News gathered 2024-03-01

(date: 2024-03-01 08:40:20)

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

Arkansas PBS Site Visit to Marshall Space Flight Center

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

Robert Loper, Mitzi Adams, and Adam Kobelski (ST13) and Joseph Matus (LP03) were interviewed on 1/23/24 by Arkansas PBS for a program on the upcoming 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. The interviews were conducted at the MSFC TV studio, the X-Ray and Cryogenic Facility, and the Stray Light Test Facility. This site visit is part of […]

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/marshall-science-research-and-projects/marshall-heliophysics-planetary-science/arkansas-pbs-site-visit-to-marshall-space-flight-center/ Save to Pocket

Problems persist at Oakley’s largest affordable housing complex

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

WinnResidential managers say they will work on improving the 500-unit apartment complex in coming weeks.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/problems-persist-at-oakleys-largest-affordable-housing-complex/ Save to Pocket

2023 Toyota Mirai With Up To $40,000 Cash Incentive Is Now Dirt Cheap

date: 2024-03-01, from: Inside EVs News

Factor in the $15,000 in free fuel, and the 2023 Mirai becomes among the most affordable cars on sale.

https://insideevs.com/news/710678/2023-toyota-mirai-steep-discounts/ Save to Pocket

60 years since the Civil Rights Act, racial wealth gaps persist

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

The National Urban League is out with its latest assessment on the State of Black America, which measures racial inequality in areas including employment, health care, housing and criminal justice. While some gaps have closed, others still have a long way to go. We’ll discuss. Plus, Wall Street is betting on a boom fueled by AI and falling interest rates, and theaters hope the “Dune” sequel will get moviegoers back in seats.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/60-years-since-the-civil-rights-act-racial-wealth-gaps-persist Save to Pocket

Ford Performance set to return to Pikes Peak 2024, climbing in a souped up F-150 Lightning

date: 2024-03-01, from: Electrek Feed

Ford Performance is returning to “America’s Mountain” to participate in the 102nd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. After reaching the summit in a modded-up electric SuperVan last year, Ford looks to make the climb again with a bespoke F-150 Lightning EV and has teased it in an interestingly sounding video below.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/03/01/ford-performance-to-return-pikes-peak-2024-racing-f-150-lightning-ev/ Save to Pocket

From Oakland gang-member to renowned California academic, Dr. Victor Rios opens up about childhood

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

Some of Dr. Rios childhood friends died before reaching adulthood. Many ended up in prison, or lost themselves to drug addiction. Few graduated high school.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/from-oakland-gang-member-to-renowned-california-academic-dr-victor-rios-opens-up-about-childhood/ Save to Pocket

A WordPress ‘Firehose’ Allows AI Companies to Buy Access to a Million Posts a Day

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

There is a complex chain of companies buying access to WordPress and Tumblr posts through a company called SocialGist.

https://www.404media.co/wordpress-firehose-allows-ai-companies-to-buy-access-to-a-million-posts-a-day/ Save to Pocket

March 2: Annual Hart District Honor Band Concert

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

The William S. Hart Union High School District will host its annual Honor Band Concert Saturday, March 2, at 6:30 p.m., at the Hart High School Auditorium.

https://scvnews.com/march-2-annual-hart-district-honor-band-concert/ Save to Pocket

Night-Shining Cloud Mission Ends; Yields High Science Results for NASA

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

After 16 years studying Earth’s highest clouds for the benefit of humanity – polar mesospheric clouds – from its orbit some 350 miles above the ground, NASA’s Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, or AIM, mission has come to an end. Initially slated for a two-year mission, AIM was extended numerous times due to its […]

https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/night-shining-cloud-mission-ends-yields-high-science-results-for-nasa/ Save to Pocket

Unionized YouTube Workers Learn Google Laid Them All Off During City Council Meeting

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

“They just laid us all off. Our jobs are ended today. Effective immediately.” A bell rings. “I’m sorry, your time has expired.”

https://www.404media.co/unionized-youtube-workers-learn-google-laid-them-all-off-during-city-council-meeting/ Save to Pocket

(Not) too old for this *

date: 2024-03-01, from: Paolo Valdemarin’s blog

By the end of this year it will be 30 years since I registered my first domain name (warning, your browser might throw a hissy fit, I didn’t bother to get a certificate to secure that site, it’s just there for nostalgic reasons, not worth the hassle). Yesterday I was trying to get a colleague … Continue reading “(Not) too old for this *“

https://val.demar.in/2024/03/not-too-old-for-this/ Save to Pocket

Musk joins OpenAI lawsuit queue, claiming there’s nothing ‘open’ about it

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

GPT-4 has already reached AGI, and Microsoft shouldn’t get its paws on it, court docs allege

Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has launched a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging a breach of contract in its move away from open technology and its original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.…

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

Fisker Q4 report: ‘Substantial doubt’ it can continue, seeks investment from ‘large automaker’

date: 2024-03-01, from: Electrek Feed

Fisker has shared preliminary details of its Q4 and full fiscal year 2023 results, and they’re… not great. Revenue is up for the quarter, but cash on hand is dwindling, causing the American EV automaker to express “substantial doubt” about its ability to move forward. That said, Fisker Inc. has some negotiations in the works to gain more runway, including a potential deal with a large OEM.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/03/01/fisker-q4-report-substantial-doubt-it-can-continue-seeks-investment-automaker/ Save to Pocket

Where is California’s hardest spot to find an apartment?

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

California has three of the nation’s toughest spots to be an apartment hunter.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/where-is-californias-hardest-spot-to-find-an-apartment/ Save to Pocket

Teenager shot to death in Antioch is identified

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

Police have not announced any arrests or publicly identified a suspect.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/teenager-shot-to-death-in-antioch-is-identified/ Save to Pocket

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

Alexey Navalny was one thing Vladimir Putin can never be: heroic.

https://mastodon.social/@georgelakoff@sfba.social/112021071773974367 Save to Pocket

California baseball star and political rookie Steve Garvey clears fences, edges into first in latest poll

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

“These findings represent a dramatic change in the standings when compared to earlier polls in the Senate race,” Berkeley IGS said in an analysis of its poll findings.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/baseball-star-and-political-rookie-steve-garvey-clears-fences-edges-into-first-in-latest-poll/ Save to Pocket

Burglars, thieves target Saratoga residents

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

Generator, tent, tools stolen in separate incidents.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/burglars-thieves-target-saratoga-residents/ Save to Pocket

Upcoming Storm Could Boost California Snowpack Above Normal

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

Light snow fell Thursday as state workers began the third snow survey of the season

https://scvnews.com/upcoming-storm-could-boost-california-snowpack-above-normal/ Save to Pocket

Silicon Valley humanoid robot-maker partners with OpenAI and gets backing from Jeff Bezos and tech giants

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

Sunnyvale -based Figure announced the partnership along with $675 million in venture capital funding from a group that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as well as Microsoft, chipmaker Nvidia and the startup-funding divisions of Intel and OpenAI.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/humanoid-robot-maker-figure-partners-with-openai-and-gets-backing-from-jeff-bezos-and-tech-giants/ Save to Pocket

Kottke.org Redesigns With 2024 Vibes

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

https://kottke.org/24/03/kottkeorg-redesigns-with-2024-vibes Save to Pocket

Consumer Reports Says Tesla Model Y Is The Best Electric Car Of 2024

date: 2024-03-01, from: Inside EVs News

It’s the only pure electric car on Consumer Reports’ ‘Best Cars Of The Year’ list.

https://insideevs.com/news/710663/tesla-model-y-best-electric-car-consumer-reports/ Save to Pocket

More rain, heavy snow are expected as second round of storm system approaches Northern California

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

Temperatures will become quite chilly with the next round of rain.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/more-rain-heavy-snow-are-expected-as-second-round-of-storm-system-approaches/ Save to Pocket

Electric vehicles outperformed diesel in this winter’s extreme cold

date: 2024-03-01, from: Electrek Feed

A lot of fuss was made this winter when some Tesla owners in Chicago experienced difficulty charging – but that wasn’t the experience for the majority of EV owners. In Colorado’s West Grand School District, electric school buses didn’t perform as well as their diesel counterparts. They performed better.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/03/01/electric-vehicles-outperformed-diesel-in-this-winters-extreme-cold/ Save to Pocket

Blogs for social web apps

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

In a new product I’m working on, I’m including links to the blogs of the social media apps I use. I notice that most of them have one. This is why:

1. You can put a title on a post on a blog.
2. You can include links (invariably announcements have links).
3. You can edit posts.
4. Simple text styling.
5. Blogs have feeds.

So I’m looking for the official blogs of the social apps I use – Mastodon, Bluesky, Twitter, Threads.

If so, what’s the feed URL?

Here’s a place to comment.

http://scripting.com/2024/03/01/145758.html?title=blogsForSocialWebApps Save to Pocket

Israeli Soldiers Are Posting Tinder Profile Pictures From Gaza

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

“This is contributing to the whole normalizing of anti-Palestinian racism, and downgrading of Palestinians as if they are not human beings.”

https://www.404media.co/israeli-soldiers-are-posting-tinder-profile-pictures-from-gaza/ Save to Pocket

Ford EV owners can use Tesla’s network, but they’ll need an adapter

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

Those adaptors are free but Ford won’t start shipping them until the end of March.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/ford-electric-vehicle-owners-can-now-charge-on-teslas-network-but-theyll-need-an-adapter-first/ Save to Pocket

Man admits to firebombing California Planned Parenthood clinic

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

Tibet Ergul admitted to firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa and plotting to attack an electrical substation in Orange. He also acknowledged discussing a planned attack at Dodger Stadium during an LGBTQ pride event.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/01/irvine-man-admits-to-firebombing-planned-parenthood-clinic/ Save to Pocket

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

The archive for February 2024, in OPML.

http://scripting.com/2024/03/01.html#a144124 Save to Pocket

Incoming wave of AI is making buying PCs riskier for businesses

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

Worse than having no tech would be having the wrong tech

AI PCs due to land this year could increase businesses’ risk of buying the wrong tech as there is still no current AI standard for software to work with and confusion remains over what makes up an AI PC.…

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

Elon Musk sues OpenAI

date: 2024-03-01, from: Gary Marcus blog

Third lawsuit this week

https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/elon-musk-sues-openai Save to Pocket

Rooted in Nature, Washington Festival Explores Ideas About Forests, Conservation

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

Exploring the relationship between humanity and nature, the Reach to Forest international festival brings artists together to plant ideas among viewers about the environment and conservation. From the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, VOA’s Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story. Camera: Phillip Datcher

https://www.voanews.com/a/rooted-in-nature-washington-festival-explores-ideas-about-forests-conservation/7509767.html Save to Pocket

Introducing JSR - the JavaScript Registry

date: 2024-03-01, updated: 2024-03-01, from: Deno blog

The JavaScript Registry (JSR) is a TypeScript-first, ESM-only module registry designed for the entire JavaScript ecosystem. Use JSR modules from Deno and npm-based projects. JSR is free and open source. Available today in public beta.

https://deno.com/blog/jsr_open_beta Save to Pocket

Why the EPA is Changing A Major Emissions Rule

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

Current conditions: England and Wales had their warmest February on record • An avalanche watch has been issued for Tahoe Basin • It will be warm and windy this weekend in the Texas Panhandle, where the Smokehouse Creek Fire is still burning out of control.

THE TOP FIVE

1. EPA to relax power plant emissions rules

The Biden administration is making changes to its sweeping plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants while it figures out a new, more ambitious rule. Here’s a TL;DR version of what’s happening.

The old plan: Existing coal plants, existing gas-fired plants, and gas plants built in the future would be required to dramatically reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 2040.

The new (temporary) plan: Existing coal plants and new gas plants must still dramatically reduce their emissions. But existing gas plants are exempt.

The end goal: The Environmental Protection Agency wants a “stronger” rule that can “achieve greater emissions reductions.” This means covering the entire fleet of gas plants, and addressing toxic air pollutants, not just greenhouse gases.

The reaction: Extremely mixed. Environmental groups that had called for tougher restrictions are pleased. But so are some utility groups that wanted the rules weakened, and see the delay as an acknowledgment of their concerns. Rhode Island’s Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said “failing to cover the plants responsible for the vast majority of future carbon pollution from the power sector makes no sense.”

The rub: The new rules probably won’t come into place until after Election Day, if at all. The decision comes as the administration is widely expected to relax tailpipe emissions rules, and “would call into question the ability of the United States to meet the president’s goal of cutting United States emissions roughly in half by the end of this decade,” explained The New York Times.

2. Biden says Chinese EVs could be a security risk

More news from Washington: The Biden administration yesterday opened an investigation into the national security risks posed by Chinese-made “connected vehicles,” which essentially means any vehicle or any car part that connects to the internet, explained Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer. New cars, especially EVs, are outfitted with cameras, sensors, or cellular modems required for modern safety features. The investigation isn’t hugely surprising, but it “is a big deal, in part because it marks that the backlash to Chinese EVs has begun in earnest in the U.S.,” Meyer wrote. And it shows that “tariffs alone probably can’t keep Chinese-branded EVs out of the American market forever.”

3. Equinor and Orsted win New York offshore wind auction

New York’s offshore wind industry is back, or at least back in contract. Two offshore wind projects, Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind, have been awarded, respectively, to developers Equinor and the partnership of Orsted and Eversource. These two projects, which would amount to 1,700 megawatts of capacity in total (enough to power about a million homes, according to Governor Kathy Hochul’s office), had first been bid out in 2019 and then rebid when these same developers were unable to renegotiate their contracts to deal with rising material and interest rate costs. “But merely (re-)awarding the contracts does not ensure that steel goes into the water, let alone that electrons flow into homes,” wrote Heatmap’s Matthew Zeitlin. Sunrise Wind will likely be completed in 2026. Orsted has to hammer out the details of a new contract, and only then finally decide whether to go through with the thing or not; that’s expected to happen sometime in the second quarter of this year, with federal permitting finished in the summer. Empire Wind 1 has a similar timeline.

4. IEA: Energy-related CO2 emissions rose last year

There’s bad news and good news in the International Energy Agency’s CO2 Emissions in 2023 report. Let’s start with the bad news, so we can end on a positive note. Energy-related carbon emissions are still going up. Emissions increased by 1.1% in 2023, largely due to hydropower shortfalls caused by drought. The sooner we can stop pumping new carbon into the atmosphere, the better our chances of avoiding the worst effects of climate change. But there are glimmers of hope in the report: Last year’s rise was less extreme than the year before even though energy demand growth accelerated, and “without clean energy technologies, the global increase in CO2 emissions in the last five years would have been three times larger.” And the report finds that between 2019 to 2023, clean energy growth was twice as large as fossil fuel growth.

IEA

5. Florida Senate votes to ban lab-grown meat

The Florida Senate approved a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to manufacture or sell cultivated meat, or meat grown from animal cells. The “lab-grown meat” industry is still in its infancy, but some see it as a way to reduce the environmental effects of animal agriculture. Farmers and meat producers are up in arms about it, though, and cultivated meat has been drawn into Florida’s culture wars. The state House is considering its own version of the bill.

THE KICKER

The Toyota Prius Prime SE, a plug-in hybrid, was rated the “greenest” car in the country by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. At the bottom of the list was the Mercedes-Benz Maybach S680, with an estimated annual fuel cost of $3,031.

https://heatmap.news/politics/epa-gas-power-plant-emissions Save to Pocket

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

Liz Cheney Nukes the Supreme Court Over Trump Delay—and Hands Dems a Weapon.

https://newrepublic.com/article/179438/liz-cheney-supreme-court-trump-trial-delay-dems-weapon Save to Pocket

Toyota says it would rather buy credits than ‘waste’ money on EVs

date: 2024-03-01, from: Electrek Feed

The CEO of Toyota isn’t mincing words, saying that he believes EVs will only make up 30% of the US new-vehicle market in 2030, half of the target the EPA sought last year. As the car industry’s largest hybrid pusher, Toyota says it is better positioned to just buy credits to close the EPA gap rather than “waste” money on BEVs, its CEO said.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/03/01/toyota-says-it-would-rather-buy-credits-than-waste-money-on-evs/ Save to Pocket

The $825,000 Christmas Tree Throwing Contest

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

https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/03/01/the-825000-christmas-tree-throwing-contest/ Save to Pocket

Stack Overflow to charge LLM developers for access to its coding content

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

No more freebies – Google signs up to improve Gemini’s programming abilities

Stack Overflow has launched an API that will require all AI models trained on its coding question-and-answer content to attribute sources linking back to its posts. And it will cost money to use the site’s content.…

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

Watch A Ford F-150 Lightning Charge Perfectly At A Tesla Supercharger

date: 2024-03-01, from: Inside EVs News

With Ford’s new adapter, charging is reliable, fast, and seamless—just like you’d expect at a Supercharger. “I’m super impressed with this,” Tom said.

https://insideevs.com/news/710764/ford-lightning-tesla-tom-moloughney/ Save to Pocket

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

Mourners chant Navalny’s name at funeral of Putin critic in Moscow.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/mar/01/funeral-alexei-navalny-moscow-putin-russia-ukraine-war-live Save to Pocket

The life and death of a Virginia newspaper

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

Keith Stickley is the owner of Shenandoah Publications, which prints campus newspapers for colleges around Virginia. He also founded The Free Press, a newspaper that served his hometown and aggressively covered local issues and politicians. But he had to pull the plug on that paper when he just couldn’t make the economics work any longer. We hear his story as part of our Democracy in the Desert series. But first, Congress has barely averted a government shutdown — yet again.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/the-life-and-death-of-a-virginia-newspaper Save to Pocket

LA Wine And Food Festival At Santa Monica Pier Features Top Local Chefs, With A Spotlight On Women

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

Three days of food tasting includes everything from Peruvian-meets-Thai scallops flavors to bruja tacos made with flan.

https://laist.com/news/food/la-wine-food-festival-santa-monica-pier Save to Pocket

Fly By Jing Wants To Shatter Your Assumptions About Chinese Food, One Jar Of Chili Crisp At A Time

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

Jing Gao, the founder of Fly By Jing chili crisp, sets her sights high on breaking cultural barriers.

https://laist.com/news/food/the-mission-behind-fly-by-jing-chili-crisp-and-more-by-jing-gao Save to Pocket

It’s Time For Happy Hour, Metro-Style. Where To Go Along The A Line

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

Running from Long Beach to Azuza, there are plenty of Metro stops along the A Line that can lead to the right post-work food and libations.

https://laist.com/news/food/metro-a-line-happy-hour Save to Pocket

Boiling Tap Water Could Help Remove 80 Percent of Its Microplastics, Study Suggests

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

Minerals in some tap water can capture tiny plastic particles when the water is boiled, making them easier to filter away, according to a new study

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/boiling-tap-water-could-help-remove-80-percent-of-its-microplastics-study-suggests-180983874/ Save to Pocket

How Automated Content Moderation Works (Even When It Doesn’t)

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

Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms moderate billions of posts—here are some of their common techniques

https://themarkup.org/automated-censorship/2024/03/01/how-automated-content-moderation-works-even-when-it-doesnt-work Save to Pocket

Amid New Federal Rules, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Closes Chumash Exhibit

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

New regulations require institutions to obtain consent from tribes before displaying cultural items.

