News gathered 2024-02-29
(date: 2024-02-29 08:30:22)
Topological Matter by Inverse Design
date: 2024-03-05, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Bösch, Cyrill
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/649929 Save to Pocket
Are screen media the new pacifiers? The role of parenting stress and parental attitudes for children’s screen time in early childhood
date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Brauchli V.; Sticca F.; Edelsbrunner P.; von Wyl A.; Lannen P.
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/649586 Save to Pocket
A convolutional neural network-based method for the generation of super-resolution 3D models from clinical CT images
date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Zhou Y.; Klintström E.; Klintström B.; Ferguson S.J.; Helgason B.; Persson C.
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/655412 Save to Pocket
Handling uncertainty in train timetable rescheduling
date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Zhan, Shuguang; Xie, Jiemin; Wong, S.C.; Zhu, Yongqiu; Corman, Francesco
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/657510 Save to Pocket
Global nutritional challenges and opportunities: Buckwheat, a potential bridge between nutrient deficiency and food security
date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Jha R.; Zhang K.; He Y.; Mendler-Drienyovszki N.; Magyar-Tábori K.; Quinet M.; Germ M.; Kreft I.; Meglič V.; Ikeda K.; Chapman M.A.; Janovská D.; Podolska G.; Woo S.H.; Bruno S.; Georgiev M.I.; Chrungoo N.; Betekhtin A.; Zhou M.
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/660083 Save to Pocket
Human cues in eHealth to promote lifestyle change: An experimental field study to examine adherence to self-help interventions
date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Cohen Rodrigues T.R.; de Buisonjé D.R.; Reijnders T.; Santhanam P.; Kowatsch T.; Breeman L.D.; Janssen V.R.; Kraaijenhagen R.A.; Atsma D.E.; Evers A.W.M.
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/660082 Save to Pocket
Socioeconomic impacts of small conserved sites on rural communities in Madagascar
date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Rodríguez-Rodríguez, David; Knecht, Nielja; Llopis, Jorge C.; Heriarivo, R.A.; Rakotoarison, H.; Andriamampionomanjaka, V.; Navarro-Jurado, Enrique; Randriamamonjy, Voahirana
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/659418 Save to Pocket
Prenatal and postnatal influences on behavioral development in a mouse model of preconceptional stress
date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Scarborough, Joseph; Iachizzi, Monica; Schalbetter, Sina M.; Müller, Flavia S.; Weber-Stadlbauer, Ulrike; Richetto, Juliet
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/659419 Save to Pocket
Multi-criteria assessment of inland and offshore carbon dioxide transport options
date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added
Oeuvray, Pauline; Burger, Johannes; Roussanaly, Simon; Mazzotti, Marco; Becattini, Viola
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/661076 Save to Pocket
Gunfire in East Oakland results in man’s death
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The gunfire happened about 2 a.m.,
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/gunfire-in-east-oakland-results-in-mans-death/ Save to Pocket
“Restaurant row” kicks off in downtown San Jose with mini golf venue
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Urban Putt, a miniature golf venue in downtown San Jose with a unique flair, is launching this week.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/san-jose-mini-golf-real-estate-build-economy-store-food-entertainment/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
If we want to see even a modest reboot of blogging, as a community thing, we’re going to have to start with something like blogrolls. I wrote a bit yesterday about how blogrolls came about, and weblogs.com and how that led to RSS and feed readers. This time, we don’t have to wait for feeds to show up, they’re already there. It should happen more quickly.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/29.html#a162246 Save to Pocket
Serious medical error from Perplexity’s chatbot
date: 2024-02-29, from: Gary Marcus blog
The dangers of generative pastische
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/serious-medical-error-from-perplexitys Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Today’s song: Will The Circle Be Unbroken.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/29.html#a161217 Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
There was a moment in 2007 when Doc Searls took the blogroll off his blog.
https://doc.searls.com/2007/09/13/more-blog-less-rolling/ Save to Pocket
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-02-29, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
The New York Times editors caught peddling fables and trying to throw an junior under the bus to cover up:
https://theintercept.com/2024/02/28/new-york-times-anat-schwartz-october-7/
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112015639195904182 Save to Pocket
$8.5 billion for 750 million sets of eyes
date: 2024-02-29, from: Marketplace Morning Report
This week, Disney announced that it’s joining forces with India’s Reliance Industries to create a streaming platform that will serve up everything from live sports — notably cricket — to Disney films to TV dramas. It’s a strategic move from Disney in the world’s most populous country. Plus, goods prices receded, but services inflation is getting sticky. And: the economics (and tunes) of an HBCU marching band.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/8-5-billion-for-750-million-sets-of-eyes Save to Pocket
Article Spotlight: Identification of fungi isolated from commercial bumblebee colonies
date: 2024-02-29, from: PeerJ blog
https://peerj.com/blog/post/115284888878/article-spotlight-identification-of-fungi-isolated-from-commercial-bumblebee-colonies/ Save to Pocket
The Perelandra Bookshop in Colorado has a reader-in-residence position. “The reader gets…
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044084-the-perelandra-bookshop-i Save to Pocket
Larry Magid: I like generative AI, but I can write my own correspondence and columns, thank you
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
best reserved for research
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/larry-magid-i-like-generative-ai-but-i-can-write-my-own-correspondence-and-columns-thank-you/ Save to Pocket
Last Twitch of Dormzilla’s Tail
date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
UCSB sued over allegedly failing to comply with the state’s Public Records Act by withholding internal documents relating to Munger Hall.
The post Last Twitch of Dormzilla’s Tail appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/last-twitch-of-dormzillas-tail/ Save to Pocket
White House To Probe ‘Risks’ Of Chinese Cars With Connected Tech
date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News
Plus, Stellantis wants to build its own EVs and Aston delays the launch of its first BEV due to “consumer demand.”
https://insideevs.com/news/710617/china-data-cars-critical-materials/ Save to Pocket
PeerJ Welcomes Oregon State University to the AIMs Program: Facilitating Open Access Publishing for OSU Faculty
date: 2024-02-29, from: PeerJ blog
PeerJ’s AIM – Supporting Oregon State University’s Commitment to Research Dissemination and Scholarly Impact We’re excited to announce that Oregon State University has joined PeerJ’s Annual Institutional Membership (AIMs) program. This collaboration empowers OSU faculty, staff, and students to publish in any PeerJ journal by removing the barrier of Article Processing Charges (APCs). OSU authors […]
https://peerj.com/blog/post/115284888900/peerj-welcomes-oregon-state-university-to-the-aims-program-facilitating-open-access-publishing-for-osu-faculty/ Save to Pocket
Propella 9S Pro V2 review: A low-cost torque sensor electric bike for the masses
date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed
Commuter electric bikes are a key segment helping reduce America’s dependence on cars for navigating cities. The Propella 9S Pro V2 is designed squarely to get people to work, school, the coffee shop, or just navigating town on their own schedule. But compared to many other electric commuter bikes on the market, Propella does it with some outstanding value and several features we rarely see at this price level.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/propella-9s-pro-v2-review-a-low-cost-torque-sensor-electric-bike-for-the-masses/ Save to Pocket
Palestinian deaths in Gaza pass 30,000 as witnesses say Israeli forces fire on crowd waiting for aid
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Israeli troops fired on a large crowd of Palestinians racing to pull food off an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. More than 100 people were killed
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/palestinian-deaths-in-gaza-pass-30000-as-witnesses-say-israeli-forces-fire-on-crowd-waiting-for-aid/ Save to Pocket
Asylum-Seekers Find Shelter at Church in Washington State
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
Although the number of migrants crossing daily into the U.S. has fallen since December, local communities are still scrambling to provide them with resources. In the Pacific Northwest, a small-town church has become a shelter for hundreds of people from Africa and Latin America. From Tukwila, Washington, VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya has our story.
https://www.voanews.com/a/asylum-seekers-find-shelter-at-church-in-washington-state/7505974.html Save to Pocket
Why Fair Use Supports Non-Expressive Uses
date: 2024-02-29, from: Authors Union blogs
This post is part of Fair Use Week series, cross-posted at https://sites.harvard.edu/fair-use-week/2024/02/29/fair-use-week-2024-day-four-with-guest-expert-dave-hansen/ AI programs and their outputs raise all sorts of interesting questions–now found in the form of some 20+ lawsuits, many of them massive class actions. One of the most important questions is whether it is permissible to use copyrighted works as training data […]
https://www.authorsalliance.org/2024/02/29/why-fair-use-supports-non-expressive-uses/ Save to Pocket
It’s that most wonderful time of the year when tech cannot handle the date
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Fuel pumps refuse payment, smartwatches stop – all part of the rich tapestry of computer calendars
Today is February 29, an unusual day in that it is added to the common 28 in years that are multiples of four to keep the calendar in sync with the astronomical year.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/fuel_pump_leap_year_bug/ Save to Pocket
NASA Signs Agreement with Nikon to Develop Lunar Artemis Camera
date: 2024-02-29, from: NASA breaking news
When NASA sends astronauts to the South Pole region of the Moon for the first time with its Artemis campaign, they will capture photos with a handheld camera to help advance scientific research and discovery for the benefit of all. NASA and Nikon Inc. recently signed a Space Act Agreement that outlines how they will work together […]
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nasa-signs-agreement-with-nikon-to-develop-lunar-artemis-camera/ Save to Pocket
Name that Ware, February 2024
date: 2024-02-29, from: Bunnie’s Studio Blog
Here’s the Ware for February 2024: Here’s another ware courtesy of FETguy, who recovered this from Renew Computers in San Rafael, CA. Renew is a recycling facility that apparently processes a fair bit of e-waste. NGL: I’m a little envious of being able to rummage around an e-waste facility from that part of the world […]
https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=6930 Save to Pocket
Southern California bus factory shuts, 425 jobs lost, latest victim of green-vehicle slump
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The ENC bus business and its plant in Jurupa Valley will close by year’s end.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/southern-california-bus-factory-shuts-latest-victim-of-green-vehicle-slump/ Save to Pocket
Winner, Name that Ware January 2024
date: 2024-02-29, from: Bunnie’s Studio Blog
As I noted when posting the ware, I actually don’t know what its original function was — it’s just a gizmo I picked out of a junk bin in Akihabara. Personally, I could not figure out the grabby motion until I actuated the central plunger manually: So, I was impressed that Ian Mason could infer […]
https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=6927 Save to Pocket
Francis Ford Coppola shares some audition clips from The Outsiders, featuring the…
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044083-francis-ford-coppola-shar Save to Pocket
I’m a Storm
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: One Foot Tsunami
https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/02/29/im-a-storm/ Save to Pocket
Storm on track to reach Bay Area; blizzard warning in effect for Sierra Nevada
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The storm system is expected to bring several rounds of heavy rain showers to the Bay Area.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/storm-on-track-to-reach-bay-area-blizzard-warning-in-effect-for-sierra-nevada/ Save to Pocket
Tesla faces 5,977 Black workers in Fremont factory racism lawsuit
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Almost 6,000 Black workers from Tesla Inc.’s East Bay factory can sue the car maker collectively over claims that it failed to protect them from racism under a tentative ruling by a California judge.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/tesla-faces-5977-black-workers-in-factory-racism-lawsuit/ Save to Pocket
Hyundai spotted testing Lucid Air and ZEEKR X hints a luxury EV is in the works
date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed
Is Hyundai developing a luxury electric sedan? Possibly under the Genesis brand. Hyundai was recently spotted testing a Lucid Air electric sedan in South Korea, suggesting a high-end Hyundai EV could be in the works.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/hyundai-testing-lucid-air-hints-luxury-ev/ Save to Pocket
If You Must Use Signal, Use Molly
date: 2024-02-29, from: mrusme blog
While I’m critical towards the Signal messenger, I understand that network effects are strong and even though many people would much rather prefer a different platform, it’s not easy to get friends and family onto something better. In this brief write-up, I’ll introduce an alternative Signal client to make using Signal at least slightly less troublesome.
https://xn–gckvb8fzb.com/if-you-must-use-signal-use-molly/ Save to Pocket
XPeng continues to challenge Tesla FSD with XNGP self-driving, now available throughout China
date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed
XPeng Motors announced a massive milestone for its XPeng navigation guided pilot (XNGP) ADAS feature that enables self-driving in several scenarios. XNGP is now available unlimitedly on all roads, everywhere in China. That’s only part of it; XPeng also shared plans to expand the self-driving tech to other markets.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/xpeng-tesla-fsd-xngp-self-driving-adas-now-available-throughout-china/ Save to Pocket
Silicon Valley gaming giant Electronic Arts cutting about 5% of workforce
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The video game maker said in a regulatory filing that its board approved a restructuring plan that includes the layoffs, as well as closing some offices or facilities.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/electronic-arts-cutting-about-5-of-workforce-with-layoffs-ongoing-in-gaming-and-tech-sector/ Save to Pocket
A Northern California county ditched its Dominion vote counting machines. Now a supporter faces a recall election
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The conservative majority on the board of supervisors directed the county’s small election staff to count ballots by hand. Experts say that’s an unrealistic task, given the tens of thousands of ballots returned in countywide elections that include dozens of races.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/a-california-county-ditched-its-vote-counting-machines-now-a-supporter-faces-a-recall-election/ Save to Pocket
Paramount Earnings Are Out. The Good, The Bad, And The Rumors
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The LAist
Paramount plans call for more international production, bad news for our local film and television industry.
https://laist.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/paramount-earnings-are-out-the-good-the-bad-and-the-rumors Save to Pocket
Renault and VW may partner on low-cost BEV minicar
date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed
Renault confirmed today that it is in talks with Volkswagen to build a BEV minicar for the European market.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/renault-and-vw-may-partner-on-low-cost-bev-minicar/ Save to Pocket
2024 BMW R 12 And R 12 nineT Get Pricing Information In US
date: 2024-02-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
After rolling out the new R 12 lineup in late 2023, BMW is ready to share its pricing and availability for the American market.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/710519/bmw-r12-ninet-pricing-us/ Save to Pocket
Astrophysics Instruments
date: 2024-02-29, from: NASA breaking news
Science in Space February 2024 Instruments on the exterior of the International Space Station provide data on astrophysical phenomena that are helping scientists better understand our universe and its origins. Crew members install and maintain these instruments robotically and scientific teams operate them remotely. One of the instruments, the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), […]
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/astrophysics-instruments/ Save to Pocket
Visitors line up to see and smell a corpse flower’s stinking bloom in Golden Gate Park
date: 2024-02-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Crowds lined up in San Francisco on Wednesday to see — and smell — the blooming of an endangered tropical flower that releases a pungent odor when it opens once every several years.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/29/visitors-line-up-to-see-and-smell-a-corpse-flowers-stinking-bloom-in-san-francisco/ Save to Pocket
McDonald’s Locations vs. Golf Courses
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/mcdonalds-locations-vs-golf-courses Save to Pocket
Sierra Club Endorses Das Williams
date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The Sierra Club endorses Das Williams for his longstanding commitment to environmental issues.
The post Sierra Club Endorses Das Williams appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/sierra-club-endorses-das-williams/ Save to Pocket
Water worries flood in as chip industry and AI models grow thirstier
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Mega makers already operate in water-scarce areas, and worry is they’ll drink us dry
Water supply is seen as a growing risk factor for the chip industry with consumption rising by up to ten percent each year, and many of the biggest producers already operating in areas prone to water scarcity.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/growing_water_use_ai_semis_concern/ Save to Pocket
Federal Reserve’s Preferred Inflation Gauge Picked Up Last Month in Sign of Still-Elevated Prices
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — An inflation gauge favored by the Federal Reserve increased in January, the latest sign that the slowdown in U.S. consumer price increases is occurring unevenly from month to month.
The government reported Thursday that prices rose 0.3% from December to January, up from 0.1% in the previous month. But in a more encouraging sign, prices were up just 2.4% from a year earlier, down from a 2.6% annual pace in December and the smallest such increase in nearly three years.
The year-over-year cooldown in inflation is sure to be welcomed by the White House as President Joe Biden seeks re-election. Still, even though average paychecks have outpaced inflation over the past year, many Americans remain frustrated that overall prices are still well above where they were before inflation erupted three years ago. That sentiment, evident in many public opinion polls, could pose a threat to Biden’s re-election bid.
Inflation, as measured by the Fed’s preferred gauge, fell steadily last year after having peaked at 7.1% in the summer of 2022. Supply chain snarls have eased, reducing costs of parts and raw materials, and a steady flow of job seekers has made it easier for employers to limit wage increases, one of the drivers of inflation. Still, inflation remains above the central bank’s 2% annual target.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, prices rose 0.4% from December to January, up from 0.1% in the previous month. And compared with a year earlier, such so-called “core” prices rose 2.8%, down from 2.9% in December. Economists consider core prices a better gauge of the likely path of future inflation.
Some of January’s inflation reflects the fact that companies often raise prices in the first two months of the year, leaving January and February price data high compared with the rest of the year. But the costs of hospital and doctors’ services are also rising to offset the sizable pay raises commanded by nurses and other in-demand health care workers.
That trend could help keep inflation elevated in the coming months. But by early spring, most analysts expect prices to settle back to the milder pace of increases that occurred in the second half of 2023, when inflation eased to a 2% annual rate.
January’s uptick in inflation helps explain the concern expressed by many Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, about potentially cutting interest rates too soon this year. One influential official, Christopher Waller of the Fed’s Board of Governors, said this month that he would want to see two more months of inflation data after January’s to determine whether prices were cooling sustainably toward the Fed’s target level.
Beginning in March 2022, the Fed raised its benchmark rate 11 times to attack the worst bout of inflation in 40 years. Those rate hikes have helped cool inflation drastically. But they have also made borrowing much more expensive for consumers and businesses. In particular, high loan rates have throttled sales in the economy’s crucial homebuying sector. Conversely, rate cuts by the Fed, whenever they happen, would eventually lead to lower borrowing costs across the economy.
Thursday’s inflation data mirrors figures released earlier this month that showed that the government’s more widely followed consumer price index also rose faster in January than it had in previous months. The Fed prefers the measure reported Thursday, in part because it accounts for changes in how people shop when inflation jumps — when, for example, consumers shift away from pricey national brands in favor of cheaper store brands.
Several Fed officials have said they’re optimistic that inflation will continue to fall back toward the Fed’s target level, with some downplaying the recent pickup in prices as a one-time jump.
“The path will continue to be bumpy, and we should not overreact to individual data readings,” Susan Collins, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said Wednesday. “I remain what I call a ‘realistic optimist’ in thinking that the economy is on a path to 2% inflation on a sustained basis while maintaining a healthy labor market.”
Some other officials sound more uncertain. Jeffrey Schmid, the new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said this week that “when it comes to too-high inflation, I believe we are not out of the woods yet.”
Outside the Fed, most economists envision a steady, if fitful, slowdown of inflation in the coming months. Economists at Goldman Sachs project that core inflation, as measured by the Fed’s preferred gauge, will drop rapidly to just 2.2% by May — low enough for the Fed to initiate rate cuts in June.
https://www.voanews.com/a/federal-reserve-s-preferred-inflation-gauge-picked-up-last-month-in-sign-of-still-elevated-prices/7508220.html Save to Pocket
Kove Moto Will Bring New Middleweight ADV 800X to The US
date: 2024-02-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
It’s pretty much a Dakar bike for the street, and we want one.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/710525/kove-moto-800x-adventure-coming-usa/ Save to Pocket
NASA Honors Life of Former Administrator, Astronaut Richard Truly
date: 2024-02-29, from: NASA breaking news
The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on former NASA Administrator and astronaut Richard Truly, who passed away Feb. 27, 2024, at his home in Genesee, Colorado, at the age of 86. “NASA is the place it is today because of people of character, vision, and a spirit of service – people […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-honors-life-of-former-administrator-astronaut-richard-truly/ Save to Pocket
Women’s Fund Will Award $1.125 Million in Grants
date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Fund now has 1,300 members and expanded educational forums.
The post Women’s Fund Will Award $1.125 Million in Grants appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/womens-fund-will-award-1-125-million-in-grants/ Save to Pocket
Amazon Turkers Who Train AI Say They’re Locked Out of Their Work and Money
date: 2024-02-29, from: 404 Media Group
“Our labor is what makes AI work, and it could not function without us. We are the data that makes the machine work.”
https://www.404media.co/amazon-turkers-who-train-ai-say-theyre-locked-out-of-their-work-and-money/ Save to Pocket
What Is the Nature of Time?
date: 2024-02-29, from: Quanta Magazine
Time is all around us: in the language we use, in the memories we revisit and in our predictions of the future. But what exactly is it? The physicist and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek joins Steve Strogatz to discuss the fundamental hallmarks of time.The post What Is the Nature of Time? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-the-nature-of-time-20240229/ Save to Pocket
Snowflake share price falls after revenue forecasts dip below expectations
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
CEO Frank Slootman announces retirement as former data cloud rising star sees value sink
The value of cloud-based data warehouse vendor Snowflake plunged 24 percent in extended trading in the US last night after it announced lower-than-expected forecasts for product revenue as well as the departure of CEO Frank Slootman.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/snowflake_falls_after_revenue_forecasts/ Save to Pocket
Ford’s NACS Fast Charging Adapter Now Available As Tesla Charging Network Opens
date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News
Ford EV owners can order their complimentary Tesla NACS to CCS adapters starting today, just as Supercharger access opens up to them.
https://insideevs.com/news/710517/tesla-supercharger-adapters-online-february/ Save to Pocket
The Awak AK11 Is A Mash-Up Of A Bunch Of Mini-Bikes Nobody Asked For
date: 2024-02-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
It blends styling cues from the likes of the Monkey and Dax, and oddly enough, the AK-47?
https://www.rideapart.com/news/710197/awak-ak11-chinese-mini-bike/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Why Is Trump Trying to Make Ukraine Lose?
https://politicalwire.com/2024/02/29/why-is-trump-trying-to-make-ukraine-lose/ Save to Pocket
Pluralistic: Lies, damned lies, and Uber (29 Feb 2024)
date: 2024-02-29, from: Cory Doctorow’s blog
Today’s links Lies, damned lies, and Uber: Uber wants to pay its Toronto drivers $2.50/hour (eh). Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2009, 2014, 2019 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading Lies, damned lies, and Uber (permalink) Uber lies about everything, especially money. Oh, and labour. Especially labour. And geometry. Especially geometry! But especially especially money. They constantly lie about money. Uber are virtuosos of mendacity, but in Toronto, the company has attained a heretofore unseen hat-trick: they told a single lie that is dramatically, materially untruthful about money, labour and geometry! It’s an achievement for the ages. Here’s how they did it. For several decades, Toronto has been clobbered by the misrule of a series of far-right, clownish mayors. This was the result of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris’s great gerrymander of 1998, when the city of Toronto was amalgamated with its car-dependent suburbs. This set the tone for the next quarter-century, as these outlying regions – utterly dependent on Toronto for core economic activity and massive subsidies to pay the unsustainable utility and infrastructure bills for sprawling neighborhoods of single-family homes – proceeded to gut the city they relied on. These “conservative” mayors – the philanderer, the crackhead, the sexual predator – turned the city into a corporate playground, swapping public housing and rent controls for out-of-control real-estate speculation and trading out some of the world’s best transit for total car-dependency. As part of that decay, the city rolled out the red carpet for Uber, allowing the company to put as many unlicensed taxis as they wanted on the city’s streets. Now, it’s hard to overstate the dire traffic situation in Toronto. Years of neglect and underinvestment in both the roads and the transit system have left both in a state of near collapse and it’s not uncommon for multiple, consecutive main arteries to shut down without notice for weeks, months, or, in a few cases, years. The proliferation of Ubers on the road – driven by desperate people trying to survive the city’s cost-of-living catastrophe – has only exacerbated this problem. Uber, of course, would dispute this. The company insists – despite all common sense and peer-reviewed research – that adding more cars to the streets alleviates traffic. This is easily disproved: there just isn’t any way to swap buses, streetcars, and subways for cars. The road space needed for all those single-occupancy cars pushes everything further apart, which means we need more cars, which means more roads, which means more distance between things, and so on. It is an undeniable fact that geometry hates cars. But geometry loathes Uber. Because Ubers have all the problems of single-occupancy vehicles, and then they have the separate problem that they just end up circling idly around the city’s streets, waiting for a rider. The more Ubers there are on the road, the longer each car ends up waiting for a passenger: https://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Uber-Lyft-San-Francisco-pros-cons-ride-hailing-13841277.php Anything that can’t go on forever eventually stops. After years of bumbling-to-sinister municipal rule, Toronto finally reclaimed its political power and voted in a new mayor, Olivia Chow, a progressive of long tenure and great standing (I used to ring doorbells for her when she was campaigning for her city council seat). Mayor Chow announced that she was going to reclaim the city’s prerogative to limit the number of Ubers on the road, ending the period of Uber’s “self-regulation.” Uber, naturally, lost its shit. The company claims to be more than a (geometrically impossible) provider of convenient transportation for Torontonians, but also a provider of good jobs for working people. And to prove it, the company has promised to pay its drivers “120% of minimum wage.” As I write for Ricochet, that’s a whopper, even by Uber’s standards: https://ricochet.media/en/4039/uber-is-lying-again-the-company-has-no-intention-of-paying-drivers-a-living-wage Here’s the thing: Uber is only proposing to pay 120% of the minimum wage while drivers have a passenger in the vehicle. And with the number of vehicles Uber wants on the road, most drivers will be earning nothing most of the time. Factor in that unpaid time, as well as expenses for vehicles, and the average Toronto Uber driver stands to make $2.50 per hour (Canadian): https://ridefair.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Legislated-Poverty.pdf Now, Uber’s told a lot of lies over the years. Right from the start, the company implicitly lied about what it cost to provide an Uber. For its first 12 years, Uber lost $0.41 on every dollar it brought in, lighting tens of billions in investment capital provided by the Saudi royals on fire in an effort to bankrupt rival transportation firms and disinvestment in municipal transit. Uber then lied to retail investors about the business-case for buying its stock so that the House of Saud and other early investors could unload their stock. Uber claimed that they were on the verge of producing a self-driving car that would allow them to get rid of drivers, zero out their wage bill, and finally turn a profit. The company spent $2.5b on this, making it the most expensive Big Store in the history of cons: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/infighting-busywork-missed-warnings-how-uber-wasted-2-5-billion-on-self-driving-cars After years, Uber produced a “self-driving car” that could travel one half of one American mile before experiencing a potentially lethal collision. Uber quietly paid another company $400m to take this disaster off its hands: https://www.economist.com/business/2020/12/10/why-is-uber-selling-its-autonomous-vehicle-division The self-driving car lie was tied up in another lie – that somehow, automation could triumph over geometry. Robocabs, we were told, would travel in formations so tight that they would finally end the Red Queen’s Race of more cars – more roads – more distance – more cars. That lie wormed its way into the company’s IPO prospectus, which promised retail investors that profitability lay in replacing every journey – by car, cab, bike, bus, tram or train – with an Uber ride: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1RN2SK/ The company has been bleeding out money ever since – though you wouldn’t know it by looking at its investor disclosures. Every quarter, Uber trumpets that it has finally become profitable, and every quarter, Hubert Horan dissects its balance sheets to find the accounting trick the company thought of this time. There was one quarter where Uber declared profitability by marking up the value of stock it held in Uber-like companies in other countries. How did it get this stock? Well, Uber tried to run a business in those countries and it was such a total disaster that they had to flee the country, selling their business to a failing domestic competitor in exchange for stock in its collapsing business. Naturally, there’s no market for this stock, which, in Uber-land, means you can assign any value you want to it. So that one quarter, Uber just asserted that the stock had shot up in value and voila, profit! https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/02/hubert-horan-can-uber-ever-deliver-part-twenty-nine-despite-massive-price-increases-uber-losses-top-31-billion.html But all of those lies are as nothing to the whopper that Uber is trying to sell to Torontonians by blanketing the city in ads: the lie that by paying drivers $2.50/hour to fill the streets with more single-occupancy cars, they will turn a profit, reduce the city’s traffic, and provide good jobs. Uber says it can vanquish geometry, economics and working poverty with the awesome power of narrative. In other words, it’s taking Toronto for a bunch of suckers. (Image: Rob Sinclair, CC BY 2.0<) Hey look at this (permalink) Starbucks Stops Opposing Its Baristas’ Union https://prospect.org/labor/2024-02-27-starbucks-stops-opposing-baristas-union-master-contract/ Majority of workers at Mercedes plant in Alabama sign UAW authorization cards https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2024/02/27/mercedes-benz-uaw-organizing-autoworkers-alabama/72750019007/ Amazon Just Got Banned From the EU Parliament https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-european-parliament-ban/ This day in history (permalink) #15yrsago Bruce Sterling on Web 2.0 https://www.wired.com/2009/03/what-bruce-ster/ #10yrsago German beekeeping laws are weird: an excerpt from “The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance” https://memex.craphound.com/2014/03/01/german-beekeeping-laws-are-weird-an-excerpt-from-the-emergency-sasquatch-ordinance/ #5yrsago Striking West Virginia teachers won swift and decisive victory; Oakland next? https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/28/rapid-victory-west-virginia-teacher-strike-shows-what-happens-when-progressives #5yrsago Satanic Panic 2.0: The Momo Challenge hoax https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/momo-challenge-hoax/583825/ Colophon (permalink) Today’s top sources: Currently writing: A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the PC. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS JAN 2025 The Bezzle, a Martin Hench noir thriller novel about the prison-tech industry. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS FEB 2024 Vigilant, Little Brother short story about remote invigilation. FORTHCOMING ON TOR.COM Spill, a Little Brother short story about pipeline protests. FORTHCOMING ON TOR.COM Latest podcast: The Majority of Censorship is Self-Censorship https://craphound.com/news/2024/02/25/the-majority-of-censorship-is-self-censorship/ Upcoming appearances: The Bezzle at Changing Hands (Phoenix), Feb 29: https://www.changinghands.com/event/february2024/cory-doctorow Tucson Festival of Books, Mar 9/10 https://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/?id=676 Enshittification: How the Internet Went Bad and How to Get it Back (virtual), Mar 26 https://libcal.library.ubc.ca/event/3781006 Wondercon Anaheim, Mar 29-31 https://www.comic-con.org/wc/ The Bezzle at Anderson’s Books (Chicago), Apr 17 https://www.andersonsbookshop.com/event/cory-doctorow-1 Torino Biennale Tecnologia (Apr 19-21) https://www.turismotorino.org/en/experiences/events/biennale-tecnologia Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Winnipeg), May 2 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cory-doctorow-tickets-798820071337?aff=oddtdtcreator Tartu Prima Vista Literary Festival (May 5-11) https://tartu2024.ee/en/kirjandusfestival/ Media Ecology Association keynote (Amherst, NY), Jun 6-9 https://media-ecology.org/convention American Association of Law Libraries keynote (Chicago), Jul 21 https://www.aallnet.org/conference/agenda/keynote-speaker/ Recent appearances: Radioactive (KCRL) https://krcl.org/blog/grist-investigates-doctorow-seed/ The enshittification of music (Music Ally) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh20fD3XXbg Aaron Swartz (EpistemiCast) https://open.spotify.com/episode/5t9QVHSQBjIXKUiN2EvEmK Latest books: The Bezzle: a sequel to “Red Team Blues,” about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (the-bezzle.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/). “The Lost Cause:” a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/) “The Internet Con”: A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). “Red Team Blues”: “A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before.” Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US): and Forbidden Planet (UK): https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/. “Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin”, on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com “Attack Surface”: The third Little Brother novel, a standalone technothriller for adults. The Washington Post called it “a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance.” Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html “How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism”: an anti-monopoly pamphlet analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a solution. https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b) (signed copies: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html) “Little Brother/Homeland”: A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html “Poesy the Monster Slayer” a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/. Upcoming books: Picks and Shovels: a sequel to “Red Team Blues,” about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books, February 2025 Unauthorized Bread: a graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2025 This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ Twitter (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic “When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla” -Joey “Accordion Guy” DeVilla
https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/29/geometry-hates-uber/ Save to Pocket
Atos hires three board directors to stop ship from sinking
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
One of them, One Point CEO David Layani, tried to buy rudderless integrator
The long-running Atos saga took another twist today after it announced the nomination to its board of One Point CEO David Layani, who previously made an audacious bid for the ailing integrator and outsourcing biz.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/ahoy_atos_hires_three_board/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Illinois judge removes Trump from ballot because of ‘insurrectionist ban.’
