News gathered 2024-03-21
(date: 2024-03-21 17:04:45)
Nonprofit HomeFirst pulls out of South Bay homeless shelter after discrimination allegations
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
HomeFirst plans to continue running the 140-bed site through June, when another provider is expected to take over.
Immigrants aren’t stealing your jobs
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Americans need to reframe their view on immigration: It’s helping our economy.
The post Immigrants aren’t stealing your jobs appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/immigrants-arent-stealing-your-jobs/
SF Giants’ ‘aggressive, enthusiastic’ outfielder named Barney Nugent Award winner
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
OF Ismael Munguia was recognized by his teammates as the most deserving player in his first major-league camp.
TMU’s National Championship Hopes Dashed by Freed-Hardeman
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Battling back from a 12-point deficit, The Master’s University basketball team had the lead late but could not hold it, losing to the No. 1 seed Freed-Hardeman 68-69 in the Round of 16 at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Men’s Basketball National Championship. With 19.1 seconds to play and trailing…
Joe Simitian pulls back into second, leading Evan Low by one vote
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
The race for second has had several lead changes over the last two weeks.
Driver arrested after inadvertent drop
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies arrested a man on suspicion of drug possession after a traffic stop apparently yielded evidence prior to a search. “Deputies were patrolling Canyon Country when they observed a vehicle with expired registration and no front license plate,” according to a post from the station’s Facebook page. “They conducted a […]
The post Driver arrested after inadvertent drop appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/driver-arrested-after-inadvertent-drop/
Michael Bloomberg shells out $500,000 to Super PAC backing former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s congressional bid
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Liccardo endorsed Bloomberg for president during the 2020 election.
Single family residence sells for $5.1 million in Palo Alto
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
A spacious house located in the 800 block of Moreno Avenue in Palo Alto has new owners. The 2,614-square-foot property, built in 1999, was sold on March 8, 2024. The $5,130,000 purchase price works out to $1,963 per square foot.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/21/single-family-residence-sells-for-5-1-million-in-palo-alto/
Feds toss case against Bouquet Canyon man; DA picks up charges
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
A Bouquet Canyon man is facing 11 weapons charges in L.A. County Superior Court next week, connected to a case that was dismissed from a federal courthouse after the defense raised questions about a search and how evidence was collected. About two weeks after the attorneys for the Department of Justice filed a motion Jan. […]
The post Feds toss case against Bouquet Canyon man; DA picks up charges appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/feds-toss-case-against-bouquet-canyon-man-da-picks-up-charges/
Appeals court order probe of juror bias in Boston marathon bombing
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
If the lower court’s investigation reveals either person should have been disqualified, the court should vacate Tsarnaev’s death sentence and hold a new penalty-phase trial to determine whether he should sentenced to death, the judges said.
Cougars Place Sixth at State Preview Tourney
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
GOLETA — College of the Canyons fielded two teams at the annual 3C2A State Preview event at Sandpiper Golf Course on Monday, with the Cougars finishing sixth and eighth in the field of 18 teams from around the state.
https://scvnews.com/cougars-place-sixth-at-state-preview-tourney/
‘We’re in this fight together’: Silicon Valley tech janitors rally for better working conditions
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
More than 200 janitors working at Silicon Valley’s largest businesses rallied for better working conditions.
BMW’s Neue Klasse EVs Aim To Be Profitable As Gas Engines Get More Expensive
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
At “high volume,” BMW’s new crop of EVs aim to make just as much money as ICE vehicles—which are not getting cheaper to build.
https://insideevs.com/news/713353/bmw-profit-neue-klasse-x/
NCAA Tournament: Oregon wins, Altman stays perfect and the second round awaits
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
The Ducks took down a higher seed as Dana Altman remained perfect in the first round during his Oregon tenure.
The Verge: ‘CarPlay Is Anticompetitive, Too, US Lawsuit Alleges’
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/21/24107976/apple-carplay-doj-lawsuit-anticompetitive-digital-key
Biden and Trump ask voters if they’re ‘better off’ than they were 4 years ago. It’s complicated
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Each candidate is hoping the answer skews in his favor — but the verdict may well hinge on whether people are reflecting back on the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of their pocketbooks or some broader sense of well-being.
US Regulators Urge Congress to Look Into Grocery Profits
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
New York — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recommended Thursday that policymakers look further into profits at grocery stores that remain elevated since the pandemic and promotions that consumer products makers offer retailers.
The FTC also is suing to block Kroger’s acquisition of smaller grocery store rival Albertsons, citing concerns the deal would hike prices for millions of Americans.
The FTC launched the study in 2021 when it ordered Walmart, Kroger, Procter & Gamble, grocery wholesalers and others to turn over detailed information relating to the supply chain crisis during the pandemic, which contributed to double-digit price increases on household necessities.
Big box and chain stores secured limited resources, leaving small independent grocers at a disadvantage, FTC Chairperson Lina Khan said on a public call to discuss the report. This harmed communities reliant on these smaller retailers and could have also strengthened market dominance of larger corporations, she added.
“If we end up finding that these types of practices violated any of the antitrust laws including the [Robinson-] Patman act, I’ll be very interested in making sure we take swift action,” she said without providing details.
The Robinson-Patman Act of 1936 is a U.S. antitrust law preventing large franchises and chains from engaging in price discrimination against small businesses.
Several representatives of smaller grocery operators spoke on the call saying that during the pandemic, they faced shortages of toilet paper, cleaning products and pet supplies as manufacturers prioritized their biggest clients.
“It was a true test of survival for a lot of our customers,” said Brian Patterson, head buyer at Piggly Wiggly Alabama Distributing Co.
Walmart and Kroger are among chains that have touted gaining U.S. grocery market share. Kroger’s most recent quarterly statements said it improved volume share consistently for the past five quarters. Walmart said it gained market share in “virtually every category,” citing its lower prices.
Walmart and Kroger did grow share from 2018 to 2022, but only modestly, according to Coresight Research data.
The FTC said it will pass the report onto lawmakers, “where there has been broad interest” from members of both parties.
U.S. President Joe Biden has taken aim at grocery chains this year.
“Today’s FTC report shows grocery retailers increased profits during the pandemic and have maintained or increased those margins even as their own costs have come down,” the White House said in an email to Reuters on Thursday.
In Thursday’s report, the FTC found that a measure of annual profits for food and beverage retailers “rose substantially and remains quite elevated.” The commission said revenues for grocery retailers were 6% over total costs in 2021, and 7% in the first nine months of 2023, higher than a peak of 5.6% in 2015.
“This casts doubt on assertions that rising prices at the grocery store are simply moving in lockstep with retailers’ own rising costs,” the FTC said, adding that elevated profit levels “warrant further inquiry” by both policymakers and the commission, which is tasked with protecting the public from unfair business practices.
The FTC also said trade promotions, payments by consumer goods companies to retailers for favorable product placement in stores and on e-commerce websites, “may warrant further study.”
The reduction in spending harmed traditional grocers that use a “high-low” pricing strategy with more frequent promotions, the FTC found.
Retailers that offer “everyday low pricing” with fewer promotions, like Walmart, benefited, according to the study.
Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The FTC added that the report does not make claims of illegality.
“We’re shedding light on what we’re seeing in the market, which has broader relevance to policymakers beyond law enforcement.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-regulators-urge-congress-to-look-into-grocery-profits-/7537661.html
San Jose Mayor Mahan calls for Council to pass anti-displacement ordinance to combat gentrification
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
A new “tenant preference” policy would reserve 20% of affordable apartments for local low-income residents.
Silvers Goes for the Gold
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
New omakase sushi restaurant brings caviar dreams to the Santa Barbara Funk Zone.
The post Silvers Goes for the Gold appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/21/silvers-goes-for-the-gold/
Tesla Launches Cybertruck-Inspired CyberHammer
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
Tesla will only make 800 of the cyberpunk sledgehammers. They’ll be available through the automaker’s referral program.
https://insideevs.com/news/713357/tesla-cyberhammer-referral-cybertruck-reward/
Mayor Cameron Smyth | Neon Nights Kicks Off SENSES Block Parties
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Did you know that each year, Main Street in Old Town Newhall undergoes countless makeovers for different events, such as Light Up Main Street and the Fourth of July Parade
https://scvnews.com/mayor-cameron-smyth-neon-nights-kicks-off-senses-block-parties/
Kuhlman Stepping Down as Hart District Superintendent
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Mike Kuhlman, superintendent of the William S. Hart Union High School District, will be leaving his post effective June 30, 2024, he announced in a district-wide email Wednesday night
https://scvnews.com/kuhlman-stepping-down-as-hart-district-superintendent/
Valencia girls lacrosse snaps Saugus win streak
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
Valencia Vikings girls’ lacrosse had a total turn of the tides early on in its road league match with the Saugus Centurions. Valencia played tough defense and rode the hot stick of senior Olivia Fassino in the 10-6 win on Wednesday. Fassino outscored the Centurions (8-3-1, 1-1) and fired in seven goals — giving all […]
The post Valencia girls lacrosse snaps Saugus win streak appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/valencia-girls-lacrosse-snaps-saugus-win-streak/
Valencia students create local music festival
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
Calling all music lovers in Santa Clarita: Valencia High School junior Elliott So, 16, along with other Valencia students, have founded the Heart Destruct Music Festival, with the purpose of shedding light on local performing acts and paying local bands. “This first started out as an idea that I had while I was running sound […]
The post <strong>Valencia students create local music festival</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/valencia-students-create-local-music-festival/
Flight of the Modern Marriners
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Joshua Bell–led Academy of St. Martin in the Fields features Vince Mendoza’s world premiere dedicated to late founder Sir Neville Marriner.
The post Flight of the Modern Marriners appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/21/flight-of-the-modern-marriners/
FAFSA Delays Prompt California to Extend Deadline for Financial Aid Applications
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
Sacramento, California — The California Legislature on Thursday voted to give prospective college students more time to apply for two of the state’s largest financial aid programs after a glitch in the federal government’s application system threatened to block up to 100,000 people from getting help.
California had already extended the deadline for its financial aid programs from March 2 to April 2. On Thursday, the state Senate gave final approval to a bill that would extend it again until May 2. The bill now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom.
“Clearly, our students need our help,” Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Riverside who authored the bill, told lawmakers during a public hearing earlier this week.
California has multiple programs to help people pay for college. The biggest is the Cal Grant program, which gives money to people who meet certain income requirements. The state also has a Middle Class Scholarship for people with slightly higher incomes.
Students can apply for these state aid programs only if they first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as FAFSA.
This year, a computer glitch prevented parents from filling out the form if they did not have a Social Security number. That meant many students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents but whose parents are not were blocked from completing the form and thus could not apply for California’s aid programs.
California has a large population of adults who are living in the country without legal permission. The California Student Aid Commission, the state agency in charge of California’s financial aid programs, estimates as many as 100,000 students could be affected by this glitch.
The U.S. Department of Education says it fixed the problem last week, but those families are now a step behind. Democrats in Congress raised alarms last month, noting that the delay could particularly hurt students in states where financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, including Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Oregon and Texas.
Advocates fear that the chaos of this year’s process could deter students from going to college at all, especially those for whom finances are a key part of the decision.
The computer glitch is just one part of larger problems affecting FAFSA.
The notoriously time-consuming form was overhauled in 2020 through a bipartisan bill in Congress. It promised to simplify the form, going from 100 questions to fewer than 40, and it also changed the underlying formula for student aid, promising to expand it to more low-income students.
But the update has been marred by delays, leaving families across the country in limbo as they figure out how much college will cost.
The form is typically available to fill out in October, but the Education Department didn’t have it ready until late December. Even then, the agency wasn’t ready to begin processing the forms and sending them to states and colleges, which only started to happen this month.
The problems appear to have already reduced California’s application numbers. Through March 8, the number of California students who had completed FAFSA was 43% lower than it was at the same time last year.
“The data most concerning me seems to suggest that these drops are more acute at the schools that serve low-income students or large populations of students of color,” Jake Brymner, deputy chief of policy and public affairs for the California Student Aid Commission, told lawmakers in a public hearing earlier this week.
The issue has caused problems for colleges and universities, too. The University of California and California State University systems both delayed their admissions deadlines because so many prospective students were having trouble with FAFSA.
Lilbits: Android 15 Dev Preview 2, MediaTek chips with NVIDIA graphics, and Spellcheck for Notepad
date: 2024-03-21, from: Liliputing
Google has released the second developer preview of Android 15. As usual, since the company is initially targeting developers, the announcement is primarily focused on changes that app and game makers need to know. But also, as usual, observers have started to dig in and find other changes. Mishaal Rahman has posted some of his findings […]
The post Lilbits: Android 15 Dev Preview 2, MediaTek chips with NVIDIA graphics, and Spellcheck for Notepad appeared first on Liliputing.
Barger Issues Statement on FCC’s Proposed 9-8-8 Routing Changes
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose Fifth District includes the Santa Clarita Valley, issued the following statement Thursday in response to an announcement by Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel of a proposal to change how calls to the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline are routed
https://scvnews.com/barger-issues-statement-on-fccs-proposed-9-8-8-routing-changes/
FBI v the bots: Feds urge denial-of-service defense after critical infrastructure alert
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, they’re telling you why
The US government has recommended a series of steps that critical infrastructure operators should take to prevent distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/fbi_ddos_advice/
Daily EV Recap: Tesla Hackers win $200K & Model 3
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and…
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/daily-ev-recap-tesla-hackers-win-200k-model-3/
Early Chevy Blazer EV Buyers Can Get Reimbursed Up To $6,520
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
Chevrolet dropped the price of its Blazer EV. Now it’s offering early buyers some money to make up the difference.
https://insideevs.com/news/713354/chevrolet-blazer-ev-reimbursement/
Hitt-Zuniga to represent COC in delegation to Iceland
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
News release Holly Hitt-Zuniga, an architecture and interior design instructor at College of the Canyons, has been selected to represent the college and the National Science Foundation’s Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education in Iceland as part of a 10-person delegation of educators participating in an international education program focused on clean energy and […]
The post Hitt-Zuniga to represent COC in delegation to Iceland appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/hitt-zuniga-to-represent-coc-in-delegation-to-iceland/
NASA’s Tiny BurstCube Mission Launches to Study Cosmic Blasts
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
NASA’s BurstCube, a shoebox-sized satellite designed to study the universe’s most powerful explosions, is on its way to the International Space Station. The spacecraft travels aboard SpaceX’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services mission, which lifted off at 4:55 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 21, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. […]
https://science.nasa.gov/burstcube/nasas-tiny-burstcube-mission-launches-to-study-cosmic-blasts/
With Prop. 1 Passage, Gavin Newsom Again Changes How Californians with Mental Illness Get Help
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The ballot initiative voters approved this week will provide billions of dollars to fund housing and treatment facilities for mentally ill Californians.
The post With Prop. 1 Passage, Gavin Newsom Again Changes How Californians with Mental Illness Get Help appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
NASA Science, Hardware Aboard SpaceX’s 30th Resupply Launch to Station
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
Following a successful launch of NASA’s SpaceX 30th commercial resupply mission, new scientific experiments and technology demonstrations for the agency are on the way to the International Space Station, including studies of technologies to measure sea ice and plant growth in space. SpaceX’s Dragon resupply spacecraft, carrying more than 6,000 pounds of cargo to the […]
With Acute Hunger at ‘Record Levels,’ US Considers Aid Cuts
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/with-acute-hunger-at-record-levels-us-considers-aid-cuts/7537580.html
Deputies: Marijuana grower arrested on suspicion of weapons charge
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
A Lancaster marijuana grower was arrested Tuesday in Gorman on suspicion of carrying a weapon after patrol deputies found him driving a car with expired registration tags, according to a Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station official. Deputies on patrol performed a traffic stop on the vehicle being driven by a 44-year-old man after noticing […]
The post Deputies: Marijuana grower arrested on suspicion of weapons charge appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/deputies-marijuana-grower-arrested-on-suspicion-of-weapons-charge/
Microsoft faces bipartisan criticism for alleged censorship on Bing in China
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Redmond says it does what it’s told, but still thinks users are better off
Microsoft is the subject of growing criticism in the US over allegations that its Bing search engine censors results for users in China that relate to sensitive subjects the state wants blocked.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/microsoft_bing_china_criticism/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-21, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Hello Fediverse! I am also @migueldeicaza@threads.net
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112135768382671461
In case anyone is ever in the market for strange and cheerful…
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044237-in-case-anyone-is-ever
Payload Adapter Testing: A Key Step for Artemis IV Rocket’s Success
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
A test version of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s payload adapter is ready for evaluation, marking a critical milestone on the journey to the hardware’s debut on NASA’s Artemis IV mission. Comprised of two metal rings and eight composite panels, the cone-shaped payload adapter will be part of the SLS Block 1B configuration and […]
Firefighters handle trash truck fire on Highway 14
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel responded to reports of a trash truck on fire on the northbound Highway 14 near Placerita Canyon Road on Thursday afternoon, according to officials. The initial call came in at approximately 1:59 p.m. on Thursday for a vehicle fire, according to Geovanni Sanchez, a spokesman for the Fire Department. […]
The post Firefighters handle trash truck fire on Highway 14 appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/firefighters-respond-to-reported-vehicle-fire-on-highway-14/
Wilk’s bill to study feasibility of new CSU campus clears Education Committee
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
News release Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, announced his bill to study the feasibility of a new California State University Campus in the Victor Valley passed out of the Senate Education Committee. “The High Desert is an oasis of affordability and growth in California, but there is still so much more potential worth tapping into,” […]
The post Wilk’s bill to study feasibility of new CSU campus clears Education Committee appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
Audi is the latest automaker to reveal plans for a lower-cost EV
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Audi is joining the race as automakers gear up to introduce new, lower-cost EV models. The new entry-level EV will sit below the Q4 e-tron, which starts at just over $50,000.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/audi-latest-automaker-plans-lower-cost-ev/
Theft suspect stopped by store workers
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
Loss prevention officers at Target helped Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies arrest a 19-year-old shoplifting suspect who’s being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. The woman was inside the retail store in the 19000 block of Golden Valley Road around 4 p.m. when deputies received a call that store employees were holding a felony […]
The post Theft suspect stopped by store workers appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/theft-suspect-stopped-by-store-workers/
‘Celebrate’ returning to Canyon Country Community Center
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
News release The Celebrate event series is back for its third year and offers insights into unique destinations from around the world, every second Friday of the month from April through September at the Canyon Country Community Center. Celebrate highlights different cultures, customs and culinary wonders featuring music, dance, food, art and educational experiences, according […]
The post ‘Celebrate’ returning to Canyon Country Community Center appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/celebrate-returning-to-canyon-country-community-center/
UC Santa Barbara Women’s Basketball Head Coach Bonnie Hendrickson Announces Retirement
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Hendrickson had a long and successful career coaching women’s basketball
The post UC Santa Barbara Women’s Basketball Head Coach Bonnie Hendrickson Announces Retirement appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
A Medieval Pilgrim May Have Carried This Basilisk Pendant to Guard Against Evil
date: 2024-03-21, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Found in Poland, the “pilgrim’s badge” was likely worn by a Christian traveler hundreds of years ago
Could Trump Scuttle the EPA’s New Car Rules?
date: 2024-03-21, from: Heatmap News
The D.C. Armory is big enough to fit an F-150 Lightning, a hybrid Jeep Compass, and a Cadillac Lyriq, with room to spare for an elephant.
