate an active lifestyle - I addressed a lot of stress and weight loss this past year, I’d like to layer in sustainable activity as well.
• Write more shitty sci-fi - I have about six stories on deck and I’d love to complete them.
• Draw more - I’d love to be someone who doodles all the time. I could be that guy.
• Write for other publications - I’m comfortable with self-publishing on my blog and I’d like to up the editorial challenge this year by writing for other sites or zines.
• Survive the 2024 US Election - This will occupy enough mental bandwidth that I am reserving space for it.
• Make a video game? - Always chasing this dream.

That seems like a year’s worth of ambition right there and a good place to end this retrospective. Tired, weak, and worn; I hope this year is better for you than the last and that those around you are happy and healthy.

https://daverupert.com/2024/01/twenty-twenty-three/ Save to Pocket

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Huawei bets its 2024 on datacenter infrastructure

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Compute, networking and storage are key, and global sales are still possible – despite, y’know, controversy

Huawei chair Hu Houkun has prepared the Chinese tech giant for 2024 by suggesting its datacenter offerings are the key to success in the new year.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/huawei_chair_2024_letter/ Save to Pocket

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@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-02, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

100 Greatest Beatles Songs.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-beatles-songs-154008/hello-goodbye-159615/ Save to Pocket

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@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-01-02, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

The Knicks looked very good in their first game after the big trade.

https://www.si.com/nba/knicks/news/new-york-knicks-2024-game-recap-minnesota-timerwolves-julius-randle-og-anunoby Save to Pocket

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COVID This Week – Jan 1, 2024

date: 2024-01-02, from: Peoples CDC blog

This episode of “COVID This Week” is divided into two parts. In the first here, we cover global COVID and U.S. COVID.  In the second part, we’ll continue to track the disintegration of U.S. public health, not only through the specifics of the COVID response, but in the context of the country’s—indeed, the world’s—great divide… Continue reading COVID This Week – Jan 1, 2024

https://peoplescdc.org/2024/01/01/covid-this-week-jan-1-2024/ Save to Pocket

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January 1, 2024

date: 2024-01-02, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed his name to the Emancipation Proclamation. “I never in my life felt more certain that I was doing right,” he said, “than I do in signing this paper. If my name goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-1-2024 Save to Pocket

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Pro-Palestinian Protest Restricts Access to NYC Airport’s International Terminal

date: 2024-01-02, from: VOA News USA

NEW YORK — Access to a busy terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was restricted Monday as pro-Palestinian protesters converged on the airport for the second time in a week.

Videos posted online show heavy traffic and a slow-moving line of cars, some flying Palestinian flags and featuring text on the windows such as “Stop the genocide.” Police directed a line of cars around a checkpoint. Protesters also had planned to arrive at the airport in Queens, New York, by public transportation.

The New Year’s Day action was the latest in a series of protests around the nation calling for a cease-fire since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. Last Wednesday, activists brought traffic to a standstill on an expressway leading up to JFK for about 20 minutes. Protesters shut down a major thoroughfare leading to the Los Angeles International Airport on the same day.

Entry into JFK’s Terminal 4 was temporarily restricted Monday afternoon to ticketed passengers, employees and people with what authorities consider a valid reason to be there, such as passenger pickups, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the region’s airports. 

Similarly, AirTrain access was temporarily restricted to ticketed passengers and employees.

“The Port Authority, in coordination with our local, state, and federal partners, has deployed safety and security measures to help ensure an uninterrupted travel experience at JFK,” port authority spokesperson Seth Stein said in an email.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey didn’t report any arrests.

City officials had warned people flying out of JFK on Monday, a busy travel day, to get to the airport early because of the protests.

Police said the caravan of cars was later headed to protest outside LaGuardia Airport, which is also in Queens.

https://www.voanews.com/a/pro-palestinian-protest-restricts-access-to-nyc-airport-s-international-terminal/7421059.html Save to Pocket

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A ship carrying 800 tonnes of Li-Ion batteries caught fire. What could possibly go wrong?

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Less than you might imagine, thankfully

The US Coast Guard has advised that a ship carrying around 800 tonnes of Lithium-Ion batteries – some of which caught fire – is out of danger after its crew handled the situation admirably.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/01/02/ship_li_ion_fire/ Save to Pocket

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A Cat Named “Taters”

date: 2024-01-02, updated: 2024-01-02, from: One Foot Tsunami

https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/01/01/a-cat-named-taters/ Save to Pocket

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135th Rose Parade Boasts Floral Floats, Sunny Skies as California Tradition Kicks Off New Year

date: 2024-01-02, from: VOA News USA

pasadena, california — Floral floats, marching bands and equestrian units took to the streets under a sunny California sky as the 135th Rose Parade drew hundreds of thousands of spectators on New Year’s Day.

The Pasadena tradition on Monday featured Broadway legend Audra McDonald as grand marshal and the theme “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language.”

After recent rains and gray skies, there was plenty of sun for the 8 a.m. start of the spectacle with a military flyover of a B-2 stealth bomber.

Among the fanciful floats was Kaiser Permanente’s colorful “Symphony of You,” which featured 8,000 roses and received the President Award for most outstanding use and presentation of flowers.

The top prize, the 2024 Sweepstakes Trophy, went to the San Diego Zoo for the 16.8-meter float “It All Started With a Roar,” depicting its mascot Rex the Lion and celebrating wildlife conservation.

Huge crowds lined the 8.8-kilometer parade route. Many camped out on sidewalks overnight, staking out their spots in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve.

The parade was briefly interrupted by about 50 pro-Palestinian protesters carrying a banner demanding a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas. They blocked the route before peacefully dispersing under police orders, said city spokesperson Lisa Derderian.

McDonald was set to toss the coin before the 110th Rose Bowl college football game between Alabama and Michigan.

https://www.voanews.com/a/th-rose-parade-boasts-floral-floats-sunny-skies-as-california-tradition-kicks-off-new-year-/7421048.html Save to Pocket

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New Women’s North American Hockey League Launches

date: 2024-01-02, from: VOA News USA

Montreal — Women’s ice hockey kicked off 2024 with the launch of a new professional league that debuted Monday with a match between the Toronto and New York teams.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League “rings in the New Year with the very first regular season game in league history,” the PWHL said in a press release.

Toronto earned the first victory in the new league, beating New York 4-0 in Toronto.

The regular season includes more than 20 games and runs until May, and will be followed by playoffs.

The league has six teams: Boston, Minnesota and New York on the American side, and Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto on the Canadian side.

Ice hockey is Canada’s national winter sport but remains largely dominated by men.

The National Hockey League (NHL), the men’s equivalent, was founded in 1917 in Montreal and has 32 teams spread across the two countries.

https://www.voanews.com/a/new-women-s-north-american-hockey-league-launches-/7420713.html Save to Pocket

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PGConf.BE 2024: Mark your calendar, May 7th

date: 2024-01-02, from: PostgreSQL News

Announcing the Belgian PostgreSQL Conference

PGConf.be 2024 is the fourth Belgian PostgreSQL conference in Haasrode, Leuven.

The conference will take place on May 7th, 2024.

Call for sponsors, speakers and registration for the conference will be opened later.

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SELECT convert_from(decode(‘796f7520746865206265737420666f7220746865204e65772059656172’,‘hex’),‘UTF8’) as “PGConf.BE wishes”;

https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/pgconfbe-2024-mark-your-calendar-may-7th-2777/ Save to Pocket