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/28/politics/illinois-trump-removed-ballot-insurrectionist-ban/index.html Save to Pocket
7,000 Humpback Whales May Have Starved to Death During the ‘Blob’ Heatwave
date: 2024-02-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The unprecedented marine heat between 2013 and 2016 in the North Pacific likely drove the whales’ 20 percent decline, a trend revealed by citizen science observations
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/7000-humpback-whales-may-have-starved-to-death-during-the-blob-heatwave-180983870/ Save to Pocket
TikTok Literally Silences Cat Janice, Pop Star Who Died of Cancer, Because of Licensing Dispute
date: 2024-02-29, from: 404 Media Group
The fallout of a TikTok licensing dispute with Universal Music Group is not just the loss of backing soundtracks, but things like Janice talking about her fight with cancer, over music that she herself created.
https://www.404media.co/tiktok-literally-silences-cat-janice-pop-star-who-died-of-cancer-because-of-licensing-dispute/ Save to Pocket
Democracy in a desert near D.C.
date: 2024-02-29, from: Marketplace Morning Report
As part of our Democracy in the Desert series, we head today to King George County, just about an hour’s drive from D.C. There, we hear about how a changing media landscape left a community with few credible news sources and examine the sorts of impacts that’s had. When news go bust, where can people turn? Then, securities regulators are reportedly investigating whether OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, misled investors.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/democracy-in-a-desert-near-d-c Save to Pocket
Meta’s pay-or-consent model hides ‘massive illegal data processing ops’: lawsuit
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
GDPR claim alleges Facebook parent’s ‘commercial surveillance practices are fundamentally illegal’
Consumer groups are filing legal complaints in the EU in a coordinated attempt to use data protection law to stop Meta from giving local users a “fake choice” between paying up and consenting to data collection.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/meta_gdpr_complaints/ Save to Pocket
What Will Recent Big Leadership Changes At Disney and Netflix Mean For Audiences?
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The LAist
Disney installed Searchlight President David Greenbaum to replace Sean Bailey. Netflix hired former Warner Brothers executive Dan Lin.
https://laist.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/leadership-changes-disney-netflix Save to Pocket
Teamsters To Push For Better Wages, Pension Benefits In Studio Negotiations Soon
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The LAist
The contracts talks will be on behalf of tens of thousands of entertainment workers.
https://laist.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/teamsters-hollywood-studio-negotiations Save to Pocket
Ford officially launches Tesla Supercharger access, free adapter now available to order
date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed
Last May, Ford was the first automaker to announce its plans to adopt Tesla’s charge connector, now known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS). In addition to adding Tesla’s connector to its own EVs in 2025, Ford also said it would make a free adapter available to existing Ford EV owners.
Starting today, Ford says that eligible Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners can request their free CCS to NACS adapter. The first deliveries are slated to begin shipping in March. Ford is also starting to roll out a software update that unlocks Tesla Supercharger support for Mach-E and Lightning vehicles.
“Today, Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E retail customers are the first of any non-Tesla automaker to gain access to Tesla Superchargers across the U.S. and Canada,” Ford says.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/ford-tesla-supercharger-adapter-now-available/ Save to Pocket
Why Researchers Are Excited About Perovskite Solar Cells
date: 2024-02-29, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: Massive wildfires are still burning in the Texas Panhandle • Thailand’s “Royal Rainmaking” program starts today, in which planes seed clouds to induce artificial rain • It will be cold but sunny in Washington, DC, where a special hearing on the rights of people displaced by climate change is taking place.
THE TOP FIVE
- Sierra Nevada braces for huge blizzard
A massive blizzard could dump up to 12 feet of snow on parts of the Sierra Nevada over the next few days. “Storm total snowfall from Thursday into early Sunday is currently projected at 5 to 10+ feet for elevations above 5,000 feet, locally higher amounts of 12+ feet are possible at peaks, with significant disruptions to daily life likely,” the National Weather Service said.
NOAA/NWS
Sacramento
The storm threatens to close Donner Pass, the region’s main thruway, which usually sees 30,000 cars and 6,000 semi-trucks each day. Northern California, Oregon, and Washington state are all under winter storm warnings and wind advisories, with gusts over 55 mph expected.
- Researchers see breakthrough progress on new kind of solar cell
Researchers out of MIT have published a “guidebook” for controlling and engineering perovskite solar cells. These cells could “redefine the solar energy landscape,” wrote Michelle Lewis at Electrek, “offering a tantalizing combination of high efficiency, low manufacturing costs, and the unique ability to be applied to a variety of substrates, from rigid glass to flexible materials.” But they degrade far too quickly, and struggle to maintain their efficiency in large modules, and these technical challenges have so far hampered their potential for commercial viability. In a new paper published in the journal Nature Energy, MIT researchers outline how to change the properties of the perovskite’s surface so that it maintains efficiency and lasts longer. “I think we are on the doorstep of the first practical demonstrations of perovskites in the commercial applications,” professor Vladimir Bulovic told MIT News. “And those first applications will be a far cry from what we’ll be able to do a few years from now.”
- Apple workers reportedly nicknamed doomed EV ‘the Titanic disaster’
More details are emerging about Apple’s ill-fated self-driving electric vehicle, which was reportedly scrapped this week. The secret car – codenamed “Project Titan” – had been in the works since 2014, and was the company’s attempt to protect itself from an anticipated slow-down in iPhone sales. Entering the car market seemed an obvious next step for the company. “Apple would do to cars what it did to phones,” said Tim Higgins at The Wall Street Journal.
But after several starts and stops and at least four project leaders, most employees knew it was going to fail. They even nicknamed it “the Titanic disaster,” according to The New York Times. The project lacked clarity and identity. Was it a Tesla rival? A self-driving car? All of the above? “Project Titan’s ambitions became diminished, less compelling — from an electric, robot car, then just about perfecting autonomy, then just about an EV,” Higgins said.
One thing’s for sure, Project Titan was expensive, costing the company $10 billion in the end. “Developing the software and algorithms for a car with autonomous driving features proved too difficult,” the Times reported. With that car crash in its rear-view mirror, Apple plans to accelerate its work on generative AI.
- New York sues world’s top meatpacker over net zero claims
New York state has filed a lawsuit against the world’s biggest meat producer, JBS USA, alleging the Brazil-based company has misled the public about its environmental impact, according to Bloomberg. JBS has promised to be net zero by 2040, but the filing claims the company cannot possibly reach this goal and has no plan to do so. Food production accounts for one third of global greenhouse gases, and livestock alone produces nearly 15% of all emissions. JBS has annual revenues of more than $50 billion and its supply chain relies on thousands of farms in the Amazon, many of which overlap on Indigenous land and conservation areas, reported The New York Times. Last year JBS was found to have one of the lowest integrity scores among major companies that have made climate pledges. It is currently trying to get its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but has faced fierce opposition from environmentalists, U.S.-based beef producers, and both Democrats and Republicans.
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- Oil and gas giants eye geothermal projects
Major fossil fuel companies are investing big money in geothermal energy startups and projects, The Wall Street Journal reported. “Many of these companies are using the same technology employed by frackers, but instead of searching for oil and gas, they are looking for underground heat,” the Journal adds. That heat can be harnessed to provide constant carbon-free electricity, and startups like Fervo Energy are finding new ways to make drilling for geothermal energy much cheaper, as Heatmap’s Matthew Zeitlin recently reported. Fervo is raising $244 million in new funding, including $100 million from fossil fuel company Devon Energy. “Once the industry is proven, I would not be surprised for today’s oil-and-gas industry to either buy or build their way to be significant players in advanced geothermal,” said billionaire former Enron trader John Arnold.
THE KICKER
A new study suggests up to 90% of microplastics can be removed from drinking water if the water is boiled and then filtered.
https://heatmap.news/technology/perovskite-solar-cell Save to Pocket
Sirota’s Signals: It’s The Cost Of Money, Stupid
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Lever News
Plus, the lost Richard Lewis interview, a huge sale in D.C., a long-forgotten anniversary, and the unfortunate return of Arthur Laffer.
https://www.levernews.com/sirotas-signals-its-the-cost-of-money-stupid/ Save to Pocket
Hold up world, HP’s all-in-one print subscription’s about to land, and don’t forget AI PCs
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Too late to prevent Q1 from being 7th straight decline for US titan
HP Ink recorded its seventh quarter of shrinking revenues as enterprise customers voted to sweat their assets for longer amid economic uncertainty, but with a new all-in-one print sub coming and AI PCs it is feeling bolder.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/hold_up_world_hps_allinone/ Save to Pocket
Suture Software’s Bludgeons ‘n’ Braggarts
date: 2024-02-29, from: Computer ads from the Past
We very simply give you what you’ve been asking for – we give you BLOOD
https://computeradsfromthepast.substack.com/p/suture-softwares-bludgeons-n-braggarts Save to Pocket
Blizzard Warning of up to 10 Feet of Snow in Sierra Could Make Travel ‘Dangerous to Impossible’
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/blizzard-warning-of-up-to-10-feet-of-snow-in-sierra-could-make-travel-dangerous-to-impossible-/7508052.html Save to Pocket
How the “Frontier” Became the Slogan of Uncontrolled AI
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Bruce Schneier blog
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been billed as the next frontier of humanity: the newly available expanse whose exploration will drive the next era of growth, wealth, and human flourishing. It’s a scary metaphor. Throughout American history, the drive for expansion and the very concept of terrain up for grabs—land grabs, gold rushes, new frontiers—have provided a permission structure for imperialism and exploitation. This could easily hold true for AI.
This isn’t the first time the concept of a frontier has been used as a metaphor for AI, or technology in general. As early as 2018, the powerful foundation models powering cutting-edge applications like chatbots …
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/02/how-the-frontier-became-the-slogan-of-uncontrolled-ai.html Save to Pocket
Key Takeaways From Garmin’s First Annual inReach SOS Report
date: 2024-02-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Dive into data taken from six continents, almost 100 countries, and three oceans. These are the dangers adventurers face.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/710489/garmin-inreach-sos-report-2023/ Save to Pocket
The EU Wants More People On Bicycles, And Here’s Why It Matters
date: 2024-02-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
It’s all about developing a safe and harmonious environment focused on cycling.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/710193/2024-eu-declaration-on-cycling/ Save to Pocket
Striking South Korean doctors threatened with arrest
date: 2024-02-29, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: South Korea is threatening to arrest any doctors who continue to strike and says it will ban them from ever practicing again if they don’t return to work. Then, Cuba is asking the World Food Programme to provide milk to children for the first time in its history. And Saudi Arabia has made its biggest push into tennis, but it comes with accusations of sportswashing.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/striking-south-korean-doctors-threatened-with-arrest Save to Pocket
@Tomosino’s Mastodon feed (date: 2024-02-29, from: Tomosino’s Mastodon feed)
Happy birthday to those of you who only get it every 4 years
https://tilde.zone/@tomasino/112014632614213021 Save to Pocket
Gary Martin | SCV Water: Anchored Within the Tide
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
Over the past few years, California has experienced weather whiplash – recording the three driest years from 2020 through 2022, followed by extreme precipitation in 2023. Locally, the Santa Clarita Valley received 40 inches of rain last year, far surpassing our annual average of 17.4 inches. While these two weather extremes are occurring more frequently, […]
The post Gary Martin | SCV Water: Anchored Within the Tide appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/gary-martin-scv-water-anchored-within-the-tide/ Save to Pocket
Denise Lite | Orchestrated Chaos
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
I have been scratching my head on how/why this country has made such a dramatic shift in the last three to four years. COVID-19 regulations and emergency declarations lasted from February 2020 to May 11, 2023 and in that time frame germs were scary and deadly, allegedly. Three years and 10 MILLION PEOPLE of questionable […]
The post Denise Lite | Orchestrated Chaos appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/denise-lite-orchestrated-chaos/ Save to Pocket
Max Morgan | Clown Show at the Border
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
This should be a skit for “Saturday Night Live.” Joe Biden announced that he will be visiting our southern border this week to talk about border security. This is the same guy that, under his leadership, 7.3 million illegal migrants have crossed our border in just the first three years of his administration. That’s more […]
The post Max Morgan | Clown Show at the Border appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/max-morgan-clown-show-at-the-border/ Save to Pocket
Volkswagen and Xpeng to roll out two new EVs, starting with an SUV
date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed
Volkswagen and Chinese EV maker Xpeng say they are jointly
developing two mid-sized BEVs for 2026 for mainland China, with the
first model being an SUV.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/volkswagen-and-xpeng-to-roll-out-two-new-evs-starting-with-an-suv/ Save to Pocket
Hands up if you want to volunteer for redundancy, IBM tells staff
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Global ‘Resource Actions’ to hit Europe hard, with Enterprise Ops & Support, CIO, HR and Real Estate in firing line
Exclusive IBM is asking staff who want voluntary redundancy to raise their hand as it embarks on a new round of global job cuts, though roles in Europe and within a handful of departments are expected to shoulder the brunt.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/ibm_launches_voluntary_redundancy_scheme/ Save to Pocket
You can’t eat our birthday cake because it is full of LEDs
date: 2024-02-29, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
Our Maker in Residence made us a cake and a card this year, so naturally the former isn’t edible, the latter is paperless and unsigned, and both of them are full of NeoPixel strips.
The post You can’t eat our birthday cake because it is full of LEDs appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/you-cant-eat-our-birthday-cake-because-it-is-full-of-leds/ Save to Pocket
Lightweight Windows-like desktop LXQt makes leap to Qt 6 with version 2.0
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Following in the same direction as the good ship KDE Plasma
The next major release of the LXQt desktop should arrive in April. Like the imminent KDE Plasma 6.0, it will use version 6 of the Qt toolkit.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/lxqt_2_is_coming/ Save to Pocket
US Investigating Potential Security Threats From Connected Cars
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-investigating-potential-security-threats-from-connected-cars/7507960.html Save to Pocket
Marsha McLean | On the Move with Santa Clarita Transit
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
As we travel onward into 2024, our city continues to remain resilient and steadfast in its commitment to meeting our residents’ needs and preserving our exceptional quality of life. A key component of this pledge is ensuring access to safe, efficient and reliable transit options. Advocating for robust transportation opportunities has been a passion […]
The post Marsha McLean | On the Move with Santa Clarita Transit appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/marsha-mclean-on-the-move-with-santa-clarita-transit/ Save to Pocket
The potential hazards of fans storming the court has run smack into a question: How to stop them?
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Recent incidents in college basketball have underscored the potential dangers that come from jubilant fans storming the court after the game comes to an end. Finding a solution is proving to be a challenge. </p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/sports/the-potential-hazards-of-fans-storming-the-court-has-run-smack-into-a-question-how-to-stop-them/ Save to Pocket
Doncic gets 11th triple-double of season on 25th birthday as Mavericks beat Raptors 136-125
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>TORONTO — Luka Doncic had 30 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds on his 25th birthday for his 11th triple-double of the season, Kyrie Irving scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors 136-125 on Wednesday night. </p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/sports/doncic-gets-11th-triple-double-of-season-on-25th-birthday-as-mavericks-beat-raptors-136-125/ Save to Pocket
Softball season kicks off in Hilo
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>The defending Big Island Interscholastic Association (BIIF) Division II champions started their season with a crushing loss, as the Kamehameha Schools - Hawai‘i softball team was dominated 25-8 by Pahoa High in a four-inning affair on Wednesday evening at Hilo’s Walter Victor Baseball Complex.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/sports/softball-season-kicks-off-in-hilo/ Save to Pocket
Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws 2 impressive, scoreless innings in MLB exhibition debut for Dodgers
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>SURPRISE, Ariz. — Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out three batters over two scoreless innings in his exhibition debut on Wednesday, giving a glimpse into why the Los Angeles Dodgers believe the Japanese right-hander can become a big league ace. </p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/sports/yoshinobu-yamamoto-throws-2-impressive-scoreless-innings-in-mlb-exhibition-debut-for-dodgers/ Save to Pocket
Social media influencer says Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill broke her leg during football drill at his home
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>A social media influencer is suing Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill over an alleged incident that happened at the NFL star’s South Florida home last summer. </p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/sports/social-media-influencer-says-dolphins-tyreek-hill-broke-her-leg-during-football-drill-at-his-home/ Save to Pocket
Vulcans men’s tennis ranked No. 25
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>UH-Hilo Men’s Tennis team came in at No. 25 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Collegiate Team Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point released Wednesday morning.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/sports/vulcans-mens-tennis-ranked-no-25/ Save to Pocket
Chiefs owner gets ‘F-minus’ grade from NFLPA, says team needs to improve facilities
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Chiefs owner Clark Hunt admitted Wednesday the Super Bowl champions are overdue for renovations to their practice facilities after the NFL Players Association’s annual report card graded Kansas City the second-worst team in the league overall. </p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/sports/chiefs-owner-gets-f-minus-grade-from-nflpa-says-team-needs-to-improve-facilities/ Save to Pocket
Honolulu bribery trial won’t be postponed despite an investigation into a threat against a US judge
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>HONOLULU (AP) — An upcoming bribery trial against Honolulu’s former top prosecutor won’t be delayed despite an ongoing investigation into allegations that a defendant threatened the judge who had been presiding over the case, which prompted his unexpected recusal last month.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/hawaii-news/honolulu-bribery-trial-wont-be-postponed-despite-an-investigation-into-a-threat-against-a-us-judge/ Save to Pocket
Supreme Court sets April arguments over whether Trump can be prosecuted for election interference
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to decide whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he interfered with the 2020 election, calling into question whether his case could go to trial before the November election.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/supreme-court-sets-april-arguments-over-whether-trump-can-be-prosecuted-for-election-interference/ Save to Pocket
Gov. Green threatens new April ban on West Maui vacation rentals
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Gov. Josh Green wants to house any wildfire evacuee who specifically seeks to move back to West Maui following the Aug. 8 wildfires — including those currently ineligible for federal housing assistance — and threatened Tuesday to ban short-term vacation rentals if owners of 175 West Maui units do not commit by April 1 to renting to fire survivors.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/hawaii-news/gov-green-threatens-new-april-ban-on-west-maui-vacation-rentals/ Save to Pocket
Pending OK, new BI cable provider could come online by March
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>A new option for Big Island cable TV customers could be available by the end of March.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/hawaii-news/pending-ok-new-bi-cable-provider-could-come-online-by-march/ Save to Pocket
Baseball-bat-wielding man accused of robbing Shell, Starbucks
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>A 29-year-old Hilo man is accused of robbing two Kailua-Kona business establishments while brandishing an aluminum baseball bat.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/hawaii-news/baseball-bat-wielding-man-accused-of-robbing-shell-starbucks/ Save to Pocket
‘A real legacy at UH-Hilo’: University helps develop prolific catalog of whales
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>In one of the largest collaborations among humpback whale researchers, over 60 co-authors published a paper on the changing population of North Pacific humpback whales.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/hawaii-news/a-real-legacy-at-uh-hilo-university-helps-develop-prolific-catalog-of-whales/ Save to Pocket
Odysseus moon lander heads into a cold lunar slumber
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Soon it will be time to say, “Good night, moon lander.”</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/odysseus-moon-lander-heads-into-a-cold-lunar-slumber/ Save to Pocket
The damage done by Trump’s fraud
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>One would expect the 2024 GOP front-runner, former President Donald Trump, to be rallying voters. Instead, he’s railing against a ruling in his civil fraud trial that resulted in a $355 million fine, a three-year ban from running companies in New York (including his own), as well as $4 million fines and similar two-year bans against his sons Donald Jr. and Eric.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/opinion/the-damage-done-by-trumps-fraud/ Save to Pocket
Your Views for February 29
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Safe Spaces effort
is a good start </p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/opinion/your-views-for-february-29-2/ Save to Pocket
The First Amendment protects social media
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>The nation’s highest court Monday heard oral arguments in challenges to Florida and Texas laws in which state governments seek to force social media companies to let more people say more things on their platforms — in other words, to behave less like publishers and more like free-for-all public squares.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/opinion/the-first-amendment-protects-social-media/ Save to Pocket
Obituaries for February 29
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Mabel Ilima Kaua, 87, of Hilo died Feb. 8. Born in Kohala, she was a retired county office manager and member of Pillar of the Church of the Living God. Visitation 10-11 a.m. Friday, March 8, at Ballard Family Mortuary Chapel. Service at 11 a.m. Survived by sons, Guy (Marri) Ching and Delbert “Pee-Wee” Ching Jr.; daughter, Cheryl-Ann Ching; stepchildren, Joey (Peggy) Kaua, Shane Kaua, John (Caroline) Kaua, Merle (Sidney) Liborio and Tammy Kaua; brother, Emil Bader; sisters Anna Sugata and Karleen Spaulding; two grandchildren, 16 step-grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Arrangements by Ballard Family Mortuary.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/obituaries/obituaries-for-february-29-3/ Save to Pocket
Hunter Biden in defiant deposition blasts GOP, insists he did not involve his father in business
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden was defiant Wednesday in a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill, blasting a Republican impeachment inquiry into his father and the family’s business affairs as a “house of cards” built on “lies” as he faced a battery of probing questions from lawmakers.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/hunter-biden-in-defiant-deposition-blasts-gop-insists-he-did-not-involve-his-father-in-business/ Save to Pocket
Wildfire grows into one of largest in Texas history as flames menace multiple small towns
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>CANADIAN, Texas (AP) — A cluster of wildfires scorched the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday, including a blaze that grew into one of the largest in state history, as flames moved with alarming speed and blackened the landscape across a vast stretch of small towns and cattle ranches.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/wildfire-grows-into-one-of-largest-in-texas-history-as-flames-menace-multiple-small-towns/ Save to Pocket
The Supreme Court appears torn about a Trump-era ban on a gun accessory known as bump stocks
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court appeared torn Wednesday about a challenge to a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that allows semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns and was used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/the-supreme-court-appears-torn-about-a-trump-era-ban-on-a-gun-accessory-known-as-bump-stocks/ Save to Pocket
About as many abortions are happening in the US monthly as before Roe was overturned, report finds
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>The number of abortions performed each month is about the same as before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion more than a year and a half ago, a new report finds.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/about-as-many-abortions-are-happening-in-the-us-monthly-as-before-roe-was-overturned-report-finds/ Save to Pocket
Trump rebuffed after asking a judge to delay his $454 million penalty
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>NEW YORK — Donald Trump on Wednesday lost his initial bid for a New York appeals court to pause the more than $450 million judgment he faces in a civil fraud case, exposing him to potential financial peril.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/trump-rebuffed-after-asking-a-judge-to-delay-his-454-million-penalty/ Save to Pocket
FAA to Boeing: Develop a plan to fix your quality issues within 90 days
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>In a harshly worded statement released Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it has given Boeing 90 days to come up with a comprehensive action plan to address its “systemic quality-control issues.”</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/faa-to-boeing-develop-a-plan-to-fix-your-quality-issues-within-90-days/ Save to Pocket
McConnell will step down as the Senate Republican leader in November after a record run in the job
date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/mcconnell-will-step-down-as-the-senate-republican-leader-in-november-after-a-record-run-in-the-job/ Save to Pocket
Oracle Cerner system implementation risks future patient deaths, coroner warns
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Doctors voiced concern over lack of Red-Amber-Green rating system, says report
A coroner’s report into a death at a hospital in northern England has said patients are at risk unless concerns about the implementation of a new Oracle Cerner patient administration system are addressed.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/oracle_cerner_coroner_report/ Save to Pocket
Speaker seeks state of emergency for CPS
date: 2024-02-29, from: Guam Daily Post
Following concerns that foster care payments were lagging, acting Department of Administration Director Elizabeth Fisher has confirmed that payments for foster care services provided in January were disbursed Tuesday, and for any residual checks, the Department of Public Health and…
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/speaker-seeks-state-of-emergency-for-cps/article_2e54d414-d6aa-11ee-957c-1f0312c3c06e.html Save to Pocket
Sked likely to serve life even after appeal
date: 2024-02-29, from: Guam Daily Post
Joyner Scott Sked remains subject to serving a life sentence despite a partially successful appeal of charges related to the 2021 death of former Humåtak Mayor Daniel Sanchez.
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/sked-likely-to-serve-life-even-after-appeal/article_27ac4c54-d6a1-11ee-be16-035d78c8589a.html Save to Pocket
School board tables budget request to review $1M in questioned costs
date: 2024-02-29, from: Guam Daily Post
The budgetary needs of the Guam Department of Education for fiscal year 2025 continue to be worked out by the Guam Education Board, which tabled the school system’s fiscal 2025 budget request to review roughly $1 million in questioned personnel…
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/school-board-tables-budget-request-to-review-1m-in-questioned-costs/article_0064586c-d692-11ee-b031-f756938c8b03.html Save to Pocket
8 St. John’s School students are candidates for scholars program
date: 2024-02-29, from: Guam Daily Post
Eight St. John’s School seniors have been named candidates for the 2024 United States Presidential Scholars Program, the school announced recently in a press release.
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/8-st-johns-school-students-are-candidates-for-scholars-program/article_5a5885d2-d6a1-11ee-8c11-1bd24a1883dd.html Save to Pocket
Terlaje calls emergency session for bill on GPA temporary power
date: 2024-02-29, from: Guam Daily Post
Speaker Therese Terlaje has granted the emergency session requested by Sen. William Parkinson for Bill 206-37, and has called for session to convene on Wednesday, March 6.
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/terlaje-calls-emergency-session-for-bill-on-gpa-temporary-power/article_fbe11e1c-d6bc-11ee-8ccb-97ed7d3a2e7a.html Save to Pocket
Ignacio: ‘I want to be more transparent.’
date: 2024-02-29, from: Guam Daily Post
The Guam Police Department has not published internal investigation complaints on its website since 2015, which, according to Chief Stephen Ignacio, is required by law.
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/ignacio-i-want-to-be-more-transparent/article_2cf8c51c-d691-11ee-9b26-4b8b0892f073.html Save to Pocket
Airport K-9 retires after 8 years
date: 2024-02-29, from: Guam Daily Post
K-9 Officer Rex, the German shorthaired pointer, and his handler, Airport Police Officer II Robert J. Umadhay, had a good run, but the time has come for Rex to just be a dog.
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/airport-k-9-retires-after-8-years/article_ad41e7ea-d69a-11ee-9c2f-1f2483a760f8.html Save to Pocket
Goodbye, Mitch: You were the worst
date: 2024-02-29, from: Robert Reich on Substack
But the Republicans might find someone even worse to replace you
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/goodbye-mitch-you-were-the-worst Save to Pocket
Biden Issues Order Seeking to Protect American Data from Foreign Adversaries
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-issues-order-seeking-to-protect-american-data-from-foreign-adversaries/7507923.html Save to Pocket
Google sued by more than 30 European media orgs over adtech
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Meanwhile, the Google News Initiative is pushing AI tools for publishers
A group of more than 30 European media organizations has sued Google for €2.1 billion, seeking damages for lost revenue they say was caused by the search giant’s anticompetitive advertising technology.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/google_europe_publisher_lawsuit/ Save to Pocket
Classifieds – February 29, 2024
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The Daily Trojan features Classified advertising in each day’s edition. Here you can read, search, and even print out each day’s edition of the Classifieds.
The post Classifieds – February 29, 2024 appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/classifieds-february-29-2024/ Save to Pocket
Today in SCV History (Feb. 29)
date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1964 – Lifelong SCV resident Harry S. Chacanaca dies; buried at Ruiz Cemetery. [cemetery census
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-feb-29/ Save to Pocket
The Allure of Limewash Paint
date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Loving the old-world feel and romantic elegance of limewash.
The post The Allure of Limewash Paint appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/the-allure-of-limewash-paint/ Save to Pocket
All eyes on Esmir
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
With Lionel Messi’s arrival in the MLS, American wonderkids like Esmir Bajraktarevic stand to benefit from the attention.
The post All eyes on Esmir appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/all-eyes-on-esmir/ Save to Pocket
Men’s volleyball locked in to go across town for Leap Day
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The Trojans are seeking an underdog victory this week against rival UCLA.
The post Men’s volleyball locked in to go across town for Leap Day appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/mens-volleyball-locked-in-to-go-across-town-for-leap-day/ Save to Pocket
Joan Jett is the Queen of Rock
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
“I Love Rock N’ Roll,” and you should, too.
The post Joan Jett is the Queen of Rock appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/joan-jett-is-the-queen-of-rock/ Save to Pocket
‘Problemista’ enters Julio Torres’ eccentric mind
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The film excels at world-building but occasionally pushes the boat too far out.
The post ‘Problemista’ enters Julio Torres’ eccentric mind appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/problemista-enters-julio-torres-eccentric-mind/ Save to Pocket
Professors grapple with AI in classrooms
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Panelists discussed the use of AI in multiple capacities in a webinar Wednesday.
The post Professors grapple with AI in classrooms appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/artificial-intelligence-higher-education/ Save to Pocket
Men’s tennis picks up confidence in the sweep
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The Trojans ended their losing streak in a dramatic 4-0 victory over Michigan.
The post Men’s tennis picks up confidence in the sweep appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/202835/ Save to Pocket
Let’s ‘croc’ about it, Gen Z
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Crocs’ comeback redefines fashion’s relationship with comfort and authenticity.
The post Let’s ‘croc’ about it, Gen Z appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/lets-croc-about-it-gen-z/ Save to Pocket
Voting ‘yes’ on Measure HLA will make LA streets safer for all
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The transportation measure will force the city to follow through on its Mobility Plan.
The post Voting ‘yes’ on Measure HLA will make LA streets safer for all appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/voting-yes-on-measure-hla-will-make-la-streets-safer-for-all/ Save to Pocket
IYA senior makes app for Apple Vision Pro
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
ARLingo is an immersive language learning app that simulates traveling abroad.
The post IYA senior makes app for Apple Vision Pro appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/29/iya-senior-apple-vision-pro/ Save to Pocket
Working four days is beneficial
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
People tend to work five to six scheduled days every week. Over time, it becomes a game of pace. Staying consistent with attendance plays an
The post Working four days is beneficial appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/working-four-days-is-beneficial/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=working-four-days-is-beneficial Save to Pocket
Uncle Sam explores satellites that can create fuel out of thin air
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Very low Earth orbit birds could sip the outer atmosphere on their way up
Electric propulsion systems that generate power from the scant air in the outer edges of the atmosphere could power satellites in very low Earth orbit (VLEO), without the need for conventional propellants – at least in theory.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/satellite_air_propulsion/ Save to Pocket
Same work in less time
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
With a federal minimum wage that hasn’t kept up with inflation and millions of Americans working two or more jobs to make ends meet, it’s
The post Same work in less time appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/same-work-in-less-time/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=same-work-in-less-time Save to Pocket
Nutanix doesn’t expect a rush of VMware refugees – maybe for years
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Beats guidance as renewals grow and waits for Broadcom and Cisco to bring more bucks
Nutanix doesn’t expect a rush of VMware users to adopt its platform, because many signed up for long-term deals before Broadcom acquired the virtualization giant.…
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Review | Bringing Bravado Home to Roost, at the Santa Barbara Lobero
date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
World-renowned, and partly Santa Ynez-based pianist Hélène Grimaud returns for third CAMA recital, not always a charm.
The post Review | Bringing Bravado Home to Roost, at the Santa Barbara Lobero appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/28/review-bringing-bravado-home-to-roost-at-the-santa-barbara-lobero/ Save to Pocket
Biden, Trump Holding Separate Visits to US-Mexico Border
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-trump-holding-separate-visits-to-us-mexico-border/7507381.html Save to Pocket
Alibaba Cloud cuts prices – hard – for multi-year commitments in mainland China
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
This might solve its twin problems of low growth and short-term customers
Alibaba Cloud has made significant price cuts for those willing to use its datacenters in mainland China and commit to multi-year deals.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/alibaba_cloud_price_cuts/ Save to Pocket
Baidu admits it may never get leading-edge GPUs again
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Execs swear Chinese cloud will beat local rivals with a superior software stack that makes AI sing
Chinese web giant Baidu has told investors its long-term planning assumes it won’t be able to access leading-edge GPUs, but that it can beat local rivals with its superior software stack.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/baidu_subpar_chips/ Save to Pocket
Reproductive Rights Are Back in US Election-Year Spotlight
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/reproductive-rights-are-back-in-us-election-year-spotlight/7507240.html Save to Pocket
Elon Musk’s Worst Nightmare Lives in Santa Barbara
date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Journalist Zoe Schiffer gets the true story of how he ruined Twitter.
The post Elon Musk’s Worst Nightmare Lives in Santa Barbara appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/28/elon-musks-worst-nightmare-lives-in-santa-barbara/ Save to Pocket
February 28, 2024
date: 2024-02-29, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
Behind the horse race–type coverage of the contest for presidential nominations, a major realignment is underway in United States politics. The Republican Party is dying as Trump and his supporters take it over, but there is a larger story behind that crash. This moment looks much like the other times in our history when a formerly stable two-party system has fallen apart and Americans reevaluated what they want out of their government.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-28-2024 Save to Pocket
Sony Is Laying Off 900 PlayStation Employees, 8 Percent of Workforce
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/27/24084494/sony-playstation-layoffs-2024 Save to Pocket
Chinese PC-maker Acemagic customized its own machines to get infected with malware
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Tried to speed boot times, maybe by messing with ‘Windows source code’, ended up building a viral on-ramp
Chinese PC maker Acemagic has admitted some of its products shipped with pre-installed malware.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/acemagic_chinese_pc_malware_infection/ Save to Pocket
Terlaje calls emergency session for temporary power bill
date: 2024-02-29, from: Guam Daily Post
Speaker Therese Terlaje has granted the emergency session requested by Sen. William Parkinson for Bill 206-37, and has called for session to convene on March 6.
https://www.postguam.com/news/terlaje-calls-emergency-session-for-temporary-power-bill/article_e1ec4ef2-d6b0-11ee-9e56-63181af3b580.html Save to Pocket
Biden Deemed ‘Healthy, Active, Robust’ During Annual Physical Exam
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
washington — U.S. President Joe Biden’s is a “healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency,” his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, said in a statement released by the White House on Wednesday, following Biden’s annual physical examination.