That elephant was in the room on Wednesday when Michael Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, along with National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi announced the Biden administration’s finalized vehicle emissions standards, flanked onstage by plugged-in models from GM, Ford, and Stellantis. That element is the invisible, though nevertheless looming possibility of a second Trump administration.
Though climate advocates and environmental groups have celebrated the EPA’s rules for pushing the country closer to its net zero goals (while also lamenting that the rules didn’t go as far as planned), threats have been mounting. Perhaps none is more concerning than Trump’s potential return to the White House with the Project 2025 playbook in hand. The Heritage Foundation-authored blueprint for a Republican president explicitly describes dismantling the EPA and singles out as a priority reviewing “the existing ‘ramp rate’ for car standards to ensure that it is actually achievable.”
When Trump last took office, he replaced, eliminated, or otherwise undid more than 100 environmental rules, including Obama-era vehicle emissions standards. When I spoke to environmental lawyers at the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund, though, they stressed that the EPA’s regulations make it difficult for an unfriendly executive branch to shake them off.
If a future administration were to want to change the rules finalized this week, it would have to go through “a full rulemaking process,” Peter Zalzal, a member of EDF’s Domestic Climate and Air legal team, told me. That would include “a proposal that laid out the agency’s rationale for making those choices, and the facts supporting that rationale, and then hold a public comment process to incorporate stakeholder feedback.” Only after going through all that would it be able to take decisive action.
While it is possible that a Trump administration would attempt this, a senior advisor to the NRDC action fund who spoke to me on the condition of anonymity given the political nature of the question, stressed that groups like theirs would fight tooth and nail to halt such a rollback. There are plenty of stages in the EPA rulemaking process where environmental groups could intervene, including by taking the administration to court.
Trouble might start even sooner than January, though. By Thursday morning, there were already multiple reports of Republican attorneys general who had “warned the EPA against rolling out more aggressive tailpipe emissions standards,” and opponents in Congress had filed a bipartisan resolution to undo the rule. There’s even a world in which a decision could be punted up to the Supreme Court, whose recent decisions have been hostile toward the EPA’s regulatory powers. Additionally, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group is planning a seven-figure ad spend across seven states “against the new rules heading into the 2024 election,” Kelley Blue Book reports, including an effort to brand them as a “gas car ban.”
The rules are definitively not a ban, and automakers are generally on board with them. “It’s just not a case that these standards require any kind of particular technologies,” Zalzal, from EDF, told me. “In fact, we’ve done modeling to show that manufacturers could meet these by selling very few battery electric vehicles.” (He added that, to be clear, that isn’t the expectation). Generally, experts seem to agree that the rules are on solid legal footing.
Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry. As my colleague Matthew Zeitlin has reported, California has quietly been working behind the scenes to get automakers to voluntarily comply with the regulations — and, in that way, sneakily “Trump-proof” the electrification push.
After all, that’s the one thing you can count on with elephants: You can see them coming.
https://heatmap.news/sparks/trump-epa-car-rules
Things That Don’t Work. For instance: “Fixing relationship problems by having a…
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044238-things-that-dont-work-for
Five Shocking Animal Hybrids That Truly Exist in Nature, From Narlugas to Grolar Bears to Coywolves
date: 2024-03-21, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The now-famous “virgin” stingray Charlotte is not having hybrid babies, scientists say. But in nature, distinct species sometimes interbreed to produce surprising offspring
Unite 5.2
date: 2024-03-21, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/unite-5-2/
Alfred 5.5
date: 2024-03-21, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/alfred-5-5/
What Biden’s New Car Emissions Rules Mean For You
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
The EPA’s tighter tailpipe emissions standards should save consumers billions in fueling and maintenance costs each year.
https://insideevs.com/news/713333/epa-tailpipe-emission-rules-biden/
BBEdit 15.0.2
date: 2024-03-21, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/bbedit-15-0-2/
Congress votes unanimously to ban brokers selling American data to enemies
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
At least we can all agree on something
The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would prohibit data brokers from selling Americans’ data to foreign adversaries with an unusual degree of bipartisan support: It passed without a single opposing vote.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/congress_votes_unanimously_to_ban/
Apple Style Guide, March 2024 Edition
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Daring Fireball
https://support.apple.com/guide/applestyleguide/welcome/web
Retrobatch 2.1
date: 2024-03-21, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/retrobatch-2-1/
U.S. Sues Apple Over iPhone Monopoly
date: 2024-03-21, from: Michael Tsai
David McCabe and Tripp Mickle (PDF, CourtListener, Hacker News, MacRumors): The Justice Department joined 16 states and the District of Columbia to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, the federal government’s most significant challenge to the reach and influence of the company that has put iPhones in the hands of more than a […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/21/u-s-sues-apple-over-iphone-monopoly/
PopClip Leaving the Mac App Store
date: 2024-03-21, from: Michael Tsai
Nick Moore (via andy4222): PopClip’s almost 13-year journey on the Mac App Store has come to an end. The reason? I can’t update PopClip with new features on the Mac App Store any more. This is due to Apple’s sandboxing policy. […] The review team did also clarify that if I removed new features from […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/21/popclip-leaving-the-mac-app-store/
How to Bypass SwiftUI App Launch During Unit Testing
date: 2024-03-21, from: Michael Tsai
Jon Reid: For apps with an application delegate, I’ve written How To Switch Your iOS App Delegate for Improved Testing. This lets us set up a separate launch sequence for test runs that does only the bare minimum. Can we do the same thing for SwiftUI apps that use @main? Yes, we can.[…]Basically, this conditional […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/21/how-to-bypass-swiftui-app-launch-during-unit-testing/
Glassdoor No Longer Anonymous
date: 2024-03-21, from: Michael Tsai
cellio (via Hacker News, Reddit): Glassdoor now requires your real name and will add it to older accounts without your consent if they learn it, and your only option is to delete your account. They do not care that this puts people at risk with their employers. They do not care that this seems to […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/21/glassdoor-no-longer-anonymous/
Tesla Cybertruck resale market loses all momentum
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla Cybertrucks were getting more than twice their value on the resale market just a few weeks ago, but the electric pickup truck has now lost all its momentum in terms of resale value.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/tesla-cybertruck-resale-market-loses-all-momentum/
Girls Inc. of Carpinteria Presents Fuel Her Fire Event Honoring Community Leaders Sonia Aguila, Tim Cohen, and Junior Honoree Ellie Lou Olvera Ignite Success!
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Girls Inc. of Carpinteria proudly announces Fuel Her Fire, previously known as Women of Inspiration, to be held on April
The post Girls Inc. of Carpinteria Presents Fuel Her Fire Event Honoring Community Leaders Sonia Aguila, Tim Cohen, and Junior Honoree Ellie Lou Olvera Ignite Success! appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Dawson’s Creek Stars James Van Der Beek, Kerr Smith Nearly Died on Jetskis
date: 2024-03-21, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
The two used to ride jetskis while filming the show and got into all sorts of shenanigans, including almost dying.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/713339/dawsons-creek-james-van-der-beek-kerr-smith-jetski/
At UN, Nations Cooperate Toward Safe, Trustworthy AI Systems
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
United Nations — The U.N. General Assembly adopted by consensus Thursday a first-of-its-kind resolution addressing the potential of artificial intelligence to accelerate progress toward sustainable development, while emphasizing the need for safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems.
The initiative, led by the United States, seeks to manage AI’s risks while utilizing its benefits.
“Today as the U.N. and AI finally intersect, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to choose as one united global community to govern this technology rather than to let it govern us,” said U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “So let us reaffirm that AI will be created and deployed through the lens of humanity and dignity, safety and security, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
The Biden administration said it took more than three months to negotiate what it characterized as a “baseline set of principles” around AI, engaging with 120 countries and incorporating feedback from many of them, including China, which was one of the 123 co-sponsors of the text.
While General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, they reflect the political consensus of the international community.
The resolution recognizes the disparities in technological development between developed and developing countries and stresses the need to bridge the digital divide so everyone can equitably access the benefits of AI.
It also outlines measures for responsible AI governance, including the development of regulatory frameworks, capacity building initiatives and support for research and innovation. The resolution encourages international collaboration to address the evolving challenges and opportunities AI technologies pose, with a focus on advancing sustainable development goals.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed adoption of the resolution, saying all nations must be guided by a common set of understandings on the use of AI systems.
“Too often, in past technological revolutions, the benefits have not been shared equitably, and the harms have been felt by a disproportionate few,” she said in a statement. “This resolution establishes a path forward on AI where every country can both seize the promise and manage the risks of AI.”
At the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos, Switzerland, in January, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about the risk of unintended consequences with “every new iteration of generative AI.” He said it has “enormous potential” for sustainable development but also the potential to worsen inequality.
“And some powerful tech companies are already pursuing profits with a clear disregard for human rights, personal privacy and social impact,” he said at the time.
The U.N. chief created an AI advisory body last year, and it will publish its final report ahead of the U.N.’s Summit of the Future in September.
https://www.voanews.com/a/at-un-nations-cooperate-toward-safe-trustworthy-ai-systems/7537491.html
RECORDATORIO: Las audiencias de rezonificación del elemento de vivienda comienzan la próxima semana
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Miércoles 27 de marzo de 2024 en el Centro Santa María Betteravia (sala de audiencias en 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy, Santa
The post RECORDATORIO: Las audiencias de rezonificación del elemento de vivienda comienzan la próxima semana appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
REMINDER: Housing Element Rezone Hearings Begin Next Week
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Wed. Mar. 27, 2024 at the Santa Maria Betteravia Center hearing room at 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy, Santa Maria and Mon. Apr. 1,
The post REMINDER: Housing Element Rezone Hearings Begin Next Week appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/21/reminder-housing-element-rezone-hearings-begin-next-week/
Brownell’s Four RBIs Propel Mustangs to Victory
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Cason Brownell had a bases-loaded double in the first and added a home run in the sixth to knock in all four runs The Master’s University needed in a 4-3 win over Westcliff Tuesday in Irvine
https://scvnews.com/brownells-four-rbis-propel-mustangs-to-victory/
Incredibly Well-Preserved Bronze Age Village Reveals a Snapshot of Early British Life Before a Fire
date: 2024-03-21, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Residents fled when flames burned through the Must Farm settlement, and now, archaeologists have unearthed its buildings and objects that were preserved in a riverbed
On Returning to Childhood Hobbies
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/on-returning-to-childhood-hobbies
World’s First Tesla Cybertruck Teardown Shows Botched Door Hinge Install
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
Caresoft Global found plenty of cool details about the Cybertruck’s battery pack, steer-by-wire system, giga castings, and more.
https://insideevs.com/news/713343/first-tesla-cybertruck-teardown-caresoft-global/
Grow Your Business with Help from SCVEDC
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation plays a pivotal role in fostering business growth and prosperity within the region
https://scvnews.com/grow-your-business-with-help-from-scvedc/
Channelkeeper’s Blue Water Ball Celebrates Nonprofit’s Work to Protect and Restore Santa Barbara’s Watersheds
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Annual fundraiser brings more than 200 guests out for seaworthy support.
The post Channelkeeper’s Blue Water Ball Celebrates Nonprofit’s Work to Protect and Restore Santa Barbara’s Watersheds appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Microsoft’s first AI PCs Surface with Intel cores and a Copilot key
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Upgraded fondleslab and laptops limited to business buyers only, for now
At a virtual press conference on Thursday, Microsoft showed off the latest additions to its Surface hardware via an updated tablet and business laptops that Redmond assures us are built for using AI for just about everything.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/microsoft_ai_surface/
Custody Deputy Honored at Military Order of the World Wars Awards Luncheon
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara, Calif. – On Wednesday, March 30, 2024, Custody Deputy Florice Soto was honored at the Military Order of the
The post Custody Deputy Honored at Military Order of the World Wars Awards Luncheon appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
The new System76 Lemur Pro is a 2.2 pound Linux laptop with Intel Meteor Lake
date: 2024-03-21, from: Liliputing
Linux PC company System76 is now selling its first laptop powered by an Intel Meteor Lake processor. The latest version of the System76 Lemur Pro is a thin and light laptop with a 14 inch FHD display and support for up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor. It’s available now for $1399 and […]
The post The new System76 Lemur Pro is a 2.2 pound Linux laptop with Intel Meteor Lake appeared first on Liliputing.
A Rumble in the Jungle
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Exploring Peru with family and friends.
The post A Rumble in the Jungle appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/21/a-rumble-in-the-jungle/
Jason Snell on US v. Apple
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Daring Fireball
https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/03/u-s-versus-apple-a-first-reaction/
Nations Pledge to Boost Nuclear Power to Fight Climate Change
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
Paris — Representatives of 30 nations meeting in Brussels vowed to beef up nuclear energy Thursday as one solution to meet climate-fighting targets and guarantee reliable energy supplies. But the issue of nuclear power is divisive, and critics say it shouldn’t be part of the world’s approach to energy challenges.
The summit was the first of its kind, drawing leaders and delegates from the United States, Brazil, China and France, among others. The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, co-hosted the meeting and is promoting nuclear energy as a key way to reduce skyrocketing climate emissions.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said, “The heads of government, presidents, they believe that in the current context energywise, securitywise, nuclear has a very important contribution to make.”
Over 400 nuclear plants operate in about 30 countries, with another 500 planned or under construction. But overall, nuclear represents 10% of global electricity generation. In a statement, countries attending the meeting committed to increasing nuclear power’s potential, including by building new plants.
White House climate advisor John Podesta said, “I think what this summit will do, will put a marker down … that expansion of nuclear power is critical for tackling the climate crisis that is really beginning to disturb everyone across the globe.”
European Union countries such as France, which gets about 70% of its electricity from nuclear power, believe it can help meet ambitious European climate goals.
But the EU itself is divided. Some member states, including Germany, Austria and Spain, have safety and environmental concerns about nuclear energy, including the waste it generates.
So do groups such as Greenpeace, whose activists protested the Brussels summit.
Lorelei Limousin, the climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace EU in Brussels, said, “Nuclear power is too slow to tackle the climate emergency. Nuclear energy is also very expensive, and much more expensive than renewables today. Finally nuclear power remains dangerous today — with risks to health, environment, safety.”
Supporters say those risks can be managed — and they say that for now, increasing nuclear’s share of the power mix is essential if the world is to turn around a dangerous climate trajectory.
https://www.voanews.com/a/nations-pledge-to-boost-nuclear-power-to-fight-climate-change/7537385.html
See You at SENSES! Unveiling an Incredible Lineup of Block Parties
date: 2024-03-21, from: City of Santa Clarita
See You at SENSES! Unveiling an Incredible Lineup of Block Parties By Mayor Cameron Smyth Did you know that each year, Main Street in Old Town Newhall undergoes countless makeovers for different events, such as Light Up Main Street and the Fourth of July Parade? One event in particular, though, transforms the street with a […]
The post See You at SENSES! Unveiling an Incredible Lineup of Block Parties appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.
Station Science 101: Cardiovascular Research on Station
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
Everyday physical activities keep the cardiovascular system healthy. The human cardiovascular system, which includes the heart and blood vessels, has evolved to operate in Earth’s gravity. When astronauts travel to space, their bodies begin to adjust to the microgravity of their spacecraft. Blood and other bodily fluids previously pulled downward by gravity now move toward […]
https://www.nasa.gov/general/station-science-101-cardiovascular-research-on-station/
NIO’s New ONVO And Firefly Brands Aim For Mass Volume In Europe
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
NIO’s CEO stressed that ONVO is a medium-tier brand meant for families.
https://insideevs.com/news/713278/onvo-firefly-nio-volume/
The Majesty of Cold Mountain
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/the-majesty-of-cold-mountain
COC Names Kaiya Cortinas, JT Saenz Athletes of the Week
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
College of the Canyons student-athletes Kaiya Cortinas (women’s track and field) and JT Saenz (men’s track and field) have been named the COC Athletic Department’s Women’s and Men’s Student-Athletes of the Week for the period running March 11-
https://scvnews.com/coc-names-kaiya-cortinas-jt-saenz-athletes-of-the-week/
Electronic Protection Devices’ Electro-Clamp line
date: 2024-03-21, from: Computer ads from the Past
The Underrated Virtues of Plain Vanilla
https://computeradsfromthepast.substack.com/p/electronic-protection-devices-electro
Local Homeschoolers Encouraged to Join ‘Home at the Library’
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Attention homeschoolers in Santa Clarita!
https://scvnews.com/local-homeschoolers-encouraged-to-join-home-at-the-library/
Inception Attacks
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: One Foot Tsunami
https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/03/21/inception-attacks/
Microsoft launches Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 for Business (with Intel Meteor Lake chips)
date: 2024-03-21, from: Liliputing
The new Microsoft Surface Pro 10 for Business and Surface Laptop 6 for Business are the company’s first PCs to feature Intel Meteor Lake processors with integrated NPUs for on-device AI features. They’re also the first with dedicated Copilot keys on the keyboard for activating Microsoft’s new AI assistant features. But in case the names didn’t make […]
The post Microsoft launches Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 for Business (with Intel Meteor Lake chips) appeared first on Liliputing.