The post Amid New Federal Rules, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Closes Chumash Exhibit  appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/03/01/amid-new-federal-rules-santa-barbara-museum-of-natural-history-temporarily-closes-chumash-life-exhibit/ Save to Pocket

Pluralistic: Amazon’s financial shell game let it create an “impossible” monopoly (01 Mar 2024)

date: 2024-03-01, from: Cory Doctorow’s blog

Today’s links Amazon’s financial shell game let it create an “impossible” monopoly: If you think the company’s profits come from AWS, you’ve been suckered, too. 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 Amazon’s financial shell game let it create an “impossible” monopoly (permalink) For the pro-monopoly crowd that absolutely dominated antitrust law from the Carter administration until 2020, Amazon presents a genuinely puzzling paradox: the company’s monopoly power was never supposed to emerge, and if it did, it should have crumbled immediately. Pro-monopoly economists embody Ely Devons’s famous aphorism that “If economists wished to study the horse, they wouldn’t go and look at horses. They’d sit in their studies and say to themselves, ‘What would I do if I were a horse?’”: https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/27/economism/#what-would-i-do-if-i-were-a-horse Rather than using the way the world actually works as their starting point for how to think about it, they build elaborate models out of abstract principles like “rational actors.” The resulting mathematical models are so abstractly elegant that it’s easy to forget that they’re just imaginative exercises, disconnected from reality: https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/03/all-models-are-wrong/#some-are-useful These models predicted that it would be impossible for Amazon to attain monopoly power. Even if they became a monopoly – in the sense of dominating sales of various kinds of goods – the company still wouldn’t get monopoly power. For example, if Amazon tried to take over a category by selling goods below cost (“predatory pricing”), then rivals could just wait until the company got tired of losing money and put prices back up, and then those rivals could go back to competing. And if Amazon tried to keep the loss-leader going indefinitely by “cross-subsidizing” the losses with high-margin profits from some other part of its business, rivals could sell those high margin goods at a lower margin, which would lure away Amazon customers and cut the supply lines for the price war it was fighting with its discounted products. That’s what the model predicted, but it’s not what happened in the real world. In the real world, Amazon was able use its access to the capital markets to embark on scorched-earth predatory pricing campaigns. When diapers.com refused to sell out to Amazon, the company casually committed $100m to selling diapers below cost. Diapers.com went bust, Amazon bought it for pennies on the dollar and shut it down: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18563379/amazon-predatory-pricing-antitrust-law Investors got the message: don’t compete with Amazon. They can remain predatory longer than you can remain solvent. Now, not everyone shared the antitrust establishment’s confidence that Amazon couldn’t create a durable monopoly with market power. In 2017, Lina Khan – then a third year law student – published “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” a landmark paper arguing that Amazon had all the tools it needed to amass monopoly power: https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox Today, Khan is chair of the FTC, and has brought a case against Amazon that builds on some of the theories from that paper. One outcome of that suit is an unprecedented look at Amazon’s internal operations. But, as the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Stacy Mitchell describes in a piece for The Atlantic, key pieces of information have been totally redacted in the court exhibits: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/amazon-profits-antitrust-ftc/677580/ The most important missing datum: how much money Amazon makes from each of its lines of business. Amazon’s own story is that it basically breaks even on its retail operation, and keeps the whole business afloat with profits from its AWS cloud computing division. This is an important narrative, because if it’s true, then Amazon can’t be forcing up retail prices, which is the crux of the FTC’s case against the company. Here’s what we know for sure about Amazon’s retail business. First: merchants can’t live without Amazon. The majority of US households have Prime, and 90% of Prime households start their ecommerce searches on Amazon; if they find what they’re looking for, they buy it and stop. Thus, merchants who don’t sell on Amazon just don’t sell. This is called “monopsony power” and it’s a lot easier to maintain than monopoly power. For most manufacturers, a 10% overnight drop in sales is a catastrophe, so a retailer that commands even a 10% market-share can extract huge concessions from its suppliers. Amazon’s share of most categories of goods is a lot higher than 10%! What kind of monopsony power does Amazon wield? Well, for one thing, it is able to levy a huge tax on its sellers. Add up all the junk-fees Amazon charges its platform sellers and it comes out to 45-51%: https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos Competitive businesses just don’t have 45% margins! No one can afford to kick that much back to Amazon. What is a merchant to do? Sell on Amazon and you lose money on every sale. Don’t sell on Amazon and you don’t get any business. The only answer: raise prices on Amazon. After all, Prime customers – the majority of Amazon’s retail business – don’t shop for competitive prices. If Amazon wants a 45% vig, you can raise your Amazon prices by a third and just about break even. But Amazon is wise to that: they have a “most favored nation” rule that punishes suppliers who sell goods more cheaply in rival stores, or even on their own site. The punishments vary, from banishing your products to page ten million of search-results to simply kicking you off the platform. With publishers, Amazon reserves the right to lower the prices they set when listing their books, to match the lowest price on the web, and paying publishers less for each sale. That means that suppliers who sell on Amazon (which is anyone who wants to stay in business) have to dramatically hike their prices on Amazon, and when they do, they also have to hike their prices everywhere else (no wonder Prime customers don’t bother to search elsewhere for a better deal!). Now, Amazon says this is all wrong. That 45-51% vig they claim from business customers is barely enough to break even. The company’s profits – they insist – come from selling AWS cloud service. The retail operation is just a public service they provide to us with cross-subsidy from those fat AWS margins. This is a hell of a claim. Last year, Amazon raked in $130 billion in seller fees. In other words: they booked more revenue from junk fees than Bank of America made through its whole operation. Amazon’s junk fees add up to more than all of Meta’s revenues: https://s2.q4cdn.com/299287126/files/doc_financials/2023/q4/AMZN-Q4-2023-Earnings-Release.pdf Amazon claims that none of this is profit – it’s just covering their operating expenses. According to Amazon, its non-AWS units combined have a one percent profit margin. Now, this is an eye-popping claim indeed. Amazon is a public company, which means that it has to make thorough quarterly and annual financial disclosures breaking down its profit and loss. You’d think that somewhere in those disclosures, we’d find some details. You’d think so, but you’d be wrong. Amazon’s disclosures do not break out profits and losses by segment. SEC rules actually require the company to make these per-segment disclosures: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3524&context=lawreview#:~:text=If%20a%20company%20has%20more,income%20taxes%20and%20extraordinary%20items. That rule was enacted in 1966, out of concern that companies could use cross-subsidies to fund predatory pricing and other anticompetitive practices. But over the years, the SEC just…stopped enforcing the rule. Companies have “near total managerial discretion” to lump business units together and group their profits and losses in bloated, undifferentiated balance-sheet items: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/publications/2021/dec/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragons As Mitchell points you, it’s not just Amazon that flouts this rule. We don’t know how much money Google makes on Youtube, or how much Apple makes from the App Store (Apple told a federal judge that this number doesn’t exist). Warren Buffett – with significant interest in hundreds of companies across dozens of markets – only breaks out seven segments of profit-and-loss for Berkshire Hathaway. Recall that there is one category of data from the FTC’s antitrust case against Amazon that has been completely redacted. One guess which category that is! Yup, the profit-and-loss for its retail operation and other lines of business. These redactions are the judge’s fault, but the real fault lies with the SEC. Amazon is a public company. In exchange for access to the capital markets, it owes the public certain disclosures, which are set out in the SEC’s rulebook. The SEC lets Amazon – and other gigantic companies – get away with a degree of secrecy that should disqualify it from offering stock to the public. As Mitchell says, SEC chairman Gary Gensler should adopt “new rules that more concretely define what qualifies as a segment and remove the discretion given to executives.” Amazon is the poster-child for monopoly run amok. As Yanis Varoufakis writes in Technofeudalism, Amazon has actually become a post-capitalist enterprise. Amazon doesn’t make profits (money derived from selling goods); it makes rents (money charged to people who are seeking to make a profit): https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/28/cloudalists/#cloud-capital Profits are the defining characteristic of a capitalist economy; rents are the defining characteristic of feudalism. Amazon looks like a bazaar where thousands of merchants offer goods for sale to the public, but look harder and you discover that all those stallholders are totally controlled by Amazon. Amazon decides what goods they can sell, how much they cost, and whether a customer ever sees them. And then Amazon takes $0.45-51 out of every dollar. Amazon’s “marketplace” isn’t like a flea market, it’s more like the interconnected shops on Disneyland’s Main Street, USA: the sign over the door might say “20th Century Music Company” or “Emporium,” but they’re all just one store, run by one company. And because Amazon has so much control over its sellers, it is able to exercise power over its buyers. Amazon’s search results push down the best deals on the platform and promote results from more expensive, lower-quality items whose sellers have paid a fortune for an “ad” (not really an ad, but rather the top spot in search listings): https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/29/aethelred-the-unready/#not-one-penny-for-tribute This is “Amazon’s pricing paradox.” Amazon can claim that it offers low-priced, high-quality goods on the platform, but it makes $38b/year pushing those good deals way, way down in its search results. The top result for your Amazon search averages 29% more expensive than the best deal Amazon offers. Buy something from those first four spots and you’ll pay a 25% premium. On average, you need to pick the seventeenth item on the search results page to get the best deal: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3645/ For 40 years, pro-monopoly economists claimed that it would be impossible for Amazon to attain monopoly power over buyers and sellers. Today, Amazon exercises that power so thoroughly that its junk-fee revenues alone exceed the total revenues of Bank of America. Amazon’s story – that these fees barely stretch to covering its costs – assumes a nearly inconceivable level of credulity in its audience. Regrettably – for the human race – there is a cohort of senior, highly respected economists who possess this degree of credulity and more. Of course, there’s an easy way to settle the argument: Amazon could just comply with SEC regs and break out its P&L for its e-commerce operation. I assure you, they’re not hiding this data because they think you’ll be pleasantly surprised when they do and they don’t want to spoil the moment. (Image: Doc Searls, CC BY 2.0, modified) Hey look at this (permalink) CVS Pharmacy Settles for Over $95K with Seattle for Scheduling Ordinance Violations https://hoodline.com/2024/02/cvs-pharmacy-settles-for-over-95k-with-seattle-for-scheduling-ordinance-violations/ (h/t Benjamin Jolley) Trump gave top US firms staggering tax cuts, with some paying $0 or less https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/29/trump-tax-cuts-us-companies (h/t Glyn Moody) HDMI Forum Rejects Open-Source HDMI 2.1 Driver Support Sought By AMD https://www.phoronix.com/news/HDMI-2.1-OSS-Rejected (h/t Slashdot) This day in history (permalink) #15yrsago Amazon supplier loses warehouse lease, invites the public to loot its books https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4863490/Books-given-away-for-free-at-one-of-Britains-biggest-warehouses.htmlhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/01/crimea-crisis-deepens-as-russia-and-ukraine-ready-forces-live-updates #10yrsago Disney drops $4.8M in Boy Scouts funding over anti-gay policy https://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/28/us/disney-pulls-boy-scouts-funding/index.html #10yrsago South Carolina legislature confiscates budget of college for assigning Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” as a reading https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2014/0228/Alison-Bechdel-s-memoir-Fun-Home-runs-into-trouble-with-the-South-Carolina-House-of-Representatives #10yrsago TSA agents demand bag-search to look for “Bitcoins” https://web.archive.org/web/20140302025836/https://dailyanarchist.com/2014/02/24/the-tsa-is-looking-for-bitcoin/ #5yrsago University of California system libraries break off negotiations with Elsevier, will no longer order their journals https://www.science.org/content/article/university-california-boycotts-publishing-giant-elsevier-over-journal-costs-and-open #5yrsago German Data Privacy Commissioner warns at new Copyright Directive will increase the tech oligopoly, make EU companies dependent on US filter vendors, and subject Europeans to surveillance by US companies https://torrentfreak.com/german-data-privacy-commissioner-sounds-alarm-over-upload-filter-oligopoly-190301/ 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: 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/2024/03/01/managerial-discretion/ Save to Pocket

Germany heads towards more rail strikes

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

From the BBC World Service: Pay negotiations between German’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn and its drivers’ union have broken down, threatening six days of rail strikes. Then, the G20 is seriously considering a global minimum tax for billionaires. And yesterday was leap day, meaning that people in France had the chance to buy a newspaper that only comes out every four years.

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/germany-heads-towards-more-rail-strikes Save to Pocket

Cops visit school of ‘wrong person’s child,’ mix up victims and suspects in epic data fail

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

Data watchdog reprimands police force for confusing 2 people with same name and birthday to disastrous results

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has put the West Midlands Police (WMP) on the naughty step after the force was found to have repeatedly mixed up two people’s personal data for years.…

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

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

Is the Media Enabling Trump to “Usher in a New Era of Fascism”?

https://newrepublic.com/article/179458/media-enabling-trump-fascism Save to Pocket

NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0

date: 2024-03-01, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Bruce Schneier blog

NIST has released version 2.0 of the Cybersecurity Framework:

The CSF 2.0, which supports implementation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy, has an expanded scope that goes beyond protecting critical infrastructure, such as hospitals and power plants, to all organizations in any sector. It also has a new focus on governance, which encompasses how organizations make and carry out informed decisions on cybersecurity strategy. The CSF’s governance component emphasizes that cybersecurity is a major source of enterprise risk that senior leaders should consider alongside others such as finance and reputation…

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/03/nist-cybersecurity-framework-2-0.html Save to Pocket

Congress Might Be on the Verge of Passing the Year’s First Climate Law

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

Congress appears to be very close to passing the first climate law of 2024. But don’t look for the word ’climate‘ in it.

On Wednesday, the House voted overwhelmingly to pass the Atomic Energy Advancement Act, a bill designed to update nuclear energy laws and regulations to better accommodate newer, advanced nuclear reactor designs.

Nuclear plants are the largest source of clean energy in the U.S. and building more of them is one of the rare climate solutions that Republicans and Democrats can agree on. Electricity demand is surging for the first time in decades, thanks in part to the boom in domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and other devices needed for the energy transition. In addition to not producing greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear plants are uniquely equipped to help meet that demand because they are extremely reliable and can run at near-full capacity pretty much 24/7.

And yet nuclear technology is in an awkward phase in the U.S. Recent attempts to build old-school reactors have ended up years behind schedule and gone billions over budget. Meanwhile, there are lots of companies itching to deploy newer designs, but U.S. nuclear policy is geared toward the older tech and it’s not easy for newer ideas to break through.

The House bill aims to address this, first and foremost, by directing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal body that issues nuclear plant licenses, to update its mission statement. The new vision for the agency would be to operate “in a manner that is efficient and does not unnecessarily limit the potential of nuclear energy to improve the general welfare and the benefits of nuclear energy technology to society.” Though it’s not spelled out explicitly, that includes the climate benefits.

Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, who was one of the bill’s lead sponsors, said in a statement that expanding U.S. nuclear “both here and abroad” is essential both to reducing emissions and to “building durable economic and strategic relationships around the world” — a reference, most likely, to the growing nuclear ambitions of China and Russia. But he was also motivated by challenges much closer to home.

“South Carolina is growing which means our power demand is increasing,” Duncan said. “My home state uses twice as much energy as we produce which is leading to a resource adequacy crisis in the state — while the Nation also sits on the precipice of an energy crisis. The good news for South Carolina is that we are blessed with expertise in nuclear technology.”

The bill comes on the heels of COP28, the United Nations Climate Conference held in December, where the Biden administration signed on to an international declaration to triple nuclear energy by 2050 in order to reduce emissions and keep global temperatures from climbing to catastrophic heights.

The change in mission statement is particularly important, Adam Stein, the director of the nuclear energy innovation program at the Breakthrough Institute told me. He said the NRC has a fairly broad mandate from Congress, but unlike other federal agencies that consider costs and benefits in their decision-making, the Commission currently focuses exclusively on safety. “The agency’s self-imposed limitations prevent a comprehensive evaluation of its role in addressing crucial societal challenges such as climate change and clean energy adoption.” He said the amendment would empower the Commission to consider a wider array of factors, including public health, environmental protection, and national energy goals.

To live up to this new ethos, the Commission would have to establish practices for evaluating applications that enable faster and more predictable reviews. The bill directs the NRC to streamline environmental assessments, in line with the National Environmental Policy Act reforms Congress passed last summer, and establish nuclear-specific “categorical exclusions,” or actions that do not require environmental review. It also boosts the NRC’s staffing capacity to process applications more efficiently.

The NRC would also have to develop an expedited process for applicants using previously licensed reactor designs and that plan to build on or adjacent to an existing nuclear plant. Today the process can take five years, and the Commission must limit it, in these cases, to 25 months max. The Commission would also have to lower the fees it charges companies to apply for licenses.

The bill contains other reforms, including directing the Commission to create a separate regulatory framework for fusion reactors. The Department of Energy would have to update export requirements to encourage the deployment of U.S. technologies abroad. The bill also creates a pilot project, directing the DOE to enter into a long-term power purchase agreement with a yet-to-be-built, first-of-a-kind nuclear plant by the end of 2028. Such an agreement would give the lucky developer the certainty they need to finance a riskier project.

Now, the legislation will head to the Senate, which will have to reconcile it with a bill passed last summer called the Advance Act that contained many — but not all — of the same policies and programs.

“I think when you compare those you’ll see relatively broad agreement between the House and the Senate that something needs to be done here,” Evan Chapman, the U.S. federal policy director at Clean Air Task Force, told me.

https://heatmap.news/politics/nuclear-energy-house-bill Save to Pocket

P&B: Cassidy Williams

date: 2024-03-01, from: Manu - I write blog

This is the 27th edition of People and Blogs, the series where I ask interesting people to talk about themselves and their blogs. Today we have Cassidy Williams and her blog, cassidoo.co

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This was the 27th edition of People and Blogs. Hope you enjoyed this interview with Cassidy. Make sure to follow her blog (RSS) and get in touch with her if you have any questions.

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https://manuelmoreale.com/@/page/AIDL1GiW0t6EpT2b Save to Pocket

Hubble Uncovers a Celestial Fossil

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

This densely populated group of stars is the globular cluster NGC 1841, which is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way galaxy that lies about 162,000 light-years away. Satellite galaxies are bound by gravity in orbits around a more massive host galaxy. We typically think of the Andromeda […]

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-uncovers-a-celestial-fossil/ Save to Pocket

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

Come on it’s not that the Repubs like Putin or are fascinated by him, they’re scared of him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/briefing/putin-republicans-trump-tucker-carlson.html Save to Pocket

Lenovo to offer certified refurbished PCs and servers

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

Running proof of concepts to pick out the right models

Lenovo’s chief operating officer has told The Reg it is formalizing a scheme to sell certified refurbished hardware as more customers seek ways to cut their carbon footprint and save money.…

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

March’s Night Sky Notes: Constant Companions: Circumpolar Constellations, Part II

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

Some constellations can be as familiar as old friends. Learn about three of them in March’s Night Sky Notes!

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/night-sky-network/night-sky-notes-march2024/ Save to Pocket

John Boston | My Election Picks & a Chance to be an Idiot Again …

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

A few years back, I was in the bleachers for one of those backyard political debates. On the Left was a 30-something foppish Disney executive. On the Right? My dopey sister-like substance, Lisa, smarter than a five-figure London business suit.  Lisa kicked the holy crap out of this pontificating liberal. Then, he Went There. He stooped […]

The post John Boston | My Election Picks & a Chance to be an Idiot Again … appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/03/john-boston-my-election-picks-a-chance-to-be-an-idiot-again/ Save to Pocket

Larry Rasmussen, Steve Hopp, Steve Arklin, Bob Kellar, the Rev. Jerry Cook, Brent Braun, and Richard Budman | District Must Protect Parents’ Rights

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

The following is a copy of a letter to the board members and Superintendent Mike Kuhlman of the William S. Hart Union High School District.  The undersigned are all concerned and interested citizens of the Santa Clarita Valley. We respectfully request each of you as school district board members and as the superintendent of the […]

The post Larry Rasmussen, Steve Hopp, Steve Arklin, Bob Kellar, the Rev. Jerry Cook, Brent Braun, and Richard Budman | District Must Protect Parents’ Rights appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/03/larry-rasmussen-steve-hopp-steve-arklin-bob-kellar-the-rev-jerry-cook-and-brent-braun-district-must-protect-parents-rights/ Save to Pocket

Wikipedia no longer considers CNET a “generally reliable” source after “AI” scandal

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

Remember last year, when we reported that the Red Ventures-owned CNET had been quietly publishing dozens of AI-generated articles that turned out to be filled with errors and plagiarism? The revelation kicked off a fiery debate about the future of the media in the era of AI — as well as an equally passionate discussion among editors of Wikipedia, who needed to figure out how to treat CNET content going forward. Gerard’s admonition was posted on January 18, 2023, just a few days after our initial story about CNET‘s use of AI. The comment launched a discussion that would ultimately result in CNET’s demotion from its once-strong Wikipedia rating of “generally reliable.” It was a grim fall that one former Red Ventures employee told us could “put a huge dent in their SEO efforts,” and also a cautionary tale about the wide-ranging reputational effects that publishers should consider before moving into AI-generated content. ↫ Maggie Harrison Dupré Excellent response by Wikipedia. Any outlet that uses spicy autocomplete to generate content needs to be booted off Wikipedia.

https://www.osnews.com/story/138673/wikipedia-no-longer-considers-cnet-a-generally-reliable-source-after-ai-scandal/ Save to Pocket

Rob Kerchner | The Left’s Sky Is Falling

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

The left has become like a preteen sleepover where little girls tell each other scary stories in order to scream in hyperventilating unison. The funniest part is how the Teenybopper Left forgets they already survived that horrible, horrible night of 2016-2020. The economy didn’t tank. In fact it thrived. Nobody was rounded up into camps […]

The post Rob Kerchner | The Left’s Sky Is Falling appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/03/rob-kerchner-the-lefts-sky-is-falling/ Save to Pocket

UK tax agency’s digital services not good enough to take strain off phone lines

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

Watchdog says taxpayer assistance is getting worse

Phone services for the UK tax authority continue to deteriorate, and the digital systems that were supposed to take up the slack aren’t good enough.…

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

Open Beam Interface

date: 2024-03-01, from: Tilde.news

Website

        <p><a href="https://tilde.news/s/rarmt0/open_beam_interface">Comments</a></p>

https://github.com/nanographs/Open-Beam-Interface Save to Pocket

Hoku Ke‘a decommissioning to begin this month

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

            <p>The decommissioning of University of Hawaii at Hilo&#8217;s educational observatory on Maunakea will begin later this month.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/hoku-kea-decommissioning-to-begin-this-month/ Save to Pocket