“The president feels well, and this year’s physical identified no new concerns. He continues to be fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” O’Connor said following Biden’s visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, earlier Wednesday.
The checkup included consultations with optometry, dentistry, orthopedics, physical therapy, neurology, sleep medicine, cardiology, radiology and dermatology specialists, O’Connor said.
It’s Biden’s third physical since taking office, amid concerns about his age as he seeks a second term.
“They think I look too young,” Biden joked to reporters at the White House after his checkup. “There is nothing different than last year,” he said.
According to the summary, Biden is currently being treated for several conditions, including obstructive sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux, seasonal allergies, arthritis and sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet. He also has atrial fibrillation with normal ventricular response, a type of asymptomatic irregularity of the heartbeat.
His doctor pronounced his conditions as “stable and well-controlled,” with “three common prescription medications and three common over-the-counter medications.”
The symptoms were similar to those described in Biden’s 2023 physical exam report that noted the president’s “stiff gait,” due to “a combination of significant spinal arthritis, mild post-fracture foot arthritis and a mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet,” and “occasional symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux,” that made him have to clear his throat often.
President didn’t undergo cognitive test
Recent events have highlighted Biden’s potential age-related issues, including the president being described in a special counsel report as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
In pushing back on reporters’ questions about his age, Biden insisted that his “memory is fine” but shortly after mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi as the president of Mexico. That and two other mistaken references to world leaders’ names in recent weeks fueled further attacks by his rivals.
Responding to reporters’ questions during her briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden did not undergo a cognitive test as part of his physical because the president’s physician, “doesn’t believe that he needs one.”
As president, Biden passes a cognitive test “every day,” Jean-Pierre underscored.
A poll by the George Washington University shows 35% of respondents say Biden was in good enough physical health to serve effectively as president, and 38% said he has the mental soundness to serve effectively as president.
This is lower that what respondents say about the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump, who is four years younger. For Trump, the numbers are 54% and 46%, respectively.
“These figures indicate that this is a big problem for Biden,” Todd Belt, professor of politics at George Washington University, told VOA. “The campaign has changed course to attack Trump on his vulnerabilities on the mental soundness issue.”
Biden did exactly that during an appearance on a late-night television show earlier this week, by referencing a video in which Trump appeared to forget his wife’s name.
Americans concerned about Biden’s age
Trump was 70 when he took office in 2017, which made him the oldest American president to be inaugurated until Biden broke his record at 78 in 2021. The former president has also made blunders, including praising Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his leadership of Turkey, and confusing his Republican rival, Nikki Haley, with former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
A February ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted after the release of the special counsel report indicated concerns among 59% of Americans regarding the age and capability for a second term for both candidates, although more Americans are worried about Biden compared with Trump, said Clifford Young, president of Ipsos Public Affairs.
“Age is an Achilles’ heel, is an anchor for Biden,” Young told VOA. “It was four years ago. Without a doubt, it will be this year.”
Though not publicly announced in advance, the timing of Biden’s physical was anticipated, given the increasing focus on his age and health in the context of his reelection campaign ahead of the November election.
https://www.voanews.com/a/no-new-concerns-in-biden-s-annual-check-up-white-house-says/7507324.html Save to Pocket
Toyota admits its engines are overrated – by its own power testing software
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Japan’s government slapped it for using the wrong code to produce too-powerful results
Toyota apologized on Wednesday for an incident involving the fraudulent certification of its diesel engines that resulted in a corrective order from Japan’s transport ministry.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/toyota_apologizes_software/ Save to Pocket
Asylum-Seekers Find Shelter at Washington State Church
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
Tukwila, Washington — Though the number of migrants crossing daily into the United States has fallen since December, local communities are still scrambling to provide them with resources.
In the Pacific Northwest, Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila, Washington, has become a shelter for hundreds of asylum-seekers from Africa and Latin America.
At the church entrance is a hum of conversations in Portuguese, French and Spanish, as asylum-seekers from countries such as Angola, Congo and Venezuela gather to discuss their immigration claims.
Eurice, a bespectacled woman in her 50s, came from Venezuela. She asked that her last name not be used.
“I don’t want to be a burden to the United States,” she said. “I didn’t come here for a dream. Because of my work at the Colombian consulate, I was labeled a traitor. I’ve worked all my life, and instead of a peaceful retirement, I had to flee my country, walking through the jungle, crossing seven countries.”
She said she is grateful to find shelter at this church.
“I thank God and the lady pastor for providing a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in, and a plate of food. I am blessed already,” she said.
Pastor Jan Bolerjack said that over the past year, Riverton has helped find shelter, food and basic necessities for about 1,000 asylum-seekers of various ages, including pregnant women and toddlers. Some of them arrived on their own. Others were brought in by the police.
“The police department in Seattle found them on the streets in tents and realized they were a different population from our usual homeless individuals,” Bolerjack told VOA. “And so, they started bringing them here. We went from zero to 100 by March 2023, and then 400 by July. In October, the mayor of Tukwila declared a humanitarian emergency here. And this is where we are now — continuing with this humanitarian emergency.”
Unlike refugees who are eligible for resettlement services, asylum-seekers are unable to work legally before their work permit application is approved in a process that may last many months.
Bolerjack said her church has always had an open door for the most vulnerable members of the community, but with limited resources, staff and volunteers are overwhelmed.
“We have to provide everything, from food to laundry to bathrooms, showers, tents, sleeping bags, mattresses. Everything has to come from our friends and sources in the neighborhood,” she explained, walking through the church hall where piles of donated mattresses, suitcases and bags line the walls, and past a tiny kitchen, where several young African women are cooking, and through an area where volunteers sort donated clothes.
“Somehow, this place has been advertised across the country and at the border as the place to go,” Bolerjack explained. “And you know, I can take great pride in that. And yet, I’m kind of embarrassed when they arrive after a long, traumatic journey and we have to say, ‘You have to sleep in a wet, soggy tent.’”
In winter, when temperatures in the area dropped below zero, hundreds of asylum-seekers were temporarily moved from tents to local hotels. Some refused to return to the encampment, asking lawmakers for help.
State Representative Mia Gregerson is working to improve the state’s response to the crisis with legislation to better coordinate migrant services. Speaking with VOA at her office in the state capital, Olympia, she said that despite Tukwila’s tradition of welcoming newcomers, the community of fewer than 22,000 people shouldn’t be pushed to shoulder the crisis on its own.
“I think they’re really rolling up their sleeves well and making a go of it,” Gregerson said. “But there is a lot of uncertainty. What are we going to do when the funds run out?”
She said processing asylum cases is often complicated by different immigration statuses within a family. The bill she introduced with 18 co-sponsors seeks to empower the state’s Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance.
“The idea is that the office is able to be nimble and utilize resources quickly to not only put them into the system for legal advice that’s correct and factual, or quickly get them the education resources, transportation needs, and housing vouchers,” Gregerson said. “And we need to maintain that contact with them so we can help them through the system. Otherwise, they may fall victim to other types of issues.”
Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s current budget includes $5 million in new funding for the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance to expand support services for newly arriving people who do not qualify for federal refugee resettlement program services. A separate request for $3.4 million is meant to help provide transitional and long-term housing support to asylum-seekers in the county around Seattle.
Volunteers at Riverton help asylum-seekers complete the required paperwork in English. In the past year, Bolerjack said just one person won their asylum case and obtained a work permit.
That has not diminished the optimism of Jeremiah Lefau, who said he left Angola with his wife and three children in December 2022 because of insecurity in his country. They lived at Riverton for four months before they were approved for family shelter. The children are enrolled in local schools along with more than 100 young asylum-seekers. Lefau is taking English classes and volunteers at the church.
“I feel good about the future,” he said. “Now, we need to help others as the church helped us.”
Eurice, from Venezuela, hopes to return to her country someday.
“My family is still there. I miss them,” she said. “I hope to stay here as long as necessary to be safe, and I thank the United States for this opportunity they are giving us. But I have faith that one day my country will be able to repair itself so I can return.”
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is advancing measures making it more challenging for asylum-seekers to stay in the U.S.
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Card master: Local trading card game champ to compete at world tournament
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
Bryce Miller began collecting trading cards when he was a little kid, but it wasn’t until he was about 17 when he learned that he can use them to play actual games. Over the years, Miller, 31, has tried many different trading card games, but the one that he found to be to his liking […]
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https://signalscv.com/2024/02/card-master-local-trading-card-game-champ-to-compete-at-world-tournament/ Save to Pocket
US Supreme Court Will Hear Trump Case for Immunity
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-supreme-court-will-hear-trump-case-for-immunity/7507333.html Save to Pocket
Biden Hails Crime Drop, Pushes for More Reforms
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
washington — President Joe Biden brought law enforcement officials from key swing states into the White House on Wednesday as he touted declines in crime in major cities and pressed Congress for more action on policing and gun control.
“Murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery — all dropped sharply, along with burglary, property crime and theft. And it matters,” Biden said, speaking to a gathering that included law enforcement officials from Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Detroit and Milwaukee.
Data from the nation’s top law enforcement entity, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, show a clear decline in violent crime since 2020.
Detroit Police Chief James White, speaking at the White House on Wednesday, said funding from Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan was “a tremendous game changer for Detroit. It’s helped us reach these historic lows in crime.”
White said Detroit’s police department has used those funds not just for traditional law enforcement but also to expand the force’s mental health services.
Floyd legislation
Biden on Wednesday also renewed his call for lawmakers to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. That act, named after a Black Minneapolis resident who was killed by a police officer in 2020, aims to increase police accountability, transparency and data collection, and to improve police practices and training.
He also called for further action on gun control, which has been stridently opposed by powerful industry players like the National Rifle Association.
“I’ve taken more executive actions to stop the flow of illegal guns than any other administration in history,” Biden said. “And we beat the NRA when I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years. And we’re going to finish the job. We’re going to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines next time around because it has to be done.”
On the issue of gun ownership, a Pew Research Center poll found that Americans are split. About one-third of Americans say they own a gun.
Gun safety advocates on Wednesday praised the Biden administration’s moves on gun safety. Monisha Henley, senior vice president of government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety, described Biden’s White House as “the strongest gun safety administration in history.”
“Our top priority is getting the Biden-Harris administration to implement the ATF’s lifesaving rule to close deadly loopholes in our background check system as written,” she said in a statement provided to VOA. ATF refers to the federal the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“We plan to work closely with the administration this year as they continue to advance their ambitious gun violence prevention agenda,” Henley said.
But Biden faces harsh criticism over his public safety policies from his main political challenger, Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Trump’s campaign described Biden’s plan as a “pro-crime, anti-police agenda.”
“President Donald Trump stands with police,” the campaign said in a statement. “[Trump] is promising to indemnify all police officers and law enforcement officials throughout the United States.”
Biden, on Wednesday, defined the challenge of public safety through a different lens.
“There is no greater responsibility than to ensure the safety of families, children, communities and our nation,” he said.
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Iran-backed Attacks Slow Since 3 US Service Members Killed
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
Capitol Hill — Attacks by Iranian-backed proxies have slowed since the drone attack in January that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan near the Syrian border.
There have been only two minor attacks in Syria since Feb. 2, when the United States launched retaliatory attacks on targets in Syria and Iraq.
But U.S. lawmakers warned Wednesday that the lull does not de-escalate the risks of a regional conflict.
“Iran doesn’t have complete command and control of their operations,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin said Wednesday. “That makes this a very precarious situation, one that requires careful clear-eyed American leadership. The risks of miscalculation would not only lead to another deadly attack against U.S. service members, it could lead to a full-scale regional war.”
The U.S. military said U.S. and coalition forces shot down five Houthi drones late Tuesday in the Red Sea.
U.S. Central Command said the drones were launched from areas of Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and that the drones “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the U.S. Navy and coalition ships in the region.”
The strikes were the latest in months of actions seeking to counter attacks by the Houthis against vessels in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have said they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid the war in Gaza.
“Iran thrives on chaos and suffering. The best way to undermine threat in the long term is to offer an alternative — a comprehensive and lasting peace that allows for real regional integration. I realize this is no easy task, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make our efforts,” Cardin said.
The White House called the January attack “despicable and wholly unjust,” and killed the leader of the Kataib Hezbollah group in a targeted airstrike on Feb. 8 in retaliation.
Senate Republicans characterized the Biden administration’s overall approach to dealing with Iran as weak.
Senator Jim Risch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the administration to do a better job of denying Iran the resources it uses to commit acts of terrorism.
“The Biden administration has still not articulated a coherent Iran policy outside of the nuclear negotiations. It’s time to change course,” Risch said Wednesday. “We must adopt a policy of containment. Iran does not think like the West, and it cannot be taught or turned into a change in conduct.”
Brian Hook, the former U.S. special representative for Iran during the Trump administration, told senators, “I believe that Iran knows that it can safely expand its Axis of Resistance because of the Biden administration’s deep aversion to defensive military action. The Biden administration de-escalates to de-escalate. The Iranian regime thrives under this strategy. American troops do not.”
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is considering Risch’s legislation to better enforce U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil.
“Iran is always going to make sure that Hezbollah gets what it needs,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told VOA. “Their support for proxies is a very low-cost means of provoking the United States. I mean, we would be foolish to think that an oil sanction here, there, is going to change Iran’s decision to fund a group like Hezbollah.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-backed-attacks-slow-since-3-us-service-members-killed/7507332.html Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Hackers Threaten to Leak Trump Trial Docs If Ransom Isn’t Paid.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/hackers-threaten-to-leak-donald-trumps-georgia-trial-docs-if-ransom-isnt-paid-report Save to Pocket
Valencia cheer brings back wins after renewing competition program
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
Valencia cheer came back victorious after their first competition season in almost 20 years, placing first in multiple championships in their division. This year was Valencia’s first year back as a traditional competitive cheer team since 2005. Having never competed in CIF Southern Section Championships throughout the history of the school, the varsity team found […]
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@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Kara Swisher is an ecosystem.
https://gizmodo.com/ai-grifters-fill-amazon-with-kara-swisher-memoir-ripoff-1851293150 Save to Pocket
Trump Disqualified From Illinois Ballot, Judge Rules
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-disqualified-from-illinois-ballot-judge-rules-/7507318.html Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Think of it this way – voting is governing. We have a lot of power but only if we use it.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/28.html#a024623 Save to Pocket
US Schools Wrestle with Cellphones in Classrooms
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
SAN FRANCISCO — In California, a high school teacher complains that students watch Netflix on their phones during class. In Maryland, a chemistry teacher says students use gambling apps to place bets during the school day.
Around the country, educators say students routinely send Snapchat messages in class, listen to music and shop online, among countless other examples of how smartphones distract from teaching and learning.
The hold that phones have on adolescents in America today is well-documented, but teachers say parents are often not aware to what extent students use them inside the classroom. And increasingly, educators and experts are speaking with one voice on the question of how to handle it: Ban phones during classes.
“Students used to have an understanding that you aren’t supposed to be on your phone in class. Those days are gone,” said James Granger, who requires students in his science classes at a Los Angeles-area high school to place their phones in “a cellphone cubby” with numbered slots. “The only solution that works is to physically remove the cellphone from the student.”
Most schools already have rules regulating student phone use, but they are enforced sporadically. A growing number of leaders at the state and federal levels have begun endorsing school cellphone bans and suggesting new ways to curb access to the devices.
The latest state intervention came in Utah, where Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, last month urged all school districts and the state Board of Education to remove cellphones from classrooms. He cited studies that show learning improves, distractions are decreased and students are more likely to talk to each other if phones are taken away.
“We just need a space for six or seven hours a day where kids are not tethered to these devices,” Cox told reporters this month. He said his initiative, which is not binding, is part of a legislative push to protect kids in Utah from the harms of social media.
Last year, Florida became the first state to crack down on phones in school. A law that took effect in July requires all Florida public schools to ban student cellphone use during class time and block access to social media on district Wi-Fi. Some districts, including Orange County Public Schools, went further and banned phones the entire school day.
Oklahoma, Vermont and Kansas have also recently introduced what is becoming known as “phone-free schools” legislation.
And two U.S. senators — Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, and Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat — introduced legislation in December that would require a federal study on the effects of cellphone use in schools on students’ mental health and academic performance. Theirs is one of several bipartisan alliances calling for stiffer rules for social media companies and greater online safety for kids.
Nationally, 77% of U.S. schools say they prohibit cellphones at school for non-academic use, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
But that number is misleading. It does not mean students are following those bans or all those schools are enforcing them.
Just ask teachers.
“Cellphone use is out of control. By that, I mean that I cannot control it, even in my own classroom,” said Patrick Truman, who teaches at a Maryland high school that forbids student use of cellphones during class. It is up to each teacher to enforce the policy, so Truman bought a 36-slot caddy for storing student phones. Still, every day, students hide phones in their laps or under books as they play video games and check social media.
Tired of being the phone police, he has come to a reluctant conclusion: “Students who are on their phones are at least quiet. They are not a behavior issue.”
A study last year from Common Sense Media found that 97% of kids use their phones during school hours, and that kids say school cellphone policies vary — often from one classroom to another — and aren’t always enforced.
For a school cellphone ban to work, educators and experts say the school administration must be the one to enforce it and not leave that task to teachers. The Phone-Free Schools Movement, an advocacy group formed last year by concerned mothers, says policies that allow students to keep phones in their backpacks, as many schools do, are ineffective.
“If the bookbag is on the floor next to them, it’s buzzing and distracting, and they have the temptation to want to check it,” said Kim Whitman, a co-founder of the group, which advises schools to require phones be turned off and locked away all day.
Some students say such policies take away their autonomy and cut off their main mode of communication with family and friends. Pushback also has come from parents who fear being cut off from their kids if there is a school emergency. Whitman advises schools to make exceptions for students with special educational and medical needs, and to inform parents on expert guidance that phones can be a dangerous distraction for students during an emergency.
Jaden Willoughey, 14, shares the concern about being out of contact with his parents if there’s a crisis. But he also sees the upsides of turning in his phone at school.
At Delta High School in rural Utah, where Jaden is a freshman, students are required to check their phones at the door when entering every class. Each of the school’s 30 or so classrooms has a cellphone storage unit that looks like an over-the-door shoe bag with three dozen smartphone-sized slots.
“It helps you focus on your work, and it’s easier to pay attention in class,” Jaden said.
A classmate, Mackenzie Stanworth, 14, said it would be hard to ignore her phone if it was within reach. It’s a relief, she said, to “take a break from the screen and the social life on your phone and actually talk to people in person.”
It took a few years to tweak the cellphone policy and find a system that worked, said Jared Christensen, the school’s vice principal.
“At first it was a battle. But it has been so worth it,” he said. “Students are more attentive and engaged during class time. Teachers are able to teach without competing with cellphones. And student learning has increased,” he said, citing test scores that are at or above state averages for the first time in years. “I can’t definitively say it’s because of this policy. But I know it’s helping.”
The next battle will be against earbuds and smartwatches, he said. Even with phones stashed in pouches, students get caught listening to music on air pods hidden under their hair or hoodies. “We haven’t included earbuds in our policy yet. But we’re almost there.”
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West Ranch charges into state tournament, beats Arleta
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
West Ranch girls’ basketball reaffirmed itself as a contender and a third-quarter team on Tuesday after an impressive win over the Arleta Mustangs. The Wildcats won the game, 55-45, after the team pulled ahead in the third quarter on the heels of senior point guard Alanna Topete, who shined in her and the program’s first-ever […]
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Valencia softball drops nail biter vs. Oaks Christian
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
Valencia softball took its first loss of the season on Tuesday to the Oaks Christian Lions in one of the strangest ways possible. The Vikings trailed, 2-1, with two on base and two outs after freshman Sydney Bolder, the potential game-winning run, drew a walk at the plate. Bolder made it to first but was […]
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https://signalscv.com/2024/02/valencia-softball-drops-nail-biter-vs-oaks-christian/ Save to Pocket
Trump Seeks to Block Stormy Daniels, Cohen Testimony at Hush Money Trial
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
NEW YORK — Donald Trump is seeking to block porn star Stormy Daniels and his former lawyer Michael Cohen from testifying at the former U.S. president’s upcoming criminal trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to Daniels before the 2016 election.
The case is the first of four indictments Trump faces to reach trial as he campaigns to regain the presidency. New York state prosecutors in Manhattan say Trump falsified business records to cover up Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Daniels for her silence about a 2006 sexual liaison she says she had with Trump.
Trump denies having had sex with Daniels and has pleaded not guilty.
In a February 22 court filing made public this week, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said Cohen had a history of lying and that he would lie again at the trial, which starts on March 25. Blanche said Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, would seek to use the trial to promote and monetize her story.
“Similar to Cohen, she seeks to tell contrived stories with salacious details of events she claimed occurred nearly 20 years ago,” Blanche wrote.
Cohen’s lawyer declined to comment. A lawyer for Daniels did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cohen in 2018 pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws with the payment to Daniels, which exceeded contribution limits, and to lying before Congress. In testimony at a separate civil trial last year, he said he lied during his 2018 guilty plea by admitting to tax evasion.
In a February 15 court hearing, a prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said Trump would have the chance to cross-examine Cohen at trial.
Cohen is expected to be a key witness against Trump. Prosecutors say his payment to Daniels was part of a broader “catch-and-kill” scheme to prevent allegations that Trump had extramarital affairs from coming to light ahead of the 2016 election.
They said the scheme also included a $150,0000 payment a tabloid publisher made on Trump’s behalf to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who says she had sexual encounters with Trump, who denies the affair.
Prosecutors are also asking Justice Juan Merchan to impose a gag order restricting Trump from disparaging witnesses and others involved in the case.
Trump faces 34 felony falsification of business records counts over his 2017 reimbursements to Cohen for the Daniels payment. Prosecutors say his New York-based family real estate company falsely recorded the reimbursement as legal expenses.
Blanche said prosecutors should be barred from arguing that the payments to Daniels and McDougal were part of an effort by Trump to influence the 2016 election.
“Accounts of alleged interactions posed the risk of significant reputational damage to President Trump, his family, and business interests, separate and apart from his candidacy,” Blanche wrote.
Merchan will decide on the requests ahead of the trial, which is expected to last up to six weeks.
Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, also faces state and federal charges over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and a federal case over his handling of government documents after leaving office. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-seeks-to-block-stormy-daniels-cohen-testimony-at-hush-money-trial-/7507313.html Save to Pocket
Feb. 29: Leap Day Celebration with 40 Cents Off Gas at Circle K
date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Circle K will offer 40 cents off per gallon of fuel between 4 and 7 p.m. local time Thursday, Feb. 29 during Circle K Fuel Day Pop-Up
https://scvnews.com/feb-29-leap-day-celebration-with-40-cents-off-gas-at-circle-k/ Save to Pocket
Book Talk: REPLAY
date: 2024-02-29, from: Internet Archive Blog
In his intergenerational graphic memoir, renowned video game designer Jordan Mechner traces his family’s journey through war, Nazi occupation, and everyday marital strife. Book Talk: REPLAYMarch 27 @ 10am PT […]
https://blog.archive.org/2024/02/29/book-talk-replay/ Save to Pocket
California Credit Union Launches Charitable Foundation to Support Local Community-Based Organizations, Educational Institutions
date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
California Credit Union announced today that it has launched the California Credit Union Foundation to lead its community outreach and support programs, which have totaled more than $2.5 million over the last five years
https://scvnews.com/california-credit-union-launches-charitable-foundation-to-support-local-community-based-organizations-educational-institutions/ Save to Pocket
Older US Adults Should Get Another COVID Shot, Say Health Officials
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
new york — Older U.S. adults should roll up their sleeves for another COVID-19 shot, even if they got a booster in the fall, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Americans 65 and older should get another dose of the updated vaccine that became available in September — if at least four months has passed since their last shot. In making the recommendation, the agency endorsed guidance proposed by an expert advisory panel earlier in the day.
“Most COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last year were among people 65 years and older. An additional vaccine dose can provide added protection … for those at highest risk,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement.
The advisory panel’s decision came after a lengthy discussion about whether to say older people “may” get the shots or if they “should” do so. That reflects a debate among experts about how necessary another booster is and whether yet another recommendation would add to the public’s growing vaccine fatigue.
Some doctors say most older adults are adequately protected by the fall shot, which built on immunity derived from earlier vaccinations and exposure to the virus itself. And preliminary studies so far have shown no substantial waning in vaccine effectiveness over six months.
However, the body’s vaccine-induced defenses tend to fade over time, and that happens faster in seniors than in other adults. The committee had recommended COVID-19 booster doses for older adults in 2022 and 2023.
Virus still a threat
COVID-19 remains a danger, especially to older people and those with underlying medical conditions. There are still more than 20,000 hospitalizations and more than 2,000 deaths each week due to the coronavirus, according to the CDC. And people 65 and older have the highest hospitalization and death rates.
Some members of the advisory panel said a “should” recommendation is meant to more clearly prod doctors and pharmacists to offer the shots.
Dr. Jamie Loehr, a committee member and family doctor in Ithaca, New York, said that with the “should” recommendation, “I am trying to make it easier for providers to say, ‘Yes, we recommend this.’”
In September, the government recommended a new COVID-19 shot recipe built against a version of the coronavirus called XBB.1.5. That single-target vaccine replaced combination shots that had been targeting both the original coronavirus strain and a much earlier omicron version.
Vaccine uptake has declined
The CDC recommended the new shots for everyone 6 months and older and allowed that people with weak immune systems could get a second dose as early as two months after the first.
Most Americans haven’t listened. According to the latest CDC data, 13% of U.S. children have gotten the shots and about 22% of U.S. adults have. The vaccination rate is higher for adults 65 and older, at nearly 42%.
“In each successive vaccine, the uptake has gone down,” said Dr. David Canaday, a Case Western Reserve University infectious-diseases expert who studies COVID-19 in older people.
“People are tired of getting all these shots all the time,” said Canaday, who does not serve on the committee. “We have to be careful about over-recommending the vaccine.”
But there is a subset of Americans — those at higher danger of severe illness and death — who have been asking if another dose is permissible, said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccines expert who serves on a committee workgroup that has been debating the booster question.
Indeed, CDC survey data suggest that group’s biggest worry about the vaccine is whether it’s effective enough.
Agency officials say that among those who got the latest version of the COVID-19 vaccine, 50% fewer will get sick after they come into contact with the virus compared with those who didn’t get the fall shot.
https://www.voanews.com/a/older-us-adults-should-get-another-covid-shot-health-officials-recommend-/7507281.html Save to Pocket
March 24: Team Dragon Eye’s Announces 7th Dragon Boat Easter EggStravaganza
date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Team Dragon Eyes, a local dragon boat team with nearly a decade of history, is thrilled to announce the 7th Annual Dragon Boat Easter EggStravaganza and BBQ.
https://scvnews.com/march-24-team-dragon-eyes-announces-7th-dragon-boat-easter-eggstravaganza/ Save to Pocket
Australian spy chief fears sabotage of critical infrastructure
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
And accuses a former Australian politician of having ‘sold out their country’
The director general of security at Australia’s Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has delivered his annual threat assessment, revealing ongoing attempts by adversaries to map digital infrastructure with a view to disrupting important services at delicate moments.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/asio_threat_assessment_2024/ Save to Pocket
Garcia announces congressional high school art competition
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
News release Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, announced that his office is now accepting submissions to the annual Congressional Art Competition from high school students in the 27th Congressional District. The winning artist will have their artwork displayed in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol for one year and be invited to attend […]
The post Garcia announces congressional high school art competition appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/garcia-announces-congressional-high-school-art-competition/ Save to Pocket
Barger Reacts to County Update on Chiquita Canyon Landfill Odor Response
date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued the following statement today, after hearing a presentation from leaders from Los Angeles County’s Public Health, Regional Planning
https://scvnews.com/barger-reacts-to-county-update-on-chiquita-canyon-landfill-odor-response/ Save to Pocket
The Culture of Aviation Safety
date: 2024-02-29, from: James Fallows, Substack
Up-close examinations of what makes air travel safe, and how and why it becomes risky. Three new case studies.
https://fallows.substack.com/p/the-culture-of-aviation-safety Save to Pocket
US Senate Republicans Block Democrats’ Bill Assuring Right to IVF
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — Democrats on Wednesday failed in an attempt to rush legislation through the U.S. Senate guaranteeing Americans’ access to in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technologies, after an Alabama court designated frozen embryos as children.
The state Supreme Court ruling on February 16 that frozen embryos should be considered children prompted at least three Alabama providers to halt the IVF procedure that involves combining eggs and sperm in a laboratory dish for couples having difficulty conceiving.
Alabama’s court ruling has raised concerns that those involved in IVF could face prosecution because embryos that are found to be nonviable are sometimes disposed of or used for research, and that it could encourage other states to follow suit.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who suffered grave injuries in combat in 2004, sought an immediate vote by the Senate on Wednesday on passage of her “Access to Family Building Act” legislation.
Her move for a vote, which required the consent of all 100 senators, was promptly blocked by Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
“The bill before us today is a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that goes way too far, far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF,” Hyde-Smith said.
Duckworth countered that her bill simply would guarantee access to IVF treatments and facilities “without fear of being prosecuted,” while also shielding IVF providers and health insurance companies.
While many Republican officeholders have expressed discomfort with the Alabama court ruling, the party was not ready to fall in line with Democrats on this hot-button issue that is linked to the national debate over women’s right to abortion.
Duckworth told reporters on Tuesday that she struggled for a decade with infertility following her military service in Iraq, which prompted her and her husband to turn to IVF. They now have two children.
“I have five embryos that were created (using IVF); three that were deemed to be nonviable, would not survive,” Duckworth said.
She said that at the time, in 2013, her doctor told her that if “personhood laws” regarding embryos were to be enacted, “I could be convicted of manslaughter or murder for discarding these three eggs that were nonviable.”
Reproductive rights are expected to be a major issue in this year’s presidential and congressional campaigns, with Democrats lashing out at both the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning its landmark Roe v. Wade case establishing a national right to abortion, as well as subsequent state reproductive rights actions such as the one on IVF.
In a statement Wednesday, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the Republican blocking of Duckworth’s measure was “outrageous.”
Jean-Pierre added that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care, including IVF, and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-senate-republicans-block-democrats-bill-assuring-right-to-ivf/7507287.html Save to Pocket
March 16: COC Athletic Department to Host Mike Gillespie Field Dedication Ceremony
date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The College of the Canyons Athletic Department will host a field dedication ceremony to unveil the recently named Mike Gillespie Field in honor of the legendary baseball coach’s distinguished career
https://scvnews.com/coc-athletic-department-to-host-mike-gillespie-field-dedication-ceremony/ Save to Pocket
US, Mexico, Guatemala Boost Cooperation to Control Migrant Arrivals at Southern Border
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted a meeting Wednesday in Washington with top Mexican and Guatemalan officials to discuss managing irregular migration, displacement, and expanding lawful immigration pathways in the Western Hemisphere.
Blinken, joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and other high-level U.S. officials, met with Guatemalan Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez, Guatemalan Minister of the Interior Francisco José Jiménez Irungaray, and Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena Ibarra.
The three delegations agreed on the urgency of addressing the root causes of irregular migration, expanding more legal pathways to the U.S., and the creation of a U.S., Mexico, and Guatemala “operational cell” to jointly tackle migration issues.
“We are really here to double down on the collaboration that we have in dealing with migration flows. We know that all of us are living in what is genuinely a historic time. Around the world, more people are on the move than at any time in recorded history, and the same is true, of course, in our own hemisphere,” Blinken said.
Guatemala will also host the next Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection ministerial meeting in April. Martínez said they do not see the migration issue as a problem, but a phenomenon.
“And we believe that behind this, of course, there is a fundamental task for the Guatemalan state. We are the first who must manage the needs of our population. We must create and provide opportunities so that our people do not migrate, so that these flows of Guatemalans seeking opportunities do not continue to grow. So, the first task is a task for the Guatemalan state,” Martinez said.
During a background call with reporters on Tuesday, a U.S. official said Mexican and Guatemalan nationals represent the largest number of migrants that border officers currently encounter at the Southwest border.
The official added that the United States is looking forward to deepening trilateral efforts to expand legal pathways, including for labor migration.
“One of our most successful lawful pathway initiatives — in 2023, we issued over 442,000 visas to temporary and seasonal workers. Those who work here through labor pathways contribute to the U.S. economy and send money back home to support friends and family and invest in their futures,” the U.S. official said.