First non-Tesla branded V4 Superchargers are being deployed
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Following Tesla’s foray as a charger hardware supplier, the first non-Tesla-branded V4 Supercharger stations are now being deployed.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/first-non-tesla-branded-v4-superchargers-are-being-deployed/
U.S. Department Of Justice Alleges That Apple CarPlay Is Anti-Competitive
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
Lawyers for the federal government say Apple’s desire to take over your car is yet another instance of anti-competitive behavior.
https://insideevs.com/news/713331/us-doj-sues-apple-carplay/
Santa Clarita Sister Cities Hosting Students from Matsudo, Japan
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The city of Santa Clarita, in partnership with Santa Clarita Sister Cities, is proud to host Matsudo, Japan through a youth delegation between the city of Santa Clarita, Santa Clarita Sister Cities, College of the Canyons, Academy of the Canyons (AOC) and the William S. Hart Union High School District
https://scvnews.com/santa-clarita-sister-cities-hosting-students-from-matsudo-japan/
Licensing labyrinth for Power Apps and Dynamics 365 must be clarified, warns expert
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Rules still unclear for Microsoft users making potentially costly decisions on enterprise applications
Microsoft needs to clarify licensing arrangements around its low-code Power Apps and Dynamics 365 software to prevent users from receiving unexpected bills for their projects.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/microsoft_dynamics_365_power_apps/
March 20, 2024
date: 2024-03-21, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-20-2024
Oregon Is Now Home to the World’s Largest Dark Sky Sanctuary
date: 2024-03-21, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary covers 2.5 million acres in the southeastern part of the state
If you bought a Chevy Blazer EV, you may be eligible for an up to $6,500 reimbursement
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
After GM drastically cut the starting price of the new Chevy Blazer EV, early buyers are now eligible for a reimbursement of up to $6,520.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/chevy-blazer-ev-buyers-eligible-6500-reimbursement/
New Extinct Species of Giant Dolphin Discovered in Peru From a 16-Million-Year-Old Skull
date: 2024-03-21, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Pebanista yacuruna is the largest freshwater dolphin ever found, but it is more closely related to today’s river dolphins of South Asia than those in the Amazon
Texas Sues xHamster and Chaturbate
date: 2024-03-21, from: 404 Media Group
Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the porn sites after having also sued Pornhub, complaining that the sites are not complying with Texas’ age verification law.
https://www.404media.co/texas-sues-xhamster-and-chaturbate/
Sitting here in an old Patagonia fleece, I couldn’t feel aesthetically further…
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044233-sitting-here-in-an-old
Learning from the War on Terror
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: RAND blog
What’s been happening in Gaza suggests that none of the lessons from 20 years of global counterterrorism conflicts were implemented there. In addition to the needless destruction and tragic loss of life in Gaza, from a military and intelligence perspective, all the hard-gained lessons from the global war on terror have been wasted.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/03/learning-from-the-war-on-terror.html
Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the All-New LiveWire S2 Mulholland
date: 2024-03-21, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
LiveWire’s latest is a sleek cruiser-inspired all-electric and we’re intrigued.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/713337/2024-livewire-s2-mulholland-specs-price-motorcycle-ev/
Mentoring the Next Generation of Engineers and Improving Shock Testing Standards
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
The year 2023 was productive for the Loads & Dynamics (L&D) Technical Discipline Team (TDT). New shock and modal analysis techniques were developed and mentoring the next generation of NASA discipline experts continued. Additionally, NESC Technical Bulletin No. 23-3, New Transient Finite Energy Shock Prediction Methodology, was released. Early Career Community Nurtures Development of NASA’s […]
Schwinn e-bikes start from $590, Goal Zero power station $176, other EVs, more more
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Discounts keep rolling in during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale event, with today’s green deals headlined by Schwinn’s e-bike models receiving up to 46% off discounts, led by the Marshall Electric Hybrid Bike at $756. It is joined by Goal Zero’s Yeti 200X Portable Power Station falling to $176 alongside other models and bundles, as well as a one-day only sale on NIU’s KQi2 Pro Foldable Electric KickScooter for $380. Plus, all of the other best new Green Deals landing this week.
Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/schwinn-e-bikes-goal-zero-power-station-and-more/
Partner of Russian Businessman Accused of Violating Sanctions May Also Be In Violation
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
Shuttle, Family Inspire NASA’s Cryogenic Technology Manager
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
By Daniel Boyette Jeremy Kenny squinted his eyes as he looked toward the brilliant light. Then came the deafening sound waves that vibrated his body. This was the moment he’d dreamed about since childhood. It was Nov. 16, 2009, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and Kenny and his wife were watching space shuttle […]
High Insurance Costs On Chinese EVs Are Scaring Away UK Buyers
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
Long repair times and parts scarcity are driving up rates, and the high premiums are scaring away buyers.
https://insideevs.com/news/713295/high-insurance-uk-chinese-byd/
SEAT Cupra CEO confirms Formentor EV and a new electric SUV are coming to the US
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
SEAT S.A. shared its full 2023 financial results earlier today while also outlining its plans for the future. Part of its strategy includes bringing its Cupra EVs over to the US market, beginning with the all-electric version of the Formentor crossover as well as a larger SUV.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/seat-cupra-ceo-confirms-formentor-ev-new-electric-suv-coming-to-us/
World’s first Neuralink patient enjoying online chess, long Civ 6 sessions
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
While excited by the implant, Noland Arbaugh says it’s not perfect and there’s still work to be done
Neuralink’s first human patient is now a public figure, with the company publishing a video yesterday showing him playing chess on a laptop and talking about how “freakin’ lucky” he is to be involved in the tests.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/first_human_neuralink_patient/
Diary Comics, Nov. 30-Dec.2
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/diary-comics-nov-30-dec2
The First Open Ocean Carbon Removal Project in the U.S. Just Got a Green Light
date: 2024-03-21, from: Heatmap News
When visitors flock to the beach this summer in Duck, North Carolina, a small, 6-mile long town on the Outer Banks, they may catch a glimpse of a climate experiment happening among the waves.
About 1,500 feet offshore, a company called Vesta will be pouring 9,000 tons of sand into the sea and watching carefully to see what happens next. This finely crushed rock will not be of the typical Outer Banks variety. Instead, it will consist of a mineral called olivine, which should enhance the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere — and lock it away for thousands of years.
That the experiment can go ahead at all marks a milestone for ocean-based carbon removal, a category of climate solutions that prod the ocean into sucking up more CO2. A big obstacle for the field has been the lack of a legal framework for permitting real-world trials — U.S. laws governing the ocean weren’t written with the prospect of intentionally altering its chemistry to address an existential environmental crisis in mind. But after an 18-month interagency review process, Vesta is now the first company with a federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deploy a stand-alone carbon removal test in U.S. waters.
Though 9,000 tons may sound like a lot, this is still a relatively small-scale pilot designed to assess how effective the olivine is in driving carbon removal, as well as observe any other changes in the environment and develop methods for tracking the movement of the sand in the water. These kinds of field trials are essential to establishing which marine carbon removal methods have potential and which don’t.
“We want to measure everything very carefully at this stage and make sure that we are fully understanding the safety profile and the carbon removal data from this project,” Tom Green, Vesta’s CEO, told me. But the company has big aspirations. If things go well, he said, maybe olivine could be used for beach nourishment projects all over the country, where sand is deposited along the shore to address erosion. “Imagine the carbon removal possibilities if we did that with olivine sand,” he said. “We could quickly become the largest technique for permanent carbon removal that’s out there.”
Scientists generally agree that stopping global warming this century will require both reducing emissions and taking carbon out of the atmosphere. The sheer size of the ocean and its natural ability to store vast amounts of carbon make it an enticing place to look for solutions.
Dumping thousands of tons of non-native sand into the ocean may not sound like the most convincing option — especially since the ocean is already “experiencing unprecedented destabilizing changes through massive warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and a host of resulting effects,” according to an open letter published last year and signed by hundreds of scientists. However, despite this — or perhaps because of it — the letter called for accelerating research to find out whether any of the proposed ocean-based carbon removal methods, including releasing large quantities of ground olivine, are viable.
Olivine is an abundant mineral with special properties. When it comes into contact with seawater, it drives a chemical reaction that converts CO2 gas into more stable forms of carbon that can’t readily return to the atmosphere. This in turn creates a deficit of CO2 in the surface waters, which triggers the ocean to take up more from the atmosphere in order to maintain equilibrium.
Reactions like this are happening constantly in the ocean already, but on very slow timescales. Vesta’s innovation is to speed up the process by crushing and deploying olivine strategically where the wind and waves can most efficiently weather it away.
The
site of an earlier Vesta test project in the
Hamptons.Courtesy
of Vesta
Olivine could address the harms of CO2 pollution in more ways than one. The ocean already absorbs about 30% of the carbon released into the atmosphere each year, which has made the water more acidic and less hospitable to many of its inhabitants. But when olivine triggers these reactions, it can act as a sort of antacid. This approach to carbon removal is also known as enhancing the ocean’s alkalinity and olivine is just one of a number of different ways to do it. Another company called Planetary is experimenting with adding a different mineral, magnesium hydroxide, to the ocean. Ebb Carbon, on the other hand, is sucking up seawater and running it through a membrane to increase its alkalinity, before returning it to the tides.
Both already have field trials up and running, but instead of trying to conduct stand-alone experiments in the open ocean they’ve hitched onto existing ocean dumping permits. Ebb, for example, has set up at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s facility in Sequim, Washington, where it is releasing treated seawater into wastewater that flows into the bay. Similarly, Planetary is conducting pilot projects at the wastewater outflows of a water treatment facility and power plant in Canada. Other ocean carbon removal companies, such as Los Angeles-based Captura, have opted to move abroad for their early projects and avoid the U.S. permitting puzzle altogether.
Vesta went to Duck because it is among the most studied stretches of coastline in the country. The town is home to an Army Corps coastal field research center known for its long-term data set on the surrounding waters. “Few locations on the globe provide a better archive of wave, water, bathymetry and other forces that shape nearshore conditions,” according to the Army Corps’ website. (“Bathymetry” is the topography of the seafloor.) That means Vesta will be able to get a more accurate picture of any changes the olivine is responsible for.
When Drew Havens, the town manager in Duck, first heard about Vesta’s plans, he was skeptical. “You’re dumping something into the ocean, people automatically go to, well, is it going to harm humans? Is it going to be harmful to wildlife or other living organisms?” he told me.
Though some in the town are still nervous, Havens said he has become more comfortable with the idea as the project has been rigorously reviewed by environmental protection regulators at the federal and state level. Vesta’s scientists also engaged with the town council, did an open house for members of the public, and have generally invited questions and open dialogue.
Just because regulators have determined that the risks of this pilot project are low, however, doesn’t mean using olivine for carbon removal is risk-free. For one, the rock has to be mined — in this case, from a quarry in Norway, although it is also found in the U.S. — and transported to the project site. That’s likely to produce some environmental impacts, though the company estimates that the project will ultimately remove about 10 times more CO2 from the atmosphere than the emissions associated with running the experiment, including the mining and shipping of olivine.
But the biggest risk with mined olivine is that it contains nickel, said Jaime Palter, an associate professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who has no affiliation with Vesta. Nickel can act as both a nutrient and a toxin for phytoplankton, she told me, so it’s important to study whether putting olivine in the ocean will result in adverse effects.
Vesta has been closely examining that possibility. In fact, the project in Duck will be the company’s second U.S. field trial. In the summer of 2022, Vesta got permission from the town of Southampton in Long Island to spread olivine on the beach as part of a larger sand replenishment project that was already in the works. Vesta’s scientists worked with local academic partners at Cornell, SUNY Stony Brook, and Hamilton College to do extensive monitoring both before and after the sand was placed, collecting data on more than 20 indicators of the effects on the water, sediment, and ecology.
The company has since published two annual reports on the project. It is still awaiting analysis of many of the samples, but so far, the results have been promising, Green said. There has been no sign of trace metal accumulation in Eastern Oysters, a species known to accumulate pollutants from their environment, for instance. There was also no significant difference in water quality between control areas and the sites with olivine, and trace metal concentrations were below the relevant EPA water quality guidelines. The area’s benthic macrofauna — critters like clams and small crustaceans that live on or near the seafloor — were as abundant and various as before.
Notably, the tests also showed evidence of an increase in alkalinity in the waters of the olivine-treated area, which is the key reaction that leads to carbon removal. But Green said there’s more work to be done in terms of calculating where and when removal may have happened.
There’s also more work to be done to understand the effects of olivine in different environments, which brings us back to Duck. There, it will be deposited in 25-foot deep water instead of on the beach, helping Vesta to further refine its data and measurement methods. The plan is to continue testing and collecting data at the site for at least two years. The company declined to comment on the budget for the project. Vesta is funded primarily by venture capital investors but also raises money for research through an affiliated nonprofit.
Vesta may have been the first to get a federal permit to run a marine carbon removal test, but it definitely won’t be the last. Nikhil Neelakantan, a senior project manager at Ocean Visions, which is a nonprofit that advocates for ocean-based climate solutions, told me there are a number of other domestic projects in the pipeline, including more than a dozen government-funded research projects. The White House also recently set up a marine carbon removal fast track action committee with the mandate to create recommendations for policy, permitting, and regulatory standards for both research and implementation.
Neelakantan said there is work to do on clarifying the role of different agencies in regulating ocean carbon removal, and which laws apply to each method.
“This is an early first step, and it’s exciting to see that it’s finally going to come to fruition,” he said, of Vesta’s project in Duck. “I think there’s momentum with this federal task force. It’s going to be the first of many others that will happen soon.”
https://heatmap.news/technology/ocean-carbon-removal-vesta
Isuzu’s D-MAX BEV Is The Compact Electric Truck You Really Want
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
The battery pack is just 67 kWh, and it launches in Europe in 2025.
https://insideevs.com/news/713216/isuzu-dmax-bev-pickup-truck/
Artificial Intelligence and Biotechnology: Risks and Opportunities
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: RAND blog
Machine learning is helping scientists make sense of the genetic keys that could unlock new crops, new drugs, and vaccines. But policymakers may not be prepared for the impact those two fields could have together. To make the most of the opportunities to come, and to avoid the dangers, that has to change.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/articles/2024/artificial-intelligence-and-biotechnology-risks-and.html
Bajaj Is Gearing Up To Launch First CNG Motorcycle
date: 2024-03-21, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
CNG-powered vehicles pose lower costs and improved efficiency versus their gasoline-powered siblings.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/712318/bajaj-cng-motorcycle-coming-2024/
Boston Hospital Performs First Successful Pig Kidney Transplant to Human
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
Santa Clarita Sister Cities Hosts Matsudo, Japan
date: 2024-03-21, from: City of Santa Clarita
SANTA CLARITA SISTER CITIES HOSTS MATSUDO, JAPAN Promoting Cultural and Student Exchange Across the Globe The City of Santa Clarita, in partnership with Santa Clarita Sister Cities, is proud to host Matsudo, Japan through a youth delegation between the City of Santa Clarita, Santa Clarita Sister Cities, College of the Canyons, Academy of the Canyons […]
The post Santa Clarita Sister Cities Hosts Matsudo, Japan appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.
https://santaclarita.gov/blog/2024/03/21/santa-clarita-sister-cities-hosts-matsudo-japan/
Iffy Books Permacomputing Meetup – Sunday, March 24th at 1:00 PM EDT
date: 2024-03-21, from: Tilde.news
https://iffybooks.net/event/permacomputing-march-24
Building a Community of Practice
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
The Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop (TFAWS) is an annual event cosponsored by the NESC’s Thermal Control & Protection, Environmental Control & Life Support, Aerosciences, and Cryogenics Technical Discipline Teams in collaboration with the TFAWS Steering Committee. It is well known for a diverse set of events and remains a model for Community of Practice […]
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/nesc/building-a-community-of-practice/
A Tranquil Sunrise
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
A fast boat crosses the waters several hours after NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 splashdown on March 12, 2024. The SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The Crew-7 members spent nearly six months in space as part of Expedition 70 on the International Space Station. Throughout their […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/a-tranquil-sunrise/
California Set Aside Money For Children Orphaned By COVID. Now The State Just Has To Find Them
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The LAist
Starting next year, California will set up trust funds for kids in low-income families who lost a parent to COVID. The state doesn’t know who all those kids are, though.
Green Bubble Vindication: DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit Says Apple Is Causing Android Users ‘Social Stigma’
date: 2024-03-21, from: 404 Media Group
“This social pressure reinforces switching costs and drives users to continue buying iPhones—solidifying Apple’s smartphone dominance not because Apple has made its smartphone better, but because it has made communicating with other smartphones worse.”