3 suspects sought in Kona robbery

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

            <p>Police are asking for the public&#8217;s assistance in identifying three suspects involved in an early morning robbery Tuesday in Kailua-Kona.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/3-suspects-sought-in-kona-robbery/ Save to Pocket

De Fries’ selection criticized: Former HTA chief voted in as first Maunakea authority director

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

            <p>After more than a year, the state body that will take over management of the Maunakea summit region has a new director, though not without controversy.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/de-fries-selection-criticized-former-hta-chief-voted-in-as-first-maunakea-authority-director/ Save to Pocket

On the Rio Grande, 300 miles apart, Biden and Trump try to use immigration to election advantage

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

            <p>BROWNSVILLE, Texas &#8212; On the banks of the same Rio Grande but 300 miles apart, President Joe Biden and GOP challenger Donald Trump on Thursday surveyed the U.S.-Mexico border and tussled from a distance over who is to blame for the nation&#8217;s broken immigration system and how to fix it.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/nation-world-news/on-the-rio-grande-300-miles-apart-biden-and-trump-try-to-use-immigration-to-election-advantage/ Save to Pocket

Cosmic Drive holds soft opening

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

            <p>Cosmic Drive, Hilo&#8217;s newest nighttime attraction and golf game, held its soft opening on Thursday night at the Grand Naniloa Hotel&#8217;s driving range.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/cosmic-drive-holds-soft-opening/ Save to Pocket

Judge blocks Texas law that gives police broad powers to arrest migrants who illegally enter US

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

            <p>AUSTIN, Texas &#8212; A federal judge on Thursday blocked a new Texas law that would give police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S., dealing a victory to the Biden administration with a broad rejection of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott&#8217;s immigration enforcement effort.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/nation-world-news/judge-blocks-texas-law-that-gives-police-broad-powers-to-arrest-migrants-who-illegally-enter-us/ Save to Pocket

Puna man faces felony charges for domestic incident

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

            <p>A 31-year-old Pahoa man faces felony charges after a domestic incident in Kapoho late Monday afternoon.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/puna-man-faces-felony-charges-for-domestic-incident/ Save to Pocket

Iowa star Caitlin Clark declares for WNBA draft, will skip final season of college eligibility

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

            <p>Iowa star Caitlin Clark, who is on the verge of becoming the all-time NCAA scoring leader in college basketball, announced Thursday she will leave the Hawkeyes after this season and enter the WNBA draft. </p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/sports/iowa-star-caitlin-clark-declares-for-wnba-draft-will-skip-final-season-of-college-eligibility/ Save to Pocket

Texts show witness readily helped build a case to disqualify Trump prosecutors

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

            <p>ATLANTA &#8212; Terrence Bradley, an Atlanta-area lawyer, had been billed as the star witness in the effort to disqualify Fani Willis, the district attorney leading the election interference case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia. But when Bradley took the stand this week &#8212; and twice earlier this month &#8212; he was a deeply reluctant witness.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/nation-world-news/texts-show-witness-readily-helped-build-a-case-to-disqualify-trump-prosecutors/ Save to Pocket

South Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford and UCLA top seeds in second women’s NCAA Tournament reveal

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

            <p>South Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford and UCLA would be the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament if it began now. </p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/sports/south-carolina-ohio-state-stanford-and-ucla-top-seeds-in-second-womens-ncaa-tournament-reveal/ Save to Pocket

Your Views for March 1

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

            <p>Regarding Old&#0010;Kona Airport park</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/opinion/your-views-for-march-1-6/ Save to Pocket

A ‘better’ FAFSA is making financial aid much worse

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

            <p>The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is known by high school seniors, college students and their parents, as well as everyone else by its acronym, FAFSA.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/opinion/a-better-fafsa-is-making-financial-aid-much-worse/ Save to Pocket

‘Work longer’ is no solution for people who can’t afford to retire

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

            <p>In April 2023, Betty Glover, a 91-year-old grocery store clerk in Oregon, was finally able to retire after a GoFundMe campaign raised $82,000 for her. After seven decades in the workforce, Glover couldn&#8217;t save enough to retire and cover basic expenses such as for food and medicine.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/opinion/work-longer-is-no-solution-for-people-who-cant-afford-to-retire/ Save to Pocket

Career US diplomat abruptly admits to spying for communist Cuba for decades

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

            <p>MIAMI &#8212; A former career U.S. diplomat told a federal judge Thursday he will plead guilty to charges of working for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba, an unexpectedly swift resolution to a case prosecutors called one of the most brazen betrayals in the history of the U.S. foreign service.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/nation-world-news/career-us-diplomat-abruptly-admits-to-spying-for-communist-cuba-for-decades/ Save to Pocket

Palestinians say Israeli troops fired at people seeking food. Israel says scene was deadly stampede

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

            <p>RAFAH, Gaza Strip &#8212; Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians racing to pull food off an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. More than 100 people were killed in the chaos, bringing the death toll since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to more than 30,000, according to health officials.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/nation-world-news/palestinians-say-israeli-troops-fired-at-people-seeking-food-israel-says-scene-was-deadly-stampede/ Save to Pocket

Obituaries for March 1

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

            <p>Richard Ho&#8216;okahi Akao, 76, of Kailua-Kona died Jan. 15 at Kona Community Hospital in Kealakekua. Born in Kealakekua, he was a retired Hawaiian Airlines agent and a minister of Jehovah&#8217;s Witnesses. Services held. Condolences: P.O. Box 6004, Kamuela, HI 96743. Online condolences: homelanimemorialpark.com. Survived by wife, Diana Lynn Akao of Kailua-Kona; daughters, Shannon (Herbie) Ako of Kailua-Kona and Desir&#0233;e Daughtry of Waikoloa; brother, Wayne Akao of Las Vegas; sister, Cynthia Akao, of Kealakekua; four grandchildren and a great-grandchild; an aunt, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Arrangements by Homelani Memorial Park.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/obituaries/obituaries-for-march-1-12/ Save to Pocket

Top 3 tight ends at NFL scouting combine bring defensive mentality to draft

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

            <p>INDIANAPOLIS &#8212; Cade Stover plays tight end with a linebacker&#8217;s ferociousness. </p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/sports/top-3-tight-ends-at-nfl-scouting-combine-bring-defensive-mentality-to-draft/ Save to Pocket

UH-Hilo basketball coach Aiona inducted into his alma mater’s hall of fame

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

            <p>ST. LOUIS, Mo. &#8211; UH-Hilo head men&#8217;s basketball coach Kaniela Aiona was inducted into the hall of fame of his alma mater, Webster University, two weeks ago.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/sports/uh-hilo-basketball-coach-aiona-inducted-into-his-alma-maters-hall-of-fame/ Save to Pocket

UH baseball teams, Manoa and Hilo, clash at Wong Stadium

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

            <p>UH-Hilo and UH-Manoa&#8217;s baseball teams clashed in an exhibition match, as the Rainbow Warriors broke away from a tie to plate 14 runs in the final four innings &#8212; defeating the Vulcans 15-2 on Wednesday night at Francis Wong Stadium in Hilo.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/sports/uh-baseball-teams-manoa-and-hilo-clash-at-wong-stadium/ Save to Pocket

BIIF boys volleyball gets going

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

            <p>Wednesday night saw Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) boys volleyball come into full swing.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/biif-boys-volleyball-gets-going/ Save to Pocket

Putin warns that sending Western troops to Ukraine risks a global nuclear war

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

            <p>President Vladimir Putin of Russia said the West faced the prospect of nuclear conflict if it intervened more directly in the war in Ukraine, using an annual speech to the nation Thursday to escalate his threats against Europe and the United States.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/nation-world-news/putin-warns-that-sending-western-troops-to-ukraine-risks-a-global-nuclear-war/ Save to Pocket

State news in brief for March 1

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

            <p>Final site chosen for &#0010;Maui wildfire ash, debris</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/state-news-in-brief-for-march-1/ Save to Pocket

Chronically polluted beaches in Hawaii continue trend, Surfrider report finds

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

            <p>Hawaii is home to several beaches with chronic water pollution issues, according to the latest report from the Surf &#0173;rider Foundation.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/chronically-polluted-beaches-in-hawaii-continue-trend-surfrider-report-finds/ Save to Pocket

A tourist from Canada was rescued after accidentally driving a rental Jeep off a Ka‘u cliff

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

            <p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: A version of this story appeared on the Tribune-Herald&#8217;s website on Sunday. The article that follows has new information about the incident.</em></p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/03/01/hawaii-news/a-tourist-from-canada-was-rescued-after-accidentally-driving-a-rental-jeep-off-a-kau-cliff/ Save to Pocket

The Fed Is Behind The Credit Card Merger

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

If Capital One is allowed to acquire Discover, it’ll gain access to a government loophole allowing it to raise prices and reduce competition.

https://www.levernews.com/the-fed-is-behind-the-credit-card-merger/ Save to Pocket

Companies flush money down the drain with overfed Kubernetes cloud clusters

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

Just 13% of provisioned CPUs, 20% of memory utilized, study finds

Cloud optimization biz CAST AI says that companies are still overprovisioning resources and paying too much as a consequence. It claims that in Kubernetes clusters of 50 or more CPUs, only 13 percent of provisioned CPUs and 20 percent of memory is typically utilized.…

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

Guam partners with Palau officials to expand tourism

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

The Guam Visitors Bureau and Guam International Airport Authority paid a visit to the president of the Republic of Palau as well as to the Australian ambassador to Palau in Koror, Palau on Feb. 22, GVB announced in a press…

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/guam-partners-with-palau-officials-to-expand-tourism/article_a74acdce-d754-11ee-941c-1fc1e8f5e38b.html Save to Pocket

Montvel-Cohen to be sentenced again after appeal

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

Evan Montvel-Cohen will be sentenced again for identity theft and bank fraud convictions following his successful appeal of a nearly seven-year sentence.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/montvel-cohen-to-be-sentenced-again-after-appeal/article_434b314c-d77c-11ee-b7e9-3fd6044e994d.html Save to Pocket

PUC: Bill 206 must pass to OK temporary power project

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

The Public Utilities Commission did not take any action on the Guam Power Authority’s $25 million temporary contract with Aggreko Thursday night as some key issues are pending, including the passage of legislation that would waive the 90-day limitation on…

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/puc-bill-206-must-pass-to-ok-temporary-power-project/article_86d00bb0-d76b-11ee-9064-3f8b32801d5c.html Save to Pocket

Cruise ship visits could bring $1M to Guam’s tourism industry

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

Last weekend, the third cruise ship of the year docked on island. The visit, along with seven more ships stopping by, could bring nearly $1 million to the island’s tourism market, according to the Guam Visitors Bureau.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/cruise-ship-visits-could-bring-1m-to-guam-s-tourism-industry/article_fe71c64e-d77b-11ee-8f8b-b71dc46a78bb.html Save to Pocket

San Nicolas: ‘We need a new hospital now’

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

Sen. Dwayne San Nicolas said he voted for Bill 185-37 on Feb. 23 to benefit the people of Guam, and because the island needs a new hospital. The senator issued his statement Monday, following a request for comment.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/san-nicolas-we-need-a-new-hospital-now/article_2cdba8ae-d512-11ee-bdf1-3fa6d023d193.html Save to Pocket

Career Fair a hit at Jose Rios Middle School

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

On Wednesday, Feb. 28, Jose L.G. Rios Middle School hosted a Career Fair where it invited presenters across the spectrum of career areas in the private and public sectors. The Guam Daily Post spoke among the presenters and met with…

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/career-fair-a-hit-at-jose-rios-middle-school/article_5ceb2458-d755-11ee-a2f1-0b03f43c892c.html Save to Pocket

‘Better a meth addict than your loved one’

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

The newest billboard displayed by the Office of the Attorney General on the island’s roadways supports the community using “self-defense” and “defense of others” when in dangerous situations.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/better-a-meth-addict-than-your-loved-one/article_d8a83f02-d766-11ee-99bd-771d3a267a1f.html Save to Pocket

Trial unlikely for men charged in fatal Dededo stabbing

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

There is not likely going to be a trial for five men charged in the August 2022 stabbing of Kifirston Aiken.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/trial-unlikely-for-men-charged-in-fatal-dededo-stabbing/article_45f66890-d776-11ee-b6d4-97c87ac09f12.html Save to Pocket

Miracle on St David’s Day.

date: 2024-03-01, from: Logic Matters blog

I have just noted, with delight, that the poet Gillian Clarke — the much admired, much loved, one-time National Poet of Wales — has a new collection of poems coming out from Carcanet Press this month. We have read and reread and read her work again ever since we lived in Wales, and find it […]

The post Miracle on St David’s Day. appeared first on Logic Matters.

https://www.logicmatters.net/2024/03/01/miracle-on-st-davids-day/ Save to Pocket

The Old Left, the New Left, and the Left Behind

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

The roots of Trumpism, Part 9

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-old-left-the-new-left-and-the Save to Pocket

Biden, Trump Visit US Southern Border

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

US President Joe Biden and his main challenger, Donald Trump, went to opposite ends of the 1,931-kilometer border separating Texas from Mexico on Thursday. Both went to draw attention to the surge of migrants seeking to enter the US, but their messages were radically different and show how Democrats and Republicans view this key election issue. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington.

https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-trump-visit-us-southern-border-/7509519.html Save to Pocket

CSUN women’s tennis wins three of first four matches

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)

The Matadors opened the season with three straight wins before their first loss. They are undefeated in doubles through four matches, but struggled in singles in their latest contest against…

https://sundial.csun.edu/178786/multimedia/watch/csun-womens-tennis-wins-three-of-first-four-matches/ Save to Pocket

Classifieds – March 1, 2024

date: 2024-03-01, 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 – March 1, 2024 appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/classifieds-march-01-2024/ Save to Pocket

They call me ‘Growler’. I don’t like you. Let’s discuss your pay cut

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

Tough guy act was flimsy: our readers fleeced him, then dropped him in it

On Call  Welcome once more, dear reader, to On Call, The Register’s reader-contributed tales of delivering tech support amidst feuds, foolishness, and folly.…

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

PeggyBoard: LED climbing wall route planner | The MagPi #139

date: 2024-03-01, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)

Climbing walls are already pretty exhilarating but that didn’t stop one maker from upgrading his with a Raspberry Pi. In the latest issue of The MagPi, out now, Rob Zwetsloot gets to grips with it.

The post PeggyBoard: LED climbing wall route planner | The MagPi #139 appeared first on Raspberry Pi.

https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/peggyboard-led-climbing-wall-route-planner-the-magpi-139/ Save to Pocket

Today in SCV History (March 1)

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

1990 – President George H.W. Bush and Sheriff Sherman Block dedicate new North County Correctional Facility in Castaic. [story

https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-march-1/ Save to Pocket

‘Dune: Part Two’ kicks up a storm

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

Finally, a book adaptation is better than the book itself.

The post ‘Dune: Part Two’ kicks up a storm appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/dune-part-two-kicks-up-a-storm/ Save to Pocket

Shuttle driver and faculty unions demand wage raise

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

Attendees spread a petition calling for negotiations in a protest Thursday afternoon.

The post Shuttle driver and faculty unions demand wage raise appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/usc-shuttle-drivers-union/ Save to Pocket

USC pre-med culture sucks for everyone involved

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

A toxic environment that promotes competition and sabotage is unacceptable.

The post USC pre-med culture sucks for everyone involved appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/usc-pre-med-culture-sucks-for-everyone-involved/ Save to Pocket

Discovering history in Venice

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

A week off from school meant a trip was in order.

The post Discovering history in Venice appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/discovering-history-in-venice/ Save to Pocket

Petition spreads to protect courts

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

USC will replace the tennis and pickleball courts with athletic facilities in May.

The post Petition spreads to protect courts appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/usc-pickleball-tennis-courts/ Save to Pocket

What are LLMs and why should I care

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

If you’ve used ChatGPT in the past week, or more likely the past hour, you’ve used an LLM. One of the most relevant trends in modern technology, I’ll explain what LLMs are, and why they are important to understand.

The post What are LLMs and why should I care appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/what-are-llms-and-why-should-i-care/ Save to Pocket

Lacrosse ready for East Coast onslaught

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

No. 16 USC looks to get back in the win column during its three-game road trip.

The post Lacrosse ready for East Coast onslaught appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/lacrosse-ready-for-east-coast-onslaught/ Save to Pocket

Communicating through movement: waheedworks takes on LA

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

The dance company’s Los Angeles debut highlighted the sensitivities of humanity.

The post Communicating through movement: waheedworks takes on LA appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/203022/ Save to Pocket

SC Family Reunion tops off Black History Month

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

Local businesses, student performers and various games highlighted the afternoon festivities.

The post SC Family Reunion tops off Black History Month appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/usc-black-history-month-reunion/ Save to Pocket

From Fullerton to Freshman of the Year: The Maribel Flores journey

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)

USC’s ascendant soccer star reflects on her long journey to early success.

The post From Fullerton to Freshman of the Year: The Maribel Flores journey appeared first on Daily Trojan.

https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/01/from-fullerton-to-freshman-of-the-year-the-maribel-flores-journey/ Save to Pocket

UC Santa Barbara Continues Dominance of Rival Cal Poly With 83-75 Victory

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

The Gauchos will travel to Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

The post UC Santa Barbara Continues Dominance of Rival Cal Poly With 83-75 Victory appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/uc-santa-barbara-continues-dominance-of-rival-cal-poly-with-an-83-75-victory/ Save to Pocket

AI Chatbots Provide False Information About November Elections

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

https://www.voanews.com/a/ai-chatbots-provide-false-information-about-november-elections/7509355.html Save to Pocket

AI to fix UK Civil Service’s bureaucratic bungling, deputy PM bets

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

‘Computer-says-no’ to be replaced by summaries written by LLMs trained on government data

The UK government will trial large language models to help ministers analyze and draft documents as part of a push to overhaul public services using AI.…

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

Summary of changes for February 2024

date: 2024-03-01, from: Hundred Rabbits blog

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we’ve done to our projects during the month of February.

Summary Of Changes

• 100r.co, added gimballed stove, open pantry, Little Ninj and LPG fume detection system. Updated galley refit and Western Canada(includes tidal/current resources).
• Uxn, with the help of the community, we defined a specification on how labels and sublabels should be nested into each other. Assemblers were updated to reflect that change, including the Uxn REPL.
• Left, added accented latin characters support, so you can read and write French and Spanish text files.
• Potato, released a final version, added a screensaver(Mastodon).
• Hakum, finished Ruler of the Taiga.

News

Late last month we started re-modeling part of our galley, the work is now complete! It’s subtle, but the splash image for the log now includes the re-design. We will test our new galley when we go out cruising.

Pino will be adventuring a bit more north this summer, we’re planning to explore the north coast of British Columbia, all the way to Prince Rupert, or possibly Ketchikan(AK), areas with little to no cell coverage. How far we go depends on what we find on the way. If the seas and winds are kind, and if we have time, we might go farther. We spend our days studying charts, gathering supplies, and fixing up the boat to make sure the passage is safe and pleasant. More updates on our plans soon!

Want to see something cool? Xsodect made Tetris(Mastodon) in Orca.

Pino book & movie club

This month we watched The Race to Alaska Movie.

Continue Reading

https://100r.co/site/log.html#feb2024 Save to Pocket

February 29, 2024

date: 2024-03-01, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog

Today’s story is that in the negotiations to fund the government and pass the national security supplemental bill, MAGA Republicans appear to be losing ground. Biden appears to be trying to weaken them further by making it clear it is Republicans, not Democrats, who are preventing new, strict border security legislation.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-29-2024 Save to Pocket

We Bought a House

date: 2024-03-01, from: Jessica Smith’s blog

Last year, Vivian and I bought a house.

I’ve mentioned it in passing on social media a few times, but my blog post about it has lingered in draft purgatory for a long time. It’s a difficult post to write because, obviously, I am painfully aware of how privileged we are to even have been able to buy the house. Most couples our age are really struggling with the inaffordability of housing in this city, so it feels churlish to complain because we’ve done it. The only reason this was remotely possible is because my grandmother’s humble house that she lived in for 60 years appreciated to some unfathomable sum thanks to our broken housing market, and my dad and my uncle were willing to lend us their shares of the inheritance which, in combination with my own share, was enough to buy this house. So… I’m not going to do the asshole thing and exclaim, “If we could afford a house in a ‘good’ Melbourne suburb on a single full-time income, anyone can!” Obviously not. I know we’re very fortunate.