Earlier this year, officials from the United States and Mexico met and set goals to make migration numbers consistent, fight human smuggling and create a plan to discourage migrants from crossing through the dangerous Darién Gap in Panama.
The meetings come as the Biden administration considers cracking down on asylum-seekers after a record number of migrants arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in December. The number fell by 41% in January.
“The difficult paths that migrants in our continent take towards the North to seek better and more opportunities in life is transcendental. … These geographical circumstances mean that as countries, we face most of the cycles of the migration process. Guatemala and Mexico are origin, transit, destination and return,” Barcena said.
Immigration has become one of the leading issues in this year’s presidential election. Former President Donald Trump, who is likely to face President Joe Biden in November, promises to take stronger action on it.
For now, Biden is going to Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday. At the same time, Trump will be going to Eagle Pass, Texas, which is also on the border with Mexico.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-mexico-guatemala-boost-cooperation-to-control-migrant-arrivals-at-southern-border/7507282.html Save to Pocket
SCV’s top cop shares local law enforcement update
date: 2024-02-29, from: The Signal
City leaders discussed a year-to-date comparison of crime data from Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station Capt. Justin Diez, reviewing the local elements involved in a 5% countywide uptick in Part-I crimes. The Santa Clarita City Council’s Public Safety Committee, consisting of Councilman Jason Gibbs and Mayor Pro Tem Bill Miranda, asked questions as Diez reviewed […]
The post SCV’s top cop shares local law enforcement update appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/scvs-top-cop-shares-local-law-enforcement-update/ Save to Pocket
OpenAI sued, again, for scraping and replicating news stories
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
The Intercept, Raw Story, AlterNet want damages and to have their content removed from models
Three digital publishers have sued OpenAI over claims that it stole their copyrighted articles to train ChatGPT in two separate lawsuits filed on Wednesday.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/openai_copyright_lawsuits/ Save to Pocket
Richard Lewis Dies of Heart Attack at 76
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/richard-lewis-dead-hollywood-tributes-1235838870/ Save to Pocket
The last two weeks at OpenAI
date: 2024-02-29, from: Gary Marcus blog
A few weeks ago, I wrote an essay on ten of the challenges I expected OpenAI to face this year. Things just got worse. Here’s some of what’s happened in the last two weeks. 👉 Sora demo blows minds but fails basic physics and biology 👉 One of OpenAI’s best known researchers, Andrej Karpathy, co-lead on the new agent project, departs
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/the-last-two-weeks-at-openai Save to Pocket
SCVEDC Highlights Benefits of Apprenticeships For Local Businesses
date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
In addressing the workforce needs of businesses in SCV, the local community, including academic institutions and economic development organizations, are embracing opportunities for apprenticeships to harness the strength of a vibrant and diverse workforce
https://scvnews.com/scvedc-highlights-benefits-of-apprenticeships-for-local-businesses/ Save to Pocket
Are Customers Returning Vision Pros in High Numbers? Seemingly Not.
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Daring Fireball
https://medium.com/@mingchikuo/vision-pro%E6%9B%B4%E6%96%B0-%E7%BE%8E%E5%9C%8B%E5%B8%82%E5%A0%B4%E9%9C%80%E6%B1%82%E5%B7%B2%E5%A4%A7%E5%B9%85%E6%94%BE%E7%B7%A9-%E5%85%A8%E7%90%83%E7%99%BC%E4%BD%88%E6%99%82%E7%A8%8B%E9%A0%90%E6%B8%AC-%E4%BE%9B%E6%87%89%E9%8F%88%E6%93%B4%E7%94%A2%E8%88%87%E9%80%80%E8%B2%A8%E7%8E%87%E8%A7%A3%E8%AE%80-%E6%96%B0%E6%A9%9F%E7%A8%AE%E9%A0%90%E6%B8%AC-%E6%8A%95%E8%B3%87%E7%AD%96%E7%95%A5-vision-pro-update-us-market-demand-f12ab8423404 Save to Pocket
US Congressional Leaders Reach Deal to Avert Government Shutdown
date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA
washington — Democratic and Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday announced they had reached a deal for advancing the 12 annual bills that fund an array of federal programs for the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30 and could also avert government shutdowns on Saturday.
The pact approved by House of Representatives and Senate leaders would pave the way for votes on a stopgap funding bill to keep the government operating normally through newly set March 8 and March 22 deadlines, giving lawmakers time to examine and debate the full-year funding bills.
The temporary measure will be “voted on by the House and Senate this week,” said the joint statement by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and the leaders of the two chambers’ appropriations panels.
Republican Representative Kevin Hern told reporters the temporary funding bill, which would be the fourth of the fiscal year that began last Oct. 1, would be put to a House vote on Thursday.
If it were to fail, it would bring the federal government to the brink of partial shutdowns early Saturday.
Both parties’ leaders will now work on explaining the deal to their rank-and-file with the goal of persuading enough of them to back the arrangement.
The deal would put six of the 12 funding bills on a path to passage by March 8 with the remainder by March 22.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-congressional-leaders-reach-deal-to-avert-government-shutdown-/7507261.html Save to Pocket
ALPHV/BlackCat claims responsibility for Change Healthcare attack
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Brags it lifted 6TB of data, but let’s remember these people are criminals and not worthy of much trust
The ALPHV/BlackCat cybercrime gang has taken credit – if that’s the word – for a ransomware infection at Change Healthcare that has disrupted thousands of pharmacies and hospitals across the US, and also claimed that the amount of sensitive data stolen and affected health-care organizations is much larger than the victims initially disclosed.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/alphv_change_healthcare/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Looking for fantastic examples of blog rolls like this one from Ton Zylstra. It’s the data that matters don’t pay too much attention to how it looks.
https://zylstra.org/opml/tonzylstra.opml Save to Pocket
★ Poll Results on Apple’s FineWoven iPhone Cases
date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Daring Fireball
Apple’s not going back to leather, but they need a better-than-leather replacement, and FineWoven 1.0 isn’t it.
https://daringfireball.net/2024/02/poll_results_on_apples_finewoven_iphone_cases Save to Pocket
Santa Barbara District Attorney Formally Charges Two in Fatal Hit-and-Run
date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
A public memorial for the victim, Dane Angus, will be held near the Cabrillo Arts Center on Friday, March 1.
The post Santa Barbara District Attorney Formally Charges Two in Fatal Hit-and-Run appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/28/santa-barbara-district-attorney-formally-charges-two-in-fatal-hit-and-run/ Save to Pocket
Pgpool-II 4.5.1, 4.4.6, 4.3.9, 4.2.16 and 4.1.19 released.
date: 2024-02-29, from: PostgreSQL News
What is Pgpool-II?
Pgpool-II is a tool to add useful features to PostgreSQL, including:
- connection pooling
- load balancing
- automatic failover and more.
Minor releases
Pgpool Global Development Group is pleased to announce the availability of following versions of Pgpool-II:
- 4.5.1
- 4.4.6
- 4.3.9
- 4.2.16
- 4.1.19
Please take a look at release notes.
You can download the source code and RPMs.
https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/pgpool-ii-451-446-439-4216-and-4119-released-2815/ Save to Pocket
The GH Carabiner Is Actually A Multitool Cosplaying As A Carabiner
date: 2024-02-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
With 17 functions in tow, is this the ultimate multitool for die-hard adventurers?
https://www.rideapart.com/news/709439/gh-carabiner-edc-gear/ Save to Pocket
What do we know about DOIs
date: 2024-02-29, from: Crossref Blog
Crossref holds metadata for approximately 150 million scholarly artifacts. These range from peer reviewed journal articles through to scholarly books through to scientific blog posts. In fact, amid such heterogeneity, the only singular factor that unites such items is that they have been assigned a document object identifier (DOI); a unique identification string that can be used to resolve to a resource pertaining to said metadata (often, but not always, a copy of the work identified by the metadata).
What, though, do we actually know about the state of persistence of these links? How many DOIs resolve correctly? How many landing pages, at the other end of the DOI resolution, contain the information that is supposed to be there, including the title and the DOI itself? How can we find out?
The first and seemingly most obvious way that we can obtain some of these data is by working through the most recent sample of DOIs and attempting to fetch metadata from each of them using a standard python script. This involves using the httpx library to attempt to resolve each of the DOIs to a resource, visiting that resource and seeing what the landing page yields.
Even this is not straightforward. Landing pages can be HTML resources or they can be PDF files, among other things. In the case of PDF files, to detect a run of text is not simple as a single line break can be enough to foil our search. Nonetheless, when using this strategy we find the following statistics:
Total DOI count in sample: 5000
Number of HTTP 200 response:
3301*
Percentage of HTTP 200 responses: 66.02%
Number of titles
found on landing page: 1580
Percentage of titles found on landing
page: 31.60%
Number of DOIs in recommended format found on landing
page: 1410
Percentage of DOIs in recommended format found on landing
page: 28.20%
Number of titles and DOIs found on landing page:
929
Percentage of titles and DOIs found on landing page: 18.58%
Number of PDFs found on landing page: 1469
Percentage of PDFs found
on landing page: 29.38%
Percent of PDFs found on landing pages that
loaded: 44.50%
- an HTTP 200 response means that the web page loaded correctly
While these numbers look quite low, the problem here is that a large number of scholarly publishers use Digital Rights Management techniques on their sites that block a crawl of this type. We can use systems like Playwright to remote control browsers to do the crawling, so that the request looks as much like a genuine user as possible and to evade such detection systems. However, lots of these sites detect headless browsers (where the browser is invisible and running on a server) and block them with a 403 Permission Denied error.
There’s a great Github javascript suite that aims to help evade headless detection. The tests it uses are:
-
User Agent: in a browser running with puppeteer in headless mode, user agent includes Headless.
-
App Version: same as User Agent above.
-
Plugins: headless browsers don’t have any plugins. So we can say that if it has plugin it’s headful, but not otherwise since some browsers, like Firefox, don’t have default plugins.
-
Plugins Prototype: check if the Plugin and PluginsArray prototype are correct.
-
Mime Type: similar to Plugins test, where headless browsers don’t have any mime type
-
Mime Type Prototype: check if the MimeType and MimeTypeArrayprototype are correct.
-
Languages: all headful browser has at least one language. So we can say that if it has no language it’s headless.
-
Webdriver: this property is true when running in a headless browser.
-
Time elapse: it pops an alert() on page and if it’s closed too fast, means that it’s headless.
-
Chrome element: it’s specific for chrome browser that has an element window.chrome.
-
Permission: in headless mode Notification.permission and navigator.permissions.query report contradictory values.
-
Devtool: puppeteer works on devtools protocol, this test checks if devtool is present or not.
-
Broken Image: all browser has a default nonzero broken image size, and this may not happen on a headless browser.
-
Outer Dimension: the attributes outerHeight and outerWidth have value 0 on headless browser.
-
Connection Rtt: The attribute navigator.connection.rtt,if present, has value 0 on headless browser.
-
Mouse Move: The attributes movementX and movementY on every MouseEvent have value 0 on headless browser.
Using the stealth plugin for Playwright also allows us to evade most of these checks. This just leaves Mouse Move and Broken Image detection, which I thought would not outweigh all the other factors. We can also jitter the connection with arbitrary delays so that it should appear to be coming at random intervals, rather than a robotic crawl.
Yet the basic fact is that we are still blocked from crawling many sites. This does not happen when we put the browser into headful mode, so current detection techniques have clearly evolved in the past half decade (since Detect Headless) was designed.
If, however, we run the browser in a headful mode, the results are somewhat stunningly different:
Total DOI count in sample: 5000
Number of HTTP 200 response: 4852
Percent of HTTP 200 responses: 97.04%
Number of titles found on landing page: 2547
Percentage of titles found on landing page: 50.94%
Number of DOIs in recommended format found on landing page: 2424
Percentage of DOIs in recommended format found on landing page: 48.48%
Number of titles and DOIs found on landing page: 1574
Percentage of titles and DOIs found on landing page: 31.48%
Number of PDFs found on landing page: 2085
Percentage of PDFs found on landing page: 41.70%
Percentage of PDFs found on landing pages that loaded: 42.97%Let’s talk about the resolution statistics. Other studies, looking at general links on the web, have found a link-rot rate of about 60%-70% over a ten-year period (Lessig, Zittrain, and Albert 2014; Stox 2022). The DOI resolution rate that we have, with 97% of links resolving (or a 3% link-rot rate), is far better and more robust than a web link in general.
Is 3% a good or a bad number? It’s more robust than the web in general, but it still means that for every 100 DOIs, just under 3 will fail to resolve. We also cannot tell whether these DOIs are resolving to the correct target, except by using the metadata detection metrics (are the title and DOI on the landing page, which we could only detect at a far lower rate). It is entirely possible for a website to resolve with an HTTP 200 (OK) response, but for the page in question to be something very different to what the user expected, a phenomenon dubbed content drift. A good example is domain hijacking, where a domain name expires and spam companies buy them up. These still resolve to a web page, but instead of an article on RNA, for a hypothetical example, the user gets adverts for rubber welding hose. That said, other studies are also prone to this and there is no guarantee that content drift doesn’t affect a huge proportion of supposedly good links in the other studies, too.
Of course, one of the most frustrating elements of this exercise is having to work around publisher blocks on content when visiting using a server-only robot script. It’s important for us periodically to monitor the uptime rate of the DOI system. We also recognise, though, that publishers want to block malicious traffic. However, we can’t perform our monitoring in an easy, automatic way if headless scripts are blocked from resolving DOIs and visiting their respective landing pages. This is not even a call for open access; it’s just saying that current anti-bot techniques, sometimes implemented for legitimate reasons, stifle our ability to know the landscape. Even if the bot resolved a DOI to just a paywall, it would be easier for us to monitor this than it is now. Similarly, CAPTCHA systems such as Cloudflare that would seem to offer an easy way to distinguish between humans (good) and robots (bad) can make life very difficult at the monitoring end. We would certainly be grateful for any proposed solution that could help us to work around these mechanisms.
Conclusion
The context in which I wanted to know this information was so that we can take a snapshot of a page and then, at a later stage, determine whether it is down or has changed substantially. To do this, we are developing Shelob, an experimental content drift spider system; that’s what we’ve used so far to conduct this analysis. Over time, Shelob will evolve, we hope, to give us a way to detect when content has drifted or gone offline. If, however, we can’t detect whether an endpoint is good in the first place, then we likewise cannot detect when things have gone wrong. On the other hand, if, when we first visit, we find the DOI and title on the landing page, but at some future point this degrades, we might be able to say with some confidence that the original has died. I, personally, would encourage publishers not to block automated crawlers, because it’s good when we can determine these types of figures.
Works Cited
Lessig, Lawrence, Jonathan Zittrain, and Kendra Albert. 2014. ‘Perma: Scoping and Addressing the Problem of Link and Reference Rot in Legal Citations’. Harvard Law Review 127 (4). https://harvardlawreview.org/forum/vol-127/perma-scoping-and-addressing-the-problem-of-link-and-reference-rot-in-legal-citations/.(https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?970bfS
Stox, Patrick. 2022. ‘Ahrefs Study on Link Rot’. SEO Blog by Ahrefs. 29 April 2022. https://ahrefs.com/blog/link-rot-study/.
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https://www.crossref.org/blog/what-do-we-know-about-dois/ Save to Pocket
March 1: Valencia-based Flair Cleaners 9th Annual Food Drive
date: 2024-02-28, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Flair Cleaners, Southern California’s leading eco-friendly dry cleaner, is holding its 9th Annual Flair Cares Food Drive, Hang Up Hunger, March 1 to
https://scvnews.com/march-1-valencia-based-flair-cleaners-9th-annual-food-drive/ Save to Pocket
Polluters Should Pay
date: 2024-02-28, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
‘Polluter pays’ legislation would reduce carbon pollution, support cleaner domestic goods, and reduce emissions.
The post Polluters Should Pay appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/28/polluters-should-pay/ Save to Pocket
Competent, Experienced, Innovative
date: 2024-02-28, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Das Williams has proven himself effective — at the city, state, and county levels — regarding environmental stewardship, public safety, education, housing affordability, and sustainable economic growth.
The post Competent, Experienced, Innovative appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
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Quick Charge Podcast: February 28, 2024
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/quick-charge-podcast-february-28-2024/ Save to Pocket
CSUN Launches the First CSU Disability Studies Minor Program
date: 2024-02-28, from: SCV New (TV Station)
California State University, Northridge has launched the first disability studies minor in the CSU system, with the first students being admitted to the program in fall
https://scvnews.com/csun-launches-the-first-csu-disability-studies-minor-program/ Save to Pocket
Media, Spy Agencies Await UK Court’s WikiLeaks Ruling
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
The eyes of free press advocates and U.S. intelligence officials are on London, where the High Court is set to rule on the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Washington wants him extradited to face 18 charges tied to the hacking and theft of classified material. VOA’s Jeff Seldin reports.
https://www.voanews.com/a/media-spy-agencies-await-uk-court-wikileaks-ruling/7506830.html Save to Pocket
Two Major Santa Barbara Politicos Trip over Their Own Egos
date: 2024-02-28, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
How Dem Das Williams and Big Mouth Andy Caldwell got into hot water.
The post Two Major Santa Barbara Politicos Trip over Their Own Egos appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/28/two-major-santa-barbara-politicos-trip-over-their-own-egos/ Save to Pocket
Faculty Council passes resolution safeguarding academic freedom and faculty autonomy
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Occidental’s Faculty Council passed a resolution safeguarding academic freedom and faculty autonomy Dec. 7, 2023, following national and campus pressures on academic freedom in higher education and experiences of Occidental faculty who signed a statement of concern standing in solidarity with Palestinians. Biology professor and Faculty Council President John McCormack wrote and introduced the resolution […]
The post Faculty Council passes resolution safeguarding academic freedom and faculty autonomy appeared first on The Occidental.
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Women’s basketball wins SCIAC’s, advances to the NCAA tournament
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Occidental women’s basketball took home the SCIAC Championship with a 66-58 victory against California Lutheran University Feb. 24. This win secured the team an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011. The Tigers will go on to play in the first round of the NCAA DIII women’s basketball bracket against […]
The post Women’s basketball wins SCIAC’s, advances to the NCAA tournament appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/sports/2024/02/28/womens-basketball-wins-sciacs-advances-to-the-ncaa-tournament/2911500 Save to Pocket
LA Times columnist and ‘Quintessential Angeleno’ Patt Morrison ’74 returns to Occidental
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
March 1 The Occidental and Los Angeles Times will host journalist and Occidental alum Patt Morrison ‘74 in conversation with co-worker and LAist.com (formerly KPCC) radio star Larry Mantle. The event is part of the LA Times’ new community outreach program and aims to connect a new generation of students with the stories of two […]
The post LA Times columnist and ‘Quintessential Angeleno’ Patt Morrison ’74 returns to Occidental appeared first on The Occidental.
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BEAST AI needs just a minute of GPU time to make an LLM fly off the rails
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Talk about gone in 60 seconds
Computer scientists have developed an efficient way to craft prompts that elicit harmful responses from large language models (LLMs).…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/beast_llm_adversarial_prompt_injection_attack/ Save to Pocket
Feb. 29: Take the Leap with the Final “Carousel Wishes & Valentine Kisses” Fundraiser of 2024
date: 2024-02-28, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Jersey Mike’s will host an all day fundraiser to benefit Carousel Ranch’s “Carousel Wishes & Valentine Kisses” campaign on Thursday, Feb.
https://scvnews.com/feb-29-take-the-leap-with-the-final-carousel-wishes-valentine-kisses-fundraiser-of-2024/ Save to Pocket
Ford’s next-gen EVs could feature 800V fast charging
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Ford has big plans for its next-gen EVs. This may include an 800V fast charging architecture as it looks to keep pace with rivals like Hyundai, Porsche, and Kia.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/fords-next-gen-evs-800v-fast-charging/ Save to Pocket
Hands-on with the ChatGPT-enabled VW ID.4, with big 2024 model year changes
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
We got the chance to drive the new 2024 ID.4 and found an impressive amount of changes from last model year – at least on the 82kWh version.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/hands-on-with-the-chatgpt-enabled-id-4-with-big-2024-model-year-changes/ Save to Pocket
Chinese EV Minivan Adds 310 Miles Of Range In 10 Minutes Of Charging
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
It’s easy to see why Chinese electric cars are scaring the hell out of U.S. automakers like Tesla.
https://insideevs.com/news/710508/li-auto-mega-fast-charging/ Save to Pocket
The Marshall Star for February 28, 2024
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
NASA Tech Contributes to Soft Moon Landing For the first time in more than 50 years, new NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations are operating on the Moon following the first successful delivery of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, called Odysseus, completed a seven-day journey to lunar orbit […]
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/the-marshall-star-for-february-28-2024/ Save to Pocket
Tesla Cybertruck sold for $244,000 – here’s who bought it
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
A Tesla Cybertruck sold at auction for $244,000 – more than twice the retail value of the electric pickup truck.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/tesla-cybertruck-sold-for-premium-who-bought-it/ Save to Pocket
CSUN kicks off spring semester with “Welcome Black”
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)
The Northridge Center on CSUN’s campus was swarmed by a vast array of Black scholars, clubs, and alumni to connect the Black community here on campus, following a shaky faculty…
https://sundial.csun.edu/178745/arts-entertainment/csun-kicks-off-spring-semester-with-welcome-black/ Save to Pocket
Electricity Demand Is Surging for the First Time Since the 1990s
date: 2024-02-28, from: Heatmap News
Think of all the stuff you use electricity for that you didn’t 20 or 25 years ago — all those devices, maybe even your car — and yet electricity use has barely budged this century. In 2000, the country used about 4 million gigawatt-hours of electricity, according to the International Energy Agency; in 2022, it used about 4.5 million GWh, a growth rate of about 0.5%.
In some ways, the purpose of current U.S. climate policy is to reverse this trend. Only about a fifth of all energy produced in the United States is electrical. Removing carbon emissions from transportation, heating and industry will require first converting all of those industries from running on combusted hydrocarbons to running on electricity — while at the same time, of course, working to make electricity generation carbon-free.
All that is to say, we’re definitely going to be using more electricity. Today, if you ask any utility, electricity market organization, or anyone working on energy generation and transmission, they’ll tell you we’re in for an era of load growth.
“For a long period of time, we could balance out additional demand with efficiency improvements,” Xan Fishman, energy policy director at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told me. “Recent forecast are showing we’re going to need a lot more electricity.”
When GridStrategies LLC looked at documents grid planners filed with federal regulators, it found that their aggregate five-year load growth forecasts had gone up from 2.6% in 2022 to 4.7% last year, while their forecast for peak demand, i.e. the maximum amount grids plan on having to be able to provide, had shot up by 18 GW. That’s the equivalent of about 35 gas-fired power plants running on full blast.
In New England, for example, ISO-NE is forecasting 2.4% annual growth over the next 10 years, while its winter peak demand will grow by 3% per year thanks largely to electrifying transportation and heating; that, in turn, is largely thanks to aggressive decarbonization mandates in the region’s constituent states.
Not all of the demand growth we’re currently seeing comes from
electrifying our existing energy consumption. New sources of demand are
popping up all over the grid — which, especially where they’re generated
by new industrial uses, shows how the Biden administration’s combined
climate and industrial policy raises the bar for itself. As a result of
domestic content requirements for tax subsidies and explicit subsidies
for certain kinds of non-energy manufacturing (namely semiconductors),
manufacturing construction has shot up in the past few years. And these
new plants require huge amounts of electricity.
When PJM Interconnection, the 13-state East Coast and Midwest electricity market, was making its load forecast, it specifically called out Intel’s CHIPS Act-funded facility under construction outside Columbus, Ohio; the electrification of New Jersey ports funded by the Inflation Reduction Act; and planned data centers in Maryland and Virginia as notable examples of increased load generation. For AEP, the utility serving Columbus, the forecast peak summer load in 2030 has gone from about 23.5 GW to 26 GW, compared to around 21 GW in 2023. Dominion, the utility serving Virginia and the booming Loudon County datacenter complex, forecast annual load growth of around 5% over the next decade.
To get a sense of how tremendous that is, when the energy system researchers with Princeton University’s REPEAT project wanted to project how much electricity consumption would have to increase annually to reach net zero by 2050, it turned out to be “only” 2.4%. Virginia is planning load growth at twice that rate just to feed electrons to its data centers.
“When you’re talking about a data center or a three-shift, seven-day-a-week manufacturing process, that’s far less manageable” than, say, electric cars, David Porter, vice president of electrification and sustainable energy strategy at the Electric Power Research Institute, told me. EVs can be powered at specific times based on demand for electricity across the grid, or by a distributed energy resource like residential solar and batteries. To power energy-hungry manufacturing processes, though, requires the kind of consistency that only fossil fuels and nuclear (or naturally limited renewables like hydropower) have historically been able to provide.
There’s no better example of the tension between electrification and emission reductions than in Georgia, where the state’s main utility Georgia Power has said that its estimates for load growth between 2023 and 2031 had jumped up from less than 400 megawatts to 6,600, a 17-times increase. The utility attributed this forecasting hike to “rapid economic expansion and an unprecedented increase in the demand for energy to the state,” including electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facilities, which the Biden administration has done so much to boost demand for and encourage their construction in the United States.
The utility also said that to serve this load growth, it would have to add new renewable resources, acquire power from other utilities and generators, and build new gas power plants, which immediately raised the ire and suspicion of green groups. The Sierra Club described the request as “shocking.”
But proponents of climate action shouldn’t necessarily despair at this new load, Fishman told me. “It’s really easy to decarbonize if you stop building stuff,” he said. “But [Americans] would likely keep buying stuff, and that stuff would be built elsewhere, quite likely with greater emissions intensity.”
In other words, “a resurgence of American manufacturing might lead to more U.S. emissions than in a scenario where we aren’t increasing our manufacturing base,” Fishman told me, but it’s “highly likely to reduce global emissions.” That’s because even now, U.S. electricity is cleaner than electricity in, for example, China, which is still heavily reliant on coal. (According to the IEA, 63% of China’s electricity comes from coal burning, compared to 20% in the United States.)
Data centers, meanwhile, are expected to account for 6% of total electricity demand in the U.S. by 2026, according to the IEA, up from about 4% in 2022. And the AI ones will eat up even more: A ChatGPT query is about nine times as energy intensive as a Google search, according to the IEA. If generative artificial intelligence grows at anywhere near the rate that its proponents expect, it will lead to hefty increases in electricity demand, both from manufacturing the chips needed to power the systems and the electricity to power them. One example is Silicon Valley Power, a utility serving, well, Silicon Valley, which forecast load to double by 2035, “primarily” due to data centers’ demand for electricity.
But there may be some reason for skepticism about these load growth projections from data centers, Jon Koomey, a veteran information technology and energy researcher, told me. The particularly energy intensive large language models may not win out as a business, which would slow the growth in data center electricity demand, he said. And even if data centers continue to grow, they could also get far more efficient in how they use electricity — and might just end up using less than what they ask for from utilities.
“You don’t want to get caught short,” Koomey said, explaining why requests for power will be biased on the high end. “There’s an incentive for everyone to request more.”
But still, it’s no surprise that the companies at the heart of the data center boom — Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI — have shown an interest in finding ways to match that constant electricity demand with non-carbon-emitting power. Their facilities need to be powered 24/7, which existing renewable sources largely struggle to provide. (It’s neither windy nor sunny 100% of the time.) This has led to a flurry of investment and dealmaking by these companies to develop and procure “clean firm” resources. Google has a deal with Fervo, the enhanced geothermal startup, to purchase power generated by its operation in Nevada, while Microsoft signed an agreement with Constellation to purchase nuclear-generated electricity for its Virginia data centers to complement its existing renewable power. Silicon Valley Power also said in its planning documents that it’s looking to acquire more geothermal resources. And OpenAI’s Sam Altman has invested in a fusion company.
“If we want to grow our manufacturing base we need the energy to make that work, we need to get that energy to those new manufacturing plants,” Fishman said. “It would be bad if we had a bunch of companies who said, ‘We want to build a factory,’ and can’t because they don’t get enough electricity.”
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Red Bull’s Insane Electric FPV Drone Is So Much Faster Than A Model S Plaid
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
The drone has a power-to-weight ratio of over 5,000 hp per ton.
https://insideevs.com/news/710511/redbull-f1-drone-vs-tesla-model-s-plaid/ Save to Pocket
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-02-28, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Been struggling with a nasty bug the whole day, and I have nobody else to blame buy my sloppy previous self.
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112011441574040492 Save to Pocket
CFA members vote to approve tentative agreement
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)
Members of the California Faculty Association voted to approve the tentative agreement between the CFA and the California State University administration. According to a press release by the CFA, over…
https://sundial.csun.edu/178741/news/cfa-members-vote-to-approve-tentative-agreement/ Save to Pocket
Recall: 2023 Triumph Trident & Tiger Sport 660 Fork Caps Could Detach
date: 2024-02-28, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Improperly machined threads are to blame.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/710516/triumph-trident-tiger-660-recall/ Save to Pocket
MAF Announcement – NEPA Public Notice
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
NEPA Public Notice 2023-11-06 Draft Environmental Assessment – Lease for 50 Acre Business Park. Click here to view PDF
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/michoud/maf-announcements/maf-announcement-nepa-public-notice/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Richard Lewis, Acerbic Comedian and Character Actor, Dies at 76.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/arts/television/richard-lewis-dead.html Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
How Humans Lost Their Tails.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-humans-lost-their-tails/ Save to Pocket
Making Friends With AttributeGraph
date: 2024-02-28, from: Michael Tsai
Saagar Jha: If you’ve used SwiftUI for long enough, you’ve probably noticed that the public Swift APIs it provides are really only half the story. Normally inconspicuous unless something goes exceedingly wrong, the private framework called AttributeGraph tracks almost every single aspect of your app from behind the scenes to make decisions on when things […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/02/28/making-friends-with-attributegraph/ Save to Pocket
Apple Cancels Car Project
date: 2024-02-28, from: Michael Tsai
Juli Clover (Mark Gurman, Hacker News, Slashdot): Apple has canceled all plans to release an autonomous, electric vehicle, reports Bloomberg. Apple has been working on an Apple Car for more than a decade and invested millions of dollars into development before deciding it was not a viable project.Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams today told […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/02/28/apple-cancels-car-project/ Save to Pocket
FastScripts 3.3
date: 2024-02-28, from: Michael Tsai
Red Sweater: This update includes a major new premium scripting addition, facilitating mouse automation by providing a variety of new scripting commands, including a powerhouse for synthesizing clicks and drags[…][…]When automating mouse events, the clicks, drags, and releases can happen so fast that it confuses or overwhelms some interface components. For this reason, FastScripts imposes […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/02/28/fastscripts-3-3/ Save to Pocket
Star Wars Fans Can Soon Bid on C-3PO’s Head
date: 2024-02-28, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Actor Anthony Daniels wore the golden helmet while playing the iconic droid in ‘Return of the Jedi’
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/star-wars-fans-can-bid-on-an-c-3pos-head-180983860/ Save to Pocket
KDE Plasma 6 released
date: 2024-02-28, from: OS News
KDE Plasma 6 has been released – and this is an important release with two massive low-level stack upgrades. With Plasma 6, our technology stack has undergone two major upgrades: a transition to the latest version of our application framework, Qt, and a migration to the modern Linux graphics platform, Wayland. We have done our best to ensure that these changes are as smooth and unnoticeable to the users as possible, so when you install this update, you will see the same familiar desktop environment that you know and love. But these under-the-hood upgrades benefit Plasma’s security, efficiency, and performance, and improve support for modern hardware. Thus Plasma delivers an overall more reliable user experience, while paving the way for many more improvements in the future. Aside from this, there’s so much in this release it’s hard to know where to begin. My favourite is the overhaul of KDE’s default Breeze theme, which now uses far, far fewer frames, meaning there’s fewer borders-on-borders. Spacing has also been made more consistent within Breeze. Both of these efforts make KDE applications and UI elements look a bit less cluttered and busy, which, while easily missed if you don’t look for it, certainly cleans things up nicely. Another important improvements is the addition of support for HDR displays and colour management. Plasma on Wayland now has partial support for High Dynamic Range (HDR). On supported monitors and software, this will provide you with richer and deeper colors for your games, videos, and visual creations. Set an ICC profile for each screen individually and Plasma will adjust the colors accordingly. Applications are still limited to the sRGB color space, but we are working on increasing the number of supported color spaces soon. To improve Plasma’s accessibility, we added support for color blindness correction filters. This helps with protanopia, deuteranopia or tritanopia. Of course, this release is accompanied by updates to a large number of KDE applications, and several default settings in KDE have been changed as well to better suit what most users would expect. Plasma Search has been overhauled as well, making it faster and less resource-intensive, and giving users the ability to better control how search results are displayed. There’s a lot more here, so be sure to dive into the release announcement, KDE Plasma 6 will find its way to your distribution or operating system of choice over the coming weeks and months.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138663/kde-plasma-6-released/ Save to Pocket
2024-02-28 Use of a calendar
date: 2024-02-28, from: Alex Schroeder’s Blog
2024-02-28 Use of a calendar
In the last millennium, I used the
Emacs
Diary for my calendar. I mean, why not? The
Emacs
Calendar is great. Better than the cal command-line
utility, in any case. But eventually the world got mobile phones and I
wanted an online calendar.