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-21, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Scripting News: Why we're lucky WordPress is here and other topics.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/21/125505.html
BYD expands reach in Europe with best-selling Atto 3, Seal EV launching in Greece
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
China’s leading EV maker, BYD, is expanding its presence in Europe by launching its best-selling Atto 3 and Seal in Greece. BYD said more models are launching soon.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/byd-expands-europe-atto-3-seal-ev-launch-greece/
Advancing Human Spaceflight Safety
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
As NASA continues to pursue new human missions to low Earth orbit, lunar orbit, the lunar surface, and on to Mars, the NESC continues to provide a robust technical resource to address critical challenges. The NESC Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), Crew Systems, and Extravehicular Activity (EVA) discipline is led by the NASA […]
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/nesc/advancing-human-spaceflight-safety/
Making Connections
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/making-connections
NASA, Health and Human Services Highlight Cancer Moonshot Progress
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
During an event at NASA Headquarters in Washington Thursday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra united to note progress their respective agencies are making in space and on Earth toward President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative. “We go to space not […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-health-and-human-services-highlight-cancer-moonshot-progress/
Big Oil Is Unhappy With The EPA’s New Rules
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
Plus, Ford lets dealers list EVs below MSRP, and a recall for many Hyundai and Kia vehicles is here.
https://insideevs.com/news/713270/big-oil-upset-epa-ruling/
Like Water
date: 2024-03-21, from: Chris Coyier blog
Shaw with some helpful advice on live audio: A friend explained it to me like water. Gain is controlling how much water to let in, and Level is controlling how much water to let out. Lower gain means less sound picked up overall (which helps with feedback) and the level will control how much you […]
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/03/21/like-water/
Cloud Software Group snubs GPL obligations, say critics
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Spawn of Citrix and Tibco ‘no longer able to support the community edition of JasperReports Server’
Even if you decide to stop offering free editions, you don’t get to stop providing the source code to FOSS, users of JasperReports Server are complaining.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/csg_fails_to_honor_agpl/
United States files antitrust lawsuit against Apple
date: 2024-03-21, from: OS News
For many years, Apple has built a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company’s astronomical valuation. At the same time, it has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative apps, products, and services threatened that dominance by making users less reliant on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone. Rather than respond to competitive threats by offering lower smartphone prices to consumers or better monetization for developers, Apple would meet competitive threats by imposing a series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions in its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives. It has deployed this playbook across many technologies, products, and services, including super apps, text messaging, smartwatches, and digital wallets, among many others. Apple’s conduct also stifles new paradigms that threaten Apple’s smartphone dominance, including the cloud, which could make it easier for users to enjoy high-end functionality on a lower priced smartphone—or make users device-agnostic altogether. As one Apple manager recently observed, “Imagine buying a Android for 25 bux at a garage sale and it works fine … And you have a solid cloud computing device. Imagine how many cases like that there are.” Simply put, Apple feared the disintermediation of its iPhone platform and undertook a course of conduct that locked in users and developers while protecting its profits. Critically, Apple’s anticompetitive conduct not only limits competition in the smartphone market, but also reverberates through the industries that are affected by these restrictions, including financial services, fitness, gaming, social media, news media, entertainment, and more. Unless Apple’s anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct is stopped, it will likely extend and entrench its iPhone monopoly to other markets and parts of the economy. For example, Apple is rapidly expanding its influence and growing its power in the automotive, content creation and entertainment, and financial services industries–and often by doing so in exclusionary ways that further reinforce and deepen the competitive moat around the iPhone. ↫ DoJ antitrust lawsuit vs. Apple The United States Department of Justice is filing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138900/united-states-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-apple/
HOW THINGS TURN OUT
date: 2024-03-21, from: Howard Jacobson blog
This post is for paid subscribers. Sorry. But needs must. You would make my day were you to consider becoming a paid subscriber yourself. Heres a taster of what, among much else, you’d be getting … ‘Who’s the funniest writer you’ve ever read?’ a woman asked me the other day in a hotel in Tenerife where I’d gone to recuperate from a London chest infection. I always seem to be recuperating from something these days. But I guess that beats dying from it.
https://jacobsonh.substack.com/p/how-things-turn-out
Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm will replace its largest coal plant
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm has been awarded $90 million and will sit on 2,700 acres of the shuttered Homer City coal plant’s land.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/pennsylvanias-largest-solar-farm-will-replace-its-largest-coal-plant/
Merrick Garland’s Remarks on the Lawsuit Against Apple’s Supposed Monopoly
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Daring Fireball
Why I don’t write dev posts
date: 2024-03-21, from: Manu - I write blog
<p>There are some 400 or so blog posts on this site. I could be wrong but I think I wrote precisely 1 dev focused post. I wrote a few blog posts here and there that are tangentially work-related because they’re about projects I worked on but that’s about it.</p>There’s a reason why I don’t write about dev stuff. And it’s not because I find it boring or uninspiring. Quite the contrary. I love learning about web stuff. I love reading Robin’s The Cascade for example. There’s always something new happening on the web, especially in the frontend space. And as a—former?—designer I love learning about front-end stuff.
The reason why I don’t write about dev stuff it’s because, like many others, I suffer from impostor syndrome. I’ve been working on the web for more than 12 years. I’m still convinced I don’t know shit. I scroll through minimal.gallery or OPL, see the work of all those great designers and developers, and reinforce this idea that there are, in fact, countless people out there who are better than me.
Don’t get me wrong, the rational part of me knows that’s not entirely true. Of course there are people that are better than me. There will always be people better than me at literally everything. Still, this sensation of not knowing shit keep following me around and it’s the reason why I don’t write about web stuff. This is also the reason why I said no when I was offered the possibility to teach. I know, it’s probably stupid but it is what it is. Dealing with my mind is a tough job.
<hr>
<h2>Get in touch</h2> <p>Have something to share? Want me as your <a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/i-ll-read-it">first reader</a>? Get in touch. My inbox is always open.</p> <a href="mailto:hello@manuelmoreale.com">Connect</a> —
<a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/guestbook">Guestbook</a>
<hr>
<h2>One a month</h2> <p>That's how little it takes to help with my <a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/on-dreams-and-goals">goal</a>. If you feel generous, consider supporting what I do.</p> <a href="https://ko-fi.com/manuelmoreale">Donate</a> —
<a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/supporters">Supporters</a>
<hr>
<h2>People and Blogs</h2> <p>I ask people to talk about themselves and their blogs. <a href="https://peopleandblogs.com/">Learn more</a> or subscribe.</p> <a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/feed/peopleandblogs">RSS</a> —
<a href="https://buttondown.email/peopleandblogs">Email</a>
https://manuelmoreale.com/@/page/yZjUFyBIFce9NOxR
A nice remembrance of Lisa Lane, perhaps an inspiration for The Queen’s…
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044230-a-nice-remembrance-of-lis
Figuring out how ipsec transforms work in Linux
date: 2024-03-21, from: James Bottomley’s blog
I’ve had a couple of reasons recently to wonder about ipsec: one was doing private overlay networks in confidential VMs and the other was trying to be more efficient than my IPv4 openVPN when I’m remote on an IPv6 capable network. Usually ipsec descriptions begin with tools like raccoon or strong/open/libreswan; however, I’m going to […]
https://blog.hansenpartnership.com/figuring-out-how-ipsec-transforms-work-in-linux/
Updates 2024/Q1
date: 2024-03-21, from: mrusme blog
Project updates from the current consecutive three-month period, with info on the current status of my projects and next steps. You might find this interesting in case you’re using any of my open source tools.
https://xn--gckvb8fzb.com/updates-2024-q1/
Rivian is offering attractive R1T, R1S lease deals starting as low as $559 per month
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
If you’ve had your sights set on a Rivian electric vehicle, now could be the perfect opportunity. Rivian is offering attractive EV lease deals on the R1T and R1S, starting as low as $559 per month.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/rivian-offering-r1t-r1s-ev-lease-deals-as-low-as-559-mo/
Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire launches first electric cruiser motorcycle, S2 Mulholland
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
LiveWire, the all-electric motorcycle company spun out of Harley-Davidson’s electric motorcycle division, has just unveiled its latest electric motorcycle. The new LiveWire S2 Mulholland is the brand’s first cruiser electric motorcycle, and in fact the first cruiser of any major electric motorcycle maker.
Blake Snell brings something different to SF Giants’ rotation
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
In a pitching department that has prioritized two things — strikes and sinkers — Snell is a novel subject.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/21/blake-snell-brings-something-different-to-sf-giants-rotation/
Yacht dealer to the stars attacked by Rhysida ransomware gang
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
MarineMax may be in choppy waters after ‘stolen data’ given million-dollar price tag
The Rhysida ransomware group claims it was responsible for the cyberattack at US luxury yacht dealer MarineMax earlier this month.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/luxury_yacht_dealer_rhysida/
Shell Is Closing 1,000 Gas Stations To Focus On EV Charging
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
Shell, which is preparing for an electric future, says gas will only play a “backup role” in the future.
https://insideevs.com/news/713296/shell-closes-1000-gas-stations-to-focus-on-ev-charging/
US Takes On Apple in Antitrust Lawsuit
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
Washington — The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday sued Apple, the first major antitrust effort against the iPhone maker by the Biden administration, alleging it monopolized smartphone markets.
Apple joins a list of major tech companies sued by U.S. regulators, including Alphabet’s Google, Meta Platforms and Amazon.com across the administrations of both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.”
The Justice Department alleges that Apple uses its market power to get more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses and merchants.
The civil lawsuit accuses Apple of an illegal monopoly on smartphones maintained by imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access from, developers.
Apple has already been subject to antitrust probes and orders in Europe, Japan and Korea, as well as lawsuits from corporate rivals such as Epic Games.
One of Apple’s most lucrative businesses - its App Store, which charges developers commissions of up to 30% - has already survived a lengthy legal challenge under U.S. law by Epic. While the lawsuit found that Apple did not violate antitrust laws, a federal judge ordered Apple to allow links and buttons to pay for apps without using Apple’s in-app payment commission.
In Europe, Apple’s App Store business model has been dismantled by a new law called the Digital Markets Act that went into effect earlier this month. Apple plans to let developers offer their own app stores - and, importantly, pay no commissions - but rivals such as Spotify and Epic argue Apple is still making it too hard to offer alternative app stores.
The rulings on Apple’s App Store forced the Justice Department to look at Apple’s other practices for the basis of a complaint, such as how Apple allows outside firms to access the chips and sensors in the iPhone.
Consumer hardware firms, such as smart-tracker maker Tile Inc, have long complained that Apple has restricted the ways in which they can work with the iPhone’s sensors while developing competing products that have greater access.
Apple began selling AirTags - which can be attached to items like car keys to help users find them when they are lost - several years after Tile had been selling a similar product.
Similarly, Apple has restricted access to a chip in the iPhone that allows for contactless payments. Credit cards can only be added to the iPhone by using Apple’s own Apple Pay service.
And Apple has also faced criticism over its iMessage service, which only works on Apple devices.
Apple has long argued that it restricts access to some user data and some of the iPhone’s hardware by third-party developers for privacy and security reasons.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-takes-on-apple-in-antitrust-lawsuit/7537016.html
A plant that’s everywhere is fueling a growing risk of wildfire disaster
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
The West is most at risk, where more than two-thirds of the homes burned over the last 30 years were located. Of those, nearly 80% were burned in grass and shrub fires.
The sights and sounds of various video game systems being switched on,…
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044231-the-sights-and-sounds-of
To Understand the EPA’s Car Rules, Look to China
date: 2024-03-21, from: Heatmap News
On Wednesday, the Biden administration finalized sweeping new rules that will sharply limit how much carbon pollution new cars and trucks can emit into the atmosphere. The rules — which rank as one of Biden’s most important climate moves — are aimed at accelerating the country’s transition to electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, requiring most new cars sold in 2032 to burn little gasoline or none at all.
My colleague Emily Pontecorvo has an excellent explainer on how the new rules work. But I want to focus on one more aspect: Why they are able to do so much more than previous tailpipe regulations.
The new rules are not the Environmental Protection Agency’s first foray into regulating climate-warming pollution from vehicle tailpipes. Since 2010, the EPA has periodically tightened new limits on the amount of climate-warming pollution that cars and light-duty trucks can emit. The new rules are in some ways merely the next evolution of that approach.
But they also go much further than the agency ever has before. Where previous regulations essentially required automakers only to sell some conventional hybrids and electric vehicles, by the beginning of next decade, the lion’s share of cars sold in the United States must be electric vehicles or hybrids, the EPA now says.
Why is that ambition possible? One reason is that the United States has a more aggressive climate law on the books now than it has had during past rulemakings. Biden’s climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, will subsidize the purchase, leasing, and manufacturing of electric vehicles. Because of how the EPA calculates the costs and benefits of its proposals, these subsidies will significantly cut the projected cost of even an ambitious rule — in this case by as much as $65 billion. (The agency calculates that consumers will save even more money — up to a staggering $230 billion — by paying less gasoline tax because they will be buying less fuel.)
Yet the IRA is not the only reason — or even the main reason — these rules can go so much further than what was previously imagined. If the United States can pursue such an ambitious standard now, that’s because it’s following on the heels of electric vehicle policy passed in other jurisdictions: China, California, and the European Union. These state and national policies have set the pace for the EV transition around the world, setting new market expectations or significantly cutting the costs of building an electric car.
They also created a sense of inevitability around electric vehicles. “The future is electric. Automakers are committed to the EV transition,” John Bozella, the president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a car-industry trade group in Washington, said in a statement Wednesday on the EPA rules.
Corey Cantor, an analyst at the market research firm BNEF, summed it all up. “What is different this time — compared to say, where the world was in 2016 — is that there is now a thriving global EV market, versus a nascent one,” he said. There are also a handful of global companies poised to profit from a global EV transition, regardless of what Ford, Toyota, General Motors, and other legacy auto brands do.
Even before Biden asked the EPA to issue new regulations, in other words, these policies had changed the metaphorical game board — and changed how far the agency could push the rules.
These global policies don’t all take the same form. California and the European Union already require that all new cars sold in 2035 must be electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids, although the EU has carved out an exception for a theoretical zero-carbon gasoline replacement.
Due to a longstanding provision in the Clean Air Act, other U.S. states can opt into California’s stricter air pollution laws. So far, 14 in total — making up more than 40% of America’s light-duty car market — have adopted California’s 2035 zero-emissions vehicle mandate.
China, meanwhile, has not set a requirement that all cars must plug in by a certain year. Instead, it will require that “new energy vehicles” — a category that can include EVs and plug-in hybrids, but also conventional hybrids — must make up half of all car sales by 2035. But Chinese companies have raced ahead of this target. Wang Chuanfu, the CEO of the massive Chinese automaker BYD, estimated this weekend that 50% of China’s car sales could be new energy vehicles as soon as June.
All together, these mandates added up to a strong market signal. By last year, more than half of the global auto market was already covered by some form of clean vehicle rule — even before the EPA did anything final. Now, if the new EPA rules are enforced as written, then more than 60% of the world’s car market will be subject to some kind of emissions mandate.
This reflects, at least in part, a recognition that the global car market is changing beyond the ability of Washington politicians to influence it. “If we’re talking 10 years from now, policy probably won’t be needed, at least in leading markets. EVs will have just naturally taken over the market,” Stephanie Searle, who leads research programs at the International Council on Clean Transportation, told me.
Over the past year, a parade of cheap new EVs from Chinese automakers — including the BYD Seagull, a sub-$10,000 hatchback that gets up to 251 miles of range — have stunned the automotive industry. Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, told investors last month that the company was reorienting its strategy to combat the rise of Chinese electric-car makers, such as BYD and Geely.
“If you cannot compete fair and square with the Chinese around the world, then 20% to 30% of your revenue is at risk,” Farley said at an industry conference last month. He disclosed that Ford had set up a secret internal “skunkworks” engineering team to make an affordable electric vehicle that could compete head-to-head with Chinese models on cost. The company has delayed the release of a new electric three-row SUV in order to produce three roughly $25,000 models, according to a Bloomberg report last week.
“Automakers see the future is electrified, and they see that Chinese companies will eat their lunch if they don’t get going,” Searle, the clean transportation researcher, said. “There’s no putting the genie back in the bottle.”
But China’s dominance was not inevitable — it was itself the result of ambitious industrial policies. Roughly 15 years ago, China identified the electric vehicle industry as a sector where it could eventually become a global leader in export markets, Benjamin Bradlow, a Princeton professor of sociology and international affairs, told me.
Since then, the country’s leaders have targeted the EV sector with generous subsidies far beyond what Americans lawmakers considered for the IRA, he said. They have also encouraged the EV industry’s geographic spread across China and required automakers to sell a certain percentage of EVs across their vehicle fleet.
“It’s a very different style of policymaking” from what America has done with the IRA, Bradlow said, although like that law it also aimed to lower the cost of technologies. “[China] is targeting a sector and it’s being very specific about being at the technological and price frontier — it’s very export-oriented.”
These policies have succeeded beyond imagining. China is now the world’s largest exporter of cars, and it has become a goliath in the EV industry. The country has achieved what hippies and renegades have long claimed is possible: a thriving and cutthroat electric vehicle industry, where consumers are willing to buy EVs without significant subsidies. (Indeed, China’s electric-car makers have been locked in a price war over the past year, driving even greater adoption as prices fall.)
These Chinese industrial policies — along with American and European-funded R&D — have cut tens of thousands of dollars from EV prices. Over the past three decades, the cost of manufacturing a battery has fallen by 97%, and by 2027 manufacturing a new EV battery is projected to cost less than $100 a kilowatt-hour, a long-theorized benchmark at which an electric vehicle will be competitive with a gasoline vehicle.
In the United States, mandates and subsidies in achieving mass EV adoption have not been quite as enthusiastically received. Some 7% of new cars sold in the United States last year were EVs, an all-time high. Plug-in and conventional hybrids made up an additional 8% of new car sales, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Those sales shares will need to double repeatedly in the years ahead for American automakers to meet the EPA’s new standards. And they point to at least one form of success that has alluded American policymakers so far: creating a robust, popular EV industry that can win over consumers on its own terms.
“The ultimate success of the policy and transition overall is a mix between policy, consumer adoption, and the automakers themselves,” Cantor, the BNEF analyst, told me.