And the house itself? Fundamentally, I do like it. It’s a 1930s house, extremely close to a train station, with a big backyard and a double-length garage. (Currently the garage is missing a wall because we had to have the asbestos panels removed, but it still exists.) It has lots of period charm. The problem is, it was in terrible condition when we bought it: it was previously owned by a hoarder, and had a big hole in the roof which had caused extensive damage inside. It’s still not liveable yet, but we’ve made substantial progress. The biggest outstanding job is getting the kitchen redone – the existing one doesn’t have any counter space (???) – and then there’s other stuff, like rebuilding that garage wall, repairs to windows, painting, polishing floorboards, installing AC… but compare that list to the list of stuff we already did (roof repairs, restumping, replacing rotten floorboards, redoing the bathroom, replacing collapsed ceilings, plastering up cracks in general…) and one is clearly a lot shorter than the other. So, we continue.

While on the one hand I like the house, on the other hand, I feel like this house has ruined my life. I was super wary of buying it, both because of the huge amount of work required and because of the amount of money we had to borrow (I know we borrowed from family, but we’re still expected to repay the loans). I allowed myself to be browbeaten into conceding, but I was completely correct on both counts: it’s been horrifically stressful trying to organise all these renovations, and the financial burden on us is crippling. My mental health has been absolute trash over the last year, and while I can’t say it’s 100% due to the house, I can’t help but feel it’s 90% due to the house. Or at least, my baseline levels of anxiety and depressive tendencies, which aren’t ideal but have mostly been manageable up until now, have been completely overwhelmed by the misery instilled in me by this house. I feel like my ability to feel any kind of enduring positive emotion, like hope or satisfaction, has been extinguished. Instead I feel trapped, shackled by these responsibilities, yearning for some kind of escape. Last month, I finally sought out a mental health care plan, because I have just not been coping. It’s not an overnight fix, but at least it’s something. Honestly, I don’t think there’ll be any “fix” until the renovations are finally done and the place is rented out.

Oh yeah, rented out. Because the loans are so substantial that we have no chance of even covering the interest (let alone paying down the principal!) without rental income. We did buy it to be our family home one day, and so that’s the standard we’re trying to do it up to (we don’t want to be slumlords, you know?), but still, in the short to medium-term we’ll have to be landlords. And I hate this. It’s causing conflict between Viv and I, too, because he loves to crow about our “investment property” thinking it makes him sound really cool and important, while all I can think is that I let him browbeat me into buying a home that was just that little bit too expensive for us and now we can’t even afford to live in our own home. But still, it’s not forever, right? As time goes on, the sum we borrowed will become less and less in real terms, and also we have other elderly relatives planning to leave us things, so one day we should be able to afford to live in our own home. One day.

In the meantime… just gotta keep on keeping on. One day after another. Get the works done, and move beyond the immediate crisis. Maybe then, I’ll be able to see something positive in our purchase of this house. What would be really nice is if one day – maybe when we can afford to live there – I look back and realise it really was a worthwhile investment, despite the short-term stress. After all, I do like the house! It’s just so… much… work.

https://www.jayeless.net/2024/03/we-bought-a-house.html Save to Pocket

HPE blames GPU shortage for contributing to unexpected sales slide

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

Even when Nvidia delivers, customers struggle to get datacenters ready to handle the heat

HPE has blamed disappointing revenue for the quarter on shortages of GPUs and warned investors its previous growth predictions probably won’t happen.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/01/hpe_q1_2024/ Save to Pocket

Webcurios 01/03/24

date: 2024-03-01, from: Web Curios blog

Continue reading →

https://webcurios.co.uk/webcurios-01-03-24/ Save to Pocket

CSUN Seed Library offers the community free seeds to plant

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)

What used to be an old library catalog is now organized storage for seeds. Located inside the Sustainability Center at CSUN, the Seed Library is home to over a dozen…

https://sundial.csun.edu/178778/featured/csun-seed-library-offers-the-community-free-seeds-to-plant/ Save to Pocket

Review: Matthew Vaughn’s “Argylle”: Undercover and underwhelming

date: 2024-03-01, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)

“Argylle” is the latest film directed by one of the most stylistic directors in film today, Matthew Vaughn. Vaughn is best known for his outrageous and in-your-face visual styles and…

https://sundial.csun.edu/178771/arts-entertainment/review-matthew-vaughns-argylle-undercover-and-underwhelming/ Save to Pocket

NTT boss takes early retirement to atone for data leak

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

No mere mea culpa would suffice after 9.2 million records leaked over a decade, warnings were ignored, and lies were told

NTT West president Masaaki Moribayashi announced his resignation on Thursday, effective at the end of March, in atonement for the leak of data pertaining to 9.28 million customers that came to light last October.…

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

Vietnam may ban virtual assets to fix its bad rep for money laundering

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

Hopes to get itself off an international naughty list – as you would when you want foreign investment in your chip sector

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has raised the prospect of prohibiting or regulating virtual assets by May 2025, as part of a drive to boost anti-money laundering (AML) efforts.…

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

SCVi senior surprised with nearly 6-figure scholarship 

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

Walking into any room, many people don’t expect to receive money, let alone five years of tuition fully covered by their future university. Yet, for Carter Sand, that was exactly the case.   The 17-year-old SCVi senior has been at the Castaic charter school since kindergarten and is planning on attending Maryville University in St. Louis […]

The post SCVi senior surprised with nearly 6-figure scholarship  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/02/scvi-senior-surprised-with-nearly-6-figure-scholarship/ Save to Pocket

Meta kills Facebook News in the US and Australia

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

So much for the ‘commitment to support news organizations’ made in just 2020

Meta has killed its Facebook news service in the United States and Australia.…

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

Tangara

date: 2024-03-01, from: Jirka’s blog

There is an interesting open hardware project - the Tangara music player {sup}1{/sup}. It seems to be something visually and functionally similar to the old Apple’s music players from early 2000s but made from zero with use of modern components.

http://jirka.1-2-8.net/20240301-0440_Tangara Save to Pocket

Analog stuff, mostly

date: 2024-03-01, from: Jirka’s blog

It seems I prefer to be off the computer as much as I can. I think that this year I have spent more time using the gramophone than doing something interesting on the computer.

http://jirka.1-2-8.net/20240301-0440_Analog_stuff_mostly Save to Pocket

US Journalist Held in Civil Contempt for Refusing to Divulge Source

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

WASHINGTON — A federal judge held veteran investigative reporter Catherine Herridge in civil contempt on Thursday for refusing to divulge her source for a series of Fox News stories about a Chinese American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington imposed a fine of $800 per day until Herridge complies, but the fine will not go into effect immediately to give her time to appeal.

Cooper wrote that he “recognizes the paramount importance of a free press in our society” and the critical role of confidential sources in investigative journalism. But the judge said the court “also has its own role to play in upholding the law and safeguarding judicial authority.”

“Herridge and many of her colleagues in the journalism community may disagree with that decision and prefer that a different balance be struck, but she is not permitted to flout a federal court’s order with impunity,” wrote Cooper, who was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama.

A lawyer for Herridge, Patrick Philbin, declined to comment. Representatives for CBS and Fox News did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The source is being sought by Yanpin Chen, who has sued the government over the leak of details about the federal probe into statements she made on immigration forms related to work on a Chinese astronaut program.

Herridge, who was recently laid off by CBS News, published an investigative series for Fox News in 2017 that examined Chen’s ties to the Chinese military and raised questions about whether the scientist was using a professional school she founded in Virginia to help the Chinese government get information about American servicemembers.

The stories relied on what her lawyers contend were items leaked from the probe, including snippets of an FBI document summarizing an interview conducted during the investigation, personal photographs, and information taken from her immigration and naturalization forms and from an internal FBI PowerPoint presentation.

Chen sued the FBI and Justice Department in 2018, saying her personal information was selectively leaked to “smear her reputation and damage her livelihood.”

The judge had ordered Herridge in August to answer questions about her source or sources in a deposition with Chen’s lawyers. The judge ruled that Chen’s need to know for the sake of her lawsuit overcomes Herridge’s right to shield her source, despite the “vital importance of a free press and the critical role” that confidential sources play in journalists’ work.

Herridge was interviewed under oath in September by a lawyer for Chen, but declined dozens of times to answer questions about her sources, saying at one point, “My understanding is that the courts have ruled that in order to seek further judicial review in this case, I must now decline the order, and respectfully I am invoking my First Amendment rights in declining to answer the question.”

Philbin, who served as deputy White House counsel during the Trump administration, has said that forcing Herridge to turn over her sources “would destroy her credibility and cripple her ability to play a role in bringing important information to light for the public.”

Philbin also told the judge that disclosing the identity of Herridge’s sources raises national security concerns, writing in court papers that there is a “serious risk” that Chen “was involved in making information about U.S. military members available” to the Chinese.

Legal fights over whether journalists should have to divulge sources are rare, though they’ve arisen several times in the last couple decades in Privacy Act cases like the one filed by Chen. Some lawsuits have ended with a hefty Justice Department settlement in place of a journalist being forced to reveal a source, an outcome that remains possible in Herridge’s case.

In 2008, for instance, the Justice Department agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle a lawsuit by Army scientist Steven Hatfill, who was falsely identified as a person of interest in the 2001 anthrax attacks. That settlement resulted in a contempt order being vacated against a journalist who was being asked to name her sources.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-journalist-held-in-civil-contempt-for-refusing-to-divulge-source-/7509437.html Save to Pocket

Career US Diplomat Admits Spying for Cuba for Decades

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

MIAMI — A former career U.S. diplomat told a federal judge Thursday he will plead guilty to charges of working for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba, an unexpectedly swift resolution to a case prosecutors called one of the most brazen betrayals in the history of the U.S. foreign service.

Manuel Rocha’s stunning fall from grace could culminate in a lengthy prison term after the 73-year-old said he would admit to federal counts of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government.

Prosecutors and Rocha’s attorney indicated the plea deal includes an agreed-upon sentence, but they did not disclose details at a hearing Thursday. He is due back in court April 12, when he is scheduled to formalize his guilty plea and be sentenced.

“I am in agreement,” said Rocha, shackled at the hands and ankles, when asked by U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom if he wished to change his plea to guilty. Prosecutors, in exchange, agreed to drop 13 counts including wire fraud and making false statements.

The brief hearing shed no new light on the question that has proved elusive since Rocha’s arrest in December: What exactly did he do to help Cuba while working at the State Department for two decades? That included stints as ambassador to Bolivia and top posts in Argentina, Mexico, the White House and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

“Ambassador Rocha,” as he preferred to be called, was well known among Miami’s elite for his aristocratic, almost regal, bearing befitting his Ivy League background. His post-government career included time as a special adviser to the commander of the U.S. Southern Command and more recently as a tough-talking Donald Trump supporter and Cuba hardliner, a persona friends and prosecutors say Rocha adopted to hide his true allegiances.

Peter Lapp, who oversaw FBI counterintelligence against Cuba between 1998 and 2005, said the fast resolution of the case benefits not only the elderly Rocha but also the government, which stands to learn a lot about Cuba’s penetration of U.S. foreign policy circles.

Typically in counterintelligence cases, the defendant is charged with espionage. But Rocha was accused of the lesser crimes of acting as a foreign agent, which carry maximum terms of between five and 10 years in prison, making it easier for prosecutors and Rocha to reach an agreement.

“It’s a win-win for both sides,” said Lapp, who led the investigation into Ana Montes, the highest-level U.S. official ever convicted of spying for Cuba. “He gets a significant payoff and the chance to see his family again, and the U.S. will be able to conduct a full damage assessment that it wouldn’t be able to do without his cooperation.” 

But the abrupt deal drew criticism in the Cuban exile community, with some legal observers worrying it amounted to a slap on the wrist.

“Any sentence that allows him to see the light of day again would not be justice,” said Carlos Trujillo, a Miami attorney who served as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States during the Trump administration. “He’s a spy for a foreign adversary who put American lives at risk.”

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.

https://www.voanews.com/a/career-us-diplomat-admits-spying-for-cuba-for-decades-/7509430.html Save to Pocket

Pentagon Leak Suspect Expected to Plead Guilty in Federal Case

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

Boston — Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents on a social media platform, is expected to plead guilty in his federal case, according to court papers filed Thursday. 

Prosecutors asked the judge to schedule a change of plea hearing, but no other details were immediately available. The judge set the hearing for Monday in Boston’s federal courthouse. 

Teixeira had previously pleaded not guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. 

The Massachusetts U.S. attorney’s office declined further comment. An attorney for Teixeira didn’t immediately return a phone message Thursday. 

Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, has been behind bars since his April arrest for a leak that left the Biden administration scrambling to assess and contain the damage among the international community and reassure allies that its secrets are safe with the U.S. 

He was accused of sharing classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other sensitive national security topics on Discord, a social media platform popular with people who play online games. Investigators believe he led a private chat group called Thug Shaker Central, where enthusiasts shared jokes, talked about their favorite types of guns and discussed wars, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Documents, photos

Authorities say Teixeira, who enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019, began around January 2023 sharing military secrets with other Discord users — first by typing out classified documents and then sharing photographs of files that bore SECRET and TOP SECRET markings. Teixeira worked as a “cyber transport systems specialist,” essentially an IT specialist responsible for military communications networks. 

Authorities have said that Teixeira was detected on April 6 — the day The New York Times first published a story about the breach of documents — searching for the word “leak” in a classified system. The FBI says that was reason to believe Teixeira was trying to find information about the investigation into who was responsible for the leaks. 

Prosecutors say he continued to leak government secrets even after he was warned by superiors about mishandling and improper viewing of classified information. After being admonished by superiors, he was again seen viewing information not related to his primary duty, according to internal Air National Guard memos filed in court. 

Authorities have provided few details about an alleged possible motive, but accounts of those in the online private chat group where the documents were disclosed have depicted Teixeira as motivated more by bravado than ideology. 

Prosecutors had urged the judge to keep Teixeira jailed while the case played out, in part because of an arsenal of weapons found at his home and his history of disturbing online statements. That included one social media post saying that, if he had his way, he would like to kill a “ton of people” because it would be “culling the weak minded.” 

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani last year denied Teixeira’s bid for release, saying, “No set of release conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community, or prevent destruction of evidence.” 

In pressing for their client to be freed from jail, Teixeira’s attorneys pointed to the pretrial release of former President Donald Trump and others in high-profile classified documents cases. Teixeira’s lawyers noted that prosecutors did not seek to detain Trump — or his co-defendant, Walt Nauta — even though they said the former president and his valet “possess extraordinary means to flee the United States.”

https://www.voanews.com/a/pentagon-leak-suspect-expected-to-plead-guilty-in-federal-case-/7509425.html Save to Pocket

First US Moon Lander in 50 Years Goes Silent

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — The first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since the Apollo astronauts fell silent Thursday, a week after breaking a leg at touchdown and tipping over near the lunar south pole.

Intuitive Machines’ lander, Odysseus, lasted longer than the company anticipated after it ended up on its side with hobbled solar power and communication.

The end came as flight controllers received one last photo from Odysseus and commanded its computer and power systems to standby. That way, the lander can wake up in another two to three weeks — if it survives the bitterly cold lunar night.

Intuitive Machines spokesman Josh Marshall said these final steps drained the lander’s batteries and put Odysseus “down for a long nap.”

“Good night, Odie. We hope to hear from you again,” the company said via X, formerly Twitter.

Before losing power, Odysseus sent back what Intuitive Machines called “a fitting farewell transmission.”

Taken just before touchdown, the picture shows the bottom of the lander on the moon’s pockmarked surface, with a tiny crescent Earth and a small sun in the background.

The lander was originally intended to last about a week on the moon.

Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private business to land a spacecraft on the moon without crashing when Odysseus touched down February 22. Only five countries had achieved that since the 1960s, including Japan, which made a sideways landing last month.

Odysseus carried six experiments for NASA, which paid $118 million for the ride. The first company to take part in NASA’s program for commercial lunar deliveries never made it to the moon; its lander came crashing back to Earth in January.

NASA views these private landers as scouts that will pave the way for astronauts set to arrive in another few years.

Until Odysseus, the last U.S. moon landing was by Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972.

https://www.voanews.com/a/first-us-moon-lander-in-50-years-goes-down-for-a-long-nap-/7509415.html Save to Pocket

India approves its first full wafer fab – a 28nm affair from Tata and Powerchip

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

Everybody’s so happy they’re not mentioning start dates, subsidy levels, or other useful details

India’s government has approved the construction of the nation’s first semiconductor wafer fabrication plant, to be built by Taiwanese foundry-as-a-service outfit Powerchip (PSMC), together with Indian giant Tata’s electronics business.…

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

Cal State LA Has An Asbestos Problem. Students And Faculty Want It Fixed

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

After years of notifications and warnings, CSU Los Angeles students and employees protested that the university isn’t doing enough to communicate whether they’re safe from asbestos.

https://laist.com/news/education/csu-los-angeles-asbestos-faculty-student-demonstration Save to Pocket

European Leaders Press US House Speaker Over Ukraine Aid

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

The leaders of 23 European parliaments are imploring U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to take up and pass additional assistance for Ukraine in its defensive war with Russia. Johnson says Congress must secure the U.S. southern border and fund the U.S. government before taking up foreign aid. VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.

https://www.voanews.com/a/european-leaders-press-us-house-speaker-over-ukraine-aid/7509377.html Save to Pocket

Report: Newhall School District student population expected to remain stable 

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

The Newhall School District got some good news at Tuesday’s governing board meeting: the population of students is set to remain roughly the same over the next seven years.  While that may not seem exciting, David Kaitz, vice president and senior project manager at Davis Demographics, said with a statewide trend of school districts losing […]

The post <strong>Report: Newhall School District student population expected to remain stable</strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/02/report-newhall-school-district-student-population-expected-to-remain-stable/ Save to Pocket

Honoring history: Eagle Scout project showcases local veterans 

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

The idea came to his head quickly.  Getting all the pieces to fit together to make his dream a reality took much longer than he initially expected.  Ron-Paul Tamayo, a Hart High School senior and member of Boy Scouts Troop 228, based out of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church in Saugus, chose to honor veterans […]

The post <strong>Honoring history: Eagle Scout project showcases local veterans</strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/02/honoring-history-eagle-scout-project-showcases-local-veterans/ Save to Pocket

NASA Ames Astrogram – January/February 2024

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

Into the Belly of the Rover: VIPER’s Final Science Instrument Installed by Rachel Hoover TRIDENT, designed and developed by engineers at Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California, is the fourth and final science instrument to be installed into VIPER. NASA engineers have already successfully integrated VIPER’s three other science instruments into the rover. These include: the MSOLO (Mass […]

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/nasa-ames-astrogram-january-february-2024/ Save to Pocket

Canada poutine more pressure on Google by expanding ad biz antitrust probe

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

Court order means ad giant will have to cough evidence of possible market manipulation

It has not been a great week for Google’s Ad business. After being served a €2.1 billion lawsuit in Europe, Canadian regulators have expanded an investigation into whether it abused its market position to quash rival platforms.…

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

Larry David Promoting Siri

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

https://twitter.com/rjonesy/status/1762250373035905415 Save to Pocket

City to hold hearing on Wiley Canyon project 

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

A project proposed for Wiley Canyon in Newhall that’s been talked about by area residents for months has a date before the city of Santa Clarita Planning Commission in March.  The Wiley Canyon mixed-use project is a development slated for just east of Interstate 5 and west of Wiley Canyon Road, between Hawkbryn Avenue and […]

The post City to hold hearing on Wiley Canyon project  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/02/city-to-hold-hearing-on-wiley-canyon-project/ Save to Pocket

March snow survey shows improvement for Sierra snowpack

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

News release   The Department of Water Resources conducted the third snow survey of the season on Thursday at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada. The manual survey recorded 47.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 18 inches, which is 77% of average for this location.   The snow water equivalent measures […]

The post March snow survey shows improvement for Sierra snowpack appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/02/march-snow-survey-shows-improvement-for-sierra-snowpack/ Save to Pocket

SCV forecast to have another wet weekend 

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

Overcast skies that loomed over the Santa Clarita Valley all day Thursday aren’t going anywhere any time soon, according to the National Weather Service.  While it’s bad news for anyone planning to stay dry outside, a coastal storm, which hit up and down the state this week as it moved south from the Gulf of […]

The post SCV forecast to have another wet weekend  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/02/scv-forecast-to-have-another-wet-weekend/ Save to Pocket

Microsoft announces super resolution DirectX API

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

We’re thrilled to announce DirectSR, our new API designed in partnership with GPU hardware vendors to enable seamless integration of Super Resolution (SR) into the next generation of games. Super Resolution is a cutting-edge technique that increases the resolution and visual quality in games. DirectSR is the missing link developers have been waiting for when approaching SR integration, providing a smoother, more efficient experience that scales across hardware. This API enables multi-vendor SR through a common set of inputs and outputs, allowing a single code path to activate a variety of solutions including NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution, AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution, and Intel XeSS. DirectSR will be available soon in the Agility SDK as a public preview, which will enable developers to test it out and provide feedback. Don’t miss our DirectX State of the Union at GDC to catch a sneak peek at how DirectSR can be used with your games! ↫ Joshua Tucker at the DirectX Developer Blog If this aides in making sense out of the confusing mess of terminology and marketing terms surrounding this technology, I’m all for it.

https://www.osnews.com/story/138670/microsoft-announces-super-resolution-directx-api/ Save to Pocket

HP wants you to pay up to $36/month to rent a printer that it monitors

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

HP launched a subscription service today that rents people a printer, allots them a specific amount of printed pages, and sends them ink for a monthly fee. HP is framing its service as a way to simplify printing for families and small businesses, but the deal also comes with monitoring and a years-long commitment. Prices range from $6.99 per month for a plan that includes an HP Envy printer (the current model is the 6020e) and 20 printed pages. The priciest plan includes an HP OfficeJet Pro rental and 700 printed pages for $35.99 per month. ↫ Scharon Harding at Ars Technica Can I pay them not to put a printer in my house?

https://www.osnews.com/story/138668/hp-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-36-month-to-rent-a-printer-that-it-monitors/ Save to Pocket

GitHub struggles to keep up with automated malicious forks

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

Cloned then compromised, bad repos are forked faster than they can be removed

A malware distribution campaign that began last May with a handful of malicious software packages uploaded to the Python Package Index (PyPI) has spread to GitHub and expanded to reach at least 100,000 compromised repositories.…

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

Fire Defense or Deforestation? West Camino Cielo Community Divided over Los Padres Fuel Break

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

Members of the Santa Barbara mountain community butt heads with the U.S. Forest Service over vegetation clearing.