The example from the Emacs Diary documentation:
12/22/2015 Twentieth wedding anniversary!
10/22 Ruth's birthday.
* 21, *: Payday
Tuesday--weekly meeting with grad students at 10am
Supowit, Shen, Bitner, and Kapoor to attend.
1/13/89 Friday the thirteenth!!
thu 4pm squash game with Lloyd.
mar 16 Dad's birthday
April 15, 2016 Income tax due.
* 15 time cards due.
Back then, Google didn’t want to be evil and I used Google Calendar. When Google changed its mind, so did I. I switched to Radicale.
And yet, I sort of missed those diary file entries.
Today, @tadzik posted a link to caleb.
calebwill do its best to interpret a calendar event description, create a valid iCalendar event for it and optionally upload it to a CalDAV server.
Nice!
Example usage, from the README:
$ caleb friday 5pm beer
My main problem was that it took me a while to figure out what the
correct CalDAV URL
is. I looked into my iPhone accounts (my first mistake) and tried
https://example.org/radicale/alex, then
https://example.org/radicale/alex/, then
https://example.org/radicale/alex/Alex – some of these URLs
failed silently, some of them created new collections with the
iCalendar filename
as the collection name… and I didn’t get an warnings or error messages.
I mean, it makes sense. It’s like a filesystem, you can save whatever
you want. But it’s not what the calendar apps expect.
So, how do I discover the correct URL? Using a command-line
WebDAV explorer like
cadaver. The following example shows how I log into
Radicale and list the contents of the two directory I found. One of them
is full of .vcf files (contacts), the other is full of
.ics files (calendar entries). That’s the one!
~/src/caleb $ cadaver https://example.org/radicale/alex/
Authentication required for Radicale - Password Required on server `example.org':
Username: alex
Password: *secret*
dav:/radicale/alex/> ls
Listing collection `/radicale/alex/': succeeded.
Coll: 6304bd43-5d45-208b-0e44-893e509cf3da 1239216 Feb 7 08:13
Coll: cae8e041-61d9-b51a-57db-294b07e8dc1e 520978 Feb 28 11:43
dav:/radicale/alex/> ls 6304bd43-5d45-208b-0e44-893e509cf3da
Listing collection `/radicale/alex/6304bd43-5d45-208b-0e44-893e509cf3da/': succeeded.
0008345A-1EFB-4FC2-9545-BB1D7B2EE6E0.vcf 295 Jun 19 2020
000ED281-A0C8-46F2-B3EB-1D13E4224281.vcf 241 Feb 25 2023
007A5E7D-8947-4FC1-95B5-BBADEA9E27DC.vcf 267 Jul 14 2023
...
dav:/radicale/alex/> ls cae8e041-61d9-b51a-57db-294b07e8dc1e
Listing collection `/radicale/alex/cae8e041-61d9-b51a-57db-294b07e8dc1e/': succeeded.
00A3A923-47C0-4BE4-B2BF-E365965C3975.ics 1043 May 29 2022
011F4EF6-B431-4531-BB3D-D1E45BD665AB.ics 1266 Sep 10 00:19
02909CE2-D363-436B-858D-3A243A10693E.ics 962 Jun 9 2023
...
Now I’m finally ready to go back to caleb and create the
config file, ~/.config/caleb.conf:
[caldav]
url = "https://example.org/radicale/alex/cae8e041-61d9-b51a-57db-294b07e8dc1e"
username = "alex"
password = "*secret*"
Enjoy!
#Administration #Caleb #CalDAV #WebDAV
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2024-02-28-calendar Save to Pocket
A Look into CNC Machining Carbon Fiber Billet at Elevated Materials
date: 2024-02-28, from: Elevated Materials, upcycled carbon fiber
Understanding Amorphous Carbon Fiber Billets Amorphous carbon fiber billets are at the forefront of material technology, offering a blend of strength, lightweight, and durability that traditional materials can scarcely match. Unlike laminate counterparts, amorphous carbon fibers do not have a regular layered structure, which contributes to their more uniform mechanical properties. This makes them ideal…
The post A Look into CNC Machining Carbon Fiber Billet at Elevated Materials appeared first on Elevated Materials.
https://www.elevatedmaterials.com/a-look-into-cnc-machining-carbon-fiber-billet-at-elevated-materials/ Save to Pocket
Energizer Ultimate U660S is a €499 flip phone with a foldable OLED display
date: 2024-02-28, from: Liliputing
Avenir Telecom’s Energizer HardCase P28K smartphone garnered a lot of attention at Mobile World Congress this week due to its standout feature: a massive 28,000 mAh battery. But the power-bank-with-a-smartphone isn’t the only new device the company is showing off at MWC. The Energizer Ultimate U660S is a phone that stands out for another reason: it’s […]
The post Energizer Ultimate U660S is a €499 flip phone with a foldable OLED display appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/energizer-ultimate-u660s-is-a-e499-flip-phone-with-a-foldable-oled-display/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Substack’s platform now has direct messages.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/28/24085931/substack-direct-message-creators-x-meta Save to Pocket
Super interesting short interview with Johnnie Burn, the sound designer for The…
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044081-super-interesting-short-i Save to Pocket
MIT just released directions for commercializing perovskite solar cells
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
An MIT-led team revealed a “guidebook” for how to tune surface properties of perovskites, a silicon alternative – here’s why that’s huge for solar.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/mit-just-released-directions-for-commercializing-perovskite-solar-cells/ Save to Pocket
New Wear OS devices run two operating systems
date: 2024-02-28, from: OS News
Wear OS smartwatches have a dual-chipset architecture inclusive of a powerful application processor (AP) and ultra low-power co-processor microcontroller unit (MCU). The architecture has a powerful AP capable of handling complex operations en-masse, and is seamlessly coupled with a low power MCU. The Wear OS hybrid interface enables intelligent switching between the MCU or the AP, allowing the AP to be suspended when not needed to preserve battery life. It helps, for instance, achieve more power-efficient experiences, like sensor data processing on the MCU while the AP is asleep. At the same time, the hybrid interface provides a seamless transition between these states, keeping a rich and premium user experience without jarring transitions between power modes. ↫ Kseniia Shumelchyk on the Android Developers Blog The new OnePlus Watch 2 is the first to use this new architecture, and the most interesting part is that it runs not one, but two operating systems: Wear OS, which is Android, running on the “AP”, and a smaller RTOS that runs on the “MCU”. In the case of the OnePlus Watch 2, the “AP” is a Snapdragon W5, while the “MCU” is a BES 2700, an ultra low power microcontroller. I can’t seem to find any information on this “RTOS”, but I’d really love to know what it’s based on.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138661/new-wear-os-devices-run-two-operating-systems/ Save to Pocket
February 27, 2024
date: 2024-02-28, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-27-2024-f2f Save to Pocket
NASA Invites Media, Public to Solar Eclipse Events in April
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, giving people in 15 states the opportunity to see the Moon completely block the Sun, revealing our star’s relatively faint corona. “This year’s total solar eclipse will be at least partially visible to all in the contiguous United States, making it the most […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-invites-media-public-to-solar-eclipse-events-in-april/ Save to Pocket
Tesla loses lead interior designer
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla has lost its lead interior designer behind the interior design of some of its most popular vehicles, like Model 3 and Model Y.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/tesla-loses-lead-interior-designer/ Save to Pocket
The World’s Smallest Vertebrate Is a Tiny Brazilian Frog, Study Finds
date: 2024-02-28, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Adult male Brazilian flea toads are just over 7 millimeters long on average, and females measure about 8.15 millimeters
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-smallest-vertebrate-is-a-tiny-brazilian-frog-study-finds-180983867/ Save to Pocket
Tumblr and WordPress owner is striking deals with OpenAI and Midjourney for training data, says report
date: 2024-02-28, from: OS News
Speaking of collecting data, here’s another major content player signing a deal to sell your content to “AI” companies. The owner of Tumblr and WordPress.com is in talks with AI companies Midjourney and OpenAI to provide training data scraped from users’ posts, a report from 404 Media alleges. The report, based on an anonymous source inside the company, says that deals between Automattic and the two AI companies are “imminent.” It follows nebulous rumors that have spread on Tumblr over the past week, suggesting a deal with Midjourney could provide a new revenue stream for the site. ↫ Adi Robertson at The Verge We use WordPress for OSNews, but it seems this only applies to content hosted at WordPress.com, not on WordPress installations hosted elsewhere. If you host a site at WordPress.com, you might want to go to your admin panel and opting-out of this nonsense real fast.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138659/tumblr-and-wordpress-owner-is-striking-deals-with-openai-and-midjourney-for-training-data-says-report/ Save to Pocket
Chinese chip slinger found not guilty of stealing memory secrets from Micron
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Fujian Jinhua escapes prosecution tho remains on the US sanctions list
A Chinese chipmaker accused of stealing DRAM secrets from American memory manufacturer Micron has been found not guilty, bringing a five-year long legal saga to an end.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/fujian_jinhua_micron_verdict/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Because (sarcastically) it's every American's Constitutional right to blow away as many of their fellow Americans as possible in as short a time as possible.
https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/02/supreme-court-split-over-bump-stock-ban/ Save to Pocket
Trivia and game show at Umoja
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
The atmosphere in the Multicultural Center during Umoja’s Ultimate Game Show was filled with laughter and comradery as two teams went head-to-head to test their
The post Trivia and game show at Umoja appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/trivia-and-game-show-at-umoja/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trivia-and-game-show-at-umoja Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Have a look at the webcams at the local Belleayre ski area where it's raining and in the 50s. Sad sight. It will get cold again and they will make snow. It's not quite over yet.
https://www.belleayre.com/mountain/web-cams/ Save to Pocket
Minnesota sushi is made by rolling deli ham, cream cheese, and a…
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044078-minnesota-sushi-is-made-b Save to Pocket
Meta will start collecting “anonymized” data about Quest headset usage
date: 2024-02-28, from: OS News
Meta will soon begin “collecting anonymized data” from users of its Quest headsets, a move that could see the company aggregating information about hand, body, and eye tracking; camera information; “information about your physical environment”; and information about “the virtual reality events you attend.” In an email sent to Quest users Monday, Meta notes that it currently collects “the data required for your Meta Quest to work properly.” Starting with the next software update, though, the company will begin collecting and aggregating “anonymized data about… device usage” from Quest users. That anonymized data will be used “for things like building better experiences and improving Meta Quest products for everyone,” the company writes. ↫ Kyle Orland at Ars Technica Is it just me, or is the idea of Facebook collecting this type of data in particular just exceptionally creepy? I mean, browsing history or whatever is one thing – already bad enough – but hand, body, and eye movements, and camera information? Of course, this was the only expected course for Quest owners, but now that the time is here, it still feels just as creepy as when we first imagined it when Facebook bought Oculus.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138650/meta-will-start-collecting-anonymized-data-about-quest-headset-usage/ Save to Pocket
Transferring on a high note
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
When Paulette Santa Maria started college, she didn’t think she’d be able to turn her talent for singing into a career. Four semesters later, she
The post Transferring on a high note appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/transferring-on-a-high-note/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=transferring-on-a-high-note Save to Pocket
Lucid releases helpful Tesla Dog Mode-like feature for pet owners
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Lucid released a helpful new feature for pet owners called Creature Comfort Mode. The feature is similar to Tesla’s Dog Mode and is now available for free on every Lucid Air through a software update.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/lucid-releases-tesla-dog-mode-feature-pet/ Save to Pocket
Pierces College Council talks enrollment recovery and risk of budget deficit
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
From enrollment rates and retention to parking concerns, as well as the possibility that the school might go into a budget deficit, the Pierce College
The post Pierces College Council talks enrollment recovery and risk of budget deficit appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/pierces-college-council-talks-enrollment-recovery-and-risk-of-budget-deficit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pierces-college-council-talks-enrollment-recovery-and-risk-of-budget-deficit Save to Pocket
The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger May Be The Best Electric Truck For Towing, Hauling
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
Here’s why the extended-range setup may be a better solution than purely electric trucks if you’ve got to tow and haul right now.
https://insideevs.com/news/709769/2025-ram-ramcharger-towing-hauling/ Save to Pocket
Splashdown 101: Joint Team to Recover Crew, Orion After Moon Missions
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
When Artemis II NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen return to Earth after a nearly 10-day mission around the Moon, a joint NASA and Department of Defense team led by NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program will be ready to retrieve them from the Orion spacecraft […]
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-2/splashdown-101-joint-team-to-recover-crew-orion-after-moon-missions/ Save to Pocket
Why It’s Really, Really Important for Biden to Finalize His Emissions Standards
date: 2024-02-28, from: Heatmap News
The Biden administration has a busy spring ahead of it. On the to-do list: finalizing key regulations covering tailpipe and power sector emissions before they become vulnerable to a new Congress that might have, let’s say, different priorities.
A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows (among other things) just how key those regulations are. The paper considers various future policy scenarios beginning in 2025, including one in which the Inflation Reduction Act is fully repealed and another in which the IRA stays and we get a carbon tax.
Here’s what those results look like in a chart:
The heavy black line in the middle represents the Biden administration’s current goal to reduce emissions 50% compared to 2005 levels by 2030. Although none of the scenarios quite achieves that goal, IRA-plus-carbon fee gets the closest. Notice, though, the gap in the timeline between the current policy scenario and one without those two sets of emissions rules. With them, the U.S. gets almost to a 50% cut by 2035. Without them, it takes another five years at least.
(6/7) As @neilmehrotra posted, one key policy choice, since the US is now a large fossil fuel exporter, is how to treat exports at the border. If the carbon fee is not rebated, that would increase revenues to perhaps double their projected level.https://t.co/WkabcFUKx5
— Kimberly Clausing (@KClausing) February 27, 2024
Not only that, each ton of carbon will be much more expensive to remove. With the proposed emissions standards, eliminating one metric ton of U.S. carbon emissions would cost $43 in 2023 dollars. Without them, it would cost $69.
Why do these scenarios start in 2025? Not only will the U.S. be welcoming a new Congress (and, potentially, a new President) next year, it’s also when large chunks of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire. As one of the paper’s authors, University of California, Los Angeles law professor Kimberly Clausing, wrote in the Washington Post last year alongside Yale University law professor Natasha Sarin, “Since Republicans and Democrats both want to extend at least some of the expiring provisions, the tax code is likely to be reopened. That’s a forcing mechanism” — though, they add, “it also presents a serious risk.” While it might give policymakers leverage to push through desired reforms — like, say, a carbon tax — it could also “make things worse — for example, by simply extending these unaffordable tax cuts.”
A carbon price has long been economists’ favored solution to the problem of carbon emissions. But in the U.S. at least, it has also historically been a losing argument. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is expected to soften its final tailpipe emission rules, giving automakers more time to go electric in the face of (perceived, if not actual) slumping consumer demand.
As these two charts make clear, that, too, is a risk — a gamble that Biden will be able to win the support of the auto industry, hang onto the White House, and keep the U.S. on track to meet his climate goals. Regulating emissions from cars and power, it turns out, is a major part of that. Without those standards — and especially without the IRA — the emissions picture gets grim.
https://heatmap.news/sparks/biden-tailpipe-power-plant-emissions Save to Pocket
VinFast’s (VFS) global EV dealer network grows following new agreement in Middle East
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Following recent Q4 2023 results that relayed a miss on annual delivery targets, Vietnamese EV automaker VinFast continues to bolster its global presence with the help of distribution specialists. Today, VinFast and a local dealer network in the Middle East signed an agreement to bring the former’s EVs to the region.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/vinfast-vfs-ev-dealer-network-grows-new-partnership-middle-east/ Save to Pocket
Voltera kicks off $150M expansion of electric fleet infrastructure
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Voltera Power announced a significant, $150 million expansion of its commercial electric vehicle charging infrastructure, with plans to double its number of managed charging depots in 2024.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/voltera-kicks-off-150m-expansion-of-electric-fleet-infrastructure/ Save to Pocket
Parking at Pierce creates more problems than just headaches
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
With the semester starting and enrollment returning to pre-pandemic numbers, parking has become a time-consuming and anxiety-inducing task for students that also compromises their safety.
The post Parking at Pierce creates more problems than just headaches appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/parking-at-pierce-creates-more-problems-than-just-headaches/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=parking-at-pierce-creates-more-problems-than-just-headaches Save to Pocket
NASA Kennedy Seeks Nominations for 2024 Chroniclers Recognition
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is asking members of the news media to nominate former colleagues they deem worthy of honoring as a space program Chronicler.The NASA Kennedy’s Chroniclers program recognizes broadcasters, journalists, authors, contractor public relations representatives, and agency public affairs officers who excelled at sharing news from the Florida spaceport about U.S. […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-kennedy-seeks-nominations-for-2024-chroniclers-recognition/ Save to Pocket
Is The New York Times’ newsroom just a bunch of Ivy Leaguers? (Kinda, sorta.)
date: 2024-02-28, from: Nieman Journalism Lab
The New York Times is the most prominent news organization in the United States — and, by general consensus, the pinnacle of the journalism career ladder. Sure, star reporters sometimes leave the Times for a rival — but more often, it’s the Times that’s busy snapping up other outlets’ talent. Fifteen years ago, it employed…
https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/is-the-new-york-times-newsroom-just-a-bunch-of-ivy-leaguers-kinda-sorta/ Save to Pocket
Studies have shown that people who ride e-bikes get more exercise than…
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044076-studies-have-shown-that-p Save to Pocket
KDE Plasma 6 brings big updates to the desktop environment for Linux-based operating systems
date: 2024-02-28, from: Liliputing
The KDE team has released KDE Plasma 6, the biggest update to the free and open source desktop environment since Plasma 5 launched nearly ten years ago. While the team hasn’t been sitting still for ten years, and has issued a number of point releases with updates and new features, Plasma 6 brings some big […]
The post KDE Plasma 6 brings big updates to the desktop environment for Linux-based operating systems appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/kde-plasma-6-brings-big-updates-to-the-desktop-environment-for-linux-based-operating-systems/ Save to Pocket
A festival of dramatic proportions
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
With the final round of competition approaching the next morning, nerve-wracked acting major Dale Van Slyke realized his previously perfected monologue for the Kennedy Center
The post A festival of dramatic proportions appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/a-festival-of-dramatic-proportions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-festival-of-dramatic-proportions Save to Pocket
Tesla is reportedly in talks with Italy for a factory
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla is reportedly in talks with Italy to build a factory in the country, according to the Minister for Business and Made in Italy.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/tesla-reportedly-talks-italy-factory/ Save to Pocket
Women’s basketball leads with 15th win
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
The women’s basketball team played their 15th win of the season, with Brahma Tijera Henry scoring the final points. During the first few minutes of
The post Women’s basketball leads with 15th win appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/womens-basketball-leads-with-15th-win/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=womens-basketball-leads-with-15th-win Save to Pocket
Textpattern Turns 20
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Daring Fireball
https://textpattern.com/weblog/textpattern-turns-twenty Save to Pocket
Lina Khan Has Been a Terrible FTC Chair
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.threads.net/@eric_seufert/post/C30bMM_pTsG/ Save to Pocket
New solvent might end winter charging blues for EV owners
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Subzero temperatures and batteries don’t mix – but there may be a solution
Researchers have discovered that using “small molecule” solvents could help improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries, speeding up charging and ensuring they work at low temperatures.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/new_solvent_battery_cold/ Save to Pocket
Boston is going is going big on installing curbside EV chargers
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Boston is EV-friendly, but it needs more accessible chargers, so it’s going to install hundreds of public curbside EV chargers.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/boston-is-going-is-going-big-on-installing-curbside-ev-chargers/ Save to Pocket
Dr. Becky on the Huberman Lab Podcast
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/dr-becky-on-the-huberman-lab-podcast Save to Pocket
Where I’m at on the whole CSS-Tricks thing
date: 2024-02-28, from: Chris Coyier blog
It was March 2022 when I sold CSS-Tricks to DigitalOcean. So it’s been just about 2 years now. This was me and my wife’s thinking: After the sale, things seemed kinda fine for a bit, and that was encouraging. It was cool seeing new voices publishing new work I had nothing to do with. Then […]
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/02/28/where-im-at-on-the-whole-css-tricks-thing/ Save to Pocket
Save $351 on Heybike Brawn e-bike now $1,449, Greenworks 60V electric lawn tools 25% off, more
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Headlining today’s green deals is the Heybike Brawn Fat-Tire e-bike for $1,449. It is joined by a Greenworks sale taking up to 25% off 60V electric lawn and garden equipment, as well as the Broil King Crown 500 Pellet Grill at $717. Plus, all of the other best new Green Deals landing this week.
Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/heybike-brawn-e-bike-greenworks-60v-equipment-and-more/ Save to Pocket
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Completes Scientific Mission on Space Station
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
After months aboard the International Space Station, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 is returning to Earth. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov each completed their first spaceflight. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen each completed their second spaceflight. During their time on the station, […]
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/nasas-spacex-crew-7-completes-scientific-mission-on-space-station/ Save to Pocket
Honda’s quirky electric UNI-ONE is coming to US malls and retail spaces
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Imagine ripping through the mall, racing your friends in an electric wheelchair wearing a VR headset in a new racing experience. Honda looks to make this a reality with its new electric UNI-ONE, a first-of-its-kind extended reality (XR) experience.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/honda-quirky-electric-uni-one-us/ Save to Pocket
Archaeologists Discover Burnt Porridge Inside a 5,000-Year-Old Clay Pot
date: 2024-02-28, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The leftovers shed new light on the dietary habits of residents of a village in Germany
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-pot-found-in-germany-has-5000-year-old-leftovers-inside-180983840/ Save to Pocket
2nd-gen nubia Pad 3D brings 5G, AI features and a processor upgrade to this glasses-free 3D tablet
date: 2024-02-28, from: Liliputing
Last year glasses-free 3D company Leia teamed up with ZTE to launch a 12.4 inch Android tablet that offers 3D visuals without the need for special glasses. Sold as either the Leia Lume Pad 2 or ZTE nubia Pad 3D, the tablet was powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. Now the companies are back, […]
The post 2nd-gen nubia Pad 3D brings 5G, AI features and a processor upgrade to this glasses-free 3D tablet appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/2nd-gen-nubia-pad-3d-brings-5g-ai-features-and-a-processor-upgrade-to-this-glasses-free-3d-tablet/ Save to Pocket
Chip fab supplier Applied Materials gets subpoenaed over China sales
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Comes after US probe into biz’s dealings with SMIC
Updated Applied Materials was served with multiple subpoenas relating to Chinese shipments, the chip factory equipment maker disclosed today.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/chip_fab_supplier_applied_materials/ Save to Pocket
NASA, SpaceX Test Starship Lunar Lander Docking System
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign that will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, crew will need to move between different spacecraft to carry out lunar landings. NASA and SpaceX recently performed qualification testing for the docking system that will help make that possible. For the Artemis III mission, astronauts will […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-spacex-test-starship-lunar-lander-docking-system/ Save to Pocket
Watch This Year’s ‘Dance Your PhD’ Contest Winner, a Musical Celebration of Kangaroo Behavior
date: 2024-02-28, from: Smithsonian Magazine
“Kangaroo Time” took home the competition’s overall prize, while interpretive dances on early life adversity, circadian rhythms and streambank erosion were also honored
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/watch-this-years-dance-your-phd-contest-winner-a-musical-celebration-of-kangaroo-behavior-180983865/ Save to Pocket
The soothing ASMR experience of a multi-layered grilled cheese sandwich made with…
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044075-the-soothing-asmr-experie Save to Pocket
A Podcast CEO Says Accountability Has “Slipped Through the Cracks.”
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Squeeze
Plus: Why Is Malcolm Gladwell Being Honored at On Air Fest?
https://thisisthesqueeze.substack.com/p/a-podcast-ceo-says-accountability Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Europe snow: At a mountain resort with no snowfall, skiing faces a total wipe-out.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/28/climate/italy-no-snow-skiing-climate-intl/index.html Save to Pocket
Consumer Reports Says That Plug-In Hybrids Might Be Good, Actually
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
The product review publication has reconfigured how it tests PHEV models, and now says they can rank among the most economical driving choices.
https://insideevs.com/news/710481/consumer-reports-phev-april-2024/ Save to Pocket
Aston Martin delays the launch of its first BEV
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
After promising what would be the “world’s most thrilling and highly desirable” EV, luxury automaker Aston Martin says that it is pushing back its plan to launch its first BEV by a year due to what it says is “low consumer demand.” Guess those thrills will have to wait.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/aston-martin-delays-the-launch-of-its-first-bev/ Save to Pocket
FAA gives Boeing 90 days to fix serious safety shortcomings found in report
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Expert panel finds ‘a lack of awareness of safety-related metrics at all levels,’ and more, at plane maker
“Inadequate,” “confusing,” “disconnect,” and “lack of awareness” aren’t words passengers would like to hear associated with aviation safety, but according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that’s exactly what the situation is like at Boeing.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/faa_gives_boeing_90_days/ Save to Pocket
The Guardian’s new “Deeply Read” article ranking focuses on attention, not just clicks
date: 2024-02-28, from: Nieman Journalism Lab
The No. 1 most-clicked story on The Guardian’s U.S. site right now: “Alabama IVF ruling leaves Republicans stuck between their base and the broader public.” The most “deeply read” story, however, is on a very different topic: “Dune v Dune: do Denis Villeneuve’s films stay true to the book?“ “Deeply Read,” a feature launched Wednesday,…
https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/the-guardians-new-deeply-read-article-ranking-focuses-on-attention-not-just-clicks/ Save to Pocket
Some Reflections on Writing Unix Daemons
date: 2024-02-28, from: Tilde.news
https://tratt.net/laurie/blog/2024/some_reflections_on_writing_unix_daemons.html Save to Pocket
Fanfiction Community Rocked By Etsy Sellers Turning Their Work Into Bound Books
date: 2024-02-28, from: 404 Media Group
Several popular shops, which clearly violated Etsy’s terms of use and IP laws, were deleted after 404 Media reached out for comment.
https://www.404media.co/fanfiction-community-roiled-by-etsy-sellers-turning-their-work-into-bound-books/ Save to Pocket
Should Newspapers Publish Poetry? An essay argues yes. (From last August.) I’ve…
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044077-should-newspapers-publish Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Frozen embryos shouldn't be considered people, two-thirds of Americans say.
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/28/alabama-ivf-ruling-poll-ipsos Save to Pocket
2024 Kia EV9 Ownership Review: Deep Dive Into The Base And Top Variants
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
The entry-level Kia EV9 variant is better than you think.
https://insideevs.com/news/710478/2024-kia-ev9-ownership-review/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
I’m waiting for someone to give me the tools to index my own content so ChatGPT knows about it. I want it to learn my codebase so I can ask it questions about places I’ve used a feature before. I want to write code in a very high level language I invent as I go and have it compile it to JavaScript. Come on, what’s holding things up. This will be the ultimate productivity software. The first one who gets there owns the world or at least deserves a nice prize and our thanks.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/28.html#a170510 Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
I use Safari on my iPad. The software just updated, and they widened the width of icons in the browser chrome. This knocked three of my links over into the menu, out of easy reach. Why did they feel they could change something so basic? After using the iPad for 14 freaking years, why shake up this tiny little corner of the system? What’s the possible benefit. Or maybe this is just a bug and they’ll fix it? This is the kind of thing that makes me put off updating. Yeah I know it sounds small, but I really use my freaking iPad. It isn’t just for watching movies. I can’t tell you how many iPads I’ve bought. It’s ridiculous. Come on Apple, I’m a customer not a slave.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/28.html#a170047 Save to Pocket
Palo Alto investor sues over 28% share tumble
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Lawsuit alleges it misled investors with claims new AI products were ‘facilitating greater platformization’ and more
Updated Palo Alto Networks (PAN) is facing a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges investors were deceived about the traction of its platform tactics and hurt by an unexpectedly low billings forecast that crashed the share price.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/palo_alto_class_action/ Save to Pocket
FREY Dopamine 2.0 launched as new high-performance electric mountain bike with throttle
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
FREY is one of the biggest players in the game when it comes to high-power electric mountain bikes. Now, the company is making waves with its newest model, the FREY Dopamine 2.0.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/frey-dopamine-2-0-launched-as-new-high-performance-electric-mountain-bike-with-throttle/ Save to Pocket
USPS to Release Ansel Adams Stamps
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/usps-to-release-ansel-adams-stamps Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Another way to think about it. What if, say in California or New York, 15% of the Democrats voted uncommitted to make sure Biden knows he’s expected to stand up strong for reproductive rights. That helps clear the way with any Democrats who feel they should go slowly. Voters expressing their political strength. Again, that’s pure democracy. It’s the best.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/28.html#a164808 Save to Pocket
Jeep, Ram owner calls on former GM exec to spearhead EV offensive in the US
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Stellantis, the owner of Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, and others, appointed Carlos Zarlenga to lead North American operations. Zarlenga, a former GM executive, is tasked with launching eight EVs as the brand begins its electric offensive in the US.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/jeep-ram-ex-gm-exec-lead-ev-offensive-us/ Save to Pocket
San Francisco Chronicle tries an AI chatbot — er, Chowbot — for food recs
date: 2024-02-28, from: Nieman Journalism Lab
The San Francisco Chronicle is experimenting with an AI-powered chatbot to help readers find recommended restaurants and specific dishes throughout the Bay area. The, uh, Chowbot is the news org’s “first real foray into audience-facing AI,” editor of emerging product Sarah Feldberg told me. Chowbot went live on Monday, alongside a Q&A with the paper’s…
https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/san-francisco-chronicle-tries-an-ai-chatbot-er-chowbot-for-food-recs/ Save to Pocket
Rivian updates iPhone app with support for Live Activities while charging
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Rivian is rolling out an update to its iPhone app with support for Live Activities. This lets Rivian drivers track their car’s charging progress right from their iPhone’s Lock Screen or the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15.