For the first time ever, in other words, “automakers who fall behind may pay a far higher cost for failure to transition,” Cantor said. And that — above anything else — is what makes these EPA rules different from any that have come before.
https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/epa-rules-china-eu-california
How Chain-of-Thought Reasoning Helps Neural Networks Compute
date: 2024-03-21, from: Quanta Magazine
Large language models do better at solving problems when they show their work. Researchers are beginning to understand why.The post How Chain-of-Thought Reasoning Helps Neural Networks Compute first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Tesla hackers win $200k and Model 3 for finding new vulnerability
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla hackers have won $200,000 and a brand-new Model 3 for finding a new vulnerability in the automaker’s system.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/tesla-hackers-win-200k-model-3-finding-new-vulnerability/
Uncle Sam, 15 US states launch antitrust war on Apple
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Lawsuit alleges iGiant rips off fans, stifles dev innovation, makes it tough to dump iOS for rivals
The US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple, accusing the iMaker of stifling innovation and undermining competitors through its App Store guidelines and developer agreements.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/apple_antitrust_doj_battle/
DoJ, 15 states sue Apple for anti-competitive behavior
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Complaint alleges iGiant uses policies to overcharge customers, stifle dev innovation, make it hard to ditch iOS
breaking news The US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple, accusing the iMaker of stifling innovation and undermining competitors through its App Store guidelines and developer agreements.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/doj_15_states_sue_apple/
NASA’s Chandra Identifies an Underachieving Black Hole
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
This image shows a quasar, a rapidly growing supermassive black hole, which is not achieving what astronomers would expect from it, as reported in our latest press release. Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue) and radio data from the NSF’s Karl G. Jansky’s Very Large Array (red) reveal some of the evidence for this quasar’s disappointing impact on its […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasas-chandra-identifies-an-underachieving-black-hole/
Larry Magid: Doing your taxes doesn’t have to be taxing
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Many online resources and filing sites can provide many of the services you need
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/21/larry-magid-doing-your-taxes-doesnt-have-to-be-taxing/
Bell’s Broozer Helmet Gains ECE 22.06 Certification
date: 2024-03-21, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
A versatile, retro-themed lid that doesn’t skimp on safety one bit.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/712375/2024-bell-broozer-ece-2206/
It’s time California schools teach landmark desegregation case, say the sisters at the heart of it
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Sylvia Mendez and Sandra Mendez Duran testified before an Assembly committee in Sacramento, imploring legislators to help teach their story.
Reddit finally goes public
date: 2024-03-21, from: Marketplace Morning Report
On Thursday, Reddit debuted on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RDDT. The social network is valuing itself at $6.4 billion. But we wondered: Why go public now? Plus, the Congressional Budget Office says that the national debt will be smaller than previously thought, citing less government spending and more immigration. And we look at why we may end up with higher interest rates over the next few years.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/reddit-finally-goes-public
1600-Person Pub Choir Sings Radiohead’s Creep
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/1600-person-pub-choir-sings-radioheads-creep
Best of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale (mobile tech deals and more)
date: 2024-03-21, from: Liliputing
Amazon is running its first ever Big Spring Sale, which sort of positioned as yet-another Prime Day-like sale over the past few weeks. But now that it’s here, it looks like there are some good deals… but they vary depending on the product category, brands, and specific items you’re looking at. That said, the Samsung […]
The post Best of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale (mobile tech deals and more) appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/best-of-amazons-big-spring-sale-mobile-tech-deals-and-more/
Hiroshima Statue That Survived Nuclear Explosion Stands in Manhattan
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
Following the Hollywood success of Christopher Nolan’s biopic of Robert Oppenheimer, a more obscure but no less interesting memory from the atomic age can be found in Manhattan, not too far from one of Oppenheimer’s boyhood homes. Evgeny Maslov has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Max Avloshenko
U.S. Department of Justice Sues Apple, Accusing It of Illegally Abusing an iPhone Monopoly
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/technology/apple-doj-lawsuit-antitrust.html
Here’s the U.S. Government’s Antitrust Case Against Apple
date: 2024-03-21, from: 404 Media Group
Here are the court documents for the DOJ’s antitrust case against Apple.
https://www.404media.co/us-government-antitrust-case-against-apple-documents/
Apple sued in a landmark iPhone monopoly lawsuit
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
It’s the largest in a recent string of Big Tech companies to face antitrust complaints from the US government, which is cracking down on the massive industry, whose power has gone largely unchecked over the past several decades.
Contract Specialist Dr. Danielle May
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
“Not only was I going to school, raising a family, and working a full-time job, but I was also the state director for my sorority [and was responsible for] over 1,200 members at one time. And I think it comes down to perseverance. At the end of the day, you’re going to do what needs […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/contract-specialist-dr-danielle-may/
@IIIF Mastodon feed (date: 2024-03-21, from: IIIF Mastodon feed)
🗞 Now Available: March IIIF Newsletter, including:
🔹 Preliminary Program for the 2024 IIIF Conference
🔹 New Map
projects
🔹 Updated tools
Read the full issue: https://mailchi.mp/iiif/mar24
https://glammr.us/@IIIF/112134172026434805
Meta, Microsoft, X, Match pledge selves to Epic battle against Apple App Store
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
You have my sword … and my bow … and my axe!
Meta, Microsoft, X, and Match Group are piling on Apple in support of Epic Games’ ongoing legal battle over the Cupertino giant’s stranglehold on its App Store.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/meta_microsoft_x_match_pledge/
Five Tips from NASA for Photographing a Total Solar Eclipse
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
A total solar eclipse creates stunning celestial views for people within the path of the Moon’s shadow. This astronomical event is a unique opportunity for scientists to study the Sun and its influence on Earth, but it’s also a perfect opportunity to capture unforgettable images. Whether you’re an amateur photographer or a selfie master, try […]
https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/five-tips-from-nasa-for-photographing-a-total-solar-eclipse/
Heatmap Is Hiring a Senior Reporter
date: 2024-03-21, from: Heatmap News
The climate media startup Heatmap News is looking for a veteran,
ambitious reporter to lead its coverage of the intersection of renewable
energy projects and politics.
This writer will report to the editor-in-chief and be tasked with reporting on how local and national politics are helping or hindering clean energy projects across the country. They should be well-sourced, deft at navigating data, and able to traverse government websites and polls to extract insights. They should also be knowledgeable about tax incentives and permitting issues — words like 45x and the interconnection queue should mean something.
The salary minimum is $80,000 and the maximum is $110,000. Competitive benefits, unlimited paid time off, and a generous equity plan, which gives employees a real stake in the company, are also offered. This position is remote.
Interested candidates should send a brief cover letter and resume to editors@heatmap.news.
Heatmap News is a new media platform with a team of alums from The Week, The Atlantic, Vox, Grid, and Grist focused on the biggest story of our time: climate change.
Heatmap News is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
To sample Heatmap’s work, poke around the site and sign up for our newsletter:
https://heatmap.news/heatmap-is-hiring-a-senior-reporter
It seems like there’s going to be a third Downton Abbey movie….
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044229-it-seems-like-theres-goin
Spring showers expected to end Bay Area’s sunny spell
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
The weather service issued a winter storm watch for the Sierra Nevada above 5,000 feet.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/21/spring-showers-expected-to-end-bay-areas-sunny-spell/
Fisker Ocean Slammed By Consumer Reports For Being An ‘Unfinished’ Product
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
That’s despite the EV running the latest software version.
https://insideevs.com/news/713280/fisker-ocean-consumer-reports-review-unfinished-product/
Tesla expands referral program rewards with free premium connectivity
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla has expanded its owner’s referral program rewards with the addition of free premium connectivity.
The automaker has been stacking up incentives at the end of the quarter.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/tesla-expands-referral-program-rewards-free-premium-connectivity/
From the octagon to the mat: Why MMA fighters are succeeding as high school wrestling coaches
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
“I think the rise of MMA has contributed to a once dying sport,” St. Francis girls wrestling coach Joey Bareng says.
Micron bounces back as AI drives up memory prices
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
‘Our HBM is sold out for calendar 2024,’ trills CEO
Micron is basking in a market bounceback, crediting the surge of interest in AI for a jump in the company’s revenue, even though buyers face the prospect of rising memory prices for the year ahead.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/micron_bounces_back_to_profit/
NASA’s Hubble Finds that Aging Brown Dwarfs Grow Lonely
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
It takes two to tango, but in the case of brown dwarfs that were once paired as binary systems, that relationship doesn’t last for very long, according to a recent survey from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Brown dwarfs are interstellar objects larger than Jupiter but smaller than the lowest-mass stars. They are born like stars […]
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-finds-that-aging-brown-dwarfs-grow-lonely/
Volkswagen’s Cupra Brand Is Coming To The U.S. With Two EVs: CEO
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
By the decade’s end, the VW Group will plan a bigger electric U.S. expansion with SEAT’s Cupra brand and “a new distribution model.”
https://insideevs.com/news/713290/volkswagen-seat-cupra-usa/
A team at NASA is trying to reestablish communication with Voyager 1…
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044227-a-team-at-nasa-is
Hermes makes Birkin bags too hard to buy, California shoppers claim in suit
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Hermes won’t sell the rare bags to just anyone, and it requires potential buyers to purchase thousands of dollars of other products just for the chance they’ll get access to the coveted leather totes, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday seeking class-action status.
Hyundai and Kia to recall 147,000 EVs in the US including the IONIQ 5, EV6
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Hyundai Motor Group, including Kia and Genesis, is set to recall over 147,000 EVs in the US due to potentially damaged charging units.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/hyundai-kia-recall-147k-evs-us-ioniq-5-ev6/
SAP users aren’t keen on upping spending right now
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Cloud and upgrade conversions remain steady if sluggish, according to ERP spending bellwether DSAG
The German-speaking SAP user group has released data showing the region’s appetite for budget increases in spending is diminishing, casting a shadow over the prospects for cloud transformation projects.…
Meta, Microsoft, X band together against Apple’s App Store plans
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
In a rare joint filing, the companies said Apple’s plan “comports with neither the letter nor the spirit” of a 2021 ruling which found iPhone maker in violation of California unfair competition laws and required it to allow app developers to direct users to their own payment systems.
7 terrific Bay Area things to do this weekend, March 22-24
date: 2024-03-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Got your weekend plans? We have some nifty ideas, from cool exhibits and shows to a fun-packed Yountville getaway.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/21/7-terrific-bay-area-things-to-do-this-weekend-march-22-24/
Four Electric Pickup Trucks Were Driven Until They Died. Only One Met Its Advertised Range
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
The Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Chevrolet Silverado EV were driven at 70 MPH until they ran out of juice.
https://insideevs.com/news/713220/eletric-pickup-range-test-video/
Deadspin Is Becoming a Gambling Referral Site
date: 2024-03-21, from: 404 Media Group
“We aim to be able to support delivery of this via partnerships within the sports betting industry.”
https://www.404media.co/who-owns-deadspin-now-lineup-publishing/
The Experience AI Challenge: Find out all you need to know
date: 2024-03-21, from: Raspberry Pi (.org)
We’re really excited to see that Experience AI Challenge mentors are starting to submit AI projects created by young people. There’s still time for you to get involved in the Challenge: the submission deadline is 24 May 2024. If you want to find out more about the Challenge, join our live webinar on Wednesday 3…
The post The Experience AI Challenge: Find out all you need to know appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/the-experience-ai-challenge-find-out-all-you-need-to-know/
Majority of Tesla Giga Berlin workers vote against union, but IG Metall still makes progress
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
A majority of Tesla Gigafactory Berlin workers voted against union representatives of IG Metall in their new work council, but the union has still made significant progress.
How do you verify that?
date: 2024-03-21, from: Dave Rupert blog
Hank Green posted a video about four lies he believed. It’s a great video because it’s embarrassing to be wrong on the internet and here is smart person™️ Hank Green admitting he believed some bullshit. As you travel through the internet you’re constantly working against a lot of personal biases, like confirmation bias or the overconfidence bias, and it’s easy to slip up. It’s (biologically) difficult to correct your understanding as new facts invalidate what you believed true.
One simple question I’ve started asking a lot is: “How do you verify that?”
I’ve seen some compelling demos where LLMs take a jumble of text and spit out compelling artifacts like an image, some b-roll, a spreadsheet, a website, or an entire daily news podcast. It’s incredible… until my buzzkill brain starts asking questions. Images are easy to verify: does image look correct or does it contain phantom limbs and have five rows of teeth? Text summary or expansion, also within possibility to verify. A website? I mean… I can tell you if it’s an okay website code-wise but I’m probably an outlier here. Validating the accuracy of a larger corpus of data that got summarized, keyworded, and categorized? Oof. This is where the scales tip for me because it seems improbable. Or at least time consuming. Perhaps as time consuming as it takes to do the work yourself?
To be fair to the robots (why would I ever say this?) I think it’s worth pointing the question at myself. I’ve been thinking about my “old world” method of verifying facts and determined I have the following routine.
- I consume a lot
- I experiment
- I ask experts
When I say “consume a lot”, I mean I read hundreds – sometimes thousands – of articles and watch hundreds of videos each week (cf. novelty seeking, information addiction) as well as my book habit. To make that theoretical knowledge more practical, I prototype and experiment to answer questions. With a basic understanding established, I often ask experts for their perspective. For web tech, that’s lots of open questions or DMs to people I know care about a specific technology. I’ll then sometimes have those people on my podcast to prod them some more.1
Like loose change and shells rattling inside a coffee can, I collect all those informational tidbits and filter them through my years of experience and how my brain works. That produces an outcome I’m generally satisfied with, informed yet potentially wrong. It’s not too different from an LLM where the outputs are only as good as their inputs.
My inputs are sometimes flawed. If Books Could Kill… is a podcast where the hosts do takedowns of my favorite books: self-help pop-psychology airport books. They do an incredible job at on-the-fly fact checking, reading criticisms, scrutinizing every assertion, asking “Hey wait, is that true?” on every page and have nearly ruined the entire genre for me. I assume you learn this brand of skepticism in journalism school and the trade-off is that you’ll never enjoy a book again in your life. But I need to remind myself the goal of a book isn’t to get to the last page, it’s to expand your thinking.
I wish I did better at this (so I don’t repeat falsehoods) but collecting factoids makes me feel smart and I like feeling smart so now they’re insulated inside a little blanket of my personal biases. Fact-checking in realtime doesn’t tickle the ol’ grey matter. It doesn’t have the same dopamine response.
One more story and I’ll let you go. In an effort to not be a total fucking grandpa all the time I’m trying to use AI more while keeping an open mind. It’s been… challenging. But the other day I needed a fact checked – something one of my investors mentioned during our YCombinator application process that was noodling around in my head – and a regular search didn’t return any results, so I tried a trending AI search tool that provides citations.
- First it told me “Yes, this was true” but cited the wrong reasons.
- So I hit it with an “Are you sure?” and it changed its answer to “No, it’s not true” but cited a random Hacker News comment that asserted the opposite.
- So I said “Your source says the opposite” and it KFC doubledown’d and said “No, it’s not true.”
- So I copy-pasted the text from their own source into the prompt and it said “Yes, this was true.”
That’s a… complex user journey. And it happens to me a lot. I wonder if this tech falls victim to its own compelling demos. The “Time to First Demo” is so short and often so profound, we fill in the possibilities with our own projections and science fiction. It’s harder to question the quality or veracity when our imaginations and our biases get wrapped up in the idea because it might mean questioning ourselves… which is not something humans are biologically engineered to do well.
Okay, this is the last bit I promise. There’s one line from that Hank Green video that stands out to me in this whole self-fact-checking debacle…
I was fine with having the [mis]information put into my head, but when I put it into someone else’s head, I felt a little weird about it so I went to check just in case.
That seems like a humane approach to sharing information. Be liberal in what you accept, fact-check on the way out. I hope I can get better at that.
-
Asking experts isn’t limited to tech either, if I share an area of interest with someone and they recommend an album, movie, coffee, book, or menu item; I’ll take them up on it. I’ll implicitly trust them to guide my experience. In Japan this is omakase and it’s transcendent. ↩︎
https://daverupert.com/2024/03/lies-damned-lies-and-stochastics/
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Discriminates Against Short Kings, Gamers Lose Their Minds
date: 2024-03-21, from: 404 Media Group
A 690 posts-long Steam discussion accuses players of pedophilia and “woke subversion.”
https://www.404media.co/dragons-dogma-2-discriminates-against-short-kings-gamers-lose-their-minds/
The FBI Charged a Man With Cyberstalking Nude Erotic Wrestlers
date: 2024-03-21, from: 404 Media Group
A man allegedly called one victim over 500 times from dozens of phone numbers, and sent messages saying “I’m going to keep harassing you until the day I die.”
https://www.404media.co/the-fbi-charged-a-man-with-cyberstalking-nude-erotic-wrestlers/
BMW unveils the Vision Neue Klasse X as the conduit to its future range of electric SUVs
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
One week after teasing camouflaged images of the next chapter in its “Neue Klasse” EV design strategy, BMW has publicly unveiled the Sport Activity Vehicle to the public. The Vision Neue Klasse X is BMW’s latest entry into the SAV segment and represents the all-electric DNA of a new model that will begin production next year.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/bmw-unveils-vision-neue-klasse-x-future-range-electric-suv-ev/
One rack. 120kW of compute. Taking a closer look at Nvidia’s DGX GB200 NVL72 beast
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
1.44 exaFLOPs of FP4, 13.5 TB of HBM3e, 2 miles of NVLink cables, in one liquid cooled unit
GTC Nvidia revealed its most powerful DGX server to date on Monday. The 120kW rack scale system uses NVLink to stitch together 72 of its new Blackwell accelerators into what’s essentially one big GPU capable of more than 1.4 exaFLOPS performance — at FP4 precision anyway.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/nvidia_dgx_gb200_nvk72/
Tesla Giga Texas 4680 Battery Cell Production Reached A New Record
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
Every week, Tesla produces enough cells for over 1,000 Tesla Cybertrucks.
https://insideevs.com/news/713173/tesla-texas-4680-battery-production-record/
Watch an 800HP Twin-Turbocharged Hayabusa-Powered Go-Kart Scream To Life
date: 2024-03-21, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
The compound-turbo beast is almost ready to rip.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/713051/800hp-suzuki-hayabusa-go-kart-video-watch/
FreeWire’s new program offers free, custom EV chargers and its first client may surprise you
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
FreeWire Technologies continues to bring out-of-the-box thinking to a vital segment of EV charging infrastructure. Today, FreeWire announced a clever new Accelerate Program that essentially installs and manages its EV charger technology at no cost to businesses, making profits elsewhere while speeding up the adoption rate on new installations. The program’s first business to sign up is surprising but encouraging.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/freewire-new-program-free-custom-ev-charger-first-client/
Why the GOP Is Mad at the IEA
date: 2024-03-21, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: Minneapolis is expecting snow tonight. Less than a month ago it was 65 degrees Fahrenheit in the Twin Cities • More than 100 people were evacuated from the small Australian town of Borroloola ahead of severe flooding • It is cloudy in Copenhagen where global climate leaders are meeting to hash out a plan for COP29.