The post Fire Defense or Deforestation? West Camino Cielo Community Divided over Los Padres Fuel Break  appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/fire-defense-or-deforestation-west-camino-cielo-community-divided-over-los-padres-fuel-break/ Save to Pocket

HDMI Forum rejects open-source HDMI 2.1 driver support sought by AMD

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

One of the limitations of AMD’s open-source Linux graphics driver has been the inability to implement HDMI 2.1+ functionality on the basis of legal requirements by the HDMI Forum. AMD engineers had been working to come up with a solution in conjunction with the HDMI Forum for being able to provide HDMI 2.1+ capabilities with their open-source Linux kernel driver, but it looks like those efforts for now have concluded and failed. ↫ Michael Larabel So dumb.

https://www.osnews.com/story/138666/hdmi-forum-rejects-open-source-hdmi-2-1-driver-support-sought-by-amd/ Save to Pocket

Hundreds of Runners Participated in a Heart Pumping Race to the Finish During the First-Ever Port/City 5K

date: 2024-03-01, from: Port Hueneme

Local runners enjoyed sun and fun at the inaugural “Run for Your Heart” 5K Race Download Press Release [Port Hueneme, CA – February 29, 2024] – In a strong spirit of partnership and heart for the community, the City of Port Hueneme, and the Port of Hueneme celebrated Heart Health Awareness Month by hosting a Read More

https://www.portofhueneme.org/5k/ Save to Pocket

TMU’s Lowery Earns Co-Player of the Year; Harper Named All-GSAC

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

The Master’s University Athletic Department announced Kaleb Lowery was named co-Player of the Year in the conference and Ty Harper was named All-Golden State Athletic Conference in men’s basketball for the 2023-24 season

https://scvnews.com/tmus-lowery-earns-co-player-of-the-year-harper-named-all-gsac/ Save to Pocket

Quick Charge Podcast: February 29, 2024

date: 2024-03-01, 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.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/quick-charge-podcast-february-29-2024/ Save to Pocket

Friday 1 March, 2024

date: 2024-03-01, from: John Naughton’s online diary

Things to come It is, after all, the 1st of March. Quote of the Day When you make motion pictures, each picture is a life unto itself. When you finish and the picture is over, there’s an understanding, a realisation … Continue reading →

https://memex.naughtons.org/friday-1-march-2024/39193/ Save to Pocket

Biden Knows Tariffs Won’t Stop Chinese EVs

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

China’s car industry has been on a tear lately. Last year, China became the world’s largest auto exporter, and its home-grown carmaker BYD recently eclipsed Tesla as the world’s No. 1 maker of electrified vehicles.

If China were following a playbook first written by Japanese or Korean automakers, you’d expect them to start selling their cars in the United States pretty soon. But China — unlike Japan or South Korea — is not an American ally, and so it’s going to have to follow a different path.

On Thursday, the Biden administration opened an investigation into the national security risks posed by Chinese-made “connected vehicles,” which essentially means any vehicle or any car part that connects to the internet. New cars, especially EVs, are outfitted with cameras, sensors, or cellular modems required for modern safety features.

The probe is the first part of what is likely to be a broad American policy response to the rise of Chinese electric vehicles. “China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I’m not going to let that happen on my watch.”

The investigation is a big deal, in part because it marks that the backlash to Chinese EVs has begun in earnest in the U.S. Look closely and you’ll see Biden’s quote this morning gives away the game: Is the risk that Chinese vehicles flood the market, or is the risk that they’ll harm national security? For this administration, one has the sense that it’s both.

In a press briefing with reporters, Commerce Secretary Gina Rainmondo, whose office will lead the investigation, argued that these sensors and computers could pose a risk to national security.

“Imagine if there were thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of Chinese connected vehicles on American roads that could be immediately and simultaneously disabled by somebody in Beijing,” she said. “It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out how a foreign adversary like China with access to this sort of information at scale could pose a serious risk for national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens.”

It was crucial to launch the investigation now, she added, before Chinese-made vehicles became more prevalent on American roads. Today, only a handful of brands — including Volvo, Polestar, and Buick — sell Chinese-made vehicles in the United States, and no Chinese-originating brand sells cars here.

There are three more things to observe about the sudden American action against Chinese EVs.

First, the administration’s actions aren’t particularly surprising. As I’ve previously written, the rise of Chinese EVs poses an existential threat to the legacy American automakers, including Ford and General Motors. These companies employ four times more workers in Michigan than in any other state, and Biden’s path to reelection runs straight through Michigan this November.

And even though Biden’s climate agenda has been aggressively focused on domestic development — you could argue that the Inflation Reduction Act is as much about national competitiveness as emissions reductions, per se — Donald Trump will claim no matter what that Biden’s climate policy is a “job-killing” gift to China. So Biden has to be especially certain that Chinese-made EVs don’t threaten — can’t even seem like a threat — to the Michigan auto industry.

Democrats, too, are not alone in calling for action against Chinese EV makers. Republicans have already branded Biden’s pro-EV campaign as a giveaway to China. On Wednesday, Senator Josh Hawley, a far-right Missouri Republican, proposed legislation that would raise tariffs on Chinese EVs much higher than their current level — to an astounding 125%. That would exceed the highest tariff rates on the books, and it would also apply the duties to Chinese-branded EVs made anywhere in the world, including in countries that the U.S. has a free-trade agreement with.

Second, the investigation reflects just how difficult it will be for the United States and China to keep from fighting over their highest quality technological exports. Over the past few years, the U.S. has targeted or restricted Huawei devices and the social network TikTok. China has slapped rules on how Apple’s and Tesla’s products can be used.

At Heatmap, we have written frequently about how the effort to deploy green technologies is becoming inseparable from geopolitics. But this fight is over something much broader than zero-carbon technologies — it’s potentially about digitized products, anything with software, which includes electric vehicles and batteries as well as smartphones and gadgets. If the American government now believes that Chinese-made products with cameras or sensors risk U.S. national security, then potentially a whole range of products — robot vacuums, e-bikes, GPS watches, even home appliances — could pose some sort of security risk. Electric vehicles may represent a greater security risk, but the difference between them and, say, phones is one of degrees and not kind.

Finally, the investigation reveals something that canny observers have already noted: Tariffs alone probably can’t keep Chinese-branded EVs out of the American market forever. BYD, the world’s No. 1 seller of electrified vehicles, is planning to open a factory in Mexico; it already sells its cars there. If BYD succeeds in establishing a North American beachhead, then its cars could potentially fall under U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement rules and freely enter the United States. (The Hawley bill would theoretically circumvent this by applying its tariffs to Chinese-branded vehicles wherever they are made. Whether this would actually be worth the rift it would open with one of our most important manufacturing partners is an open question.)

Those vehicles could rapidly become the most affordable new cars on the road — if not in the United States itself, then in Mexico and Canada, where American brands compete. BYD recently advertised an $11,000 plug-in hybrid targeted at the Chinese market. Even if meeting American highway safety regulations added another $4,000 to that vehicle’s cost, it would still be among the cheapest new cars sold in this country. Even doubling its price with tariffs would keep it firmly among the country’s most affordable new vehicles.

That could be good. Electric vehicles need to get cheaper everywhere, including the U.S., if we are to fight climate change. Likewise, the Commerce Department’s investigation could result in a happy outcome, by which the national security and privacy risks of Chinese EVs could be managed — through software, for instance — allowing BYD or Polestar to sell some cars here without exposing Americans to significant risk. But that’s not the the direction that I expect things to take.

https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/chinese-ev-cars-biden 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

htmz story

date: 2024-03-01, from: Lean Rada’s blog

This post is not the usual programming post. It’s been an interesting week, I guess.

I just finished my mini side-project htmz, a snippet / library / microframework / whatever for HTML whose main feature was that it only weighed a total of 181 bytes. It almost fits inside a single ‘tweet’ (wait, the limit is now 280 not 140?).

Here is the entire framework in its final form:

<iframe hidden name=htmz onload="setTimeout(()=>
document.querySelector(contentWindow.location.hash||null)
?.replaceWith(...contentDocument.body.childNodes))"></iframe>

See the project documentation for more info on what it does.

I posted it on Hacker News, went to sleep because it was 3am at that point. Then the next morning it was at the top of HN!

I didn’t expect this at all. But naturally I rushed to the comments section which quickly grew too numerous for me to read. They were generally positive, and acknowledged the project’s hackyness and elegance (these adjectives usually mean opposite things). It was pretty cool! The top comment in the thread sums it up.

A bunch of common themes were raised. I guess I’ll write about them in this post.

Why htmz?

htmz was initially inspired by htmx, another web library/framework. One of htmx’s main features was that it provides the capability for any element, not just the entire window, to be the target for update by an HTTP request (e.g. by clicking a link you load a partial HTML update to the page).

I wondered for a bit then remembered that we already have iframes, a native HTML way for links to update not just the entire window, but a ‘part’ of the page. Granted, iframes are limited and not as dynamic as some of htmx’s operations like appends and deletions.

So I set out to make an iframe-only solution to this class of problems. htmz initially stood for ‘htmx zero’ or something like that, because you need exactly zero JavaScript to be able to use iframes, while htmx stood at around 16 kB compressed (decompresses to a total of 48 kB of JavaScript!). Minimising the amount of code needed was the primary goal from the start.

Eventually, the original iframe solution evolved to support most of the usual operations like deletions, and a bit of JS was required after all. htmz was then backronymised as Html with Targeted Manipulation Zones.

Was it a joke?

(short answer: maybe)

Starting with the name itself, htmz sounded like a parody of the more popular htmx. I thought it was obvious that this project was just a fun hack to share.

But some people took it too seriously. I know, this is HN, where serious startups and stuff are posted daily. Or rather, this is the Internet.

I was reminded of Poe’s law. On the other hand, the initial documentation for the project did give mixed vibes (it was a half-joke half-solution project after all). And the marketing bits were too good for the project’s own good.

Orrr maybe I’m the only one who finds humour in a section called ‘Installing’ that, instead of telling you to install a package, tells you to simply copy a snippet. Orrr what about when ‘Extensions’ are not plugins but code you actually have to write yourself… Ha! Get it? 😂😂😂 Subversion of expectations, anyone? No? OK, fine…

In any case, I had my fun writing these aspects of the project!

I made an npm package for good measure:

Code golfing

Some commenters pointed out insights which led to significant reductions in the size of the snippet. Some even made pull requests, that I reviewed and merged (Am I an ‘open-source maintainer’ yet?).

My initial release started with 181 bytes:

<iframe hidden name=htmz onload="setTimeout(()=>
document.querySelector(this.contentWindow.location.hash||':not(*)')
?.replaceWith(...this.contentDocument.body.childNodes))"></iframe>

Turns out ’:not(*)’ is not necessary as a selector fallback. querySelector can accept null! Down to 176 bytes:

<iframe hidden name=htmz onload="setTimeout(()=>
document.querySelector(this.contentWindow.location.hash||null)
?.replaceWith(...this.contentDocument.body.childNodes))"></iframe>

Apparently, this is also unnecessary within inline attribute scripts when referring to the element it’s attached to. Now down to 166 bytes (its final form as of today):

<iframe hidden name=htmz onload="setTimeout(()=>
document.querySelector(contentWindow.location.hash||null)
?.replaceWith(...contentDocument.body.childNodes))"></iframe>

That’s about 90% of the original! I’m pretty sure this could be reduced further (setTimeout isn’t strictly required) but I’m leaving it as it is. This code golfing diversion has been fun and I learned about HTML spec stuff that I wouldn’t normally discover in my day job as a React framework user.

Knowledge sharing

Some commenters shared similar approaches and techniques. Some tips / workarounds on how to best utilise the snippet were thrown around. There were even discussions in the project’s Issue tracker on GitHub.

For one, the new Sec-Fetch-Dest header that someone mentioned is pretty cool. It lets the server know if the request is for an iframe or for a new tab, etc. Pretty handy for hypertext servers!

I learned lots and, not wanting to get these learnings lost into the archives, incorporated these tips into the main documentation, into the examples/demos, and some even became real-ish extensions:

It’s a multi-way exchange. htmz and its iframe shenanigans have apparently inspired the creation of new HTML frameworks, such as morphlex and htmf. I also saw people taking the idea into different directions, like using iframes to lazy-load HTML partials. I feel happy about having inspired people! There are even some who said so via the guestbook, which was especially nice!

Future

I think the htmz story is done and I’m already looking forward to my next project (the 7DRL challenge). It’s still getting some mentions in blogs, podcasts, here and there, but it’s not like I’m gonna turn this into some serious full-time open-source project with versions and releases and (lack of) funds and all that jazz.

GitHub activity (stars, issues, PRs) have slowed down as well. There’s not much you can work with 166 characters, after all.

But the idea lives on; may the snippet proliferate! :D

https://leanrada.com/notes/htmz-story?ref=rss Save to Pocket

PGConf.dev 2024 Schedule Now Available!

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

PostgreSQL Development Conference 2024 (PGConf.dev 2024) (May 28, 2024 - May 31, 2024; Vancouver, Canada) is where users, developers, and community organizers come together to focus on PostgreSQL development and community growth. Meet PostgreSQL contributors, learn about upcoming features, and discuss development problems with PostgreSQL enthusiasts!

PGConf.dev 2024 is pleased to announce the PGConf.dev 2024 schedule:

https://www.pgevents.ca/events/pgconfdev2024/schedule/

We’re thrilled to have a wonderful lineup of talks that highlight topics on PostgreSQL development and community growth, featuring stories from users, developers, and community organizers.

We’re also pleased to announce that our keynote presenter this year is Dr. Margo Seltzer, who is the Canada 150 Research Chair in Computer Systems and the Cheriton Family chair in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia.

Registration is currently open - be sure to register soon to guarantee your spot!

https://2024.pgconf.dev/registration/

Additionally, we encourage you to book your hotels as soon as possible. There is a large event occurring near the PGConf.dev 2024 venue. We have a few discounts with nearby hotels, which are available after you register. Even if you don’t stay at one of these hotels, we still encourage you to book your accommodations soon.

PGConf.dev 2024 is not possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Sponsorship helps us bring together the worldwide PostgreSQL community to focus on upcoming development and community building topics. You can find out more about sponsorship opportunities here:

https://2024.pgconf.dev/sponsor-levels/

We look forward to seeing you in Vancouver in May!

https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/pgconfdev-2024-schedule-now-available-2817/ Save to Pocket

Critical Infrastructure Resilience in Ukraine: Energy, Transportation, and Communication

date: 2024-03-01, from: ETH Zurich, recently added

Aebi, Simon; Hauri, Andrin; Kamberaj, Jurgena Hauri, Andrin

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/662463 Save to Pocket

The Who’s Who of AI just chipped in to fund humanoid robot startup Figure

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

$675 million to accelerate development of machine that can lift, but can’t keep up with humans

If you thought blue collar jobs were safe from AI, think again. Robotics startup Figure aims to replace millions of workers with its humanoid automatons and has just received $675 million in funding to accelerate development.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/figure_human_robot_funding/ Save to Pocket

CHP Motorcycle Officer Goes Down off Highway 101 North of Gaviota Tunnel

date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Patient airlifted to Marion Medical Center with moderate injuries Thursday afternoon.

The post CHP Motorcycle Officer Goes Down off Highway 101 North of Gaviota Tunnel appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/chp-motorcycle-officer-goes-down-off-highway-101-north-of-gaviota-tunnel/ Save to Pocket

The business behind Tesla opening its Supercharger network: selling ‘memberships’

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

While I believe Tesla’s move to open its Supercharger network to other automakers is ultimately going to have a great impact on EV adoption, it is also a smart business move from Tesla.

Here’s the business behind Tesla opening its Supercharger network.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/business-behind-tesla-opening-supercharger-network-selling-memberships/ Save to Pocket

Fisker Warns It May Run Out Of Money In The Next 12 Months

date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News

The EV startup says it won’t spend on future vehicles like the Alaska pickup without striking a partnership with another automaker.

https://insideevs.com/news/710680/fisker-q4-earnings-ocean-alaska/ Save to Pocket

Democracy Is Not A Spectator Sport

date: 2024-02-29, from: Dan Rather’s Steady

There is something we can do to beat Trump

https://steady.substack.com/p/democracy-is-not-a-spectator-sport Save to Pocket

Hawaii becomes the 4th state to bring a NEVI EV charging station online

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Hawaii’s first National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program EV charging station just came online on Maui.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/hawaii-ev-charging-station-nevi/ Save to Pocket

Elon and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad legal week

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Workers allege discrimination, missing payments

To say Elon Musk’s business empire is having a week of legal woe may be an understatement, after filings revealed yesterday suggest his social network X and electric car outfit Tesla both face potentially expensive court battles.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/x_tesla_employee_lawsuits/ Save to Pocket

Asus NUC 14 Pro to sell for $394 and up, NUC 14 Pro+ starts at $869

date: 2024-02-29, from: Liliputing

After Intel shut down its NUC business last year, Asus acquired a license to continue developing, marketing, and supporting NUC-branded mini PCs. And in January the company unveiled some of the first new NUC systems set to launch this year. Now Asus has listed prices for two of those mini PCs and they’re… about what […]

The post Asus NUC 14 Pro to sell for $394 and up, NUC 14 Pro+ starts at $869 appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/asus-nuc-14-pro-to-sell-for-394-and-up-nuc-14-pro-starts-at-869/ Save to Pocket

Humane, Nearing Launch of Ai Pin, Is Gathering Steam

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Daring Fireball

https://humane.com/media/humane-and-softbank Save to Pocket

For Some Chinese Migrants, Few Options in Xi’s China

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

Lajas Blancas, Panama / Washington — With only a backpack, a portable tent and a small shoulder bag, Cong, a 47-year-old Chinese migrant, was one of more than a dozen migrants to step out of a narrow wooden boat on the stony shore of the Chucunaque River in Lajas Blancas, Panama.

The stop was one of dozens he had made over the past month, and it was where he met with VOA’s Mandarin Service on his journey toward the United States — a journey that began in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan. Cong declined to provide his full name, citing security concerns.

As he walked across the shore under the hot sun, wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt, black sports shorts and white Croc-like slippers, he limped slightly from a swollen ankle caused by a slip while crossing a river earlier in his journey.

Immigrants from China are the fastest-growing group of people making the long journey to the U.S. border. Navigating Panama’s treacherous Darien Gap, and risking death and disease, is a key part of that journey.

Like many others, Cong says he got a lot of information from online sources about how to make the trek, including Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. After half a year of planning, he decided, “I must go.”

“When I came out, I decided it’s going to be worth it, even if I die on the way,” he said.

When VOA asked the former crepe store owner why he traveled thousands of miles to a country he had never visited before, he replied, “Freedom.”

“I want freedom,” he said.

Cong said there is no freedom in China, which made him depressed. He said his Douyin account had been banned several times for using sensitive keywords and criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Cong said his definition of freedom is that he doesn’t have to do what he doesn’t want to do, and that he can criticize the president.

China’s sluggish economy was another big reason why he decided to leave the country. Its stock market is at a five-year low, and the country has seen a decline in exports and imports. Last June, Cong had to close his crepe store for lack of customers.

“No one has money. There is no easy business,” he said. “Without foreign trade, it’s all domestic money changing hands. How can that create wealth?”

Cong is not alone in making the decision to make the trek to the U.S. border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows that more than 37,000 Chinese migrants were detained at the U.S-Mexico border in 2023, nearly 10 times more than the previous year.