https://9to5mac.com/2024/02/28/rivian-live-activities-iphone-app/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Re
the Michigan primary returns – I think it’s great that 15% of Democratic
voters voted
uncommitted
– because that’s democracy, and it does not hurt Biden at all to have
the voters express themselves, esp when I’m pretty sure he agrees. Biden
is a Democrat, and Netanyahu is a MAGA. Remember that. They are not
friends, and Biden has dropped very explicit hints that he’s thinking
that way. So give him an excuse to kick Netanyahu in the ass, and he’ll
be happy to do it. But he can’t openly threaten Israel now, not with
Trump over there saying he’d cut NATO, and thanks to him we’re ditching
Ukraine, even though Trump isn’t in office. All of our alliances are
fragile now, and getting worse every time Trump says or does something
awful. Biden has to take it steady. I listened to the interviews with
advocates for uncommitted, and no one even remotely suggested they’ll
vote for Trump or a Republican. This is democracy. It’s good. That’s as
American as it gets.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/28.html#a162514 Save to Pocket
Why don’t we just ban fossil fuels? “In the last four decades,…
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044073-why-dont-we-just-ban Save to Pocket
Meet Verdie – An electric, AI-powered robot that can do all your landscaping [Video]
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Electric Sheep – an artificial intelligence and robotics company specializing in large-scale landscaping operations, has announced a new autonomous robot to its fleet – Verdie. This electric robot can work alongside Electric Sheep’s other products and landscapers to perform edging, trimming, and even blowing. Verdie also looks quite cute doing it. Check it out.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/meet-verdie-electric-ai-powered-robot-autonomous-landscaping-video/ Save to Pocket
FOSS replacement for Partition Magic, Gparted 1.6 is here to save your data
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
But beware – Gparted Live hasn’t been updated yet
There’s a new bugfix release of Gparted, a FOSS replacement for PowerQuest’s wonderful Partition Magic.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/gparted_16_is_here/ Save to Pocket
Pluralistic: When private equity destroys your hospital (28 Feb 2024)
date: 2024-02-28, from: Cory Doctorow’s blog
Today’s links When private equity destroys your hospital: Looters literally want to kill you. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2009, 2014, 2019, 2022 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading When private equity destroys your hospital (permalink) As someone who writes a lot of fiction about corporate crime, I naturally end up spending a lot of time being angry about corporate crime. It’s pretty goddamned enraging. But the fiction writer in me is especially upset at how cartoonishly evil the perps are – routinely doing things that I couldn’t ever get away with putting in a novel. Beyond a doubt, the most cartoonishly evil characters are the private equity looters. And the most cartoonishly evil private equity looters are the ones who get involved in health care. (Buckle up.) Writing for The American Prospect, Maureen Tcacik details a national scandal: the collapse of PE-backed hospital chain Steward Health, a company that bought and looted hospitals up and down the country, starving them of everything from heart valves to prescription paper, ripping off suppliers, doctors and nurses, and callously exposing patients to deadly risk: https://prospect.org/health/2024-02-27-scenes-from-bat-cave-steward-health-florida/ Steward occupies a very special place in the private equity looting cycle. Private equity companies arrange themselves on a continuum of indiscriminate depravity. At the start of the continuum are PE funds that buy productive and useful firms (everything from hospitals to car-washes) using “leveraged buyouts.” That means that they borrow money to buy the company and use the company itself as collateral: it’s like you getting a bank-loan to buy your neighbor’s mortgage out from under them, and using your neighbor’s house as collateral for that loan. Once the buyout is done, the PE fund pays itself a “special dividend” (stealing money the business needs to survive) and then starts charging the business a “management fee” for the PE fund’s expertise. To pay for all this, the PE bosses start to hack away at the company. Quality declines. So do wages. Prices go up. The company changes suppliers, opting for cheaper alternatives, often stiffing the old company. There are mass layoffs. The remaining employees end up doing three peoples’ jobs, for lower wages, with fewer materials of lower quality. Eventually, that top-feeding PE company finds a more desperate, more ham-fisted PE company to unload the business onto. That middle-feeding company also does a leveraged buyout, pays itself another special dividend, cuts wages, staffing and quality even further. They switch to even worse suppliers and stiff the last batch. Prices go up even higher. Then – you guessed it – the middle-feeding PE company finds an even more awful PE bottom-feeder to unload the company onto. That bottom feeder does it all again, without even pretending to leave the business in condition to do its job. The company is a shambling zombie at this point, often producing literal garbage in place of the products that made its reputation. Employees’ paychecks bounce, or don’t show up at all. The company stops bothering to pay the lawyers that have been fending off its creditors. Those lawyers sue the company, too. That’s the kind of PE company Steward Health was, and, as the name suggests, Steward Health is in the business of stripping away the very last residue of value from community hospitals. As you might imagine, this gets pretty fucking ugly. Steward owns 32 hospitals up and down the country, though its holdings are dwindling as the company walks away from its debt-burdened holdings, after years of neglect that have rendered them unfit for use as health facilities – or for any other purpose. Tcacik’s piece offers a snapshot of one such hospital: Florida’s Rockledge Regional Medical Center, just eight miles from Cape Canaveral. Rockledge is a disaster. The fifth floor was, at one point, home to 5,000 bats. Five. Thousand. Bats. (Rockledge stiffed the exterminators.) The bats were just the beginning. One of the internal sewage pipes ruptured. Whole sections of the hospital were literally full of shit, oozing out of the walls and ceiling, slopping over medical equipment. That’s an urgent situation for any hospital, but for Rockledge, it’s catastrophic, because Rockledge is a hospital without any hospital supplies. Steward has stiffed the companies that supply “heart valves, urology lasers, Impella catheters, cardiac catheterization balloons, slings for lifting heavier patients, blood and urine test reagents, and most recently, prescription paper.” Key medical equipment has been repossessed. So have the Pepsi machines. The hospital cafeteria had its supply of cold cuts repossessed: https://www.reddit.com/r/massachusetts/comments/1agc1j4/comment/kolicqo/ It’s not just Steward’s nonpayments that reek of impending doom. Its payments also bear the hallmarks of a scam artist on the brink of blowing off the con. The company recently paid off a vendor with five separate checks for $1m, each drawn on “a random hospital in Utah” (Steward recently walked away from its Utah hospitals; its partners there are suing it for stealing $18m on their way out the door). This company – which owns 32 hospitals! – has resorted to gambits like sending photos of fake checks to doctors it hasn’t paid in months as “proof” that the money was coming (the checks arrived 22 days later). Steward owes so much money to its employees – $1.66m to just one doctors’ group. But the medical staff keep doing their jobs, and are reluctant to speak on the record, thanks to Steward’s reputation for vicious retaliation. Those health workers keep showing up to take care of patients, even as the hospital crumbles around them. One clinician told Tcacik: “I watched a bed collapse underneath a [patient] who had just undergone hip surgery.” Rockledge has nine elevators, but only five of them work – the other four have been broken for a year. The hospital’s fourth floor has been converted to “a graveyard of broken beds.” The sinks are clogged, or filled with foul gunk. There’s black mold. Nurses have noted on the maintenance tags that the repair service refuses to attend the hospital until their overdue bills are paid. The fifteen-person on-site maintenance team was cut to just two workers. Steward is just the latest looting owner of Rockledge. After the Great Financial Crisis, private equity consultants helped sell it to Health Management Associates. The hospital’s CEO took home a $10m bonus for that sale and exited; Health Management Associates then quickly became embroiled in a Medicare fraud and kickback scandal. Soon after, Rockledge was passed on to Community Health Systems, who then sold it on to Rockledge. Steward, meanwhile, was at that time owned by an even bigger private equity giant, Cerberus, which then sold Steward off. That deal was performatively complex and hid all kinds of mischief. Prior to Cerberus’s sell-off of Steward, they sold off Steward’s real-estate. The buyer was Medical Properties Trust, who gave Cerberus $1.25b for the real-estate: three hospitals in Florida and three more in Ohio. Steward then contracted to operate these hospitals on MPT’s behalf, and pay MPT rent for the real-estate. This complex arrangement was key to siphoning value out of the hospital and to keeping angry creditors at bay – if you can’t figure out who owes you money, it’s a lot harder to collect on the debt. The scheme was masterminded by Steward founder/CEO Ralph de la Torre. De la Torre is notorious for taking a massive dividend out of the company while it owed $1.4b to its creditors. He bought a $40m yacht with the money. De la Torre was once feted as a business genius who would “disrupt” healthcare. But as Steward’s private jet hops around “Corfu, Santorini, St. Maarten and Antigua” as its hospitals literally crumble, he’s becoming less popular. In Massachusetts, politicians have railed against Steward and de la Torre (Governor Healey wants the company to leave the state “as soon as possible”). Florida, by contrast, is much more friendly to Steward. The state Health and Human Services Committee chair Randy Fine is an ardent admirer of hospital privatization and is currently campaigning to sell off the last community hospital in Brevard County. The state inspectors are likewise remarkably tolerant of Steward’s little peccadillos. The quasi-governmental agency that inspects hospitals has awarded this shit-and-bat-filled, elevator-free, understaffed rotting hulk “A” grades for quality. These inspectors jointly represent a mismatched assortment of private and public agencies, dominated by a nonprofit called Leapfrog, the brainchild of Harvard public-health prof Lucian Leape, who founded it in 2000. Leapfrog likes to tout its “transparent” assessment criteria, and Steward are experts at hitting those criteria, spending the exact minimum to tick every box that Leapfrog inspectors use as proxies for overall quality and safety. This is a pretty great example of Goodhart’s Law: “every measurement eventually becomes a target, whereupon it ceases to be a good measurement”: https://xkcd.com/2899/ But despite Steward’s increasingly furious creditors and its decaying facilities, the company remains bullish on its ability to continue operations. Medical Properties Trust – the real estate investment trust that is nominally a separate company from Steward – recently hosted a conference call to reassure Wall Street investors that it would be a going concern. When a Bank of America analyst asked MPT’s CFO how this could possibly be, given the facility’s dire condition and Steward’s degraded state, the CFO blithely assured him that the company would get bailouts: “We own hospitals no one wants to see closed.” That’s the thing about PE and health-care. The looters who buy out every health-care facility in a region understand that this makes them too big to fail: no matter how dangerous the companies they drain become, local governments will continue to prop them up. Look at dialysis, a market that’s been cornered by private equity rollups. Today, if you need this lifesaving therapy, there’s a good chance that every accessible facility is owned by a private equity fund that has fired all its qualified staff and ceased sterilizing its needles. Otherwise healthy people who visit these clinics sometimes die due to operator error. But they chug along, because no dialysis clinics is worse that “dialysis clinics where unqualified sadists sometimes kill you with dirty needles”: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-dirty-business-of-clean-blood The bad news is that private equity has thoroughly colonized the entire medical system. They took hospitals, fired the doctors, then took over the doctors’ groups that provided outsource staff to the hospital: https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/04/a-mind-forever-voyaging/#prop-bets It’s illegal for private equity companies to own doctors’ practices (doctors have to own these), but they obfuscated the crime with a paper-thin pretext that they got away with despite its obvious bullshittery: https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/21/profitable-butchers/#looted The financier who decides whether you live or die depends on an algorithm that literally sets a tolerable level of preventable deaths for the patients trapped in the practice: https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/05/any-metric-becomes-a-target/#hca Private equity also took over emergency rooms and boobytrapped them with “surprise billing” – junk fees that ran to thousands of dollars that you had to pay even if the hospital was in network with your insurer. They made billions from this, and spent a many millions from that booty keeping the scam alive with scare ads: https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/21/all-in-it-together/#doctor-patient-unity The whole health stack is colonized by private equity-backed monopolies. Even your hospital bed! https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/05/hillrom/#baxter-international Then there’s residential care. Private equity cornered many regional markets on nursing homes and turned them into slaughterhouses, places where you go to die, not live: https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/23/acceptable-losses/#disposable-olds The palliative care sector is also captured by private equity. PE bosses hire vast teams of fast-talking salespeople who con vulnerable older people into entering an end-of-life system before they are ready to die. Thanks to loose regulation, the nation is filled with fake hospices that can rake in millions from Medicare while denying all care to their patients (hospice patients don’t get life-extending medication or procedures, by definition): https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/26/death-panels/#what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-CMS If you survive this long enough, Medicare eventually tells the hospice that you’re clearly not dying and you get kicked off their rolls. Now you have to go through the lengthy bureaucratic nightmare of convincing the system – which was previously informed that you were at death’s door – that you are actually viable and need to start getting care again (good luck with that). If that kills you, guess what? Private equity has rolled up funeral homes up and down the country, and they will scam your survivors just as hard as the medical system that killed you did: https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/09/high-cost-of-dying/#memento-mori The PE sector spent more than a trillion dollars over the past decade buying up healthcare companies, and it has trillions more in “dry powder” allocated for further medical acquisitions. Why not? As the CFO of Medical Properties Trust told that Bank of America analyst last week, when you “own hospitals no one wants to see closed.” you literally can’t fail, no matter how many people you murder. The PE sector is a reminder that the crimes people commit for money far outstrip the crimes they commit for ideology. Even the most ideological killers are horrified by the murders their profit-motivated colleagues commit. Last year, Tkacic wrote about the history of IG Farben, the German company that built Monowitz, a private slave-labor camp up the road from Auschwitz to make the materiel it was gouging Hitler’s Wehrmacht on: https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farben Farben bought the cheapest possible slaves from Auschwitz, preferentially sourcing women and children. These slaves were worked to death at a rate that put Auschwitz’s wholesale murder in the shade. Farben’s slaves died an average of just three months after starting work at Monowitz. The situation was so abominable, so unconscionable, that the SS officers who provided outsource guard-labor to Monowitz actually wrote to Berlin to complain about the cruelty. The Nuremberg trials are famous for the Nazi officers who insisted that they were “just following order” but were nonetheless executed for their crimes. 24 Farben executives were also tried at Nuremberg, where they offered a very different defense: “We had a fiduciary duty to our shareholders to maximize our profits.” 19 of the 24 were acquitted on that basis. PE is committed to an ideology that is far worse than any form of racial animus or other bias. As a sector, it is committed to profit above all other values. As a result, its brutality knows no bounds, no decency, no compassion. Even the worst crimes we commit for hate are nothing compared to the crimes we commit for greed. Hey look at this (permalink) Jumbo Shrimp celebrating public-domain characters in 2024 https://www.milb.com/news/the-show-before-the-show-episode-445-jacksonville-jumbo-shrimp-public-domain (h/t Joshua Bradley) The Rentier Economy, Vulture Capital, and Enshittification https://c4ss.org/content/59416 FTC Chair Lina Khan takes victory lap on blocking Nvidia-Arm merger https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/27/ftc-chair-lina-khan-takes-victory-lap-on-blocking-nvidia-arm-merger.html This day in history (permalink) #15yrsago Amusement park offers surveillance footage of you as a souvenir https://web.archive.org/web/20090401000000*/https://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1198732.ece #10yrsago Report from Trustycon: like RSA, but without the corruption https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/trustycons-rsa-conference-rebels-promise-more-to-come/ #10yrsago King no longer claims to own “candy,” still claims it owns “saga” https://www.techdirt.com/2014/02/26/king-backs-off-ridiculously-broad-candy-trademark-will-still-be-obnoxious-other-ways/ #5yrsago #FixItAlready: EFF’s wishlist for fixing tech’s worst privacy and security choices https://fixitalready.eff.org/#/ #5yrsago The “Reputation Management” industry continues to depend on forged legal documents https://www.techdirt.com/2019/02/28/pissed-consumer-exposes-new-york-luxury-car-dealers-use-bogus-notarized-letters-to-remove-critical-reviews-update/ #5yrsago Pentagon Inspector General reveals widespread retaliation against whistleblowers with impunity for the retaliators and the wrongdoers https://rollcall.com/2019/02/25/pentagon-harbors-culture-of-revenge-against-whistleblowers/ #5yrsago Amazon killed Seattle’s homelessness-relief tax by threatening not to move into a massive new building, then they canceled the move anyway https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/huge-downtown-seattle-office-space-that-amazon-had-leased-is-reportedly-put-on-market/ #5yrsago Bad security design made it easy to spy on video from Ring doorbells and insert fake video into their feeds https://web.archive.org/web/20190411195308/https://dojo.bullguard.com/dojo-by-bullguard/blog/ring/ #5yrsago London’s awful estate agents are cratering, warning of a “prolonged downturn” in the housing market https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47389160 #5yrsago Yet another study shows that the most effective “anti-piracy” strategy is good products at a fair price https://www.vice.com/en/article/3kg7pv/studies-keep-showing-that-the-best-way-to-stop-piracy-is-to-offer-cheaper-better-alternatives #5yrsago EFF’s roadmap for a 21st Century antitrust doctrine https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/02/antitrust-enforcement-needs-evolve-21st-century #1yrago VW wouldn’t help find kidnapped child because his mother wasn’t paying for find-my-car subscription https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/28/kinderwagen/#worst-timeline Colophon (permalink) Today’s top sources: Currently writing: A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the PC. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS JAN 2025 The Bezzle, a Martin Hench noir thriller novel about the prison-tech industry. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS FEB 2024 Vigilant, Little Brother short story about remote invigilation. FORTHCOMING ON TOR.COM Spill, a Little Brother short story about pipeline protests. FORTHCOMING ON TOR.COM Latest podcast: The Majority of Censorship is Self-Censorship https://craphound.com/news/2024/02/25/the-majority-of-censorship-is-self-censorship/ Upcoming appearances: The Bezzle at Changing Hands (Phoenix), Feb 29: https://www.changinghands.com/event/february2024/cory-doctorow Tucson Festival of Books, Mar 9/10 https://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/?id=676 Enshittification: How the Internet Went Bad and How to Get it Back (virtual), Mar 26 https://libcal.library.ubc.ca/event/3781006 Wondercon Anaheim, Mar 29-31 https://www.comic-con.org/wc/ The Bezzle at Anderson’s Books (Chicago), Apr 17 https://www.andersonsbookshop.com/event/cory-doctorow-1 Torino Biennale Tecnologia (Apr 19-21) https://www.turismotorino.org/en/experiences/events/biennale-tecnologia Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Winnipeg), May 2 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cory-doctorow-tickets-798820071337?aff=oddtdtcreator Tartu Prima Vista Literary Festival (May 5-11) https://tartu2024.ee/en/kirjandusfestival/ Media Ecology Association keynote (Amherst, NY), Jun 6-9 https://media-ecology.org/convention American Association of Law Libraries keynote (Chicago), Jul 21 https://www.aallnet.org/conference/agenda/keynote-speaker/ Recent appearances: Radioactive (KCRL) https://krcl.org/blog/grist-investigates-doctorow-seed/ The enshittification of music (Music Ally) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh20fD3XXbg Aaron Swartz (EpistemiCast) https://open.spotify.com/episode/5t9QVHSQBjIXKUiN2EvEmK Latest books: The Bezzle: a sequel to “Red Team Blues,” about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (the-bezzle.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/). “The Lost Cause:” a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/) “The Internet Con”: A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). “Red Team Blues”: “A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before.” Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US): and Forbidden Planet (UK): https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/. “Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin”, on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com “Attack Surface”: The third Little Brother novel, a standalone technothriller for adults. The Washington Post called it “a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance.” Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html “How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism”: an anti-monopoly pamphlet analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a solution. https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b) (signed copies: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html) “Little Brother/Homeland”: A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html “Poesy the Monster Slayer” a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/. Upcoming books: Picks and Shovels: a sequel to “Red Team Blues,” about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books, February 2025 Unauthorized Bread: a graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2025 This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ Twitter (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic “When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla” -Joey “Accordion Guy” DeVilla
https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/28/5000-bats/ Save to Pocket
Extra day, extra pay?
date: 2024-02-28, from: Marketplace Morning Report
2024 is a leap year, and tomorrow, Feb. 29, is a regular ol’ work day. So what does that additional day mean for your paycheck? It’s pretty straightforward for hourly workers but gets a little more complicated for salaried employees. We’ll also take a look at how recalls impact carmakers, hear about hope for averting a partial government shutdown, and look at why markets aren’t looking at revised GDP figures.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/extra-day-extra-pay Save to Pocket
Why Is Motorcycle Racing Afraid Of This Electric Bike?
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
Why are the powers that be seemingly intent on keeping the Stark Future on the sidelines?
https://insideevs.com/news/710458/motorcycle-racing-no-electric/ Save to Pocket
As their fourth quarters expire, Occidental basketball seniors reflect on their play
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Aiden Williams Captain Aiden Williams (senior) is the only senior on the men’s basketball team. Williams closed out his final game of collegiate basketball by scoring 32 points against Caltech. Williams is also 2nd in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) three-point shooting percentage at 43.7%. For reference, one of the leading three-point shooters in the NBA, Stephen Curry, […]
The post As their fourth quarters expire, Occidental basketball seniors reflect on their play appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/sports/2024/02/28/as-their-fourth-quarters-expire-occidental-basketball-seniors-reflect-on-their-play/2911437 Save to Pocket
Swim and dive seniors flip-turn through their Occidental careers
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
As Occidental’s swim and dive season comes to an end, seniors are preparing to say their goodbyes to collegiate swimming. Diver Elsie Cady (senior), and swimmers Izzy Phung (senior), Joshua Spessert (senior) and Alex To (senior) share their biggest successes, their plans for the future and some of their favorite memories while on the Occidental […]
The post Swim and dive seniors flip-turn through their Occidental careers appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/sports/2024/02/28/swim-and-dive-seniors-flip-turn-through-their-occidental-careers/2911439 Save to Pocket
Opinion: Seeing myself on the NYFW catwalk
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
“Batik” is a traditional Indonesian style of clothing that is made using hot wax to make patterns of swirls, dots and lines on fabric and then dipping the fabric in dye and removing the wax. This process takes hours of labor, focus and precision. During our family’s summer trips to Indonesia, my parents made sure that […]
The post Opinion: Seeing myself on the NYFW catwalk appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/opinions/2024/02/28/opinion-seeing-myself-on-the-nyfw-catwalk/2911467 Save to Pocket
Athletes of the Week: Rylee Cockett and Amaan Kanji finish and start their Occidental sports careers
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Rylee Cockett Amidst the buzz of her final year at Occidental college, Rylee Cockett (senior) is having a strong track and field season. Cockett said she set a new personal record Feb. 17 at the Pomona-Pitzer Collegiate All-Comers meet, reaching a height of 4 feet, 11 inches in the high jump event. Cockett said that reaching a […]
The post Athletes of the Week: Rylee Cockett and Amaan Kanji finish and start their Occidental sports careers appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/sports/2024/02/28/athletes-of-the-week-rylee-cockett-and-amaan-kanji-finish-and-start-their-occidental-sports-careers/2911435 Save to Pocket
First years prepare in the midst of writing portfolio season
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
March 1 is the due date for first-year students to submit their writing portfolios. The writing portfolio is a way for students to demonstrate improvement in their writing skills throughout their first year at Occidental and a way to determine eligibility for upper-division writing courses, according to writing fellow Ella Acker (junior). Acker said the […]
The post First years prepare in the midst of writing portfolio season appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/culture/2024/02/28/first-years-prepare-in-the-midst-of-writing-portfolio-season/2911488 Save to Pocket
WiSTEM shakes up assumptions, offers supportive community
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Upwards of 20 people, among them biology, kinesiology and computer science majors, sat in Johnson Hall as the Women in STEM club (WiSTEM) held its first of their biweekly meetings Feb. 20. Club founder Alyanna McGrath (junior) said underclassmen in her computer science classes sought guidance from her, leading her to realize there are limited […]
The post WiSTEM shakes up assumptions, offers supportive community appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/culture/2024/02/28/wistem-shakes-up-assumptions-offers-supportive-community/2911486 Save to Pocket
Julie Mehretu ‘redefines the boundaries of contemporary art’
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Interviewer Paul Holdengräber spoke with distinguished painter Julie Mehretu in Choi Auditorium Feb. 21 as a part of Oxy Live!, a series of discussions with thought-provoking leaders in the arts. According to the Oxy Live! event website, Mehretu was named to Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people, is the top-selling African artist of […]
The post Julie Mehretu ‘redefines the boundaries of contemporary art’ appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/culture/2024/02/28/julie-mehretu-redefines-the-boundaries-of-contemporary-art/2911478 Save to Pocket
GasGas Fielding TXE Electric Trials Bike in Championship
date: 2024-02-28, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
A glimpse into the future of off-road motorcycling.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/710198/gasgas-txe-electric-bike-spanish-trials-championship/ Save to Pocket
EmulationStation-DE for Android booted from Amazon Appstore, now available through Patreon
date: 2024-02-28, from: Liliputing
EmulationStation Desktop Edition, or ES-DE, is a popular user interface for organizing, launching and playing video games designed for consoles. It’s not an emulator itself, but it makes it easy to manage emulators for a console-like experience on devices like handheld gaming PCs or computers plugged into a big-screen TV. Earlier this month the developer […]
The post EmulationStation-DE for Android booted from Amazon Appstore, now available through Patreon appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/emulationstation-de-for-android-booted-from-amazon-appstore-now-available-through-patreon/ Save to Pocket
36 Famous Authors Co-Wrote a Pandemic Novel. Can You Guess Who Drafted Each Section?
date: 2024-02-28, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Margaret Atwood, R.L. Stine and John Grisham are among the writers who collaborated on “Fourteen Days,” which follows a group of New Yorkers who gather on a Manhattan rooftop to swap stories beginning in March 2020
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/36-famous-authors-pandemic-novel-margaret-atwood-douglas-preston-180983858/ Save to Pocket
Best of the West rankings: Gonzaga on fragile (NCAA) ground ahead of second showdown with Saint Mary’s
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
The Gaels are a lock for the NCAAs; the Zags are not. They need a victory in Moraga to fortify their resume.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/best-of-the-west-rankings-gonzaga-on-fragile-ncaa-ground-ahead-of-second-showdown-with-saint-marys/ Save to Pocket
Sideshow promoters, organizers face fines, jail time in Antioch
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
Antioch looks to curb illegal and dangerous street races, exhbitions with new rules.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/sideshow-promoters-organizers-face-fines-jail-time-in-this-east-bay-city/ Save to Pocket
San Francisco apologizes to Black residents and their descendants for systemic racism and past atrocities
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
San Francisco is the second major US city to issue an apology to Black residents, after Boston passed a similar edict in 2022.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/san-francisco-apologizes-to-black-residents-and-their-descendants-for-systemic-racism-and-past-atrocities/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
There
are a lot of blogging communities out there in 2024, but we don’t think
of them that way. But they totally behave like a blogging community. I
remember when I was starting
weblogs.com,
I wanted to get an idea of when sites were updating, so I didn’t have to
go hunting through a blogroll, clicking on links to find out if there
was anything new. So I wrote a script that worked off a list of blogs,
read each one in turn, and compared it with the last version we read,
and if there was a change, it would move it to the top of the list. I
didn’t just make it for myself, I shared it with everyone. There was a
mail list where people were freaking out about this. The server that
would read their blog every so often was called
subhonker.
This was something new and they were scared. I couldn’t show them the
benefit until the script had been running for a while. Everyone got
upset. I remember being confused and scared, but I guess from their
point of view it looked scary. I don’t know. In the end weblogs.com
became really popular, it became the central place to find out what’s
new with blogs, and then
evolved
to use RSS so we
could find changes in even more detail. I guess the thing is people
should see the benefit before they see the price? And as an innovator,
we have to be aware of this, people may not see the benefit until they
can use it.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/28.html#a154126 Save to Pocket
How Selective Forgetting Can Help AI Learn Better
date: 2024-02-28, from: Quanta Magazine
Erasing key information during training results in machine learning models that can learn new languages faster and more easily.The post How Selective Forgetting Can Help AI Learn Better first appeared on Quanta Magazine
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-selective-forgetting-can-help-ai-learn-better-20240228/ Save to Pocket
Bookstores should ditch the short-term thinking of efficiency & bring back big,…
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/02/0044074-bookstores-should-ditch-t Save to Pocket
Funding secured: Polestar’s (PSNY) outlook bounces back with $1 billion in external cash
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Who needs Volvo anyway? Shortly after co-parent company Volvo Cars announced plans to cut ties with Polestar, the EV-centric brand has turned to an all-star lineup of international banks for external funding totaling close to one billion dollars. Polestar’s other owner, Geely Holding, is still very much involved and will also help Polestar continue work to roll out its two incoming electric SUVs and beyond.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/funding-secured-polestar-psny-1-billion-external-cash/ Save to Pocket
Willy Wonka event leaves bitter taste with artificially sweetened promises
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Charlie and the AI factory flop compared to ‘meth lab’
In the most flagrant case of false advertising since The NeverEnding Story, cops were called to a Wonka-themed “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” in Glasgow, Scotland, because promotional material was made entirely from AI-generated slop.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/wonka_ai_hellhole/ Save to Pocket
Pac-12 WBB power ratings: UCLA and Arizona sweep, Stanford loses at home and mayhem descends
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
The final week of the regular season begins with three teams tied for second place behind Stanford.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/pac-12-wbb-power-ratings-ucla-and-arizona-sweep-stanford-loses-at-home-and-mayhem-descends/ Save to Pocket
Chinese Cars Would Get 125% Price Increase Under New Senate Bill
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
Plus, every car is the Apple Car now, and Fisker gets some U.S. dealers.
https://insideevs.com/news/710459/byd-usa-tariff-china-evs/ Save to Pocket
California homebuilding permits drop, but decline was less than US slide
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
Construction plans off 6% from 2022 – but that dip was still the 16th-best performance nationally.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/california-homebuilding-permits-drop-but-decline-was-less-than-us-slide/ Save to Pocket
GM says its new Chevy Bolt EV will save billions with more affordable LFP batteries
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
The next-gen Chevy Bolt EV is due out next year after GM ended production of its top-selling electric model at the end of 2023. GM’s CFO Paul Jacobson says the new Bolt EV will save the company billions by becoming North America’s first Ultium-based model to use LFP batteries.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/gms-new-bolt-ev-save-billions-affordable-lfp-batteries/ Save to Pocket
Listen to the Universe: New NASA Sonifications and Documentary
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
Three new sonifications of images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have been released in conjunction with a new documentary about the project that makes its debut on the NASA+ streaming platform. Sonification is the process of translating data into sounds. In the case of Chandra and other telescopes, scientific data are collected […]
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/listen-to-the-universe-new-nasa-sonifications-and-documentary/ Save to Pocket
Streetbeat: What do you think the minimum wage should be and why?
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
“In my opinion, I think minimum wage should be a minimum of $23. I personally think that because with inflation, gas prices and
The post Streetbeat: What do you think the minimum wage should be and why? appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/streetbeat-what-do-you-think-the-minimum-wage-should-be-and-why/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=streetbeat-what-do-you-think-the-minimum-wage-should-be-and-why Save to Pocket
Watch Tesla Cybertruck Owner Shoot Bullets At His Truck With Submachine Gun, Shotgun
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
Don’t try this at home.
https://insideevs.com/news/710301/tesla-cybertruck-shot-gun-bullets-real-world/ Save to Pocket
Black History Month Luncheon
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
Photography prints, art and copies of the book “What Happened to You?” were on display in Building 600 at a Black History Luncheon presented by
The post Black History Month Luncheon appeared first on The Roundup.
https://theroundupnews.com/2024/02/28/black-history-month-luncheon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=black-history-month-luncheon Save to Pocket
Revoy electric trailer rolls into Trucking with Clean Fuels Conference
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Revoy EV’s electric trailer promises to make electrifying your OTR trucking fleet easy and cost-effective, and this one just pulled into the Port of Stockton ahead of the 2024 Trucking with Clean Fuels Conference.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/revoy-electric-trailer-rolls-into-trucking-with-clean-fuels-conference/ Save to Pocket
MAF EAP – Holiday Blues and SAD: Discussion
date: 2024-02-28, from: NASA breaking news
The winter months provide some of the biggest challenges to wellness during the year. The stress of the holidays, the pressure of the new year, and the risk of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) take a toll and can become problematic if we do not care for ourselves. These stressors can impact appropriate healthy practices, related to […]
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/michoud/maf-eap/maf-eap-holiday-blues-and-sad-discussion/ Save to Pocket
‘Mind-Blowing’ Tesla Roadster Final Form To Debut This Year, Musk Says
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
“There will never be another car like this,” Tesla’s CEO says of the long-delayed sports car amid a slow growth year.
https://insideevs.com/news/710463/tesla-roadster-production-2024/ Save to Pocket
Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer asks judge to reject 100-year recommended sentence
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
At a November trial, the man known for his casual clothing and wild hair was convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges by a jury that wasn’t swayed by Bankman-Fried’s testimony.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-frieds-lawyer-asks-judge-to-reject-100-year-recommended-sentence/ Save to Pocket
Nikola founder faces ranch forfeiture following fraud conviction
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Trevor Milton bought it for cash and stock options, and he wants the cash back
Try not to weep into your morning coffee, but convicted fraudster Trevor Milton might lose a ranch that a fresh filing claims he bought after lying to its owner “about Nikola’s business” to persuade the man to sell to him.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/nikola_founder_ranch_forfeit/ Save to Pocket
The Crisis at the Border: A Primer for Confused Americans
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: RAND blog
While politically challenging, a holistic update to U.S. immigration laws based on a better understanding of American immigration needs and the factors that are driving people to make the dangerous trek to cross the border would help reduce the numbers of migrants arriving daily to the U.S.-Mexico border and the challenges migration poses to receiving localities.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/02/the-crisis-at-the-border-a-primer-for-confused-americans.html Save to Pocket
BYD fuels EV price war in China, cutting MSRPs of newly refreshed Tang and Han models
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
While Build Your Dreams (BYD) continues to gain global attention for its latest EV innovations, the Chinese automaker is targeting its home turf for its latest strategy. Earlier today, BYD launched refreshed versions of its flagship Han and Tang models, stoking an ongoing EV price war overseas by slashing the MSRPs of the updated models.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/byd-fuels-ev-price-war-china-cutting-msrps-refreshed-tang-han-models/ Save to Pocket
The Savvy Senior | Easy-to-use dental care products for elderly seniors
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Signal
Dear Savvy Senior, I have arthritis and hand tremors that affect my grip strength and make brushing my teeth difficult. I’ve read that electric toothbrushes can help make the job easier. Can you make any recommendations for seniors? — Arthritic Alice Dear Alice, For seniors who suffer from arthritis or have other hand weaknesses or tremors, […]
The post The Savvy Senior | Easy-to-use dental care products for elderly seniors appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/the-savvy-senior-easy-to-use-dental-care-products-for-elderly-seniors/ Save to Pocket
GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s son arrested and is facing 22 charges in connection with vehicle break-in spree
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
Tyler Jay Boebert is facing charges of criminal possession of ID documents of multiple victims, conspiracy to commit a felony and “over 15 additional misdemeanor and petty offenses.”
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/lauren-boebert-son-arrest-tyler-colorado-rifle-theft/ Save to Pocket
35+ Bay Area beer and wine events to enjoy this spring
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
From wine tastings and festivals to game nights, film screenings and delectable dinners, here’s a sampling of local beer and wine events to check out in the coming months.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/35-bay-area-beer-and-wine-events-to-enjoy-this-spring/ Save to Pocket
AI-Generated Kara Swisher Biographies Flood Amazon
date: 2024-02-28, from: 404 Media Group
Why Read Swisher’s Burn Book when you can read KARA SWISHER : The Heroic Biography of a defining force in Tech Journalism (The Silicon Valley’s most powerful tech journalist).
https://www.404media.co/ai-generated-kara-swisher-biographies-flood-amazon/ Save to Pocket
Officials say Alameda County needs recall reform. So why aren’t they making a case for it on the ballot?