THE TOP FIVE
- EPA unveils final auto emission rules
The Biden administration announced final new emissions standards for cars yesterday, significantly curtailing both the carbon dioxide and the toxic soot and chemicals that spew from the tailpipes of the nation’s light- and medium-duty vehicles. The rules tighten pollution limits gradually over six years, and are slightly watered down compared to the version released last April: While automakers will still have to achieve the same emissions standard by 2032 as what was originally proposed, they will now be able to transition more slowly, explained Emily Pontecorvo and Robinson Meyer at Heatmap. Administration officials argue that giving automakers, dealers, and labor unions more time in the near-term will make for a sturdier rule, and that the cumulative emissions benefits of the final standard converge with the original proposal. The EPA now estimates that EVs may make up anywhere between 30% and 56% of new light-duty sales from model years 2030 to 2032, and by 2032, the light-duty fleet on offer from automakers will emit half as much carbon as vehicles on the market in 2026.
- GOP lawmakers accuse IEA of undermining energy security
A group of senior Republican lawmakers penned a letter to Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, accusing the group of “undermining energy security” and being a cheerleader for the “energy transition” (quotes theirs). The letter suggests the IEA has lost its credibility as a reliable and objective source of information on fossil fuel markets, and has focused too heavily on clean energy developments and too little on “the things that matter most to policymakers.” The letter is signed by House energy committee chair Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy panel, among others.
As Axios noted, the attack “has real-world stakes. The agency’s work is constantly cited by policymakers, academics, journalists and civil society groups.” The IEA’s forecasts that oil demand could peak by 2030 have perturbed fossil fuel producers. OPEC sees growth continuing at least through 2045. Earlier this week the CEO of Saudi Aramco called a fossil fuel phase-out a “fantasy.”
Get Heatmap AM directly in your inbox every morning:
- Otis and Dora retired as hurricane names
The names Otis and Dora have been retired from the list of potential hurricane names because of their links to devastating extreme weather events. The World Meteorological Organization has six lists of names for northeast Pacific hurricanes that it uses over and over again, so it’s not uncommon for two different storms occurring years apart to have the same name. But a name is removed if a storm is “so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for obvious reasons of sensitivity.” Hurricane Otis struck Acapulco in October last year, killing 51 people and causing $3 billion in damage. Dora played an “indirect meteorological role” in Maui’s massive wildfires, which killed more than 100 people and caused at least $4 billion in damages. Otis and Dora will be replaced with the names Otilio and Debora. Climate change is warming the oceans, resulting in stronger hurricanes.
- Brush fire smoke hurts D.C.’s air quality
The smell of smoke lingered over Washington, D.C., yesterday, and the air quality dropped as haze from brush fires burning in Virginia and Maryland drifted over the region. Strong winds and dry weather made for ideal fire conditions, and the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the area in the evening. This photo, apparently taken in the Bergton area of Virgina, shows thick smoke coming from the fires:
- Biden administration proposes another offshore wind auction for Gulf
of Mexico
The Biden administration wants to hold another offshore wind auction in the Gulf of Mexico as it pushes ahead with its goal of installing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade. Yesterday the Interior Department proposed the sale – which would be the second auction in the region – for sometime this year, though the date hasn’t been nailed down. More than 400,000 acres would be up for grabs for development, paving the way for enough wind energy to power 1.2 million homes. The first sale, held last year, resulted in just one lease, “underscoring the middling interest in building wind farms in the region, where wind gusts aren’t very powerful and electricity is already cheap from prolific oil and gas production,” as E&E News explained. The administration plans to hold four sales in the Gulf this year.
THE KICKER
“While changes in governments may well affect the pace of energy transitions — accelerating them in some cases, slowing them in others — they won’t alter the fundamental direction of travel.” –IEA executive director Fatih Birol writing in the Financial Times
https://heatmap.news/politics/iea-gop-letter-energy-security
Why we’re lucky WordPress is here and other topics
date: 2024-03-21, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News
I spent some time this week reviewing the UI of Radio UserLand, released in 2002. It was both a feed reader and a writing tool.
One would have thought, btw, that from that start that all subsequent blogging tools would have the same connections, even if the functionality was not all in the same product. But then came Twitter and Facebook, and they said they weren’t blogs, and presumably would start a new tradition with new user expectations. And that worked. The new blogging platforms were silos.
So the integration opportunities were limited, something that took me 11 years to fully appreciate, and to give up on. I was in a intellectual cloud, not thinking straight.
Meantime, the tradition of blogging was preserved by WordPress. As a blogging tool, it supported the same connective features that Radio did. There were some it couldn’t cover because Radio was a desktop app, not a web app (though it looked like a web app, you installed a piece of software on the desktop).
This was the Fractional Horsepower HTTP Server idea realized.
So for example, we had upstreaming, which was a one-way Dropbox, a number of years before Dropbox existed. This meant that the link between the CMS and the server went through the file system. The product didn’t live long enough to fulfill the potential of that feature. The idea was that you could use any editor you wanted to write something that was posted to the blog, you could choose to have it rendered through the site template, or uploaded as-is.
The editor we supplied with Radio was one of those tiny little text boxes, but I hoped that better editors would emerge. I wanted to make one myself, combining the outliner in Frontier with scripting, to drop posts into the folder structure that Radio expected.
Years later I tried to do it with Dropbox itself, with a product called Fargo. Dropbox was so incredibly close to the ideal user-owned storage server system, but they wouldn’t go the final step, in creating a class of content that could be shared with two or more apps but not all apps. So the user didn’t have enough control for it to work.
The idea of multiple apps working on the same data would be revolutionary. How do I know? Because that’s how computers worked before the web. So to make the thing I want to do work, now, in 2024, I’m going to have to create my own storage system for the user, and I will pay for it, at least to start.
Hopefully at some point I’ll be able to turn that over to Automattic and have them run it, or if they don’t want to, maybe someone else will. But it has to be there for the web as a runtime environment to support the same diversity of software that the PC and Mac did in the generation before the web.
Technology does go backwards, a lot – we lose valuable things without any thought, when we could keep them.
BTW, that’s why it’s good to keep some old people around, we might remember the things that were lost. I’m trying to make sure the really good ideas, the keepers, get another chance.
Another
random morning bit – something subtle in the blogroll you might not have
noticed. It has no trouble dealing with titled or untitled posts. Blog
posts typically have titles, social media posts do not.
RSS is opinionated
about this – it
says
you should support both views. But the feed reader folk ignored that
guidance. My little blogroll shows you how to do it, it’s pretty simple.
If it doesn’t have a title use the description.
Think of it this way. What if motorcycles, cars, trucks and bikes couldn’t all use the same roads? What kind of way would that be to run a civilization. Same thing with feeds.
There’s a screen shot of the blogroll to the right, with Scripting News highlighted and expanded. Some of those posts have titles and some don’t. You and I as developers care about that, but we shouldn’t show that difference that in the user interface. The users don’t care and rightly so. It’s confusing and takes their attention away from the writing.
Another topic. Something I noticed in WordPress’s RSS feeds. If I start a post out with an empty title, it uses the post ID to form the URL for the post. That’s the right thing to do imho. But then if I add a title, which can happen, it changes the URL to use the title. But URLs shouldn’t change. It also changes the guid, so a feed reader will think there were two posts when there was just one. Now I don’t know if they can change it at this late date, I imagine there are workarounds out there. But I noticed this the other day, and thought I should mention it. Why not just use the post ID for the guid, esp since it says the guid is not a permalink? And use it in forming the URL. I totally understand the benefit of using the title in the URL. But you can’t depend on the title being there.
Finally, to answer the question raised by the title of this piece – WordPress is, among other things, a perfect time capsule of open technologies from the early days of innovation on the web, and widely deployed and able to deliver all their benefits, if we widen our view of social media to be a social web, and simply create places where posts with and without titles are equally supported. It’s that simple. Without WordPress we would have to build all that, and wait for it to deploy in numbers, to matter in the market. All we have to do now is make the connections.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/21/125505.html?title=whyWereLuckyWordpressIsHereAndOtherTopics
Is Bitcoin More Energy Intensive Than Mainstream Finance?
date: 2024-03-21, from: Economics from the Top-Down
Yes,
the Bitcoin network uses loads of energy. But so does mainstream
finance. So which system is more energy intensive? In this post, I do
the math.
The post Is Bitcoin More Energy Intensive Than Mainstream Finance? appeared first on Economics from the Top Down.
UN: E-waste is growing 5x faster than it can be recycled
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Right to Repair should be the Obligation to Repair, if we want to avoid drowning in trashed electronics
We’re creating electronic waste almost five times faster than we’re recycling it using documented methods, according to a United Nations report released on Wednesday.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/ewaste_grows/
Expect rate cuts — just not quite yet
date: 2024-03-21, from: Marketplace Morning Report
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at its meeting this week, though it’s penciling in three rate cuts at some point this year. But what does the Fed need to see before it’ll actually lower rates? We’ll discuss. Then, Hermès faces a class-action lawsuit over Birkin bag sales. And the mining of metals beneath our feet is vital to the green energy transition but is often complicated.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/expect-rate-cuts-just-not-quite-yet
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-21, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
On Cloudfest, hosts and WordPress.
https://poststatus.com/cloudfest-hosts-wordpress/
حجب، حذف، ورفض: هناك أكثر من مجرد ”حظر الظل“ على الإنستغرام
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Markup blog
وجد تحقيق أجرته ”ذا مارك آب“ أن منصة الإنستغرام حجبت صور متعلقة بالحرب على غزة، وحذفت التسميات التوضيحية دون سابق إنذار، وحرمت المستخدمين من خيار الاستئناف.
https://themarkup.org/automated-censorship/2024/03/21/instagram-shadowban-investigation-arabic
Einride opens largest charging station for heavy-duty EVs, powered by Voltera
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Electric freight mobility specialist Einride has opened its first Smartcharger station in the US, launching as the largest operational charging site for heavy-duty EVs on the continent. The new station is strategically located in a busy freight corridor, providing electric truck drivers with 65 charging piles powered by Voltera.
Santa Barbara Architects Make Poodle Twitch
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara architects put the “wow” back on State Street.
The post Santa Barbara Architects Make Poodle Twitch appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/21/santa-barbara-architects-make-poodle-twitch/
Hop on the magic bus: VW debuts souped-up AWD ID. Buzz GTX with 335 hp
date: 2024-03-21, from: Electrek Feed
Lovers of the retro VW bus can get a sporty, all-wheel-drive, all-electric version with 335 hp – the most powerful ID. Buzz to date. Today, Volkswagen has followed up the recently announced ID.3 GTX and ID.7 GTX with the debut of its high-performance microbus Volkswagen ID. Buzz GTX.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/hop-on-the-magic-bus-vw-debuts-souped-up-awd-id-buzz-gtx-with-335-hp/
US Congress Releases $1.1 Trillion Spending Package to Avert Shutdown
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
Washington — After days of delay, U.S. congressional leaders unveiled a $1.1 trillion bipartisan spending measure for defense, homeland security and other programs early on Thursday, giving lawmakers less than two days to avert a partial government shutdown.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives will vote on the sprawling package on Friday, leaving the Democratic-majority Senate only hours to pass the package of six bills that covers about two-thirds of the $1.66 trillion in discretionary government spending for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.
“These final six bills represent a bipartisan and bicameral compromise,” the two top Senate negotiators - Patty Murray, a Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Republican - said in a statement.
“They will invest in the American people, build a stronger economy, help keep our communities safe, and strengthen our national security and global leadership.”
The Congressional Budget Office warned that U.S. deficits and debt will grow considerably over the next 30 years, forecasting that the nation’s $34.5 trillion national debt, which currently represents about 99% of GDP, could grow and rise to 166% of GDP by 2054.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is “hopeful” Congress can avert a shutdown if Democrats and Republicans in his chamber work together.
The compressed schedule raised the risk of at least a brief partial shutdown after a Friday midnight deadline, unless Schumer can reach agreement with Senate Republicans to expedite the bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson touted what he called a series of wins for Republicans, from higher spending for U.S. defense and border security to a cutoff of U.S. funding for the main United Nations relief agency that provides humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.
“This FY24 appropriations legislation is a serious commitment to strengthening our national defense by moving the Pentagon toward a focus on its core mission,” Johnson said in a statement released along with the text of the legislation.
Democrats said they blocked some Republican cuts and policy measures and touted funds aimed at lowering childcare costs, supporting small businesses and fighting the flow of the opioid fentanyl.
“We defeated outlandish cuts that would have been a gut punch for American families and our economy - and we fought off scores of extreme policies that would have restricted Americans’ fundamental freedoms, hurt consumers while giving giant corporations an unfair advantage, and turned back the clock on historic climate action,” said Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Two weeks ago, Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown that would have affected agricultural, transportation and environmental programs.
The text unveiled on Thursday fills in the details of an agreement in principle between Johnson and Schumer, which Democratic President Joe Biden has pledged to sign into law.
With a slim 219-213 House Republican majority, Johnson will have to rely on Democratic votes to get the spending bill to the Senate.
Many House Republicans are still expected to oppose the legislation, including hardliners who want steeper spending cuts.
Besides the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, the bill would fund agencies including the State Department and the Internal Revenue Service as it girds for its April 15 taxpayer filing deadline.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-21, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Hey Joe, don’t forget that four years ago we had Roe v. Wade.
https://apnews.com/article/biden-trump-bloodbath-better-off-f569346d886a2b4725b2f90d243d303d
UK council won’t say whether two-week ‘cyber incident’ impacted resident data
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Security experts insist ransomware is involved but Leicester zips its lips
Leicester City Council continues to battle a suspected ransomware attack while keeping schtum about the key details.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/shock_uk_councils_recovery_from/
Kosovo urged to drop Serbian cash ban
date: 2024-03-21, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: The Balkan state Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia in 2008 after a bitter civil war in the late 1990s, currently doesn’t accept transactions in the Serbian dinar. But some Serb-majority areas are still reliant on the currency. We’ll hear more. But first, a Chinese-funded port in Pakistan was attacked by militants. We’ll detail what exactly happened.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/kosovo-urged-to-drop-serbian-cash-ban
Public AI as an Alternative to Corporate AI
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-17, from: Bruce Schneier blog
This mini-essay was my contribution to a round table on Power and Governance in the Age of AI. It’s nothing I haven’t said here before, but for anyone who hasn’t read my longer essays on the topic, it’s a shorter introduction.
The increasingly centralized control of AI is an ominous sign. When tech billionaires and corporations steer AI, we get AI that tends to reflect the interests of tech billionaires and corporations, instead of the public. Given how transformative this technology will be for the world, this is a problem.
To benefit society as a whole we need an …
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/03/public-ai-as-an-alternative-to-corporate-ai.html
Can a Raspberry Pi Pico act as a GPU for gaming?
date: 2024-03-21, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
Clem from element14 was tasked with exploring the possibility of turning a Raspberry Pi Pico into a GPU capable of rendering super-smooth graphics in-game.
The post Can a Raspberry Pi Pico act as a GPU for gaming? appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/can-a-raspberry-pi-pico-act-as-a-gpu-for-gaming/
Qualcomm infuses AI support into Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 platform
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Boosted on-device generative AI’s not just for the flagship smartphone kids
Qualcomm is pushing out its second smartphone platform within a week, in this case an extension of its Snapdragon 7 series for high-end devices that are built to a lower price point than flagship premium smartphones.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/qualcomm_infuses_ai_support_into/
Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 brings a performance boost and WiFi 7 support to mid-range devices
date: 2024-03-21, from: Liliputing
A few days after introducing the new Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 processor designed for slightly cheaper flagship phones and tablets, Qualcomm is launching another new chip. This time instead of a less-powerful Snapdragon 8 series processor, it’s a more powerful Snapdragon 7 series chip for mid-range and sub-flagship devices. The new Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 […]
The post Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 brings a performance boost and WiFi 7 support to mid-range devices appeared first on Liliputing.
Nominet to restructure, slash jobs after losing ‘major deal’
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Prices also set to rise after being frozen since 2020
Nominet is cutting staff on the back of market pressure, including the loss of a government cyber contract and is considering a domain registration price increase, according to an update from its CEO.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/nominet_set_for_job_losses/
Modeling Extremely Large Images with xT
date: 2024-03-21, from: Berkley Artificial Intellegence Research Blog
As computer vision researchers, we believe that every pixel can tell a story. However, there seems to be a writer’s block settling into the field when it comes to dealing with large images. Large images are no longer rare—the cameras we carry in our pockets and those orbiting our planet snap pictures so big and detailed that they stretch our current best models and hardware to their breaking points when handling them. Generally, we face a quadratic increase in memory usage as a function of image size.
Today, we make one of two sub-optimal choices when handling large images: down-sampling or cropping. These two methods incur significant losses in the amount of information and context present in an image. We take another look at these approaches and introduce $x$T, a new framework to model large images end-to-end on contemporary GPUs while effectively aggregating global context with local details.
Architecture for the $x$T framework.
Why Bother with Big Images Anyway?
Why bother handling large images anyways? Picture yourself in front of your TV, watching your favorite football team. The field is dotted with players all over with action occurring only on a small portion of the screen at a time. Would you be satisified, however, if you could only see a small region around where the ball currently was? Alternatively, would you be satisified watching the game in low resolution? Every pixel tells a story, no matter how far apart they are. This is true in all domains from your TV screen to a pathologist viewing a gigapixel slide to diagnose tiny patches of cancer. These images are treasure troves of information. If we can’t fully explore the wealth because our tools can’t handle the map, what’s the point?
Sports are fun when you know what’s going on.
That’s precisely where the frustration lies today. The bigger the image, the more we need to simultaneously zoom out to see the whole picture and zoom in for the nitty-gritty details, making it a challenge to grasp both the forest and the trees simultaneously. Most current methods force a choice between losing sight of the forest or missing the trees, and neither option is great.
How $x$T Tries to Fix This
Imagine trying to solve a massive jigsaw puzzle. Instead of tackling the whole thing at once, which would be overwhelming, you start with smaller sections, get a good look at each piece, and then figure out how they fit into the bigger picture. That’s basically what we do with large images with $x$T.
$x$T takes these gigantic images and chops them into smaller, more digestible pieces hierarchically. This isn’t just about making things smaller, though. It’s about understanding each piece in its own right and then, using some clever techniques, figuring out how these pieces connect on a larger scale. It’s like having a conversation with each part of the image, learning its story, and then sharing those stories with the other parts to get the full narrative.