In the San Diego sector alone — stretching 100 kilometers inland from the Pacific Ocean — U.S. Border Patrol officials told a local television station this week they have made more than 140,000 arrests since October 1. They included about 20,000 people from China, a 500% increase over the same period a year earlier.

After crossing the border, the migrants surrender to the Border Patrol and declare their intention to seek asylum in the United States. They are processed and are often released within 72 hours. According to the Department of Justice, 55% of Chinese migrants were granted asylum last year.

Giuseppe Loprete, head of mission in Panama for the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations body that provides information for migrants crossing the Darien Gap, told Al Jazeera in an interview that the Chinese migrants are particularly vulnerable due to the language barrier and a perception that they are wealthy.

Cong said he paid $700 to a tour guide he found on the Chinese social media platform WeChat for instructions to get to Acandí, Colombia. From there, he walked for three days in the rain forest. He paid another $25 for the boat ride on the Chucunaque River. But that is only a fraction of the expenses he has incurred on his journey of more than a month from Sichuan through Thailand, Turkey, Ecuador, Colombia and now Panama.

The number of individuals leaving China has surged since Xi took office in 2013. According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, more than 700,000 Chinese sought asylum overseas between 2013 and 2021. That included more than 100,000 each year between 2019 and 2021, the last year for which UNHCR statistics are available.

The dramatic rise in Chinese migrants coming to the U.S. has raised national security concerns in America, with some questioning whether there are Chinese spies among them.

Republican Representative Mark Green, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, sounded an alarm about the wave of Chinese migrants entering the United States last June, claiming the majority are military-age men with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People’s Liberation Army.

Green and fellow Republicans Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Troy E. Nehls introduced the No Asylum for CCP Spies Act last year, which if passed, would prevent CCP members from seeking asylum in the U.S.

Border patrol agents encountered 5,717 single Chinese adults in January, more than twice as many as in any other January on record, CBP data shows. In December, that figure hit a record high of 7,581, while the total since January 2023 now stands at 64,979.

VOA Mandarin observed more Chinese men than women traveling alone.

With several thousand kilometers to go on his journey, Cong says few things are certain. He says he hopes to begin life in the U.S. by washing dishes in a restaurant after arriving at his final destination.

“Better to do all you can rather than floating along helplessly,” he said.

Calla Yu contributed to this report.

https://www.voanews.com/a/for-some-chinese-migrants-few-options-in-xi-s-china-/7508948.html Save to Pocket

With Back-to-Back Actions, Biden Spotlights China Data Security Threat

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration launched a series of actions against China in recent days, sustaining pressure against the United States’ key strategic rival even as it focuses on more urgent fronts, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

In the span of one week, the administration announced an executive order to protect Americans’ personal data from foreign adversaries, including China; launched an investigation into potential security threats posed by connected vehicles that use Chinese technology; and placed sanctions on Chinese entities for supporting Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The actions taken by President Joe Biden stand in contrast to the months of warming ties following a November summit in California between him and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping — a meeting aimed to improve a bilateral relationship that had reached its lowest point in decades due to rivalry and mistrust.

Since the summit, diplomatic engagement has increased from both sides, including the resumption of military-to-military talks that were frozen after former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 2022 visit to Taiwan.

Restarting staff-level talks in early January was key to ensuring that the two sides avoided a major cross-strait incident during Taiwan’s election later in the month.

In January, Washington and Beijing also launched a working group designed to crack down on the flow of Chinese precursors used in the production of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs sold in the U.S., another sign of cooperation between the superpowers.

Ties improved to the point that Beijing marked the 45th anniversary of U.S.-China diplomatic relations in January with a lavish banquet, where Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised that Chinese giant pandas, much loved by American zoo visitors, will return to U.S. by the end of the year.

So why the flurry of actions against China now?

National security issue

The White House sidestepped questions on the back-to-back timing of the measures.

Biden is “concerned about countries like China,” White House deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton said to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday.

“China is right now looking to flood the market here in the United States and around the world with vehicles equipped with advanced technology from countries of concern,” she said. “That’s a national security issue that we take very seriously.”

An administration official told reporters during a briefing that the U.S. Commerce Department probe launched Thursday to ensure that Chinese cars driving on American roads do not undermine U.S. national security, is “complementary and distinct” from the executive order to protect Americans’ personal data from China and other foreign adversaries. The latter order blocks bulk transfers of data such as geolocation, biometric, health and financial information to “countries of concern.”

By putting the two announcements next to each other, the administration is trying to communicate that they’re taking data security seriously, said Emily Benson, director of the Project on Trade and Technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“The anticipated outcome there was to signal that the connected vehicle rules are actually a national security instrument,” Benson told VOA.

The U.S. plans to engage partners and allies following the investigation into the threat posed by Chinese vehicles. There’s a “growing sense of the security risks” and “really strong interest in the measures that we might take and the results of the investigation,” an administration official told VOA during a briefing Wednesday.

Biden himself warned of the dangers.

“Connected vehicles from China could collect sensitive data about our citizens and our infrastructure and send this data back to the People’s Republic of China,” the president said in a statement.

National security concerns aside, the administration is also anticipating an overcapacity of more affordable Chinese vehicles entering the American marketplace, especially as Chinese auto producers such as BYD set up manufacturing facilities in Mexico that would afford them more favorable tariff rates under USMCA, the free-trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

“That has created a lot of fear in Washington about the longevity of the U.S. automobile sector,” Benson said.

She added that the executive actions taken this week are “easier and more appropriate” than the effort to ban TikTok. The social media app is used by more than 100 million Americans despite allegations that its China-based parent company, ByteDance, could collect sensitive user data.

While the federal government and dozens of individual states have barred TikTok from government devices, Congress has yet to enact legislation to ban Americans from using the application on their personal devices.

The app is highly popular, especially among young people, prompting Biden’s campaign to join the platform despite the administration’s previously firm stance on its potential national security concerns.

Balanced approach

As Biden gears up for his reelection campaign, his administration is keen to project the image that they are taking the threat of China seriously, said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center.

“Balancing has always been the theme of his policy,” Sun told VOA. “When there is positive engagement, there’s also the punitive gestures.”

Without such gestures, the administration would be vulnerable to criticism that it is ignoring the fact that Beijing remains a source of significant national security challenges for the United States, she said.

“The administration has to demonstrate that it is extremely clear-eyed about the limitation of engagement but also the desirability of the engagement,” she said. “Engagement does not mean there’s no problem.”

Washington also announced sanctions against Chinese firms last week as part of a measure marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The trade penalties targeted entities in Russia and in countries viewed by the administration as supporting Moscow’s war effort.

The actions against China followed a meeting between Wang and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference earlier in February.

In the meeting, Wang warned Blinken that turning de-risking “into ‘de-China,’ building ‘small courtyards and high walls,’ and engaging in ‘decoupling from China’ will eventually backfire on the United States.”

Paris Huang and Adam Chuanqi Xu contributed to this report.

https://www.voanews.com/a/with-back-to-back-actions-biden-spotlights-china-data-security-threat/7508943.html Save to Pocket

COC Names Aaliyah Garcia, Jerome Hughes Athletes of the Week

date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)

College of the Canyons student-athletes Aaliyah Garcia (women’s basketball) and Jerome Hughes (men’s track & field) have been named the COC Athletic Department’s Women’s & Men’s Student-Athletes of the Week for the period running Feb. 19-

https://scvnews.com/coc-names-aaliyah-garcia-jerome-hughes-athletes-of-the-week/ Save to Pocket

Turns out cops are super interested in subpoenaing suspects’ push notifications

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-03-01, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Those little popups may reveal location, device details, IP address, and more

More than 130 petitions seeking access to push notification metadata have been filed in US courts, according to a Washington Post investigation – a finding that underscores the lack of privacy protection available to users of mobile devices.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/push_notification_privacy/ Save to Pocket

Rivians Will Get Tesla Supercharger Access In March

date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News

Ford owners gained access to Tesla’s Supercharger network on Thursday. Rivian R1T and R1S buyers can expect the same soon.

https://insideevs.com/news/710673/rivian-tesla-supercharger-access-march/ Save to Pocket

@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

The Atlantic Ocean is freakishly warm right now. Scientists are sounding the alarm.

https://www.vox.com/climate/2024/2/28/24085691/atlantic-ocean-warming-climate-change-hurricanes-coral-reefs-bleaching Save to Pocket

Freedom House: Civil Liberties Decline Globally for 18th Year

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

washington — Civil liberties declined globally for the 18th consecutive year in 2023, with conflict and flawed elections the biggest factors, a new report has found.  

Political rights and civil liberties deteriorated for more than one-fifth of the population, the non-profit group Freedom House found. And only one-fifth of the 210 countries and territories the research group analyzed was found to be “free.” 

Released on Thursday, the Freedom in the World report assesses political rights and civil liberties, then ranks countries or territories as “free,” “partly free,” or “not free.”  

Researchers looked at issues including how effectively governments work, political pluralism, freedom of expression, religious freedom, and whether marginalized groups are given full rights.  

Much of the decline in 2023 is attributed to cases of election manipulation, according to report co-author Cathryn Grothe. The report found electoral issues in almost half of the countries designated as being in decline.  

“While the findings of the report are certainly grim, they are coming at an especially important moment in time,” said Grothe, noting 2024 will be a critical year with national elections scheduled in about 40 countries.  

Report finds manipulation, intimidation

Grothe told VOA her group’s research found widespread election manipulation and intimidation before, during and after elections.  

She noted that “billions of people around the world are going to be heading to the polls.”  

The report highlighted Cambodia, Guatemala, Poland, Turkey and Zimbabwe as places that experienced attempts to control, hinder or interfere with elections. 

And in Ecuador, Nigeria, and Taiwan, elections were disrupted by either violence or interference by foreign regimes.  

In Guatemala, however, attempts to block a peaceful transfer of power failed. Bernardo Arevalo assumed office in early 2024 after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that Congress must accept his inauguration, despite its previous refusal to acknowledge elected members.  

Group watches US races

The United States — which Freedom House ranks as free — is among the countries holding significant elections.  

Grothe said that Freedom House is paying attention to issues in the U.S., including congressional dysfunction such as delayed appropriations bills and internal disputes over the speakership of the House of Representatives.  

Freedom House is also watching closely for intimidation and threats of violence as tools of political influence in the U.S, especially during the last few months before the election.  

Reports of threats against elected officials and local election administrators have “proliferated”in recent years, Grothe said. 

“When a democracy such as the U.S., those with kind of large influence on the world stage grow weaker internally, it makes it a lot more difficult to counter this kind of global authoritarianism,” said Grothe. “It makes it very imperative that we at home in the United States need to address our own domestic shortcomings.” 

The Freedom House report includes several recommendations, including calls for governments and other actors in civil society to “immediately” and “publicly” condemn manipulation efforts, coups and refusals to honor electoral outcomes.

“Democracies need to commit to free and fair elections, both at home and need to stand up for the same abroad,” said Grothe. 

The biggest decline in freedom was registered in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory which sparked conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. 

The region saw an overall 40-point reduction. The decline follows a mass displacement of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians amid fighting in September 2023. 

The second-largest point reduction came in Niger, where military forces ousted the government in July 2023.  

Conflict resulted in major declines in other areas too. Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to affect basic rights for those in occupied parts of Ukraine and brings a rise in repression inside Russia. The report also notes the effect on civilians of the Israel-Hamas conflict and Myanmar military rule. 

Other countries saw improvements. Fiji gained seven points due to a “smooth” transfer of power after elections in 2022. And Nepal is recognized in the report for amendments to its Citizenship Act, which allowed 400,000 stateless people born in the country to receive citizenship.  

While the past year faced obstacles, Grothe said there are “beacons of hope” in the countries pushing back against those declines.  

“It’s important to remember that people in every sort of political environment, from the most-free countries to the most repressive, are continuing to fight to uphold their rights, their dignity and this offers some kind of level of hope even in these very kind of discouraging times.” 

She added that the report should serve as a reminder of the stakes for democracy and as a call to reverse the decline of global freedoms.

https://www.voanews.com/a/freedom-house-civil-liberties-decline-globally-for-18th-year/7508875.html Save to Pocket

A Lenovo subsidiary designed this dual-screen E Ink book, notebook, laptop… thing

date: 2024-02-29, from: Liliputing

Lenovo subsidiary Hefei LCFC has designed a portable device called Gemini that combines two 7.8 inch E Ink displays in a way that allows you to use the system as a laptop computer (with a virtual keyboard), an actual notebook (with pen support), or a book (by folding the screen so you can see just […]

The post A Lenovo subsidiary designed this dual-screen E Ink book, notebook, laptop… thing appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/a-lenovo-subsidiary-designed-this-dual-screen-e-ink-book-notebook-laptop-thing/ Save to Pocket

Aptera’s latest update teases its solar EV app, battery tech, and delivery timelines [Video]

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Solar EV startup Aptera Motors continued its welcomed level of public transparency today, posting another progress update video for February, offering some juicy details. Aptera co-founder Steve Fambro walks you through the first glimpse at the upcoming Aptera app, which promises several cool features; plus, we get a look at some Solar EV battery packs and some hints at how safe the production vehicle will be. You can learn more in the full video below.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/aptera-progress-update-glimpse-solar-ev-app-battery-technology-video/ Save to Pocket

Refreshing to read about IVF from a male point of view: Zach…

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/02/0044090-refreshing-to-read-about- Save to Pocket

Make SHOW as good as SELECT

date: 2024-02-29, from: Ocelot SQL GUI blog

For example, this works: SHOW AUTHORS GROUP BY Location INTO OUTFILE ‘tmp.txt’; You’re thinking “Hold it, MySQL and MariaDB won’t allow SHOW (and similar statements like ANALYZE or CHECK or CHECKSUM or DESCRIBE or EXPLAIN or HELP) to work with the same clauses as SELECT, or in the same places.” You’re right — but they… Continue Reading Make SHOW as good as SELECT

https://ocelot.ca/blog/blog/2024/02/29/make-show-as-good-as-select/ Save to Pocket

Republican-led Alabama Legislature Passes Bill to Protect IVF

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

https://www.voanews.com/a/republican-led-alabama-legislature-passes-bill-to-protect-ivf/7508911.html Save to Pocket

Santa Ynez Man Convicted of Arson for Starting Caballo Fire in 2021

date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Steven Randall Nicholas, 63, found guilty of causing the 70-acre fire by using a Mag torch to burn weeds on his property without a burn permit.

The post Santa Ynez Man Convicted of Arson for Starting Caballo Fire in 2021 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/santa-ynez-man-convicted-of-arson-for-starting-caballo-fire-in-2021/ Save to Pocket

March 25: SCV Water Five-Year Strategic Plan Webinar

date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)

SCV Water invites the community to learn more about the Agency’s Five-Year Strategic Plan through a special virtual presentation on Monday, March 25, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m

https://scvnews.com/march-25-scv-water-five-year-strategic-plan-webinar/ Save to Pocket

@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

Heather Cox Richardson has a podcast. This is the URL of the feed.

https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/20533.rss Save to Pocket

Book Review | ‘California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline’ by Rosanna Xia

date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

An environmental reporter takes a look at people who are doing their best to deal with the realities of rising sea levels.

The post Book Review | ‘California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline’ by Rosanna Xia appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/book-review-california-against-the-sea-visions-for-our-vanishing-coastline-by-rosanna-xia/ Save to Pocket

Canoo’s (GOEV) rugged American Bulldog electric pickup spotted out testing

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

EV startup Canoo (GOEV) is making progress. Most recently, Canoo’s rugged American Bulldog electric pickup was spotted testing near its OKC manufacturing facility.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/canoos-goev-rugged-electric-pickup-spotted-testing/ Save to Pocket

White House goes to court, not Congress, to renew warrantless spy powers

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Choose your own FISA Section 702 adventure: End-run around lawmakers or business as usual?

The Biden Administration has asked a court, rather than Congress, to renew controversial warrantless surveillance powers used by American intelligence and due to expire within weeks. It’s a move that is either business as usual or an end-run around spying reforms, depending on who in Washington you believe.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/fisa_section_702_wyden/ Save to Pocket

10,000 People Were Evacuated So Experts Could Safely Detonate an Unexploded World War II-Era Bomb

date: 2024-02-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine

Residents found the German explosive in a backyard garden in Plymouth, England

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/10000-people-were-evacuated-because-of-an-unexploded-wwii-bomb-180983871/ Save to Pocket

Music Interlude: Johnny Cash and Linda Ronstadt, “I Never Will Marry”

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/02/music-interlude-johnny-cash-and-linda-ronstadt-i-never-will-marry Save to Pocket

NASA Selects ACMI as Second Approved Exploration Park Facility

date: 2024-02-29, from: NASA breaking news

NASA and the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation (ACMI) signed an agreement Thursday, Feb. 29 to lease underutilized land in a 240-acre Exploration Park at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. ACMI will enable the development of facilities to enable commercial and defense space manufacturing. The agreement is the second such public/private lease […]

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-acmi-as-second-approved-exploration-park-facility/ Save to Pocket

Induction ovens with big batteries solve lots of problems

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Induction stoves are a great, safe way to save on electricity costs and can heat much quicker, safer, and more accurately than natural gas or propane stoves. But a new breed of these stoves includes huge batteries, which opens up new opportunities by only requiring a 120V outlet, offering 40-sec water boiling, backup power to other appliances like the refrigerator, and even IRA tax rebates. Let’s take a look at two of these new models and try to understand if it makes sense for an oven to have a huge battery over a more centralized Powerwall type of home backup battery.

This is part of a continuing series at Electrek that focuses on home energy usage, see our coverage of heat pump washer/dryers

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/induction-ovens-with-big-batteries-solve-lots-of-problems/ Save to Pocket

Rivian confirms Tesla Supercharger access in March

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Rivian confirmed that its EV owners are going to start having access to Tesla’s Supercharger network in March.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/rivian-confirms-tesla-supercharger-access-in-march/ Save to Pocket

How to get the audio version of Letters from an American

date: 2024-02-29, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog

Hi Folks: We think we’ve figured out a way to make sure those who want to receive the audio version of the letters automatically can get them without spamming those who don’t want them. On Substack the default setting is that no one will automatically receive the AUDIO letters. So if you don’t want the audio version, you’re all set. You will still get the written letters and you can ignore the information below.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/how-to-get-the-audio-version-of-letters Save to Pocket

Únase a nosotros para la inauguración de Project Connect

date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

GOLETA, CA- 29 de Febrero, 2024 – Estás invitado a ser parte de la historia de Goleta. El 18 de marzo de

The post Únase a nosotros para la inauguración de Project Connect appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/unase-a-nosotros-para-la-inauguracion-de-project-connect/ Save to Pocket

February 28, 2024

date: 2024-02-29, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog

Hi Folks: We think we’ve figured out a way to make sure those who want to receive the audio version of the letters automatically can get them without spamming those who don’t want them. On Substack the default setting is that no one will automatically receive the AUDIO letters. So if you don’t want the audio version, you’re all set. You will still get the written letters and you can ignore the information below.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-28-2024-085 Save to Pocket

Join Us for Project Connect Groundbreaking Ceremony

date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

GOLETA, CA- February 29, 2024 – You’re invited to be a part of Goleta history. On March 18, 2024, at 11:00 a.m.,

The post Join Us for Project Connect Groundbreaking Ceremony appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/join-us-for-project-connect-groundbreaking-ceremony/ Save to Pocket

Los Padres to Receive $37.7 Million in Thomas Fire Cost Recovery Settlement

date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

SOLVANG, Calif.— Los Padres National Forest officials announced that Southern California Edison (SCE) has agreed to pay the United States $80 million

The post Los Padres to Receive $37.7 Million in Thomas Fire Cost Recovery Settlement appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/los-padres-to-receive-37-7-million-in-thomas-fire-cost-recovery-settlement/ Save to Pocket

Quilts Turned Into Clothes

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/02/quilts-turned-into-clothes Save to Pocket

The Boston Globe revisits an infamous murder — and confronts its own sins along the way

date: 2024-02-29, from: Nieman Journalism Lab

On a fall evening in 1989, Charles Stuart told police that a Black man had shot him and his pregnant wife during an attempted carjacking in the city’s Mission Hill neighborhood. More than 30 years later, The Boston Globe spent two years reinvestigating Carol Stuart’s murder, the bungled police response, and the aftermath. The result…

https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/the-boston-globe-revisits-an-infamous-murder-and-confronts-its-own-sins-along-the-way/ Save to Pocket

Powerful Matadoras Through the Ages

date: 2024-02-29, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)

California State University, Northridge women presidents have made a difference over several decades. Since 1992, there have been a total of four female presidents at CSUN. Each paved the way…

https://sundial.csun.edu/178766/print-editions/print-stories/powerful-matadoras-through-the-ages/ Save to Pocket

Langley Celebrates Black History Month: Clayton Turner

date: 2024-02-29, from: NASA breaking news

Clayton P. Turner serves as the Director of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. His career at NASA Langley has spanned 33 years. His experiences prior to his career with NASA include three years of military service. He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.  […]

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/langley/langley-celebrates-black-history-month-clayton-turner/ Save to Pocket

Daily Deals (2-29-2023)

date: 2024-02-29, from: Liliputing

Amazon’s Fire Max 11 tablet normally sells for $230 and up, although Amazon has a habit of putting it on sale for deep discounts from time to time. And right now you can pick up the entry-level model for $140 from Amazon-owned deals site, Woot. The Fire Max 11 has a MediaTek MT8188J processor, 4GB […]

The post Daily Deals (2-29-2023) appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/daily-deals-2-29-2023/ Save to Pocket

Letter from the Editor: Diversity in Conversation

date: 2024-02-29, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)

Dear Sundial readers, Diversity is power. The second spring issue aims to highlight the diversity of our campus and society. California State University, Northridge has had four consecutive women presidents,…

https://sundial.csun.edu/178659/print-editions/print-stories/letter-from-the-editor-diversity-in-conversation/ Save to Pocket

Odysseus Lunar Lander Makes History, Then Tips Over

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

A lunar landing more than 50 years in the making is a partial success. Plus, the U.S. says Russia may launch a nuclear weapon into orbit. The Kremlin calls it spin. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.

https://www.voanews.com/a/odysseus-lunar-lander-makes-history-then-tips-over/7508758.html Save to Pocket

Congress Approves Short-Term Funding to Avoid Shutdown

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

WASHINGTON — Congress passed another short-term spending measure Thursday that would keep one set of federal agencies operating through March 8 and another set through March 22, avoiding a shutdown for parts of the federal government that would otherwise kick in Saturday. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The short-term extension is the fourth in recent months, and many lawmakers expect it to be the last for the fiscal year. House Speaker Mike Johnson said negotiators had completed six of the annual spending bills that fund federal agencies and had “almost final agreement on the others.”