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
“There are great arguments to be made,” said Joshua Spivak, a senior research fellow at Berkeley Law’s California Constitution Center, and the author of a book on recall elections. “It would just be great if they actually made them.”
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/officials-say-alameda-county-needs-recall-reform-so-why-arent-they-making-a-case-for-it-on-the-ballot/ Save to Pocket
Broadcom CEO pay award jumps 164% to $160.8 million
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Stock awards front loaded, get five years in one go
Broadcom’s boss Hock Tan more than doubled his total compensation package in fiscal 2023, which will no doubt be well received by the thousands of small VMware customers and cloud providers he’s upset.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/broadcom_ceo_pay_award_jumps/ Save to Pocket
The Texas Panhandle is on Fire
date: 2024-02-28, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: Hundreds of people hunkered down in Chicago O’Hare’s emergency shelter during severe storms • Volcanic ash delayed flights out of Mexico City • The tree pollen count in Washington, DC, has been extremely high.
THE TOP FIVE
- Large wildfires burn out of control in Texas
Massive wildfires are burning in the Texas Panhandle, fueled by strong winds and dry conditions. At least four fires have scorched more than 500,000 acres so far in areas surrounding Amarillo, and the flames have crept into neighboring Oklahoma. The biggest blaze is the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which remains out of control. Some communities have been evacuated, others are sheltering in place. Texas’ Hutchinson County was experiencing power and water shortages. Much of Texas experienced record-breaking heat at the start of this week, prompting red flag warnings.
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- BYD not interested in entering ‘confusing’ U.S. market
The world’s top-selling EV maker apparently has no interest in bringing
its cars to the U.S. In an
interview
with Yahoo! Finance, Stella Li, CEO of BYD Americas, called the
U.S. market “interesting,” but said it was too messy to be worth a great
investment from the Chinese carmaker. “U.S. market is a little bit slow
down on electrification and a lot of confusing,” Li said, adding:
“Everything is complicated. Politics are complicated … and it’s
confusing for the consumer, and then they don’t know which to choose.”
Meanwhile, in China, “the message is strong. If you are not investing
for electric car, you are out. You will die. You have no future.”
The news dovetails nicely with an opinion piece penned by Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer yesterday in The New York Times, in which he says American automakers need to recognize that “Chinese companies now understand aspects of EV manufacturing better than their American counterparts.” Even if BYD stays out of the U.S. for now, Meyer notes Chinese automaker Geely is preparing to sell the small, all-electric Volvo EX30 SUV in the U.S. for $35,000, and BYD’s cheap EVs still threaten global sales of American cars. “In the short term, American automakers — even the homegrown electric-only carmakers like Tesla and Rivian — must be shielded from a wave of cheap cars,” Robinson wrote. “But in the long term, Mr. Biden must be careful not to cordon off the American car market from the rest of the world, turning the United States into an automotive backwater of bloated, expensive, gas-guzzling vehicles.”
- Biden administration announces funds for clean energy projects in
rural America
The Biden administration will devote $366 million to funding 17 clean energy projects across rural and remote parts of America with the goal of improving access to electricity and reducing energy bills. At least 12 of those projects will serve Native American tribes. The Department of Energy estimates that 21% of Navajo Nation homes and 35% of Hopi Indian Tribe homes remain unelectrified, and even if homes do have electricity, they frequently experience outages. The projects vary in cost and scope: Some aim to install solar panels and battery storage and microgrids, others focus on new hydroelectric facilities. There are heat pump initiatives and EV charging stations. The projects have to submit a plan demonstrating how they will benefit the local community and will undergo negotiations with the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations before they’re given the green light. The funding was made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
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- Coffee farmers in Costa Rica try to adapt to climate change
Coffee farmers in Costa Rica, threatened by a lack of rain brought on by climate change, are changing their farming practices to adapt, according to AFP. One farmer said he has been planting fruit trees around his coffee plants because the shade and humidity they foster helps create a “microclimate,” and their fallen leaves help fertilize the soil below. “We have increased production,” said Jesus Valverde. At the same time, the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica is trying to develop new coffee plant hybrids that are more resistant to the changing climate. One estimate suggests rising global temperatures threaten half the world’s coffee crops. The coffee industry supports more than 25,000 families in Costa Rica.
- South Fork Wind project installs last turbine
The final turbine has been installed at New York’s South Fork Wind farm, meaning America’s first large-scale offshore wind farm in federal waters is complete. The project consists of 12 turbines that can provide clean power to 70,000 Long Island homes, eliminating up to 6 million tons of carbon emissions annually. “We are working toward full power,” a South Fork Wind spokesperson told renews. The project started sending power to the grid in December.
THE KICKER
Apple has reportedly abandoned its plans to build an electric car. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the news with two emojis:
https://heatmap.news/climate/texas-panhandle-fire Save to Pocket
South Bay assemblymember’s bill would compel rights for families after police violence
date: 2024-02-28, from: San Jose Mercury News
A proposed law from Assemblymember Ash Kalra cites families who recall being kept in the dark while they were questioned about loved ones killed by police.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/28/south-bay-inspired-bill-would-compel-rights-for-families-after-police-violence/ Save to Pocket
Live Wire: What Should EV Noobs Know About Charging Station Etiquette?
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
We want to know what clueless—or perhaps downright rude—electric car drivers are getting wrong when plugging in.
https://insideevs.com/news/710356/ev-charging-station-etiquette/ Save to Pocket
Recall: Some AGV Tourmodular Helmets Could Have Buckle Not Engage
date: 2024-02-28, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
On affected units, the micrometric buckle could fail to engage properly, not securing the helmet on a rider’s head.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/710363/agv-tourmodular-helmet-safety-recall/ Save to Pocket
Tesla to unveil new Roadster this year, Elon doubles down on rockets/SpaceX collab
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Elon Musk says that Tesla plans to unveil the new Roadster this year, and he is doubling down on the SpaceX collaboration to put cold air trustees on the electric supercar.
But the vehicle’s production is delayed one more time.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/tesla-unveil-new-roadster-this-year-elon-rockets-spacex-collab/ Save to Pocket
The Milk Chocolate That Creeps On Your Face
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: One Foot Tsunami
https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/02/28/the-milk-chocolate-that-creeps-on-your-face/ Save to Pocket
Atos confirms sale talks for datacenter and hosting biz have failed
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Czech billionaire buyer walks away from ailing Tech Foundations division
Troubled tech giant Atos confirmed today that negotiations with the prospective buyer of its legacy IT operation have ended prematurely, coming after the recent cancellation of its rights issue to raise cash.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/questions_over_atos_finances/ Save to Pocket
Buick Wildcat Concept Could Inspire ‘Exceptional By Design’ EVs
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
The 2022 Wildcat concept was quite a looker, and we’re curious about what production models it’s going to spawn.
https://insideevs.com/news/710440/buick-wildcat-ev-design-tagline/ Save to Pocket
Asteroid Hit by NASA Spacecraft Was Reshaped by the Collision, Study Finds
date: 2024-02-28, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Instead of forming a crater, the agency’s intentional DART crash redistributed massive amounts of the asteroid and shot large quantities of rock into space
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/asteroid-hit-by-nasa-spacecraft-was-reshaped-by-the-collision-study-finds-180983861/ Save to Pocket
Biden Issues Executive Order to Better Shield Americans’ Sensitive Data From Foreign Foes
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
Washington — President Joe Biden on Wednesday is signing an executive order aimed at better protecting Americans’ personal data on everything from biometrics and health records to finances and geolocation from foreign adversaries like China and Russia.
The attorney general and other federal agencies are to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ personal data to what the White House calls “countries of concern,” while erecting safeguards around other activities that can give those countries access to people’s sensitive data.
The goal is to do so without limiting legitimate commerce around data, senior Biden administration officials said on a call with reporters.
Biden’s move targets commercial data brokers, the sometimes shadowy companies that traffic in personal data and that officials say may sell information to foreign adversaries or U.S. entities controlled by those countries.
Most eventual enforcement mechanisms still have to clear complicated and often monthslong rulemaking processes. Still, the administration hopes eventually to limit foreign entities, as well as foreign-controlled companies operating in the U.S., that might otherwise improperly collect sensitive data, the senior officials said.
Data brokers are legal in the U.S. and collect and categorize personal information, usually to build profiles on millions of Americans that the brokers then rent or sell.
The officials said activities like computer hacking are already prohibited in the U.S., but that buying potentially sensitive data through brokers is legal. That can represent a key gap in the nation’s national security protections when data is sold to a broker knowing it could end up in the hands of an adversary — one the administration now aims to close with the president’s executive action.
“Bad actors can use this data to track Americans, including military service members, pry into their personal lives, and pass that data on to other data brokers and foreign intelligence services,” the White House wrote in a fact sheet announcing the move. “This data can enable intrusive surveillance, scams, blackmail, and other violations of privacy.”
The order directs the Department of Justice to issue regulations that establish protections for Americans’ sensitive personal data, as well as sensitive government-related data — including geolocation information on sensitive government sites and members of the military.
The Justice Department also plans to work with Homeland Security officials to build safety standards to prevent foreign adversaries from collecting data. It will further attempt better checks to ensure that federal grants going to various other agencies, including the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, aren’t used to facilitate Americans’ sensitive data flowing to foreign adversaries or U.S. companies aligned with them.
The senior administration officials listed potential countries of concern as China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. But it is China — and TikTok, which has over 150 million American users and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd. — that U.S. leaders have been most vocal about.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, recently noted, “There’s no such thing as a private business in China.”
The senior administration officials stressed that the executive action was designed to work in conjunction with legislative action. So far, however, numerous bills seeking to establish federal privacy protections have failed to advance in Congress.
Wednesday’s move follows Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence last fall that seeks to balance the needs of cutting-edge technology companies with national security and consumer rights.
That sought to steer how AI is developed so that companies can profit without putting public safety in jeopardy, creating early guardrails meant to ensure that AI is trustworthy and helpful, rather than deceptive and destructive.
https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-issues-executive-order-to-better-shield-americans-sensitive-data-from-foreign-foes-/7505869.html Save to Pocket
To Promote Reproductive Health And Abortion Rights, Universities Turn To Student Ambassadors
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The LAist
For years colleges have used peer educators to promote health messages to the student body. The most recent task: awareness of medication abortion.
https://laist.com/news/education/medication-abortion-pills-ucla-student-health-ambassadors Save to Pocket
A Wave Of Departures Shakes Up LA’s Homeless Agency
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The LAist
Three top officials have left the L.A. Homeless Services Authority in recent weeks without press releases announcing the moves, LAist has learned.
https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/los-angeles-homeless-officials-executives-exit-leave-lahsa Save to Pocket
Teachers Unions Often Pick Winning School Board Candidates. Will This LAUSD Election Be Different?
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The LAist
Candidates endorsed by United Teachers Los Angeles have a significant edge — but a misstep can also be costly.
https://laist.com/news/education/lausd-school-board-election-march-2024-primary-los-angeles-unified Save to Pocket
California’s Youth Job Corps Offers A Second Chance At Career, Higher Education
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The LAist
Program goal is to bridge work and education gaps for foster, justice-impacted, low-income youth, and others.
https://laist.com/news/education/california-youth-job-corps-reentry Save to Pocket
From news desert to election do-over
date: 2024-02-28, from: Marketplace Morning Report
Today, as part of our Democracy in the Desert series, we head to North Carolina, where a Baptist minister seemed to win a 2018 congressional election by roughly 900 votes. But after a fraud scandal involving absentee ballots came to light, officials ordered a new election. We’ll hear how a lack of local news coverage played out in this story. Plus, what ever happened with Apple’s electric car efforts?
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/from-news-desert-to-election-do-over Save to Pocket
City council megaproject to spend millions for manual work Oracle system was meant to do
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Train-wreck public sector project was forecast to save ‘bankrupt’ council money
Europe’s largest local authority has allocated £5.3 million ($6.7 million) in next year’s budget to pay for manual workarounds deemed necessary after its effort to transition from SAP to Oracle ended in an expensive disaster.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/birmingham_city_council_to_spend/ Save to Pocket
Apple vs. PWAs – Go act now and help avoid this disaster…
date: 2024-02-28, from: Chris Heilmann
Apple wants to disallow Web Apps on iOS to be added to the home screen, run full screen and use the APIs necessary to create a great app. And to make things worse, only in Europe. We need to stop this from happening. The European Union is enforcing its Digital Markets Act and Apple aren’t […]
https://christianheilmann.com/2024/02/28/apple-vs-pwas-go-act-now-and-help-avoid-this-disaster/ Save to Pocket
Out-of-Control Wildfires Scorch Texas Panhandle, Pause Work at Nuclear Weapons Facility
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/out-of-control-wildfires-scorch-texas-panhandle-pause-work-at-nuclear-weapons-facility/7505802.html Save to Pocket
A Cyber Insurance Backstop
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Bruce Schneier blog
In the first week of January, the pharmaceutical giant Merck quietly settled its years-long lawsuit over whether or not its property and casualty insurers would cover a $700 million claim filed after the devastating NotPetya cyberattack in 2017. The malware ultimately infected more than 40,000 of Merck’s computers, which significantly disrupted the company’s drug and vaccine production. After Merck filed its $700 million claim, the pharmaceutical giant’s insurers argued that they were not required to cover the malware’s damage because the cyberattack was widely attributed to the Russian government and therefore was excluded from standard property and casualty insurance coverage as a “hostile or warlike act.”…
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/02/a-cyber-insurance-backstop.html Save to Pocket
Lincoln’s Leap Day Nomination of Grant
date: 2024-02-28, from: National Archives, Pieces of History blog
160 years ago on leap day, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Ulysses S. Grant to be Lieutenant General of the Army. Three years into the U.S. Civil War, with no end in sight, President Abraham Lincoln needed to find a commander who could lead the U.S. to victory. On February 29, 1864, Lincoln signed legislation reviving … Continue reading Lincoln’s Leap Day Nomination of Grant
https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2024/02/28/lincolns-leap-day-nomination-of-grant/ Save to Pocket
On-disk format change beckons for brave early adopters of Bcachefs
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
New versions of both Overstreet’s baby and OpenZFS will hit the street soon
New versions of the two leading next-generations filesystems are coming: both OpenZFS 2.2.3, and some time afterwards, an improved bcachefs.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/new_vers_bcachefs_zfs/ Save to Pocket
Creditors file to liquidate China’s largest property developer
date: 2024-02-28, from: Marketplace Morning Report
A petition to liquidate has been filed in Hong Kong’s High Court against China’s biggest private property developer, Country Garden. Then, South Korea has reported a record-low birth rate despite spending billions to encourage women to have more children. And more than 6,000,000 people visit the Sistine Chapel each year, but big numbers could cause damage to the frescos. We’ll hear about the Vatican’s team of experts who monitor conditions in the chapel.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/creditors-file-to-liquidate-chinas-largest-property-developer Save to Pocket
@Tomosino’s Mastodon feed (date: 2024-02-28, from: Tomosino’s Mastodon feed)
As promised, here’s a bit of a deeper dive into Google’s Consent Mode V2.
https://labs.tomasino.org/cookie-consent-with-google-consent-mode-v2/
#analytics #google #cookie #advertising
https://tilde.zone/@tomasino/112008942294879275 Save to Pocket
@Jessica Smith’s blog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Jessica Smith’s blog)
Logged back into Tumblr for the first time in ages to opt out of my data being used to train AI (and found it was pre-opted out, apparently because I’d already opted out of being indexed by search engines). This prompted me to, once again, do the old mental dance of “Ugh, I haven’t even used this account in years, should I just delete it?” followed by “But I’d want a backup first…” culminating in the power move of “omg how many thousands of photos and gifsets did I reblog on this account? The backup’s going to be like 100GB!” (OK, I guess that’s not a power move? The “dancing” metaphor got away from me a bit.) I really don’t even care about 99% of this; I just want the political theory stuff I had so meticulously tagged. I requested an export anyway, but if what it produces doesn’t let me browse posts by tag (as I suspect it won’t) it won’t be very useful to me.
Oh and, I also found that my crazy online hater who’s been sending me the odd hateful screed since I was literally 16 years old sent another couple just last month. Sounds like they’ve embraced full-on Nazism now, which makes a change from when they were just obsessed with Michael Jackson. (Basically, this person hates me because my teenage self made a really sensitive and nuanced blog post, as 16-year-olds do, that I didn’t care about ol’ MJ dying because he was probably a pedo. Little did I know I was creating a nemesis who would dog me until the end of time…)
https://www.jayeless.net/2024/02/logged-back-into-tumblr.html Save to Pocket
What Might Happen Without a Leap Day? More Than You Think
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
NEW YORK — Leap year. It’s a delight for the calendar and math nerds among us. So how did it all begin and why?
Have a look at some of the numbers, history and lore behind the (not quite) every four-year phenom that adds a 29th day to February.
By the numbers
The math is mind-boggling in a layperson sort of way and down to fractions of days and minutes. There’s even a leap second occasionally, but there’s no hullabaloo when that happens.
The thing to know is that leap year exists, in large part, to keep the months in sync with annual events, including equinoxes and solstices, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.
It’s a correction to counter the fact that Earth’s orbit isn’t precisely 365 days a year. The trip takes about six hours longer than that, NASA says.
Contrary to what some might believe, however, not every four years is a leaper. Adding a leap day every four years would make the calendar longer by more than 44 minutes, according to the National Air & Space Museum.
Later, on a calendar yet to come (we’ll get to it), it was decreed that years divisible by 100 not follow the four-year leap day rule unless they are also divisible by 400, the JPL notes. In the past 500 years, there was no leap day in 1700, 1800 and 1900, but 2000 had one. In the next 500 years, if the practice is followed, there will be no leap day in 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500.
Still with us?
The next leap years are 2028, 2032 and 2036.
What would happen without a leap day?
Eventually, nothing good in terms of when major events fall, when farmers plant and how seasons align with the sun and the moon.
“Without the leap years, after a few hundred years we will have summer in November,” said Younas Khan, a physics instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Christmas will be in summer. There will be no snow. There will be no feeling of Christmas.”
Who came up with leap year?
The short answer: It evolved.
Ancient civilizations used the cosmos to plan their lives, and there are calendars dating back to the Bronze Age. They were based on either the phases of the moon or the sun, as various calendars are today. Usually they were “lunisolar,” using both.
Now hop on over to the Roman Empire and Julius Caesar. He was dealing with major seasonal drift on calendars used in his neck of the woods. They dealt badly with drift by adding months. He was also navigating many calendars starting in many ways in the vast Roman Empire.
He introduced his Julian calendar in 46 BCE. It was purely solar and counted a year at 365.25 days, so once every four years an extra day was added. Before that, the Romans counted a year at 355 days, at least for a time.
But still, under Julius, there was drift. There were too many leap years! The solar year isn’t precisely 365.25 days! It’s 365.242 days, said Nick Eakes, an astronomy educator at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Thomas Palaima, a classics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said adding periods of time to a year to reflect variations in the lunar and solar cycles was done by the ancients. The Athenian calendar, he said, was used in the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries with 12 lunar months.
That didn’t work for seasonal religious rites. The drift problem led to “intercalating” an extra month periodically to realign with lunar and solar cycles, Palaima said.
The Julian calendar was 0.0078 days (11 minutes and 14 seconds) longer than the tropical year, so errors in timekeeping still gradually accumulated, according to NASA. But stability increased, Palaima said.
The Julian calendar was the model used by the Western world for hundreds of years. Enter Pope Gregory XIII, who calibrated further. His Gregorian calendar took effect in the late 16th century. It remains in use today and, clearly, isn’t perfect or there would be no need for leap year. But it was a big improvement, reducing drift to mere seconds.
Why did he step in? Well, Easter. It was coming later in the year over time, and he fretted that events related to Easter like the Pentecost might bump up against pagan festivals. The pope wanted Easter to remain in the spring.
He eliminated some extra days accumulated on the Julian calendar and tweaked the rules on leap day. It’s Pope Gregory and his advisers who came up with the really gnarly math on when there should or shouldn’t be a leap year.
“If the solar year was a perfect 365.25 then we wouldn’t have to worry about the tricky math involved,” Eakes said.
What’s the deal with leap year and marriage?
Bizarrely, leap day comes with lore about women popping the marriage question to men. It was mostly benign fun, but it came with a bite that reinforced gender roles.
There’s distant European folklore. One story places the idea of women proposing in fifth century Ireland, with St. Bridget appealing to St. Patrick to offer women the chance to ask men to marry them, according to historian Katherine Parkin in a 2012 paper in the Journal of Family History.
Nobody really knows where it all began.
In 1904, syndicated columnist Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer, aka Dorothy Dix, summed up the tradition this way: “Of course people will say … that a woman’s leap year prerogative, like most of her liberties, is merely a glittering mockery.”
The pre-Sadie Hawkins tradition, however serious or tongue-in-cheek, could have empowered women but merely perpetuated stereotypes. The proposals were to happen via postcard, but many such cards turned the tables and poked fun at women instead.
Advertising perpetuated the leap year marriage game. A 1916 ad by the American Industrial Bank and Trust Co. read thusly: “This being Leap Year day, we suggest to every girl that she propose to her father to open a savings account in her name in our own bank.”
There was no breath of independence for women due to leap day.
Should we pity the leaplings?
Being born in a leap year on a leap day certainly is a talking point. But it can be kind of a pain from a paperwork perspective. Some governments and others requiring forms to be filled out and birthdays to be stated stepped in to declare what date was used by leaplings for such things as drivers’ licenses, whether Feb. 28 or March 1.
Technology has made it far easier for leap babies to jot down their Feb. 29 milestones, though there can be glitches in terms of health systems, insurance policies and with other businesses and organizations that don’t have that date built in.
There are about 5 million people worldwide who share the leap birthday out of about 8 billion people on the planet. Shelley Dean, 23, in Seattle, Washington, chooses a rosy attitude about being a leapling. Growing up, she had normal birthday parties each year, but an extra special one when leap years rolled around. Since, as an adult, she marks that non-leap period between Feb. 28 and March 1 with a low-key “whew.”
This year is different.
“It will be the first birthday that I’m going to celebrate with my family in eight years, which is super exciting, because the last leap day I was on the other side of the country in New York for college,” she said. “It’s a very big year.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/what-might-happen-without-a-leap-day-more-than-you-think/7502545.html Save to Pocket
With AG opinion issued, CAHA to now determine FestPac delegation members
date: 2024-02-28, from: Guam Daily Post
With Attorney General Douglas Moylan having opined that board members for the Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency have the discretion to decide delegates for the 2024 Festival of Pacific Arts, acting CAHA Executive Director Angie Taitague has…
https://www.postguam.com/news/with-ag-opinion-issued-caha-to-now-determine-festpac-delegation-members/article_8504a58c-d623-11ee-85a3-e774af5e9f56.html Save to Pocket
Palantir boss says outfit’s software the only reason the ‘goose step’ has not returned to Europe
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Motor-mouth CEO Alex Karp claims biz stopped ‘innumerable’ terror attacks in Europe
The CEO of controversial data-mining firm Palantir has claimed its technology has prevented terrorist attacks in Europe, thereby implicitly saving the continent from the return of fascism.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/palantir_boss_fii_speech/ Save to Pocket
Uncle Sam tells nosy nations to keep their hands off Americans’ personal data
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Biden readies executive order targeting China, Russia, and pals
US President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order today that aims to prevent the sale or transfer of Americans’ sensitive personal information and government-related data to adversarial countries including China and Russia.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/white_house_sensitive_data/ Save to Pocket
The Next Big Climate Tool: Little Chunks of Rock
date: 2024-02-28, from: Heatmap News
When we talk about carbon removal, we often focus on “direct air capture” facilities — big factories that suck carbon dioxide out of the ambient air.
But a simpler and easier way to remove carbon from the atmosphere may exist. It’s called “enhanced rock weathering” — grinding up rocks, spreading them out, and exposing them to the ambient air — and it works, essentially, by speeding up the Earth’s carbon cycle. Enhanced rock weathering recently got a major vote of confidence from Frontier, a consortium of tech and finance companies who have teamed up to support new and experimental carbon removal technologies.
Frontier’s members include Stripe, Meta, Alphabet, Shopify, and McKinsey & Company. It aims to buy nearly $1 billion of various forms of carbon removal in the next few years — an intervention meant to spur commercial and investor interest in the sector.
In this episode, Jesse Jenkins, an energy systems expert and professor at Princeton University, and I talk with Jane Flegal, a former Biden White House climate adviser and now the market development and policy lead at Frontier, about the promise of enhanced rock weathering and why Frontier just spent $57 million to do it.
Subscribe to “Shift Key” and find this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also add the show’s RSS feed to your podcast app to follow us directly.
Here is an excerpt from our conversation:
Jane Flegal: So enhanced weathering is a carbon removal process that speeds up a natural process which is weathering of alkaline materials. And so weathering happens naturally, it actually drives what makes the earth habitable in the first place. It just happens over very, very long periods. So essentially what happens is that rocks slowly erode when they come into contact with acid rain essentially and —
Robinson Meyer: Naturally acidic rain?
Flegal: Yeah, not like acid rain the way we think of it, rain that is acidic because it has some dissolved CO2. And so that acidic rainwater interacts with rocks and erodes them, and it results in CO2 being stored either as a solid carbonate or as a bicarbonate. So that happens naturally, again, on very long time periods.
Meyer: And I just want to interrupt before we go any further. What then happens, right, is that the CO2 winds up being dissolved as a bicarbonate. It goes into the ocean.
Flegal: Into the ocean.
Meyer: And then what happens? It’s turned into …
Flegal: It sinks and becomes part of the Earth’s crust.
Meyer: Right. Or it gets turned into a shell, a creature’s shell, and then it sinks again.
Flegal: It is functionally stable. It is thermodynamically pretty much impossible to reverse.
Meyer: And you kind of said this, but I do want to draw it out: This is the carbon cycle. This is a central Earth science process. There’s nothing fancy about this.
Jesse Jenkins: The problem is it takes centuries to play out. It’s just moving on geologic time. But this idea of enhanced weathering means we can potentially speed that up, right?
Meyer: Sorry, I just want to — this is, like, the whole problem of climate change, right? The problem of climate change is that we take fossil fuels and carbon that’s stored in geological storage out of the ground on historic time scales, on decadal … you know, every year we take millions of tons of it out of the ground, and then it would only be restored back to the ground by this extremely slow process.
Flegal: One way to think about carbon removal is, like, taking stuff out of the fast cycle and putting it into the slow cycle, basically. And essentially, you either inject CO2 underground, where it’s where it’s stable, or you turn it into salt. These are kind of the options.
And so enhanced weathering, to exactly this point, it’s enhanced for a reason, right? There’s regular old weathering, and then there’s the enhanced kind, which aims to speed up this process that typically takes millennia to years or days by either using more reactive materials than the normal rocks that would just weather naturally or increasing the surface area of the material that is exposed to CO2. So grinding up rocks into very, very fine fine powder and exposing that material to more favorable environments.
This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by Advanced Energy United, KORE Power, and Yale …
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Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
https://heatmap.news/podcast/shift-key-episode-4-enhanced-rock-weathering Save to Pocket
January foster care payments sent out Tuesday, speaker seeks state of emergency for CPS
date: 2024-02-28, from: Guam Daily Post
Following concerns that foster care payments were lagging, acting Department of Administration Director Elizabeth Fisher has confirmed that payments for foster care services provided in January were disbursed Tuesday, and for any residual checks, the Department of Public Health and…
https://www.postguam.com/news/january-foster-care-payments-sent-out-tuesday-speaker-seeks-state-of-emergency-for-cps/article_6d051ea4-d613-11ee-86be-f3d4dcf30213.html Save to Pocket
Chiefs parade shooting could be a new test of expanded ‘stand your ground’ protections
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The man accused of firing the first shots at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally told authorities he felt threatened, while a second man said he pulled the trigger because someone was shooting at him, according to court documents.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/chiefs-parade-shooting-could-be-a-new-test-of-expanded-stand-your-ground-protections/ Save to Pocket
Gov. Green releases details of $175M fund to compensate Maui wildfire victims
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Tuesday that a $175 million fund to compensate families of people killed in the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century will begin accepting applications at the end of the week.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/gov-green-releases-details-of-175m-fund-to-compensate-maui-wildfire-victims/ Save to Pocket
Certified global, drink it local: Beer pros place Keeau business among ‘Best New Breweries of the Year’
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>A Keaau craft brewery was named by the beer, wine and spirits website Vinepair.com as one of “The 19 Best New Breweries of the Year, According to Beer Pros” for 2023.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/hawaii-news/certified-global-drink-it-local-beer-pros-place-keeau-business-among-best-new-breweries-of-the-year/ Save to Pocket
Legislature tries to play catchup on drone technology
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>State lawmakers are taking proactive measures to prevent using drones to commit crimes.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/hawaii-news/legislature-tries-to-play-catchup-on-drone-technology/ Save to Pocket
Trump and Biden win Michigan primary. But voters uncommitted to either candidate demand attention
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>DEARBORN, Mich. — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won the Michigan primaries on Tuesday, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men — yet early results from the state were highlighting some of their biggest political vulnerabilities ahead of the November general election.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/trump-and-biden-win-michigan-primary-but-voters-uncommitted-to-either-candidate-demand-attention/ Save to Pocket
Road closures planned for Waipio Valley Road
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Road closures are planned for Waipio Valley Road next month as survey work begins in preparation for eventual safety improvements along the treacherous road.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/hawaii-news/road-closures-planned-for-waipio-valley-road/ Save to Pocket
Toppled moon lander sends back more images, with only hours left until it dies
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A moon lander that ended up on its side managed to beam back more pictures, with only hours remaining before it dies.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/toppled-moon-lander-sends-back-more-images-with-only-hours-left-until-it-dies/ Save to Pocket
Voicemail death threat sought in case related to Las Vegas reporter’s killing
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>LAS VEGAS — Former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles’ defense attorney is pushing to obtain a recording of a death threat sent to Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German in the months before he was killed.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/voicemail-death-threat-sought-in-case-related-to-las-vegas-reporters-killing/ Save to Pocket
Test tube murder? Alabama Supreme Court’s terrible in vitro fertilization decision
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>“What are you doing, Alabama?” Neil Young sang. The question must be asked again and at the top of the nation’s lungs, as abortion fundamentalism has just resulted in a ruling by the state’s top court that, in the name of protecting life, shows patent disrespect for families and the children they seek to bring into the world.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/opinion/test-tube-murder-alabama-supreme-courts-terrible-in-vitro-fertilization-decision/ Save to Pocket
I went to CPAC as an anthropologist to understand Trump’s base
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>What is happening in the hearts of former President Donald Trump’s supporters?</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/opinion/i-went-to-cpac-as-an-anthropologist-to-understand-trumps-base/ Save to Pocket
Biden and party leaders implore Speaker Johnson to help Ukraine in ‘intense’ Oval Office meeting
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders emerged from an “intense” Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden on Tuesday speaking optimistically about the prospects for avoiding a partial government shutdown, but with new uncertainty about aid for Ukraine and Israel as the president and others urgently warned Speaker Mike Johnson of the grave consequences of delay.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/biden-and-party-leaders-implore-speaker-johnson-to-help-ukraine-in-intense-oval-office-meeting/ Save to Pocket
FAA closes investigation into SpaceX Starship’s double-explosion 2nd flight
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>As SpaceX continues to gear up for flight No. 3 of its massive Starship and Super Heavy from Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration has closed the investigation into the second flight that resulted in explosions of both the booster and upper stages back in November.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/faa-closes-investigation-into-spacex-starships-double-explosion-2nd-flight/ Save to Pocket
After US strikes, Iran’s proxies scale back attacks on US bases
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Iran has made a concerted effort to rein in militias in Iraq and Syria after the United States retaliated with a series of airstrikes for the killing of three U.S. Army reservists this month.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/after-us-strikes-irans-proxies-scale-back-attacks-on-us-bases/ Save to Pocket
In court, Don Henley recounts the making of the Eagles’ megahit ‘Hotel California’
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>NEW YORK — Seated in a courtroom witness box, Don Henley opened a large brown envelope Tuesday and paged through the aging yellow sheets of a legal pad.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/in-court-don-henley-recounts-the-making-of-the-eagles-megahit-hotel-california/ Save to Pocket
Former law partner of Nathan Wade testifies he doesn’t know when relationship with Fulton County DA Fani Willis began
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>ATLANTA — Special prosecutor Nathan Wade’s former law partner testified repeatedly Tuesday that he didn’t know when Wade’s romantic relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis began, frustrating defense attorneys in Fulton County’s election interference case who hoped he would help prove the prosecutors lied under oath.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/former-law-partner-of-nathan-wade-testifies-he-doesnt-know-when-relationship-with-fulton-county-da-fani-willis-began/ Save to Pocket
2 men convicted of killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay nearly 22 years after rap star’s death
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>NEW YORK — More than 20 years after Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay was brazenly gunned down in his recording studio, a jury convicted two men of his murder Tuesday, bringing closure to one of the hip-hop world’s most elusive crimes.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/2-men-convicted-of-killing-run-dmcs-jam-master-jay-nearly-22-years-after-rap-stars-death/ Save to Pocket
Trump’s $540 million court fine tests his ‘King of Debt’ title
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Donald Trump dubbed himself the “King of Debt” when boasting about how his business empire survived hard times, but a pair of big trial court losses this year are putting that moniker to the test.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/trumps-540-million-court-fine-tests-his-king-of-debt-title/ Save to Pocket
Almost 12,000 affordable homes in Hawaii could be lost over next 20 years, study says
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Hawaii is at risk of losing nearly 12, 000 affordable homes over the next two decades, according to a study commissioned by a nonprofit promoting action to prevent such loss.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/hawaii-news/almost-12000-affordable-homes-in-hawaii-could-be-lost-over-next-20-years-study-says/ Save to Pocket
Obituaries for February 28
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Douglas Ceredon, 80, of Honokaa died Nov. 28, 2023. Born in Hawaii, he was a U.S. Army Veteran. Committal service 8:30 a.m. Friday (March 1) at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No 2. Online condolences: homelanimemorialpark.com. Survived by sister, Emilia Lorenzo. Arrangements by Homelani Memorial Park.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/obituaries/obituaries-for-february-28-9/ Save to Pocket
Kremlin warns against NATO ground intervention in Ukraine
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>A provocative comment by President Emmanuel Macron of France about the possibility of putting troops from NATO countries in Ukraine has prompted a warning from the Kremlin and hurried efforts by European leaders to distance themselves from the suggestion.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/kremlin-warns-against-nato-ground-intervention-in-ukraine/ Save to Pocket
Maui settles COVID hazard pay grievance with police for $13 million
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Less than a month after an arbitrator ruled that thousands of state workers were owed COVID-19 hazard pay for their efforts during the pandemic, the County of Maui settled a grievance with the Maui Police Department for about $13 million.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/hawaii-news/maui-settles-covid-hazard-pay-grievance-with-police-for-13-million/ Save to Pocket
Mary Beth Laychak to be honored with ATHENA award
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Mary Beth Laychak has empowered hundreds of Hawaii’s youth to reach for the stars through her work at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/hawaii-news/mary-beth-laychak-to-be-honored-with-athena-award/ Save to Pocket
Chatbots’ inaccurate, misleading responses about U.S. elections threaten to keep voters from polls
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>NEW YORK — With presidential primaries underway across the U.S., popular chatbots are generating false and misleading information that threatens to disenfranchise voters, according to a report published Tuesday based on the findings of artificial intelligence experts and a bipartisan group of election officials.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/chatbots-inaccurate-misleading-responses-about-u-s-elections-threaten-to-keep-voters-from-polls/ Save to Pocket
Here’s what to know about a US couple missing in the Caribbean
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Authorities in the eastern Caribbean are scouring waters in the region in hopes of finding a missing U.S. couple who were aboard their catamaran Simplicity more than a week ago when police say it was hijacked by three escaped prisoners from Grenada.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/nation-world-news/heres-what-to-know-about-a-us-couple-missing-in-the-caribbean/ Save to Pocket
Patricia Wong sentenced to life plus 20 years for murder of Kaycee Smith
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold
<p>Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto on Tuesday sentenced a 62-year-old Naalehu woman to life in prison plus 20 years for the 2009 shooting death of Kaycee Smith, a 21-year-old rodeo champion.</p>
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/28/hawaii-news/patricia-wong-sentenced-to-life-plus-20-years-for-murder-of-kaycee-smith/ Save to Pocket
Let Raspberry Pi spot the aurora borealis for you while you stay warm (and asleep)
date: 2024-02-28, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
Frank Prins was inspired to build an all-sky camera following a magical trip to Svalbard in Norway. His budget-friendly design uses a Raspberry Pi 4, a Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT, and a Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera.