Nested Tokenization
At the core of $x$T lies the concept of nested tokenization. In simple terms, tokenization in the realm of computer vision is akin to chopping up an image into pieces (tokens) that a model can digest and analyze. However, $x$T takes this a step further by introducing a hierarchy into the process—hence, nested.
Imagine you’re tasked with analyzing a detailed city map. Instead of trying to take in the entire map at once, you break it down into districts, then neighborhoods within those districts, and finally, streets within those neighborhoods. This hierarchical breakdown makes it easier to manage and understand the details of the map while keeping track of where everything fits in the larger picture. That’s the essence of nested tokenization—we split an image into regions, each which can be split into further sub-regions depending on the input size expected by a vision backbone (what we call a region encoder), before being patchified to be processed by that region encoder. This nested approach allows us to extract features at different scales on a local level.
Coordinating Region and Context Encoders
Once an image is neatly divided into tokens, $x$T employs two types of encoders to make sense of these pieces: the region encoder and the context encoder. Each plays a distinct role in piecing together the image’s full story.
The region encoder is a standalone “local expert” which converts independent regions into detailed representations. However, since each region is processed in isolation, no information is shared across the image at large. The region encoder can be any state-of-the-art vision backbone. In our experiments we have utilized hierarchical vision transformers such as Swin and Hiera and also CNNs such as ConvNeXt!
Enter the context encoder, the big-picture guru. Its job is to take the detailed representations from the region encoders and stitch them together, ensuring that the insights from one token are considered in the context of the others. The context encoder is generally a long-sequence model. We experiment with Transformer-XL (and our variant of it called Hyper) and Mamba, though you could use Longformer and other new advances in this area. Even though these long-sequence models are generally made for language, we demonstrate that it is possible to use them effectively for vision tasks.
The magic of $x$T is in how these components—the nested tokenization, region encoders, and context encoders—come together. By first breaking down the image into manageable pieces and then systematically analyzing these pieces both in isolation and in conjunction, $x$T manages to maintain the fidelity of the original image’s details while also integrating long-distance context the overarching context while fitting massive images, end-to-end, on contemporary GPUs.
Results
We evaluate $x$T on challenging benchmark tasks that span well-established computer vision baselines to rigorous large image tasks. Particularly, we experiment with iNaturalist 2018 for fine-grained species classification, xView3-SAR for context-dependent segmentation, and MS-COCO for detection.
Powerful vision models used with $x$T set a new frontier on
downstream tasks such as fine-grained species classification.
Our experiments show that $x$T can achieve higher accuracy on all downstream tasks with fewer parameters while using much less memory per region than state-of-the-art baselines*. We are able to model images as large as 29,000 x 25,000 pixels large on 40GB A100s while comparable baselines run out of memory at only 2,800 x 2,800 pixels.
Powerful vision models used with $x$T set a new frontier on
downstream tasks such as fine-grained species classification.
*Depending on your choice of context model, such as Transformer-XL.
Why This Matters More Than You Think
This approach isn’t just cool; it’s necessary. For scientists tracking climate change or doctors diagnosing diseases, it’s a game-changer. It means creating models which understand the full story, not just bits and pieces. In environmental monitoring, for example, being able to see both the broader changes over vast landscapes and the details of specific areas can help in understanding the bigger picture of climate impact. In healthcare, it could mean the difference between catching a disease early or not.
We are not claiming to have solved all the world’s problems in one go. We are hoping that with $x$T we have opened the door to what’s possible. We’re stepping into a new era where we don’t have to compromise on the clarity or breadth of our vision. $x$T is our big leap towards models that can juggle the intricacies of large-scale images without breaking a sweat.
There’s a lot more ground to cover. Research will evolve, and hopefully, so will our ability to process even bigger and more complex images. In fact, we are working on follow-ons to $x$T which will expand this frontier further.
In Conclusion
For a complete treatment of this work, please check out the paper on arXiv. The project page contains a link to our released code and weights. If you find the work useful, please cite it as below:
@article{xTLargeImageModeling,
title={xT: Nested Tokenization for Larger Context in Large Images},
author={Gupta, Ritwik and Li, Shufan and Zhu, Tyler and Malik, Jitendra and Darrell, Trevor and Mangalam, Karttikeya},
journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.01915},
year={2024}
}
http://bair.berkeley.edu/blog/2024/03/21/xt/
Volkswagen ID. Buzz GTX Is A Hot Electric Van With 335 HP And AWD
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
VW’s go-fast people mover comes with a dual-motor setup, two wheelbase options, and two battery sizes.
https://insideevs.com/news/713137/vw-id-buzz-gtx-debut-specs-details-photos/
Glenda Yakel | Why Won’t They Discuss Mascot?
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
The following letter was written before Hart High School’s new mascot, the Hawks, was announced, but it was not received in time to be published before Tuesday’s announcement. Regarding the recent William S. Hart Union High School District meeting of March 13, I would like to express my gratitude to board member Joe Messina for […]
The post Glenda Yakel | Why Won’t They Discuss Mascot? appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/glenda-yakel-why-wont-they-discuss-mascot/
Peter Beers | Letting the Bible Speak for Itself
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
As an encouragement to those who may have read the March 15 letter by Arthur Saginian, “The Bible and Same-Sex Unions,” I would encourage all to seriously question any of the conclusions Mr. Saginian has come to regarding what the Bible teaches, especially because, by his own words, “I believe none of it.” To the […]
The post Peter Beers | Letting the Bible Speak for Itself appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/peter-beers-letting-the-bible-speak-for-itself/
Stephen Maseda | Sloppiness or Mischaracterization?
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
I would not have chosen Mr. Arthur Saginian, a self-proclaimed agnostic, to provide Biblical interpretation. His letter (March 15) is based on the premise that Pope Francis has allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, which he mistakenly asserts allows priests to bless same-sex marriage. He then proceeds to assert that Jesus set aside the Torah, […]
The post Stephen Maseda | Sloppiness or Mischaracterization? appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/stephen-maseda-sloppiness-or-mischaracterization/
Why France this week fined Google €250M over web news
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Google pulls a few coins from the sofa and says whatever, just clarify who needs to be paid for what
The French Competition Authority (FCA) on Wednesday fined Google €250 million ($272 million, £214 million) for breaking its promise to figure out a payment plan with French news publishers for using their articles.…
Cameron Smyth | See You at Senses! Unveiling an Incredible Lineup of Block Parties
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
Did you know that each year, Main Street in Old Town Newhall undergoes countless makeovers for different events, such as Light Up Main Street and the Fourth of July Parade? One event in particular, though, transforms the street with a new theme from 7 to 10 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month through […]
The post Cameron Smyth | See You at Senses! Unveiling an Incredible Lineup of Block Parties appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
BMW Vision Neue Klasse X: Seriously Upgraded Battery And Tech, Controversial Looks
date: 2024-03-21, from: Inside EVs News
The first series-production electric SUVs based on this design will hit the streets next year.
https://insideevs.com/news/712985/bmw-vision-neue-klasse-x-electric-suv-concept/
Why Boeing is such a shitty company (continued)
date: 2024-03-21, from: Robert Reich on Substack
Friends, On Friday, machinists at Rogue Valley International Airport in Medford, Oregon, discovered that a United Airlines plane that had landed from San Francisco was missing an external panel (see photo, above). The plane was manufactured by Boeing. It was carrying 139 passengers and 6 crew. No one was injured, thank heavens. The missing panel went unnoticed during the flight.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-boeing-is-such-as-shitty-company
NRO Mission Launches from NASA Wallops on Electron Rocket
date: 2024-03-21, from: NASA breaking news
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility supported the successful launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket at 3:25 a.m. EDT, Thursday, March 21, from Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia. The rocket carried three collaborative research missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The mission, dubbed NROL-123, was the first NRO mission to fly on […]
Classifieds – March 21, 2024
date: 2024-03-21, 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 21, 2024 appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/classifieds-march-21-2024/
Euro-cloud consortium CISPE calls for investigation of Broadcom
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Claims members will be bankrupted by new VMware licensing regime, and vital services disrupted
Lobby group CISPE – a collective representing Cloud Infrastructure Providers in Europe – has called for regulators to investigate VMware by Broadcom’s software licensing arrangements, which it claims will bankrupt some of its members and hurt end-users.…
Parking Reform Is Happening Across America
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Changes to urban parking are starting to make our cities more livable.
The post Parking Reform Is Happening Across America appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/21/parking-reform-is-happening-across-america/
Today in SCV History (March 21)
date: 2024-03-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1927 – Baker Ranch Rodeo owners announce they’ll award $4,000 in cash prizes at first major event (2nd annual rodeo at future Saugus Speedway). [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-march-21/
It’s time to blame desks rather than our bodies
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Plus-size students face a lack of size-inclusive desks, threatening their well-being.
The post It’s time to blame desks rather than our bodies appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/its-time-to-blame-desks-rather-than-our-bodies/
Roski student debuts first solo show
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Alex Carmen’s anticipated exhibit “Trees with Holes in Them” opened Wednesday.
The post Roski student debuts first solo show appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/roski-student-debuts-first-solo-show/
Chief campus health officer discusses opioid epidemic
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Student Health distributed Narcan for free at the weekly Trojan Farmer’s Market.
The post Chief campus health officer discusses opioid epidemic appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/chief-campus-health-officer-discusses-opioid-epidemic/
Exciting albums coming this spring
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Get your earbuds ready for these blockbuster drops from fan-favorite artists.
The post Exciting albums coming this spring appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/exciting-albums-coming-this-spring/
Baseball to face rival UCLA in Westwood
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
USC enters Jackie Robinson Stadium as victor of three of its last four matchups.
The post Baseball to face rival UCLA in Westwood appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/baseball-to-face-rival-ucla-in-westwood/
Casey Phair continues Angel City’s youth movement
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The youngest player to ever feature in a World Cup became the next jewel in ACFC’s crown during the offseason.
The post Casey Phair continues Angel City’s youth movement appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/casey-phair-continues-angel-citys-youth-movement/
New students should consider Thematic Option
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Reasons to join T.O. range from small class sizes to free trips in the L.A. area.
The post New students should consider Thematic Option appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/new-students-should-consider-thematic-option/
Researchers track ongoing destruction in Ukraine
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Associate professor Sylvain Barbot published a study on the impact of the war.
The post Researchers track ongoing destruction in Ukraine appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/21/ukraine-destruction-study/
Exposed: Chinese smartphone farms that run thousands of barebones mobes to do crime
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Operators pack twenty phones into a chassis – then rack ’em and stack ’em ready to do evil
Chinese upstarts are selling smartphone motherboards – and kit to run and manage them at scale – to operators of outfits that use them to commit various scams and crimes, according to an undercover investigation by state television broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) revealed late last week.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/china_smartphone_farms/
March 20, 2024 (Wednesday)
date: 2024-03-21, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
While Republicans on the House Oversight Committee continue to insist that President Joe Biden has committed crimes, testimony today by a former associate of Trump’s disgraced ex-lawyer Rudolph Giuliani was so damning not for Biden but for Republicans that Representative Stephen Lynch (D-MA) told his colleagues: “When you review the entire record of evidence of these hearings going back over a year, you’ve actually provided more evidence to impeach Donald Trump for a third time than you have in so much as laying a glove on Joe Biden.”
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-20-2024-wednesday
It’s 2024 and North Korea’s Kimsuky gang is exploiting Windows Help files
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
New infostealer may indicate a shift in tactics – and maybe targets too, beyond Asia
North Korea’s notorious Kimsuky cyber crime gang has commenced a campaign using fresh tactics, according to infosec tools vendor Rapid7.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/kimsuky_chm_file_campaign/
Hong Kong promises its latest national security law is not a ban on social media
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Trust us – we’re the government
On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s legislature unanimously passed the city’s latest controversial national security legislation, otherwise known as Article 23.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/hk_article_23/
Kuhlman to leave Hart district after school year
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
Mike Kuhlman will be leaving his post as superintendent of the William S. Hart Union High School District on June 30, he announced to district staff in an email sent on Wednesday evening. “I’m writing this evening to share the news that I have made the difficult decision to leave the Hart district at the […]
The post <strong>Kuhlman to leave Hart district after school year</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/kuhlman-to-leave-hart-district-after-school-year/
Apple Support: ‘Manuals, Specs, and Downloads’
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Daring Fireball
https://support.apple.com/en-us/docs
A Poet of Word and Image
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Mary Heebner melds myths and materiality into uniquely joyful creations.
The post A Poet of Word and Image appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/20/a-poet-of-word-and-image/
Honoring transgender voices on March 31
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
Queer advocates and allies are honoring Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31 and taking the time to celebrate the lives and triumphs of trans
The post Honoring transgender voices on March 31 appeared first on The Roundup.
Pierce should offer personal financial workshops
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
College students have a lot on their minds, such as work, school, family and food. This leaves students with little time to manage their money
The post Pierce should offer personal financial workshops appeared first on The Roundup.
French Bulldogs Remain Most Popular US Breed in New Rankings
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/french-bulldogs-remain-most-popular-us-breed-in-new-rankings/7536500.html
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-21, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Or April New England Visionaires user group meeting, getting the invite out early this time:
https://partiful.com/e/RDjyPo8cAFlJx5503VI9
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112131254075663963
Relay dinner recognizes caregivers and survivors
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
With each table uniquely decorated at the Santa Clarita Elks Lodge No. 2379, cancer survivors and caregivers gathered at the Relay for Life Survivor and Caregiver Dinner on Saturday. Santa Clarita’s Relay for Life, with this year’s theme being “May the Cure Be with You,” benefiting the American Cancer Society, will take place on May […]
The post Relay dinner recognizes caregivers and survivors appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/relay-dinner-recognizes-caregivers-and-survivors/
Valencia Library turns into space
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
In a galactic world right at the heart of the Valencia Public Library, children could suit up and go to space on Saturday thanks to the Hope Theatre Arts’ performance of “Astronaut School!” In the third installment of Hope Theatre Arts’ space-themed series, children could learn about teamwork, participate in activities and crafts, or even […]
The post Valencia Library turns into space appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/valencia-library-turns-into-space/
ServiceNow goes to Washington DC, with a suitcase full of AI
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Claims the tech has brought 38 percent improvement to its own dev cycle time
ServiceNow has released its “Washington DC” platform update, and done the very 2024 thing of adding generative AI features. It’s also done a slightly less 2024 thing by not just hyping the tech, but sharing the benefits it has enjoyed by actually using it.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/servicenow_washington_dc_release/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-21, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Spray chalk. What a great idea.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-21, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Reddit IPO: Share sale values social media firm at $6.4bn.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68610711
Dos Pueblos High Rock Band Still Jamming After 12 Years
date: 2024-03-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
They’ve all got other gigs, but local band The Caverns return to Santa Barbara for monthly shows.
The post Dos Pueblos High Rock Band Still Jamming After 12 Years appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/20/dos-pueblos-high-rock-band-still-jamming-after-12-years/
Even Before Latest Violence, Thousands of Haitians Fled for US
date: 2024-03-21, from: VOA News USA
Thousands of Haitians fled their country’s economic and political instability even before the latest outbreak of violence. The first stop for many is South America, where some try to work before heading for the United States. VOA’s Austin Landis met with one man on the Colombia-Panama border preparing to cross the treacherous Darien Gap. Camera: Jorge Calle
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-21, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
I can’t stop giggling at this
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112130985206537440
Hart district holding virtual parent forum on sleep
date: 2024-03-21, from: The Signal
The William S. Hart Union High School District’s Wellness Department is scheduled to host a virtual parent forum on March 28 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. to inform parents on the benefits of sleep. “The connection between sleep and health is real,” reads a flyer promoting the event. “Join us for our March Parent Forum […]
The post <strong>Hart district holding virtual parent forum on sleep</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/hart-district-holding-virtual-parent-forum-on-sleep/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-21, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Today I had no garlic
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112130819541766638
Nutanix catapults IP theft sueball at DBaaS startup Tessell
date: 2024-03-21, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Claims former staff ripped off IP and even did demos for their new company on Nutanix computers
Nutanix has brought a lawsuit against database-as-a-service startup Tessell, an outfit founded by three of its ex-employees, alleging the upstart’s products are rip-offs of Nutanix’s own Era database management product.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/nutanix_tessell_lawsuit/
US Imposes New Sanctions on Iran’s Military Procurement Networks
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Former Mississippi Deputy Sentenced to 40 Years in Torture of 2 Black Men
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
jackson, mississippi — A fourth former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in federal prison for his part in the racist torture of two Black men by a group of white officers who called themselves the “Goon Squad.”
Christian Dedmon, 29, did not look at the victims as he apologized and said he’d never forgive himself for the pain he caused.
All six former officers charged in the case pleaded guilty last year, admitting that they subjected Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racist torture in January 2023 after a neighbor complained the men were staying in a home with a white woman. Prosecutors said Dedmon slapped the men with a sex toy and threatened to brutalize them with it.
U.S. District Judge Tom Lee said Wednesday that Dedmon carried out the most “shocking, brutal and cruel attacks imaginable” against Jenkins and Parker and against a white man during a traffic stop weeks earlier.
Jenkins, who still has trouble speaking because of his injuries, said in a statement read by his lawyer that Dedmon’s actions were the most depraved of any of those who attacked him.
“Deputy Dedmon is the worst example of a police officer in the United States,” Jenkins said. “Deputy Dedmon was the most aggressive, sickest and the most wicked.”
Hours before Dedmon’s sentencing, former Officer Daniel Opdyke, 28, cried profusely as he spoke before the judge announced his sentence of 17.5 years. Turning to look at the two victims, Opdyke said isolation behind bars has given him time to reflect on “how I transformed into the monster I became that night.”
“The weight of my actions and the harm I’ve caused will haunt me every day,” Opdyke told them. “I wish I could take away your suffering.”
Parker rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes, then stood and left the courtroom before Opdyke finished speaking. Jenkins said he was “broken” and left “ashamed” by the cruel acts inflicted upon him.
The judge said Opdyke might not have been fully aware of what being a member of the Goon Squad entailed when Lieutenant Jeffrey Middleton asked him to join, but he did know it involved using excessive force.