“We’ll get the job done,” Johnson said as he exited a closed-door meeting with Republican colleagues.

The House acted first Thursday. The vote to approve the extension was 320-99. It easily cleared the two-thirds majority needed for passage. Democrats overwhelmingly voted to avert a partial shutdown. But the vote was much more divided with Republicans, 113 in support and 97 against.

The Senate then took up the bill and approved it during an evening vote of 77-13.

“When we pass this bill, we will have, thank God, avoided a shutdown with all its harmful effects on the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said moments before the vote.

Next week, the House and Senate are expected to take up a package of six spending bills and get them to the president before March 8. Then, lawmakers would work to fund the rest of the government by the new March 22 deadline.

At the end of the process, Congress is expected to have approved more than $1.6 trillion in spending for the fiscal year that began October 1. That amount is roughly in line with the previous fiscal year and is what former Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated with the White House last year before eight disgruntled Republican lawmakers joined with Democrats a few months later and voted to oust him from the position.

Some of the House’s most conservative members wanted deeper cuts for non-defense programs than that agreement allowed through its spending caps. They also sought an array of policy changes that Democrats opposed. They were hoping the prospect of a shutdown could leverage more concessions.

Republican leadership said that the broader funding legislation being teed up for votes in March would lead to spending cuts for many nondefense agencies. By dividing the spending bill into chunks, they are hoping to avoid an omnibus bill — a massive, all-encompassing bill that lawmakers generally had little time to digest or understand before voting on it. Republicans vowed there would be no omnibus this time.

“When you take away Defense and Veterans Affairs, the rest of the agencies are going to be seeing spending cuts in many cases,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. “There are also some policy changes that we pushed through the House that will be in the final product. Of course, some of those are still being negotiated.”

The temporary extension funds the departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Interior and others through March 8. It funds the Pentagon, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and the State Department through March 22.

While congressional leaders have said they’ve reached final agreement on what will be in the first package of spending bills voted on next week, there’s still room for an impasse on the second package to be voted on later in the month.

The renewed focus on this year’s spending bills doesn’t include the separate, $95.3 billion aid package that the Senate approved for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan earlier this month, with much of that money being spent in the U.S. to replenish America’s military arsenal. The bill also contained about $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, Ukraine and other war zones.

Democrats urged quicker action on Ukraine as the temporary spending bill was debated.

“Without swift action, the legacy of this Congress will be the destruction of Ukraine, the appeasement of a dictator, and the abandonment of starving children and ailing families,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-house-approves-another-extension-to-avoid-shutdown/7508749.html Save to Pocket

Nissan ends LEAF production in the UK for new EVs, including its successor

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Nissan is ending production of the iconic all-electric LEAF at its Sunderland factory in the UK this week. The move comes as Nissan prepares to launch its next-gen EVs, including an electric LEAF replacement.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/nissan-ends-leaf-production-uk-new-evs/ Save to Pocket

2024 U.S. Electric Pickup Trucks Compared: Prices, EPA Range, Specs

date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News

Several models are already available, a few more to follow.

https://insideevs.com/news/710620/electric-pickup-comparison-prices-range/ Save to Pocket

Take A Look At The Limited Edition 2024 Harley Hydra-Glide Revival

date: 2024-02-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News

The latest member of the Icons Collection is also bringing a few friends to Daytona Bike Week.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/710671/harley-hydra-glide-revival-limited/ Save to Pocket

Electronic Arts frags hundreds of workers ‘to grow fandom’

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Dating app Bumble also finds breaking up is easy to do for a third of its crew

It’s been a bad week to work in the video game industry. First Sony closed its London studio and cut staff, and now Electronic Arts is letting workers go.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/ea_bumble_layoffs/ Save to Pocket

FineWoven iPhone Cases and Watch Bands

date: 2024-02-29, from: Michael Tsai

Stephen Robles: Hands-on with Apple’s new FineWoven iPhone 15 Pro Max case in Taupe and Cypress Green Silicone Case! Apple’s announced at the Wonderlust event that it will no longer make any leather products, with FineWoven replacing the higher end material. John Gruber: I spent time in the hands-on area playing with both the new […]

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/02/29/finewoven-iphone-cases-and-watch-bands/ Save to Pocket

Why Quora Isn’t Useful Anymore

date: 2024-02-29, from: Michael Tsai

Nitish Pahwa (via Hacker News): Today’s Quora, however, hardly meshes with those utopian aims. The once-beloved forum is now home to a never-ending avalanche of meaningless, repetitive sludge, filled with bizarre, nonsensical, straight-up hateful, and A.I.–generated entries along with a slurry of all-caps non-questions like “OMG! KING CHARLES SHOCK the WORLD with ROYAL BAN ON […]

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/02/29/why-quora-isnt-useful-anymore/ Save to Pocket

Tumblr and WordPress to Sell Users’ Data to Train AI Tools

date: 2024-02-29, from: Michael Tsai

Samantha Cole (tweet, Slashdot): Tumblr and WordPress.com are preparing to sell user data to Midjourney and OpenAI, according to a source with internal knowledge about the deals and internal documentation referring to the deals. […] The internal documentation details a messy and controversial process within Tumblr itself. One internal post made by Cyle Gage, a […]

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/02/29/tumblr-and-wordpress-to-sell-users-data-to-train-ai-tools/ Save to Pocket

It’s Groundhog Day for New York’s Offshore Wind Industry

date: 2024-02-29, from: Heatmap News

New York’s offshore wind industry is back, or at least back in contract. Two offshore wind projects, Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind, were awarded, respectively, to developers Equinor and the partnership of Orsted and Eversource. These two projects, which would amount to 1,700 megawatts of capacity in total (enough to power about a million homes, according to Governor Kathy Hochul’s office), had first been bid out in 2019 and then rebid when these same developers were unable to renegotiate their contracts to deal with rising material and interest rate costs.

Last year was an annus horribilis for the offshore wind industry, with projects cancelled up and down the East Coast and billions of dollars of losses for offshore wind developers. The delayed and cancelled projects have called into question the viability of the Biden administration’s ambitious goal of installing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.

This year, however, has seen some signs of recovery. For years, the U.S. offshore wind industry was a bunch of plans and a few dozen megawatts of capacity from wind farms off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia. Then came Vineyard Wind 1, off the coast of Massachusetts, which started delivering power early this year, shortly after another New York project, South Fork Wind, started up in December of last year.

But merely (re-)awarding the contracts does not ensure that steel goes into the water, let alone that electrons flow into homes. Sunrise Wind will likely be completed in 2026, according to Orsted. Before that the Danish company has to hammer out the details of a new contract, and only then finally decide whether to go through with the thing or not; that’s expected to happen sometime in the second quarter of this year, with federal permitting finished in the summer. Empire Wind 1 has a similar timeline.

According to the governor’s office, utility customers will feel these contracts to the tune of an extra $2 a month. When the projects were first bid out in 2019, the expected impact on utility bills was just $0.73.

https://heatmap.news/sparks/empire-sunrise-wind-new-york Save to Pocket

How to get on a podcast

date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Rupert blog

I’ve been co-hosting a weekly podcast for nearly 12 years with over hundreds of guests and I want to tell you the secret to getting invited on a podcast. Are you ready? Here it goes.

Already be talking about something.

If you want to go on a podcast and talk, the best thing you can do is already be talking about something. And by talking, I don’t mean pontificating on social media. I mean by writing blog posts, responding to comments, participating in web standards, doing conference/meetup talks, and having actual human-to-human interactions (in-person or online) where you’re taking place in the marketplace of ideas. It helps if you do that on a regular cadence. If I can see from the outside that you’re thinking about a topic –whether broadly or deeply– that gives you standout guest potential. You don’t need to have a whole branded “A Book Apart”-style catch phrase for what you’re talking about (although, it doesn’t hurt), but you need to show you’ve thought about, experimented with, or understand a topic beyond the readme.md.

The incentive structure is setup like this (presented in user story format):

AS A podcast host
I WANT a friendly and knowledgeable guest
SO THAT I can fill an hour of dead air

As a podcast host, I need as close to a “sure thing” as possible. Being a good guest candidate also requires a lot of soft skills. Possessing knowledge is one thing, but I need the confidence that we can talk a for an hour without you being an asshole or the conversation collapsing. Are you funny? Serious? Either way can you spin a story and be remotely relatable? A nightmare scenario for me is having to throw away a whole episode and scramble to record a backup before the show goes out on Monday. Whatever you can do to model those core skills in your online persona goes a long way.

Anyways. That’s my advice if being a guest on a podcast or livestream is a goal of yours. It probably works for speaking at conferences too. I don’t care if you’re someone’s boss, if you’re super-duper smart, if you drive a Porsche, if you have a popular code repository, or if you’ve paid to get yourself into a Forbes article. My biggest care is that you’re already talking about something, you have an open catalog of thoughts and opinions, and I can see evidence that your ideas have broader appeal than your basement.

https://daverupert.com/2024/02/how-to-get-on-a-podcast/ Save to Pocket

Rancho Pico, Rio Norte Named Among California Distinguished Schools

date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)

Rancho Pico and Rio Norte Junior High schools were named among the 293 middle and high schools that have been selected for the prestigious 2024 California Distinguished Schools Program, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced Thursday

https://scvnews.com/rancho-pico-rio-norte-named-among-california-distinguished-schools/ Save to Pocket

These canceled New York offshore wind farms totaling 1.7 GW just officially made a comeback

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 and Eversource and Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind previously canceled their offshore wind contracts with New York, but now they’re back.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/canceled-new-york-offshore-wind-comeback/ Save to Pocket

Odysseus Moon Lander Is Powering Down After ‘Very Successful’ Mission

date: 2024-02-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine

The history-making spacecraft landed on its side, but it spent nearly a week sending data and images back from the moon—and engineers may try to make contact again after the lunar night is over

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/odysseus-moon-lander-is-powering-down-after-very-successful-mission-180983877/ Save to Pocket

Student Teams to Help Fill the Inflatable Void with Latest Student Challenge

date: 2024-02-29, from: NASA breaking news

This year will be a “BIG” year for several college and university teams as they research, design, and demonstrate novel inflatable systems configured for future lunar operations through a NASA-sponsored engineering competition. NASA’s Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge asked student innovators to propose novel inflatable component and system concepts that could benefit future […]

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/student-teams-to-help-fill-the-inflatable-void-with-latest-student-challenge/ Save to Pocket

Ford Patent Shows Plan For 800-Volt EV Architecture And Split Battery Pack

date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News

The patent was filed almost four years ago, so Ford could have an 800-volt EV out sooner than we think

https://insideevs.com/news/710651/ford-800-volt-ev-charging/ Save to Pocket

What To Do After You Finish the NY Times Crossword Puzzle

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/02/what-to-do-after-you-finish-the-ny-times-crossword-puzzle Save to Pocket

Windows 11 update bring Copilot plugins, Android-phone-as-webcam, and more

date: 2024-02-29, from: Liliputing

Microsoft plans to roll out a number of updates to Windows 11 over the next few weeks. Some are things we’ve already heard about, like the Generative Erase feature in the Windows Photos app. Others are new, like the ability to use an Android smartphone as a webcam for your PC. But it’s telling that […]

The post Windows 11 update bring Copilot plugins, Android-phone-as-webcam, and more appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/windows-11-update-bring-copilot-plugins-android-phone-as-webcam-and-more/ Save to Pocket

Santa Clarita Symphony Orchestra Announces New Venue, Performances

date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)

Santa Clarita Symphony Orchestra is preparing for an outstanding year in

https://scvnews.com/santa-clarita-symphony-orchestra-announces-new-venue-performances/ Save to Pocket

Tesla has to deal with treehuggers camping in the Gigafactory Berlin forest

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Tesla is now having to deal with literal tree-hugging activists camping in the forest to prevent the Gigafactory Berlin expansion.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/tesla-treehuggers-camping-gigafactory-berlin-forest/ Save to Pocket

I was taken advantage of by an internet confidence trickster

date: 2024-02-29, from: Tilde.news

Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xbtmgalaEQ Save to Pocket

Just a little couples therapy joke that made me laugh out loud……

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/02/0044050-just-a-little-couples-the Save to Pocket

A Reminder That China’s Electric Car Companies Are Not Invincible

date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News

China’s HiPhi is shutting down of its factory for six months while it searches for a way to financial solvency. Is this the end for the futuristic EV startup?

https://insideevs.com/news/710518/hiphi-shutdown-cash-production-pause/ Save to Pocket

Megan’s Organic Market Opens Friendly Dispensary in Old Town Goleta

date: 2024-02-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News

Megan Souza says her brand, which she started in S.L.O., attracts people new to cannabis because it’s approachable.

The post Megan’s Organic Market Opens Friendly Dispensary in Old Town Goleta appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

https://www.independent.com/2024/02/29/megans-organic-market-opens-friendly-dispensary-in-old-town-goleta/ Save to Pocket

The Decimal Point Is 150 Years Older Than Previously Thought, Medieval Manuscript Reveals

date: 2024-02-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine

A Venetian merchant used the mathematical symbol while calculating the positions of planets between 1441 and 1450

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/decimal-point-may-be-150-years-older-than-we-thought-180983863/ Save to Pocket

Utility solar dethrones coal as the cheapest power source in Asia

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Renewable energy costs in Asia last year were 13% cheaper than coal and are expected to be 32% cheaper by 2030, according to a new study.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/utility-solar-dethrones-coal-as-the-cheapest-power-source-in-asia/ Save to Pocket

See Which Tesla Superchargers Are Open To Other EV Owners Now

date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News

Tesla has updated its online map of Superchargers to display which locations are open to non-Teslas that have adopted the NACS port.

https://insideevs.com/news/710661/superchargers-ford-non-tesla-locations/ Save to Pocket

Chinese ‘connected’ cars are a national security threat, says Biden

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

No Chinese automakers sell cars in the US, but the feds are still going to investigate whether they’re a threat

Concerned over the chance that Chinese-made cars could pose a future threat to national security, Biden’s administration is proposing plans to probe potential threats posed by “connected” vehicles made in the Middle Kingdom.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/chinese_connected_cars_are_a/ Save to Pocket

Public Encouraged to Comment, Review Off-Highway Vehicle Grant

date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)

The Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station Off-Highway Vehicle Team was created nearly 20 years ago to help address off-highway vehicle violations

https://scvnews.com/public-encouraged-to-comment-review-off-highway-vehicle-grant/ Save to Pocket

Mollusk Eyes Reveal How Future Evolution Depends on the Past

date: 2024-02-29, from: Quanta Magazine

The post Mollusk Eyes Reveal How Future Evolution Depends on the Past first appeared on Quanta Magazine

https://www.quantamagazine.org/mollusk-eyes-reveal-how-future-evolution-depends-on-the-past-20240229/ Save to Pocket

Rivian (RIVN) R1S cracks top 5 best-selling EVs in Q4 just as EV leasing heats up

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Rivian’s R1S electric SUV was the fifth best-selling EV in the US in the fourth quarter. Last year saw a surge in EV leasing, and Rivian just introduced the option on the R1S earlier this year. Can leasing bump Rivian up even further?

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/rivian-r1s-top-5-best-selling-evs-q4-ev-leasing/ Save to Pocket

Save $550 on Juiced’s RipRacer e-bike for $949, Husqvarna robot lawn mower now $562, and more

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Headlining today’s green deals is Juiced Bikes’ RipRacer Fun-Sized Fat-Tire e-bike for $949. It is joined by Husqvarna’s Automower 115H Robotic Lawn Mower at $562, as well as a bunch of EGO Power+ tools seeing discounts, led by the 14-inch 56V Cordless Electric Chainsaw at $200. 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.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/juiceds-ripracer-e-bike-husqvarna-robot-lawn-mower-and-more/ Save to Pocket

Marsha McLean | Santa Clarita’s Reliable Transit Alternatives

date: 2024-02-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)

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

https://scvnews.com/marsha-mclean-santa-claritas-reliable-transit-alternatives/ Save to Pocket

Artificial Intelligence Is Game Changer for Election Interference, FBI Warns

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

WASHINGTON — U.S. security officials are bracing for an onslaught of fast-paced influence operations, from a wide range of adversaries, aimed at impacting the country’s coming presidential election.

FBI Director Christopher Wray issued the latest warning about attempts to meddle with American voters as they decide whom to support when they go to the polls come November, telling a meeting of security professional Thursday that technologies such as artificial intelligence are already altering the threat landscape.

“This election cycle, the U.S. will face more adversaries moving at a faster pace and enabled by new technology,” Wray said.

“Advances in generative AI [artificial intelligence], for instance, are lowering the barrier to entry, making it easier for both more and less sophisticated foreign adversaries to engage in malign influence while making foreign influence efforts by players both old and new, more realistic and more difficult to detect,” he said.

The warning echoes concerns raised earlier in the week by a top lawmaker and by the White House, both singling out Russia.

“I worry that we are less prepared for foreign intervention in our elections in 2024 than we were in 2020,” said Mark Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, during a cybersecurity conference on Tuesday.

On Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” there is “plenty of reason to be concerned.”

“There is a history here in presidential elections by the Russian Federation, by its intelligence services,” Sullivan said.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia sought to interfere in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

But Russia has not been alone.

A declassified intelligence assessment looking at the 2022 midterm elections concluded with high to moderate confidence that Russia was joined by China and Iran in seeking to sway the outcome.

“China tacitly approved efforts to try to influence a handful of midterm races involving members of both U.S. political parties,” the report said.

“Tehran relied primarily on its intelligence services and Iran-based online influencers to conduct its covert operations,” it said. “Iran’s influence activities reflected its intent to exploit perceived social divisions and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions during this election cycle.”

The United States has also alleged other adversaries, such as Cuba, Venezuela and Lebanese Hezbollah, have sought to influence elections, as have allies, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The warnings from Wray and others are encountering pushback from some lawmakers and conservative commentators who view such statements as an attempt to resurrect what they call the “Russia hoax” — saying the narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help former President Donald Trump win is without merit.

Warner, however, dismissed that view in response to a question from VOA on the sidelines of Tuesday’s security conference. “Anyone who doesn’t think the Russian intel services have and will continue to interfere in our elections … I wonder where they’re getting their information to start with,” he said.

Wray on Thursday suggested the list of countries and other foreign groups seeking to influence U.S. voters is set to expand. “AI is most useful for what I would call kind of mediocre bad guys and making them kind of like intermediate,” he said.

“The really sophisticated adversaries are using AI more just to increase the speed and scale of their efforts,” he said. “But we are coming towards a day very soon where what I would call the experts, the most sophisticated adversaries, are going to find ways to use AI to be even more elite.”

Some private cybersecurity firms also see the danger growing.

This past September, Microsoft warned that Beijing has developed a new artificial intelligence capability that can produce “eye-catching content” more likely to go viral compared to previous Chinese influence operations.

Others agree.

“Whether it’s robocalls, whether it’s fake videos — all those things really even back to 2022, weren’t as prevalent,” Trellix CEO Bryan Palma told VOA. “You weren’t going to get any high-quality type of deepfake video.