The post Let Raspberry Pi spot the aurora borealis for you while you stay warm (and asleep) appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/let-raspberry-pi-spot-the-aurora-borealis-for-you-while-you-stay-warm-and-asleep/ Save to Pocket
Automakers say they won’t try to push back EU’s 2035 ICE ban
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Rumors have been brewing for weeks now that Europe’s automakers were challenging the EU’s decision to ban ICE vehicles as of 2035. But the ACEA, Europe’s automakers association, said that it is not pushing back and is all in with the EV future. Is this PR spin or the real thing?
https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/automakers-say-they-wont-try-to-push-back-eus-2035-ice-ban/ Save to Pocket
Fernandez, Sanchez elected president, vice president
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The election was the first to use ranked-choice voting for the presidential tickets.
The post Fernandez, Sanchez elected president, vice president appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/fernandez-sanchez-elected-president-vice-president/ Save to Pocket
Plans to heat districts with datacenters may prove too hot to handle
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Report points out the difficulties of getting such a system right
Using waste heat from datacenters for district heating makes sense from an environmental standpoint, yet there are implementation challenges and potential pitfalls introduced with any government regulations covering it.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/datacenter_heat_reuse_challenges/ Save to Pocket
Gary Horton | Vote for Healthy Respect and for Real Hope
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Signal
Back when our family was still young, there was an honest-to-goodness record store over on Lyons Avenue. In this mecca of music, one could buy vinyl records, cassette tapes, and just coming out were those shiny CDs in the brittle clear plastic cases. Lots of tempting music treats, all lined up to catch one’s eye, […]
The post Gary Horton | Vote for Healthy Respect and for Real Hope appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/gary-horton-vote-for-healthy-respect-and-for-real-hope/ Save to Pocket
Dianne Van Hook | Remove Roadblocks to 4-Year Degrees
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Signal
Would you drive 12 hours roundtrip daily to attend college classes that lead to a bachelor’s degree? Of course not! But California State University, Sacramento, seems to think its students might. So, they’re throwing up roadblocks that are delaying approval of our proposed bachelor of arts in sustainable architecture program. Following the process outlined in […]
The post Dianne Van Hook | Remove Roadblocks to 4-Year Degrees appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/dianne-van-hook-remove-roadblocks-to-4-year-degrees/ Save to Pocket
Annette Lucas | Looks Good on Paper, But in Person?
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Signal
The Village at Wiley Canyon is the proposed development between Hawkbryn Avenue and Calgrove Boulevard and between Wiley Canyon and Interstate 5, consisting of 379 “high-end” rental apartments, 130 independent senior apartments, 61 assisted living units and 26 memory care units — none of the senior facilities are low-cost to our seniors —and almost 9,000 […]
The post Annette Lucas | Looks Good on Paper, But in Person? appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/annette-lucas-looks-good-on-paper-but-in-person/ Save to Pocket
The Koch Network Is Killing Rail Safety
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Lever News
The billionaire-backed Koch network is leading efforts to stonewall the bipartisan Railway Safety Act.
https://www.levernews.com/the-koch-network-is-killing-rail-safety/ Save to Pocket
Public-private partnership may be needed for GMH operations
date: 2024-02-28, from: Guam Daily Post
With the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority anticipating a $30 million shortfall in operations by the end of the fiscal year, Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio said Wednesday that outside or additional help may be needed for the hospital authority’s accounting operations…
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/public-private-partnership-may-be-needed-for-gmh-operations/article_3a4f85ea-d5fe-11ee-bbd0-b3025e3102ab.html Save to Pocket
Tenorio says regulatory changes possible for permitting agencies
date: 2024-02-28, from: Guam Daily Post
Over the next few months, the governor’s administration will be directing permitting agencies to hold public hearings on current regulations and gather input about potential revisions, according to Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, who spoke before the Guam Chamber of Commerce…
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/tenorio-says-regulatory-changes-possible-for-permitting-agencies/article_6d8d7b8e-d5ee-11ee-9aa6-fb730ff68f64.html Save to Pocket
Chinese boater pleads guilty to 2022 arrival
date: 2024-02-28, from: Guam Daily Post
A Chinese boater pleaded guilty to charges related to his illegal arrival on the island in June 2022.
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/chinese-boater-pleads-guilty-to-2022-arrival/article_0319010c-d502-11ee-993c-7f6119190c88.html Save to Pocket
Complaint: Alleged drunk driver offered $300 bribe to Port police
date: 2024-02-28, from: Guam Daily Post
A man allegedly offered $300 to authorities after he was arrested during a traffic stop.
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/complaint-alleged-drunk-driver-offered-300-bribe-to-port-police/article_6f379020-d5d8-11ee-bb9b-8be4b81a3a9a.html Save to Pocket
Man accused of attempting to stab victim with kitchen knife
date: 2024-02-28, from: Guam Daily Post
Smackson Sawata was accused of attempting to stab a man with a kitchen knife before a woman blocked it with a car seat.
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/man-accused-of-attempting-to-stab-victim-with-kitchen-knife/article_62b79aec-d5c5-11ee-9fdd-e733a893199b.html Save to Pocket
Passenger recounts 4-car crash on Route 1’s Dead Man’s Curve
date: 2024-02-28, from: Guam Daily Post
Michelle Losongco was having what she called a “leisure day” with her husband. They were on their way to meet a friend for coffee Thursday morning, Feb. 22, when they were involved in a four-car collision on Route 1 on…
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/passenger-recounts-4-car-crash-on-route-1-s-dead-mans-curve/article_d0e48ccc-d5df-11ee-ae58-6ba8a1171da4.html Save to Pocket
Office Hours: Should the Michigan primary result be a wakeup call to Biden?
date: 2024-02-28, from: Robert Reich on Substack
Friends, The question was never whether Joe Biden would win the Michigan primary. It was how successful would be a homegrown campaign to persuade Michiganders to vote “uncommitted.” Well, we now have the results, and they should serve as a wakeup call to Biden. With most votes counted on Wednesday morning, 13% of Michigan’s Democratic primary voters had chosen “uncommitted” — a share that represented more than 100,000 people in Michigan who made the effort to lodge their disapproval of the president.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/office-hours-does-the-michigan-primary Save to Pocket
Office Hours: Where will Trump find the money to pay all his civil penalties?
date: 2024-02-28, from: Robert Reich on Substack
I have a guess
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-will-trump-get-the-cash-he-owes Save to Pocket
Europe probes Microsoft’s €15M stake in AI upstart Mistral
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Cash-for-Azure-access deal went through just as latest LLM landed
The European Commission is investigating Microsoft’s €15 million ($16.3 million) investment in French startup Mistral, which came just after the latter released a large language model to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/eu_microsoft_mistral/ Save to Pocket
Classifieds – February 28, 2024
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The Daily Trojan features Classified advertising in each day’s edition. Here you can read, search, and even print out each day’s edition of the Classifieds.
The post Classifieds – February 28, 2024 appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/classifieds-february-27-2024-2/ Save to Pocket
Today in SCV History (Feb. 28)
date: 2024-02-28, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1890 – Jenkins ranch hands Dolores Cook and George Walton of Castaic slain by rival William Chormicle and W.A. Gardener. [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-feb-28-2/ Save to Pocket
The pitfalls of the ‘girls supporting girls’ mentality
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
There are some cons to the ardent gender affinity I’ve felt for fellow women.
The post The pitfalls of the ‘girls supporting girls’ mentality appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/the-pitfalls-of-the-girls-supporting-girls-mentality/ Save to Pocket
Bronny should stay in college as long as he can
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
James has a lot of raw talent, but isn’t ready for the NBA just yet.
The post Bronny should stay in college as long as he can appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/202744/ Save to Pocket
Women’s swim looks to lap competition at Pac-12 Championships
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
After its historic regular season, USC will battle for the Conference crown.
The post Women’s swim looks to lap competition at Pac-12 Championships appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/womens-swim-looks-to-lap-competition-at-pac-12-championships/ Save to Pocket
Political apathy is an immense privilege
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Staying ‘apolitical’ is a privilege — and one we must always keep in check.
The post Political apathy is an immense privilege appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/political-apathy-is-an-immense-privilege/ Save to Pocket
I don’t want to be useful, I want to be Prada useful
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Miuccia Prada’s “Vogue” cover story opens a new interpretation of the word “useful” and how fashion lies in the spectrum of business and pleasure.
The post I don’t want to be useful, I want to be Prada useful appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/i-dont-want-to-be-useful-i-want-to-be-prada-useful/ Save to Pocket
Students with USC Museums demystifies art
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Club leaders hope to forge working relationships with the University’s museums.
The post Students with USC Museums demystifies art appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/students-with-usc-museums-demystifies-art/ Save to Pocket
Trader Joe’s moves closing time one hour earlier
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The grocery store will move its closing time from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m. March 4.
The post Trader Joe’s moves closing time one hour earlier appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/trader-joes-usc/ Save to Pocket
Women’s basketball engages March mindset
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
USC will face Arizona and Arizona State following a tough loss on Senior Day.
The post Women’s basketball engages March mindset appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/202723/ Save to Pocket
Senior creates social platform for college students
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Linkd will feature groups and topics meant to cater to a student’s specific college.
The post Senior creates social platform for college students appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/02/28/senior-creates-social-platform-for-college-students/ Save to Pocket
Nvidia lures senior autonomous car developer from China’s Baidu
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Jensen Huang’s automotive engineering team has now pinched two significant Middle Kingdom talents
Nvidia has picked up a former engineer who worked on Baidu’s L2+ Autonomous Driving System, Luo Qi, to head the engineering team of its own automotive business unit.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/nvidia_hires_baidu_robocar_expert/ Save to Pocket
February 27, 2024
date: 2024-02-28, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
The House of Representatives will be back in session tomorrow after the February 19 Presidents Day holiday. It is facing a number of crucial issues, but the ongoing problem of the radicalism of the MAGA Republicans has ground—and, apparently, continues to grind—legislation to a halt.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-27-2024 Save to Pocket
‘Uncommitted’ Michigan Voters Send Signal to Biden on Gaza Cease-Fire
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
As negotiators push to secure a temporary cease-fire deal that would halt the Gaza war before Ramadan begins, a message from Michiganders signaling anger at President Joe Biden’s support of Israel’s campaign that has killed almost 30,000 Palestinians. Early results show that 13% of Democratic primary voters in the critical swing state, home to a large Arab American constituency, marked their primary ballots as “uncommitted” on the president. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this account with reporting from Michigan by Dora Mekouar.
https://www.voanews.com/a/uncommitted-michigan-voters-send-signal-to-biden-on-gaza-cease-fire-/7505623.html Save to Pocket
Google wants regulators to take Microsoft down a notch before it stifles AI
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Ad giant that owns over 80 percent of search traffic yells at cloud monopoly
Updated Google has again stoked fears that rival Microsoft is using anticompetitive business practices and licenses to establish a cloud monopoly, and is calling on regulators to take action.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/google_microsoft_cloud_eu/ Save to Pocket
Many people don’t know that nuclear power is low-carbon
date: 2024-02-28, from: Hannah Richie at Substack
Less than half of Brits say that nuclear is a low-carbon source of energy.
https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/nuclear-low-carbon Save to Pocket
US Army Slashing Thousands of Posts in Major Revamp
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is slashing the size of its force by about 24,000, or almost 5%, and restructuring to be better able to fight the next major war, as the service struggles with recruiting shortfalls that made it impossible to bring in enough soldiers to fill all the jobs.
The cuts will mainly be in already-empty posts — not actual soldiers — including in jobs related to counterinsurgency that swelled during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars but are not needed as much today. About 3,000 of the cuts would come from Army special operations forces.
At the same time, however, the plan will add about 7,500 troops in other critical missions, including air-defense and counter-drone units and five new task forces around the world with enhanced cyber, intelligence and long-range strike capabilities.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said she and Gen. Randy George, the Army chief, worked to thin out the number of places where they had empty or excess slots.
“We’re moving away from counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. We want to be postured for large-scale combat operations,” Wormuth told reporters on Tuesday. “So we looked at where were there pieces of force structure that were probably more associated with counterinsurgency, for example, that we don’t need anymore.”
George added that Army leaders did a lot of analysis to choose the places to cut.
“The things that we want to not have in our formation are actually things that we don’t think are going to make us successful on the battlefield going forward,” he said.
According to an Army document, the service is “significantly overstructured” and there aren’t enough soldiers to fill existing units. The cuts, it said, are “spaces” not “faces” and the Army will not be asking soldiers to leave the force.
Instead, the decision reflects the reality that for years the Army hasn’t been able to fill thousands of empty posts. While the Army as it’s currently structured can have up to 494,000 soldiers, the total number of active-duty soldiers right now is about 445,000. Under the new plan, the goal is to bring in enough troops over the next five years to reach a level of 470,000.
The planned overhaul comes after two decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan that forced the Army to quickly and dramatically expand in order to fill the brigades sent to the battlefront. That included a massive counterinsurgency mission to battle al-Qaida, the Taliban and the Islamic State group.
Over time the military’s focus has shifted to great power competition from adversaries such as China and Russia, and threats from Iran and North Korea. And the war in Ukraine has shown the need for greater emphasis on air-defense systems and high-tech abilities both to use and counter airborne and sea-based drones.
Army leaders said they looked carefully across the board at all the service’s job specialties in search of places to trim. And they examined the ongoing effort to modernize the Army, with new high-tech weapons, to determine where additional forces should be focused.
According to the plan, the Army will cut about 10,000 spaces for engineers and similar jobs that were tied to counter-insurgency missions. An additional 2,700 cuts will come from units that don’t deploy often and can be trimmed, and 6,500 will come from various training and other posts.
There also will be about 10,000 posts cut from cavalry squadrons, Stryker brigade combat teams, infantry brigade combat teams and security force assistance brigades, which are used to train foreign forces.
The changes represent a significant shift for the Army to prepare for large-scale combat operations against more sophisticated enemies. But they also underscore the steep recruiting challenges that all of the military services are facing.
In the last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the Navy, Army and Air Force all failed to meet their recruitment goals, while the Marine Corps and the tiny Space Force met their targets. The Army brought in a bit more than 50,000 recruits, falling well short of the publicly stated “stretch goal” of 65,000.
The previous fiscal year, the Army also missed its enlistment goal by 15,000. That year the goal was 60,000.
In response, the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its recruiting last fall to focus more on young people who have spent time in college or are job hunting early in their careers. And it is forming a new professional force of recruiters, rather than relying on soldiers randomly assigned to the task.
In discussing the changes at the time, Wormuth acknowledged that the service hasn’t been recruiting well “for many more years than one would think from just looking at the headlines in the last 18 months.” The service, she said, hasn’t met its annual goal for new enlistment contracts since 2014.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-army-slashing-thousands-of-posts-in-major-revamp/7505611.html Save to Pocket
CIF State Playoffs: Santa Barbara Comeback Halted by San Marcos Knights in Season-Ending 85-81 Loss
date: 2024-02-28, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Luke Zuffelato scored 46 points in the loss, including eight three-pointers.
The post CIF State Playoffs: Santa Barbara Comeback Halted by San Marcos Knights in Season-Ending 85-81 Loss appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/27/cif-state-playoffs-santa-barbara-comeback-halted-by-san-marcos-knights-in-season-ending-85-81-loss/ Save to Pocket
Husqvarna ports Doom to a robot lawnmower – not, thankfully, its chainsaws
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Seminal game runs on everything, so why not pay €2,199 to run it on a tiny screen?
Swedish garden appliance maker Husqvarna has ported Doom to one of its robotic lawn mowers.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/husqvarna_doom_robomower_port/ Save to Pocket
Killing of Georgia Nursing Student at Center of US Immigration Debate
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
Athens, Georgia — Laken Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student out on her morning run at the University of Georgia when authorities say a stranger dragged her into a secluded area and killed her, sending shockwaves through campus as police searched for a suspect.
The arrest of a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case put the tragedy at the center of the 2024 presidential campaign.
Former President Donald Trump blamed President Joe Biden and his border policies for the Augusta University student’s fatal beating. A conservative news site blasted “open-border elites” for accepting the deaths of women such as Riley as “collateral damage.”
It is familiar ground for Trump, who launched his 2016 White House bid by saying Mexicans were “bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
As president, he created an office for families whose loved ones were victims of violent crimes committed by immigrants, which was quickly dismantled under Biden.
The debate over the nation’s broken immigration system has emerged as a major campaign issue amid an unprecedented migration surge that has strained budgets in cities including New York, Chicago and Denver and divided some Democrats.
Trump has dialed up his anti-immigrant rhetoric to say migrants are “poisoning the blood” of the country. And he and other Republicans have suggested migrants are committing crimes more often than U.S. citizens, even though the evidence does not back up those claims.
Biden has criticized Republicans for turning against a bipartisan border security deal after Trump decried it. He will visit the Texas border city of Brownsville on Thursday, while Trump will be in another Texas border city, Eagle Pass.
On his social media site, Trump posted, “Crooked Joe Biden’s Border INVASION is destroying our country and killing our citizens! The horrible murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley at the University of Georgia should have NEVER happened!”
“He’s an animal that came in,” Trump said Tuesday on Michigan’s WFDF radio station.
Democrats have been more muted, with many expressing sorrow for Riley’s death and some accusing Trump of exploiting a tragedy and using xenophobic rhetoric for political gain.
The White House extended “deepest condolences” to Riley’s family. “People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty,” said spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, predicted Riley’s death is “gonna change this election as much as anything.”
“That’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” the South Carolina Republican said.
Many studies have found immigrants are less drawn to violent crime than native-born citizens. One published by the National Academy of Sciences, based on Texas Department of Public Safety data from 2012 to 2018, reported native-born U.S. residents were more than twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes than people in the country illegally.
Another in the journal Criminology analyzed multiple data sources from 1990 to 2014 to conclude that increases in illegal immigration were generally in sync with reductions in violent crime or had no significant correlation.
A study published last year by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private group, found immigrants have been incarcerated at a lower rate than U.S.-born white men since 1960.
“Whereas Democrats are increasingly more positive when talking about immigrants and pointing to their contributions to the U.S., Republicans remain negative and increasingly focus on crime and legality issues when they talk about immigrants,” said Ran Abramitzky, a Stanford University economics professor who has studied links between immigration and crime, referring to analyses of congressional statements going back decades.
Jon Feere, a former U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement official in the Trump administration who now is director of investigations at the Center for Immigration Studies, dismissed the research. He pointed to migrants who don’t have legal permission to be in the U.S., saying they are committing crimes just by being here.
“This type of fallout’s going to continue for many years to come, even beyond this administration,” Feere said. “And they can continue to ignore it, but the American people are paying attention.”
Families of victims have heartbreaking stories.
Don Rosenberg, a retired entertainment and publishing executive, lost his 25-year-old son, Drew, in 2010, when a Honduran man who was in the country illegally repeatedly struck him with his car in San Francisco and tried to flee. As he spoke with families whose loved ones were killed by immigrants, he concluded authorities were ignoring them, even protecting perpetrators.
“I thought my case was an anomaly. No, my case was the rule,” said Rosenberg, president of Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime.
Rosenberg says the high-profile cases won’t resonate with voters until news organizations give them more exposure “because Trump only talks to people who support Trump.”
The man accused of killing Riley, Jose Ibarra, was arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, amid an unprecedented surge in migration and released to pursue his case in immigration court.
At the time, the Border Patrol was releasing migrants with orders to appear at an immigration office, not even scheduling court appearances. That practice, which added years to how long it takes to resolve an immigration case, largely ceased in February 2023.
It is unclear if Ibarra, 26, followed those instructions or applied for asylum. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August for child endangerment and released, though New York officials said Sunday they had no record of the arrest.
Iberra was living in Athens, Georgia, when Riley was killed last week. His attorney has not responded to requests for comment.
Trump first mentioned the killing on Friday, calling it part of what he has labeled “Biden migrant crime.” It comes after a group of migrants brawling with police in New York touched off a political furor and renewed debate over policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The influential conservative site Breitbart News linked Riley’s death to other women who were killed by people in the country illegally, including Kate Steinle, who was shot at a crowded San Francisco pier in 2015. “Their deaths were all 100% preventable,” the site said.
https://www.voanews.com/a/killing-of-georgia-nursing-student-atcenter-of-us-immigration-debate/7505609.html Save to Pocket
Getting to Bottom of Goleta’s Million-Gallon Sewage Spill
date: 2024-02-28, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The Board of Supervisors receive a briefing on Santa Barbara County’s biggest offshore sewage spill in recent memory.
The post Getting to Bottom of Goleta’s Million-Gallon Sewage Spill appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/27/getting-to-bottom-of-goletas-million-gallon-sewage-spill/ Save to Pocket
That home router botnet the Feds took down? Moscow’s probably going to try again
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Non-techies told to master firmware upgrades and firewall rules. For the infosec hardheads: have some IOCs
Authorities from eleven nations have delivered a sequel to the January takedown of a botnet run by Russia on compromised Ubiquiti Edge OS routers – in the form of a warning that Russia may try again, so owners of the devices should take precautions.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/ubiquiti_botnet_second_warning/ Save to Pocket
@Jessica Smith’s blog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Jessica Smith’s blog)
Last night I was cooking a chicken stew, and I had to double-check my
recipe to remember which herbs I put in it (rosemary, thyme, basil, sage
and a bay leaf). As I was grabbing the little jars out of the cupboard,
it occurred to me that this list is pretty similar to that famous lyric
– parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
– and wondered, “Hmm, why is
it I never put parsley in this? Or, actually, into anything?” So I
pulled out my little jar of parsley, gave the contents a sniff (parsley
really doesn’t have a very appealing smell, hey) and read the
description on the jar’s side:
A popular herb used to garnish or add a touch of colour to your favourite meal. Great with sauces and egg dishes.
“Oh yeah!” I remembered. “Parsley is so crap that even the parsley jar can only suggest adding it to anything for cosmetic reasons. That’s why I never use it.”
Clearly, it’s time we change the line in that song to “basil, sage, rosemary and thyme”. And a bay leaf.
https://www.jayeless.net/2024/02/parsley-sage-rosemary-and-thyme.html Save to Pocket
‘Uncommitted’ Michigan Voters Send Signal to Biden on Gaza Cease-fire
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/uncommitted-michigan-voters-send-signal-to-biden-on-gaza-cease-fire-/7505564.html Save to Pocket
EU sanctions Indian tech outfit that has partnered with New Delhi’s IT Ministry
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Si2 Microsystems was tapped for silicon photonics expertise, but has Russian ties that worry Washington and Brussels
The European Union has imposed sanctions against Indian microelectronics maker Si2 Microsystems late last week for allegedly providing Russia with goods and technology that support the country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/eu_india_si2/ Save to Pocket
A Committed Progressive
date: 2024-02-28, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Das Williams is the person you call when you’re trying to figure out how to solve a problem in local government. He understands budgets and government regulations and how to make them work to get things done.
The post A Committed Progressive appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/27/a-committed-progressive/ Save to Pocket
Barger calls on state agencies to close Chiquita
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Signal
L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued a call for state regulators to revoke Chiquita Canyon Landfill’s permits Tuesday in response to their legal concerns about the county acting unilaterally against the landfill. Barger, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, said in a phone conversation during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting that she wanted […]
The post <strong>Barger calls on state agencies to close Chiquita</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/barger-calls-on-state-agencies-to-close-chiquita/ Save to Pocket
‘America needs you’: Guest speaker at Trinity decries rise of modern socialism
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Signal
Jake Jacobs said he is afraid of the rise of Marxism in modern American society and the direction that the country is headed. An author and historian, Jacobs was invited by the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at Trinity Classical Academy to speak at the campus on Monday evening, with the event being titled, “Karl […]
The post <strong>‘America needs you’: Guest speaker at Trinity decries rise of modern socialism</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/america-needs-you-guest-speaker-at-trinity-decries-rise-of-modern-socialism/ Save to Pocket
Quick Charge Podcast: February 27, 2024
date: 2024-02-28, from: Electrek Feed
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
https://electrek.co/2024/02/27/quick-charge-podcast-february-27-2024/ Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
One user's perspective on the switch from Movable Type to Wordpress in 2004. I wasn’t paying attention, that was the year of podcasting.
https://mastodon.social/@jalefkowit@octodon.social/112005523070087091 Save to Pocket
Netflix Will No Longer Accept Payments From App Store Billing for Legacy Accounts
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Daring Fireball
https://cordcuttersnews.com/netflix-will-no-longer-accept-payments-from-apple/ Save to Pocket
OpenAI claims New York Times paid someone to ‘hack’ ChatGPT
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Super lab alleges ‘deceptive prompts’ that it happily processed - and may have tracked - weren’t fair, so case should be dismissed
OpenAI has accused The New York Times Company of paying someone to “hack” ChatGPT to generate verbatim paragraphs from articles in its newspaper. By hack, presumably the biz means: Logged in as normal and asked it annoying questions.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/openai_nyt_lawsuit/ Save to Pocket
City hosting community hikes
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Signal
News release Each month, city of Santa Clarita staff will lead a hike at different trailheads and parks located throughout the community. “Whether you want to explore the outdoors or enjoy the fresh air, this is the perfect time to join fellow residents and learn more about our 12,000 acres of open spaces,” […]
The post City hosting community hikes appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/city-hosting-community-hikes/ Save to Pocket
Deputies arrest man on suspicion of indecent exposure
date: 2024-02-28, from: The Signal
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies arrested a transient man in Stevenson Ranch after responding to a report of indecent exposure at a supermarket shortly after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. A station official said the initial report involved a 50-year-old man who was defecating in front of the Vons in the 25900 block of The Old […]
The post Deputies arrest man on suspicion of indecent exposure appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/02/deputies-arrest-man-on-suspicion-of-indecent-exposure/ Save to Pocket
Apple Is Canceling Electric Car Project
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-27/apple-cancels-work-on-electric-car-shifts-team-to-generative-ai Save to Pocket
So Just How Much Pollution Do LAPD Helicopters Emit? Officials Disagree Over How They’re Used
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-28, from: The LAist
The Board of Police Commissioners presented and approved their report on Tuesday. It found that the annual CO2 emissions were 20% less than the controller’s audit and that flight times were proportional to the violent crime rates.
https://laist.com/news/lapd-controllers-audit-helicopters-emissions-use Save to Pocket
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
I asked ChatGPT for a "list of 25 interesting blogs that regularly update.
http://scripting.com/2024/02/27/003755.html Save to Pocket
In Border Visits, Biden and Trump Will Focus On Different Priorities
date: 2024-02-28, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/in-border-visits-biden-and-trump-will-focus-on-different-priorities-/7505485.html Save to Pocket
Texas judge turns out the lights on federal survey of cryptominers’ energy consumption
date: 2024-02-28, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Washington sees potential emergency as miners power up to chase new BTC high
A Texas judge has granted a temporary restraining order that prevents the US federal government surveying domestic cryptocurrency miners about their energy consumption.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/28/us_survey_cryptocurrency_power/ Save to Pocket
American Test Of $11,500 BYD Seagull: ‘This Doesn’t Come Across Cheap’
date: 2024-02-28, from: Inside EVs News
The imported EV hatchback may only cost $11,500 but it impressed industry veteran John McElroy.
https://insideevs.com/news/710364/byd-detroit-import-seagull-caresoft/ Save to Pocket
Smell the Results
date: 2024-02-28, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
As a result of Das Williams’s efforts, Santa Barbara County is now known nationwide as a leading cannabis producer.
The post Smell the Results appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/02/27/smell-the-results/ Save to Pocket
Wednesday 28 February, 2024
date: 2024-02-28, from: John Naughton’s online diary
Bathtime, London Spotted while walking to a meeting. Quote of the Day ”A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people’s patience.” John Updike Musical alternative to the morning’s radio … Continue reading
https://memex.naughtons.org/wednesday-28-february-2024/39186/ Save to Pocket
The Jak Shave
date: 2024-02-28, from: Marginallia log
I set out a little over a week ago to add a service registry to Marginalia Search, primarily to reduce its dependence on docker. I would like it to be able to run on bare metal as well, which poses a problem since configuring the application manually is a bit of a headache with dozens of ports that need to be set up. It would also be desirable to be able to run multiple instances of important services in order elliminate downtime during upgrades.
https://www.marginalia.nu/log/a_102_jak_shave/ Save to Pocket
US-RSE Black History Month Spotlight - Lyndsey Scott
date: 2024-02-28, from: The United States Research Software Engineer Association
US-RSE’s DEI working group (DEI-WG) is proud to help US-RSE celebrate and participate in Black History Month. Each week during Black History Month, the US-RSE will spotlight Black/African Americans who have been involved in computing, science, engineering, and/or math, and have inspired our members through their accomplishments in their careers…
https://us-rse.org/2024-02-28-black-history-spotlight-lyndsey-scott/ Save to Pocket
The Yak Shave
date: 2024-02-28, from: Marginallia log
I set out a little over a week ago to add a service registry to Marginalia Search, primarily to reduce its dependence on docker. I would like it to be able to run on bare metal as well, which poses a problem since configuring the application manually is a bit of a headache with dozens of ports that need to be set up. It would also be desirable to be able to run multiple instances of important services in order elliminate downtime during upgrades.
https://www.marginalia.nu/log/a_102_yak_shave/ Save to Pocket