“I think you’re going to see more and more of that as we get closer to the election,” he said.

https://www.voanews.com/a/artificial-intelligence-is-game-changer-for-election-interference-fbi-warns/7508616.html Save to Pocket

Astronaut Victor Glover Visits NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

date: 2024-02-29, from: NASA breaking news

NASA Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover met with Edwards Air Force Base school-age children at a joint NASA and Air Force Black Employee Resource Group event at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Feb. 15.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/astronaut-victor-glover-visits-nasa-armstrong-flight-research-center/ Save to Pocket

US Lawmakers Slam Pentagon Chief Over Secrecy on Health

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

Washington — U.S. lawmakers sharply criticized Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday over the failure to inform the White House about his hospitalization earlier this year for complications from cancer treatment.

Both Democrats and Republicans expressed dismay over the secrecy, but the House Armed Services Committee hearing ultimately shed little light on why information had been withheld from other top officials.

“It’s totally unacceptable that it took three days to inform the president of the United States that the secretary of defense was in the hospital and not in control of the Pentagon,” Representative Mike Rogers, the committee’s Republican chairman, said during the hearing.

“Wars were raging in Ukraine and Israel, our ships were under fire in the Red Sea and our bases were bracing for attack in Syria and Iraq. But the commander-in-chief did not know that his secretary of defense was out of action,” Rogers said.

The committee’s ranking Democratic member, Representative Adam Smith, said “the lack of transparency” should not be repeated and that “we need clearer, more transparent information about what’s going on at the Pentagon.”

Austin insisted “there was never a break in command and control,” but said that “what we didn’t do well was a notification of senior leaders.”

The Pentagon chief repeated that he “never told anyone not to inform the president, White House or anyone else about my hospitalization,” admitting however that “we didn’t get this right.”

Austin, a 70-year-old career soldier, initially underwent minor surgery to treat the cancer on December 22, returning home the following day. 

But he was readmitted due to complications including nausea and severe pain on January 1.

The White House was not informed about Austin’s hospitalization until January 4, while Congress was not told until the following day, and President Joe Biden did not learn of the cancer diagnosis until January 9.

Various Republican lawmakers called for Austin — who apologized earlier this month for the secrecy surrounding his treatment — to be sacked, but Biden has stood by him.

The Pentagon conducted a 30-day review of the situation and released a summary on Monday that said privacy concerns contributed to the secrecy, but found no evidence of intentional wrongdoing or obfuscation

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-lawmakers-slam-pentagon-chief-over-secrecy-on-health-/7508605.html Save to Pocket

“It’s funny because I’ll bring my flute, and it’s all these young…

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/02/0044087-its-funny-because-ill-bri Save to Pocket

Don Henley of the Eagles Testifies That ‘Very Personal’ Handwritten Lyrics Were Stolen

date: 2024-02-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine

The musician learned about the alleged theft when the drafts started appearing at auctions in 2012

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/eagles-don-henley-testifies-that-very-personal-hotel-california-lyric-pages-were-stolen-180983866/ Save to Pocket

On the Move with Santa Clarita Transit

date: 2024-02-29, from: City of Santa Clarita

On the Move with Santa Clarita Transit  By Councilwoman Marsha McLean  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 […]

The post On the Move with Santa Clarita Transit appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.

https://santaclarita.gov/blog/2024/02/29/one-the-move-with-santa-clarita-transit/ Save to Pocket

The future of news is print! (In France, once every four years)

date: 2024-02-29, from: Nieman Journalism Lab

Subscribing to The New Yorker in print comes with a known risk factor: the likelihood that the issues will slowly pile up on your side table, unread — a stack of paper taunting you for your lack of intellectual dedication. You know a publication that’s never had that problem? The French satirical newspaper La Bougie…

https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/the-future-of-news-is-print-in-france-once-every-four-years/ Save to Pocket

Diary Comics, Nov. 24

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/02/diary-comics-nov-24 Save to Pocket

KDE Plasma 6.0 brings the same old charm and confusion

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

The big new version of the other desktop, complete with improved HDR and a spinning desktop cube

The latest major release of KDE Plasma is here, a decade after KDE 5. This is only the fifth February 29 since KDE 4 in 2008, making this a rare event.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/kde_plasma_60_released/ Save to Pocket

@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-02-29, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)

17,000 newly minted “WCNSF”: wounded child, no surviving family in Gaza.

No hospitals, no orphanages, no food.

Israeli rage combined with American support is truly enraging.

https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112016054107422541 Save to Pocket

Tecno MEGA Mini Gaming G1 is a compact water-cooled PC with discrete graphics

date: 2024-02-29, from: Liliputing

The same Chinese company that unveiled a handheld gaming PC this week that uses a pair of glasses for a display also showed off another small gaming computer at Mobile World Congress this week. The Tecno MEGA Mini Gaming G1 is a small form-factor desktop computer with support for up to an Intel Core i9-13900H and NVIDIA […]

The post Tecno MEGA Mini Gaming G1 is a compact water-cooled PC with discrete graphics appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/tecno-mega-mini-gaming-g1-is-a-compact-water-cooled-pc-with-discrete-graphics/ Save to Pocket

Odysseus Lands on the Moon

date: 2024-02-29, from: NASA breaking news

Following a launch on Feb. 15, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander touched down in the Moon’s south polar region on Feb. 22 and has since transmitted valuable scientific data back to Earth. Odysseus took six NASA payloads along for the ride and their data will prepare us for future human exploration of the Moon under Artemis. […]

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/odysseus-lands-on-the-moon/ Save to Pocket

Your Volvo Will Now Alert You To Car Crashes Up Ahead

date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News

The feature uses real-time traffic data to alert drivers of crashes ahead.

https://insideevs.com/news/710647/volvo-safety-accident-ahead-alert/ Save to Pocket

Mullen sees better than expected road testing results from energy-dense solid-state batteries

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Mullen Automotive announced it has begun road testing Class 1 electric vans equipped with solid-state polymer batteries alongside footage of the initial run. The energy-dense cells fit in the same pack design but offer a significantly higher range – even higher than Mullen anticipated.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/mullen-sees-better-than-expected-road-testing-results-from-energy-dense-solid-state-batteries/ Save to Pocket

@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

IndieWeb page on blogrolls.

https://indieweb.org/blogroll Save to Pocket

@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-02-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)

Finding Your Hobby: Birding.

https://www.wnyc.org/story/finding-your-hobby-birding/ Save to Pocket

Judge Blocks Texas Law That Gives Police Power to Arrest Migrants Who Illegally Enter US

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge on Thursday blocked a new Texas law that gives police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S., dealing a victory to the Biden administration in its feud with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over immigration enforcement. 

The preliminary injunction granted by U.S. District Judge David Ezra pauses a law that was set to take effect March 5. Texas officials are expected to appeal. 

Opponents have called the Texas measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law that opponents rebuked as a “Show Me Your Papers” bill. The U.S. Supreme Court partially struck down the Arizona law, but some Texas Republican leaders want that ruling to get a second look. 

The lawsuit is among several legal battles between Texas and President Joe Biden’s administration over how far the state can go to try to prevent migrants from crossing the border. 

The measure would allow state law enforcement officers to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, they could agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the country or face a misdemeanor charge for entering the U.S. illegally. Migrants who don’t leave after being ordered to do so could be arrested again and charged with a more serious felony. 

At a February 15 hearing, Ezra expressed skepticism as the state pleaded its case for what is known as Senate Bill 4. He also said he was somewhat sympathetic to the concerns expressed by Abbott and other state officials about the large number of illegal crossings. 

Ezra, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, said he feared the United States could become a confederation of states enforcing their own immigration laws. “That is the same thing the Civil War said you can’t do,” Ezra told the attorneys. 

Civil rights groups, who also sued the state, have argued the law could lead to civil rights violations and racial profiling. 

Republicans who back the law have said it would not target immigrants already living in the U.S. because of the two-year statute of limitations on the illegal entry charge and would be enforced only along the state’s border with Mexico. 

Tensions have remained high between Texas and the Biden administration this year over who can patrol the border and how. Other GOP governors have expressed support for Abbott, who has said the federal government is not doing enough to enforce immigration laws. 

Among other things, Texas placed a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, put razor wire along the U.S.-Mexico border, and stopped Border Patrol agents from accessing a riverfront park in Eagle Pass that they previously used to process migrants

https://www.voanews.com/a/judge-blocks-texas-law-that-gives-police-power-to-arrest-migrants-who-illegally-enter-us/7508471.html Save to Pocket

Honda launches first plug-in hydrogen fuel cell EV

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Honda’s popular CR-V compact crossover is now getting a hydrogen-powered plug-in hybrid version that will begin deliveries this year in California – the car allows you to recharge via Level 2 charging for quick trips, or rely on hydrogen power for long hauls.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/honda-launches-its-new-hydrogen-fuel-cell-ev-if-you-can-find-a-place-to-charge-it/ Save to Pocket

Watch This Guy Play ‘Doom’ on a Toothbrush

date: 2024-02-29, from: 404 Media Group

The three million toothbrush botnet wasn’t real, but this toothbrush hacked for blasting demons between brushes is.

https://www.404media.co/watch-this-guy-play-doom-on-a-toothbrush/ Save to Pocket

Audi is developing a sporty electric TT replacement that will be completely unique

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Audi’s sporty design icon is going electric. The electric Audi TT replacement will be completely unique from the current gas-powered model.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/audi-developing-sporty-electric-tt/ Save to Pocket

Tesla Cybertruck Goes The Distance In Range Test. Beats Tesla’s Estimated Range

date: 2024-02-29, from: Inside EVs News

It beat Tesla’s estimate by 16 miles.

https://insideevs.com/news/710629/tesla-cybertruck-range-test-beats-epa/ Save to Pocket

What do you think of Tesla opening the Supercharger network in NA?

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

https://electrek.co/poll-post/what-do-you-think-of-tesla-opening-the-supercharger-network-in-na/ Save to Pocket

I haven’t written anything about the upcoming total solar eclipse on April…

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Jason Kittke’s blog

https://kottke.org/24/02/0044085-i-havent-written-anything Save to Pocket

Sandra Rivera’s next mission: Do for FPGAs what she did for Intel’s Xeon

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Chipzilla resurrects Altera brand as former datacenter chief takes the helm

Sandra Rivera, a longtime Intel veteran and chief executive of the chipmaker’s FPGA business, reprised the Altera brand during a webcast Thursday in which she shared her vision for the newly spun-off company.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/sandra_riveras_next_mission_do/ Save to Pocket

Portable dual-screen monitors are getting cheaper

date: 2024-02-29, from: Liliputing

A growing number of companies are offering portable monitors with two displays. Last year we reported on UPERFECT’s UStation Delta, which has two displays that can be stacked vertically or folded up like a laptop. And earlier this year we told you about the DUOONE portable monitor that comes with two 16 or 17.3 inch […]

The post Portable dual-screen monitors are getting cheaper appeared first on Liliputing.

https://liliputing.com/portable-dual-screen-monitors-are-getting-cheaper/ Save to Pocket

Learning about ZFS and efficiency on my new Arm64 NAS

date: 2024-02-29, from: Jeff Geerling blog

Learning about ZFS and efficiency on my new Arm64 NAS

        <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><img class="insert-image" width="700" height="auto" alt="HL15 with Ampere Altra and ASRock Rack motherboard - NAS fully built" src="https://www.jeffgeerling.com/sites/default/files/hl15-ampere-altra-fully-built.jpeg"></p>

I’ve been building out a new Arm-based NAS using ASRock Rack’s new ‘Deep Micro ATX’ motherboard for Ampere Altra and Altra Max CPUs.

I posted about the hardware earlier, in Building an efficient server-grade Arm NAS. Go check that out if you want details on the specific hardware in this setup.

But at the end of the build, I installed Rocky Linux, and found the power consumption to be a bit higher than expected—over 150W at idle!

As it turns out, the NAS must’ve been doing something when I took that initial measurement, because after monitoring it for a few more days, the normal idle power usage was around 123W instead.

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

February 29, 2024

https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2024/learning-about-zfs-and-efficiency-on-my-new-arm64-nas Save to Pocket

Chris Coyier smells like donkeys

date: 2024-02-29, from: Manu - I write blog

You might be so confused by this title. If you’re reading this Chris, I’m just kidding, I’m sure you smell wonderfully. I just couldn’t resist the temptation of posting something with this title after reading your post, “Where I’m at on the whole CSS-Tricks thing”.

Reading your post made me think about what we should do with all these sites we’re creating, especially big and old ones. Content is obviously worth preserving but sites can be expensive to keep online. You wrote:

I’ve heard from plenty of people who are pissed. Some are pissed at me. Sellout, yadda yadda. But I’m actually fairly pleased that the site is still online, relatively untouched, and with everybody’s bylines, including my own, intact. That’s a better outcome than scotch.io, purchased from Chris Sev, which was neutered and ultimately turned off. That’s a much more inglorious ending that I hope never happens to CSS-Tricks.

And you’re right, having the site still online—albeit in a weird state—is better than having it gone altogether. But there has to be a better solution for these situations. And that solution can’t be to simply hope that the Internet Achieve keeps doing its wonderful job. Still, I don’t have a solution to offer. I can only encourage people to donate to the Internet Archive.

Thank you for writing that post Chris, and thank you for spending all that time working on CSS Tricks. Now if you excuse me I’ll go learn what the heck is a Passkey…

https://manuelmoreale.com/@/page/iL7EoBTncVl6IzX3 Save to Pocket

US Moon Lander Odysseus ‘Still Kicking’ a Week After Sideways Landing

date: 2024-02-29, from: VOA News USA

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-moon-lander-odysseus-still-kicking-a-week-after-sideways-landing/7508404.html Save to Pocket

Tesla announces new automakers getting access to Superchargers soon

date: 2024-02-29, from: Electrek Feed

Tesla announces four new automakers getting access to Superchargers in “Spring 2024” following the onboarding of Ford EV drivers.

more…

https://electrek.co/2024/02/29/tesla-announces-automakers-getting-access-to-superchargers-soon/ Save to Pocket

Ransomware gangs are paying attention to infostealers, so why aren’t you?

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)

Analysts warn of big leap in cred-harvesting malware activity last year

There appears to be an uptick in interest among cybercriminals in infostealers – malware designed to swipe online account passwords, financial info, and other sensitive data from infected PCs – as a relatively cheap and easy way to get a foothold in organizations’ IT environments to deploy devastating ransomware.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/infostealers_increased_use/ 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

A Serpentine ‘Explosion’ 125 Million Years Ago Primed Snakes for Rapid, Diverse Evolution

date: 2024-02-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine

Researchers say an evolutionary “singularity” led to several small, quick changes in snake species, from legless bodies and flexible skulls to chemical-sensing abilities

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-serpentine-explosion-125-million-years-ago-primed-snakes-for-rapid-diverse-evolution-180983857/ 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.

more…

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

How Black women get their political news matters for this election

date: 2024-02-29, from: Nieman Journalism Lab

In 1892, Ida B. Wells began editing the Memphis Free Speech, and used the newspaper to crusade against lynching. Her motto “Truth is mighty and will prevail” lives on in investigative journalism to this day. For the last two decades, many Black women have been lauded as the 

https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/how-black-women-get-their-political-news-matters-for-this-election/ 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.

more…

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.

more…

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.

more…

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

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 provoke 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 being profiled and tracked via 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.

more…

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

1. 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.

2. 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.”

3. 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.

4. 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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5. 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

How to add Monaco to a Next.js app to enable custom user workflows

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-02-29, from: Deno blog

Allowing your users to create custom workflows increases your platform’s value. Here’s a simple guide to enable user-created workflows via a browser IDE with Monaco, Next.js, and Subhosting.

https://deno.com/blog/monaco-nextjs 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.

more…

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 layoffs, 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 to take 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 &#8212; 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&#8216;i softball team was dominated 25-8 by Pahoa High in a four-inning affair on Wednesday evening at Hilo&#8217;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. &#8212; 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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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) &#8212; An upcoming bribery trial against Honolulu&#8217;s former top prosecutor won&#8217;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 &#8212; 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 &#8212; including those currently ineligible for federal housing assistance &#8212; 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 soon

date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>A new option for Big Island cable TV customers could be available in just a few months.</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, &#8220;Good night, moon lander.&#8221;</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&#8217;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&#0010;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&#8217;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 &#8212; 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 &#8220;Pee-Wee&#8221; 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 &#8212; Hunter Biden was defiant Wednesday in a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill, blasting a Republican impeachment inquiry into his father and the family&#8217;s business affairs as a &#8220;house of cards&#8221; built on &#8220;lies&#8221; 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) &#8212; 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 &#8212; 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 &#8212; 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 &#8220;systemic quality-control issues.&#8221;</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 &#8212; 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

Kona brew fest returns: New location, format on tap this year

date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>The 29th annual Kona Brewers Festival is returning with a new format and venue featuring 19 breweries from around the state, Alaska and the mainland.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/hawaii-news/kona-brew-fest-returns-new-location-format-on-tap-this-year/ Save to Pocket

US airman’s winding path ended in self-immolation to protest Israel

date: 2024-02-29, from: Hawaii Tribune Harold

            <p>Dressed in his U.S. Air Force uniform, Aaron Bushnell walked up to the Israeli Embassy in Washington one afternoon this week and calmly described his intention to &#8220;engage in an extreme act of protest&#8221; against Israel&#8217;s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.</p>
        

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/02/29/nation-world-news/us-airmans-winding-path-ended-in-self-immolation-to-protest-israel/ 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 propellant out of thin air

date: 2024-02-29, updated: 2024-03-01, 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 drive 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.…

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/nutanix_q2_24/ Save to Pocket

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.

https://www.voanews.com/a/asylum-seekers-find-shelter-at-washington-state-church-/7507339.html Save to Pocket

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 […]

The post <strong>Card master: Local trading card game champ to compete at world tournament</strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

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.

https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-hails-crime-drop-pushes-for-more-reforms-/7507334.html Save to Pocket

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 […]

The post <strong>West Ranch charges into state tournament, beats Arleta</strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

https://signalscv.com/2024/02/west-ranch-charges-into-state-tournament-beats-arleta/ Save to Pocket

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 […]

The post <strong>Valencia softball drops nail biter vs. Oaks Christian </strong>  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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

Updated  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/.

https://www.crossref.org/blog/what-do-we-know-about-dois/ Save to Pocket

Newsletter

date: 2024-02-29, from: The United States Research Software Engineer Association

In this monthly newsletter, we share recent, current, and planned activities of the US-RSE Association, and related news that we think is of interest to US-RSE members. Newsletters are also available on our website alongside the growing resources and information on the US-RSE Association. To receive our newsletter, join US-RSE….

https://us-rse.org/2024-02-29-newsletter/ Save to Pocket

This Month in Redox - February 2024

date: 2024-02-29, from: Redox OS News

This is our second update for 2024, and for February, we continue to march ahead. Donate to Redox If you would like to support Redox, please consider donating or buying some merch! Donate Merch Massive Performance Improvement Jeremy Soller improved the file read/write performance a lot with the implementation of records in RedoxFS. Using dd to measure the impact of an increased block size (dd bs=n), Jeremy tested copying from /dev/zero to /dev/null as a benchmark for a RAM-based scheme, and compared that against copying from the raw disk scheme, and from the disk scheme via the RedoxFS file system scheme.

https://www.redox-os.org/news/this-month-240229/ Save to Pocket

Installing PostgreSQL on SLES 15 just got easier – and better!

date: 2024-02-29, from: PostgreSQL News

The PostgreSQL RPM repository for SuSE Enterprise Linux has supported SLES for quite some time. We followed the usual conventions and used zypper addrepo … to add the repositories.

This method mostly works, however it is (now, was…) not easy for us to make modifications to the repository files. This led to multiple issues in the past like not being able to add a common repository, not being able to archive old repos properly or not being able to change signatures, etc. We do not have this problem in the PostgreSQL YUM/DNF repository because it already has repository RPMs .

Good news: We now have the same infrastructure in the SLES 15 ! Please note that this will have a direct effect on the directory layout so the package locations will change for some of the packages (i.e. “common” packages) . It means all of the SLES 15 users will need to switch to the new repository RPMs at the earliest convenience to receive the updates or even install many of the packages.

As an unintentional good side effect of this change, “extras” repository is now available also on SLES 15 . This extras repo provides packages to support Patroni.

Here is a quick FAQ:

1. How can I switch to the new repository RPM?

   zypper install https://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/zypp/reporpms/SLES-15-x86_64/pgdg-suse-repo-latest.noarch.rpm

2. I am a new user. How does it affect me?

   Not at all. Just follow the instructions and install PostgreSQL as usual: https://zypp.postgresql.org/repopackages/

3. Can I disable specific PostgreSQL releases?

   Yes. You can run this command to disable PostgreSQL 12 repo:

   zypper mr -d pgdg-12

https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/installing-postgresql-on-sles-15-just-got-easier-and-better-2814/ Save to Pocket