“You were not a passive observer,” Lee said. “You actively participated in that brutal attack.”
All six former officers pleaded guilty last year of breaking into a home without a warrant and torturing the Black men with a stun gun, a sex toy and other objects.
On Tuesday, Lee gave a nearly 20-year prison sentence to Hunter Elward, 31, and a 17.5-year sentence to Middleton, 46, calling their actions “egregious and despicable.” They, like Opdyke and Dedmon, worked as Rankin County sheriff’s deputies during the attack.
Another former deputy, Brett McAlpin, 53, and a former Richland police officer, Joshua Hartfield, 32, are set for sentencing Thursday.
Last March, months before federal prosecutors announced charges in August, an investigation by The Associated Press linked some of the deputies to at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019 that left two dead and another with lasting injuries.
The former officers stuck to their cover story for months until finally admitting that they tortured Michael Corey Jenkins and Parker. Elward admitted to shoving a gun into Jenkins’ mouth and firing it in a “mock execution” that went awry.
After Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth, lacerating his tongue and breaking his jaw, the officers devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun. False charges stood against Jenkins and Parker for months.
Holly Hitt-Zuniga to Represent COC and NSF CREATE Energy Center in Iceland
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Holly Hitt-Zuniga has been selected to represent COC and the National Science Foundation’s Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education in Iceland
https://scvnews.com/holly-hitt-zuniga-to-represent-coc-and-nsf-create-energy-center-in-iceland/
Chuwi MiniBook X (2023): a lot of laptop for very little money
date: 2024-03-20, from: OS News
What if the kind of laptop you’re looking for just isn’t available from any of the major or even minor manufacturers? You know exactly what you want out of a laptop, and while quite a few fulfill many of your requirements, the requirement that matters most just isn’t being made. It’s not a case of “too expensive” or “too cheap” – simply nobody will sell it to you. From HP, Dell, Apple, down to smaller and local OEMs, none of them can serve your particular set of needs. For me, that particular requirement, that particular need is that of the laptop with an 8″ to 10″ screen size. Even the most portable laptops sold by well-known brands today stop at 13″, often even 14″, with nowhere to go but up. I currently have a 13.3″ laptop – an otherwise excellent XPS 13 9370 with a gorgeous 4K display – but as much as I love it, it’s just too big and heavy for me. I want something smaller, no bigger than roughly 10″. Why? Well, I use my laptop in exactly two locations: on the couch in one of our two living rooms, or in bed (okay that’s technically three locations). That’s it. I work from home on my workstation, I play games on my gaming PC, so I don’t need big performance on the road, nor do I need a big portable display to make working on the go bearable. On top of all this, I have two small kids running around the house, so a laptop that is easier to quickly close and put out of harm’s way is very welcome. And considering the most intensive workload it’ll ever have to contend with is playing YouTube video, I don’t need the latest Core i7 or Apple M3 either. Why not a tablet, then? First and foremost, I want to use a desktop operating system, not Android or iOS, since writing OSNews posts or doing a quick translation for my job are not fun experiences on mobile operating systems. On top of that, a tablet with a keyboard accessory often makes use of a kickstand and flappy keyboard, which are cumbersome to use on the couch, in bed, or on your lap. The exception here would be the iPad with a Magic Keyboard, but that’s an incredibly expensive affair and an Apple product, so obviously a no-go. Luckily, while the kind of small laptop I’m looking for is not available from one of the major OEMs, there are a small number of specialised OEMs that do focus on making small laptops. Roughly, the devices they make fall into one of three pricing categories. First, there’s the high-end – these usually start at around €800 or so and get well over €1000, and have a decent set of specs, often focused on gaming by opting for AMD APUs. A major player in this market is GPD, who’ve been offering products in this segment for years, and are actually a decently well-known brand at this point, even being featured on major YouTube channels like Linus Tech Tips. Then there’s the very low end, a market segment drowning in the exact same 7″ laptop priced at €250 or so, sold under a variety of brand names, sporting the same low-end Celeron chip and rather crappy display. It’s also quite thick, made out of cheap plastic, and every review I’ve seen of these are not particularly positive. Unless you know what you’re getting into, do not buy these. They’re e-waste trash. In recent times, however, a middle segment has slowly started to take shape, coming in price points in between the low and high end, with reasonable specifications and build quality, without going overboard. This was exactly what I was looking for. Aside from price and specifications, mini-laptops also come in a variety of different input layouts. Being smaller than other laptops, some compromises will have to be made, and it’s this particular aspect that will most likely play a major role in which models appeal to you. The gaming-focused mini laptops will often come with dual joysticks and face buttons, while other models will come with a more traditional keyboard and trackpad, and the smallest laptops in this category ditch the trackpad in favour of a little sensor pad in the top-right of the keyboard, or a ThinkPad-style nipple. Having kept and eye on this market for years now, I knew exactly what I was looking for: I wanted a traditional keyboard and touchpad layout, with medium specifications, a capable display, and all-metal construction, for no more than roughly €400-500. Clearly, the time to strike was now, as the small, budget-oriented OEM Chuwi had just updated its 10″ mini laptop with Intel’s latest low-power processor, the N100. The Chuwi Minibook X (2023), as it’s called, has an all-aluminium construction, and comes with quite decent specifications, and I managed to snag a new model through their eBay store for a mere €320 (I asked them for a discount down from €400 , and they gave it; I did not mention who I was or that I run OSNews). It has the aforementioned Alder Lake Intel N100 – released earlier this year, it’s an Intel 7 processor with 4 cores and 4 threads (so no hyperthreading) with a maximum turbo frequency of 3.4 Ghz, with a TDP of just 6 W. It’s not going to compare well to the various Core i3/i5/i7 processors, of course, but considering the type of device, it makes perfect sense to opt for something like the N100. Furthermore, this device is packing 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM running at 4800 Mhz, and my model comes with a 512 GB SSD. The display is a 10.3″ panel with a native resolution of 1920×1200, with a refresh rate of only 50Hz (although some people managed to reach 60Hz and even 90Hz), and support for touch. Ports-wise, it has two USB-C ports (one marked as compatible with charging – I haven’t dared
https://www.osnews.com/story/136891/chuwi-minibook-x-2023-a-lot-of-laptop-for-very-little-money/
L.A.’s Safe Clean Water Program Unveils New Website
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
L.A. County’s Safe, Clean Water Program has launched a new website for residents to navigate. This website represents a significant step forward in our commitment to transparency, accessibility, and collaboration
https://scvnews.com/l-a-s-safe-clean-water-program-unveils-new-website/
Emergency reported at Towsley, no victim found
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel responded on Wednesday afternoon to reports of a medical emergency at Towsley Canyon Park, but the search for a person in need of assistance came up empty, according to officials. A search and rescue team was en route to the location at 3:16 p.m., according to Kaitlyn Aldana, a […]
The post Emergency reported at Towsley, no victim found appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/fire-search-and-rescue-team-responding-to-medical-emergency/
Residents sound off on Wiley Canyon plans
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
Santa Clarita planners received a litany of concerns from residents over a proposal years in the making for a 31-acre property in Wiley Canyon, alongside Interstate 5, between Hawkbryn Avenue and Calgrove Boulevard. Dubbed the Wiley Canyon Mixed Use Project — a name criticized for a mix of 668,000 square feet of housing to 9,000 […]
The post Residents sound off on Wiley Canyon plans appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/residents-sound-off-on-wiley-canyon-plans/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-20, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Kenny StarterKitFPS
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112130480901740498
My Father’s Ceiling
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Memories of murals and decorative touches keep a beloved father’s spirit alive.
The post My Father’s Ceiling appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/20/my-fathers-ceiling/
California Is Quietly Trump-Proofing Its EV Rules
date: 2024-03-20, from: Heatmap News
Even as the Environmental Protection Agency was preparing to release federal tailpipe emissions rules that will steer more U.S. drivers into electric vehicles, California was working in the background to harden its own, more stringent emissions standards.
On Tuesday, the state announced an agreement with Stellantis, the automaking conglomerate that contains the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram brands to comply with more restrictive tailpipe emissions rules through 2026. California also said Stellantis would go along with its electrification mandates through 2030 — regardless of whether either is struck down by federal regulators or the courts.
The agreement is part of California’s effort to preserve its ability to set emissions standards and mandate electrification even with a hostile White House and judicial branch. By trying to get enough of the industry to agree to its rules voluntarily and not join any effort that may arise to throw them out, it hopes either to preserve its rule-making ability or, in the worst case scenario, leverage the industry’s desire for predictability to keep the rules themselves intact.
David Clegern, public information officer at the California Air Resources Board, told me there was no connection between Tuesday’s agreement and today’s EPA announcement. The deal “gives Stellantis flexibility in how they meet California’s existing greenhouse gas emissions vehicle requirements,” he said. In exchange, the state gets an even deeper emissions cut than it would otherwise — some 10 million extra tons of foregone greenhouse gas emissions.
Stellantis also agreed “not to oppose California’s authority under the
Clean Air Act for its greenhouse gas emissions and zero-emissions
vehicle standards,” the California Air Resources Board said in its
announcement of the agreement.
California has long had the ability to set its own emissions standards thanks to the structure of the Clean Air Act and a waiver from the EPA. California got some automakers to agree to a version of Obama-era tailpipe emissions rules in the summer of 2019 that the Trump administration had planned on scrapping, after which Trump officials revoked California’s ability to set emissions rules. California finalized its agreement with the automakers the following year, then regained its authority to set emissions rules in 2022.
The principle behind the Stellantis deal is similar to those earlier agreements, Clegern said. Stellantis had been on the outside looking in on California’s deals with automakers, and late last year initiated an administrative process to try to get them thrown out. (It was unsuccessful.) Now, the company has agreed not only to implement emissions and electrification rules, but also to invest in electrification in the state by spending $4 million on charging infrastructure in California and $6 million in states that also adopt California’s emissions rules.
Meanwhile, the EPA is working on a new waiver process for California’s electrification standards, which would need to be completed before the end of this year to both avoid interference from a potential incoming Republican administration and to make sure it applies on the schedule the state has set out, Kathy Harris, clean vehicles director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told me. The rules, known as the Advanced Clean Car Standard II regulations, start with the 2026 model year and apply through 2035 and mandate that all new car sales in the state be electric by the middle of the 2030s.
About a dozen other states so far have adopted the ACC II standards, including Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon.
Many commenters on the EPA car emission proposal set out the California rules as a model for what the agency should do. “Vehicle manufacturers also commented that they had extensive collaboration with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) during the development of CARB’s recently finalized Advanced Clean Car II (ACC II) standards,” according to the final rule, “and industry broadly recommended that EPA adopt the ACC II program in lieu of our proposed standards.”
In the end, the EPA rules follow a different model than the California standards, Harris said. Crucially, the EPA isn’t mandating electrification. In remarks at a White House even on Wednesday, EPA administrator Michael Regan emphasized that they were instead technology neutral and performance based, meaning that they leave it up to the automakers to figure out how to comply.
David Reichmuth, the senior engineer in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ clean transportation program, told me that, compared to California’s, the EPA rules “are distinct in what they regulate and how they regulate vehicles,” he told me. Nevertheless, “they are pulling in the same direction in trying to reduce emissions from transportation and air pollution from vehicles.”
California’s ability to set its own emissions rules is not just likely to be questioned by a Republican administration should Donald Trump win in 2025, it also could be at risk in the courts. Ohio and other states with Republican attorneys general sued the EPA in 2022 over the existence of the California waiver in a case that was heard by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last fall. The ruling is still pending.
https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/california-stellantis-trump-epa
Why Almost All Muslim American Charitable Donations Remain in US
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Daily EV Recap: March 20th, 2024
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and…
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/daily-ev-recap-march-20th-2024/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-20, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
An important Godot for iPad milestone.
These are two instances of a full-blown Godot running side-by-side in the same process.
The next step on the virtualization idea that I shared on the blog post [1]
But this time, rather than being one-at-a-time, they are simultaneous.
This was necessary to support debugging of Godot apps on the iPad (and soon Vision).
[1] https://blog.la-terminal.net/making-godot-viable-on-ipados/
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112130318039066538
Keeping Them Quiet
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The next time, Barry Maher should demand sizeable compensation for his remarks — as the news media expects to be paid for what they do.
The post Keeping Them Quiet appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/20/keeping-them-quiet/
First the Super Bowl, now this: Kansas City getting a Google bit barn
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Exact location, power source, and go-live date unknown. But don’t worry, there’ll be digital jobs
Google has announced plans to drop $1 billion on a new datacenter in Kansas City, Missouri – its first in the state – though when it’ll come online is anyone’s guess.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/googles_kansas_city_datacenter/
Wilk’s Bill to Study Feasibility of CSU Campus in High Desert Clears Senate Education Committee
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Senator Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) announced his bill to study the feasibility of a new California State University Campus in the Victor Valley passed out of the Senate Education Committee
Should college tuition be free? Yes: Free education leads to a greater society
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
College costs in the United States have been rising faster than inflation, and many students have faced financial problems. College should be free for many
The post Should college tuition be free? Yes: Free education leads to a greater society appeared first on The Roundup.
Should college tuition be free? No: Free college is impractical
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
Just on principle by itself, free college wouldn’t benefit society, school systems or the students. It’s what the ancient Greeks would call a siren song
The post Should college tuition be free? No: Free college is impractical appeared first on The Roundup.
Pierce swim team deals with aquatic adaptations
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
The pool at Pierce College has been closed since October 2022, but the swim team is still active without it. Lacking a pool of their
The post Pierce swim team deals with aquatic adaptations appeared first on The Roundup.
Sports Briefs – March 20, 2024
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
Pierce students to compete in National Hillel Basketball Tournament: Seven Pierce College students—for the first time—will be participating in the National Hillel Basketball Tournament at
The post Sports Briefs – March 20, 2024 appeared first on The Roundup.
In Search of Neighborhood Harmony
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Play equipment snafu highlights the need to communicate.
The post In Search of Neighborhood Harmony appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/20/in-search-of-neighborhood-harmony/
Subaru Can Do This Or Rivian Can Do It For Them
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
It’s good news that Subaru and Panasonic’s battery partnership is taking shape, because Rivian’s plans seem ready to take its business.
https://insideevs.com/news/713192/subaru-panasonic-rivian-r3x/
Aptera CEOs discuss IPO plans, solar EV production, 3-wheel variants, and a possible 4-wheel model
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Video footage meant for investors has leaked, showing Aptera Motors co-founders and co-CEOs Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony discussing many topics about the solar EV startup’s future, including a potential IPO.
Welcome to Choppke’s, Your Wich Is My Command
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/welcome-to-choppkes
GNOME 46 released
date: 2024-03-20, from: OS News
GNOME 46 has been released, and its packs a ton of new features and improvements. One of the headline improvements is the new global search feature. Files comes with a new global search feature in GNOME 46. The feature is simple: activate it by clicking the new search button, or by using the Ctrl+Shift+F shortcut, then enter your query to search all your configured search locations. Global search is a great way to jump directly into search, without having to think about where the items you want are located. The new feature also leverages GNOME’s existing file search capabilities, including the ability to search the contents of files, and filter by file type and modification date. ↫ GNOME 46 release notes GNOME 46 also brings experimental support for variable refresh rate in Mutter, GNOME’s window manager, the Files application has seen a lot of work to drastically improve performance, the Settings application has been reworked, OneDrive support has been added to online accounts, and much more. Remote login has also been greatly improved. GNOME’s remote desktop experience has been significantly enhanced for version 46, with the introduction of a new dedicated remote login option. This allows remotely connecting to a GNOME system which is not already in use. Connecting in this way means that the system’s display can be configured from the remote side, resulting in a better experience for the remote user. GNOME 46 will make it to your distribution of choice over the coming weeks and months.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138890/gnome-46-released/
Java 22 released
date: 2024-03-20, from: OS News
Java 22 ships the final versions of the Foreign Function and Memory API as well as the Unnamed Variables and Patterns API. Plus Java 22 brings region pinning for the G1 garbage collector, statements before super(…) are in preview phase, a class-file API preview, support to launch multi-file source code programs, the latest work on the Java Vector API, Stream gatherers in preview, the second preview for structured concurrency programming, and various other additions. ↫ Michael Larabel at Phoronix You can find the GPL-licensed OpenJDK builds at the OpenJDK website.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138888/java-22-released/
GM believes ‘production hell’ is behind it with plans to build 20X more Ultium EVs in 2024
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
General Motors (GM) looks to get back on track this year as executives believe EV “production hell” is behind it. After missing EV sales targets for the past two years, will 2024 be the year of execution, as GM says it will?
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/gm-exits-production-hell-aims-to-build-20x-more-evs-2024/
Family Finds Stolen Japanese Artifacts While Cleaning Out an Attic in Massachusetts
date: 2024-03-20, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The FBI has returned the rare objects to Okinawa, where they were looted during World War II
Alaska’s Frigid North Slope Was Once a Lush, Wet, Dinosaur Hotspot, Fossils Reveal
date: 2024-03-20, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Conditions north of the Arctic Circle, where dinosaurs roamed in abundance during the mid-Cretaceous, were warmer than today, with rainfall comparable to “modern-day Miami”
NASA Advanced Air Mobility Partnerships
date: 2024-03-20, from: NASA breaking news
NASA is partnered with other government agencies, industry, and academia to conduct Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) research to benefit a future transportation system with routine flight of air taxis and drones. See the current partnerships below and in the map above. AerostarSioux Falls, South DakotaNASA and Aerostar are conducting collaborative evaluation of a NASA prototype […]
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/aam/aampartners/
US Evacuates Americans From Haiti to Dominican Republic
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-evacuates-americans-from-haiti-to-dominican-republic/7535887.html
Entry Period Open For Annual Sister Cities Young Artists, Author Showcase
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The city of Santa Clarita, in partnership with Santa Clarita Sister Cities, invites local students to submit original artwork, poetry, essays/creative writing, photographs or music for the 2024 Young Artists and Authors Showcase
https://scvnews.com/entry-period-open-for-annual-sister-cities-young-artists-author-showcase/
US battery storage smashes deployment records in Q4 2023
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
The US battery storage market shattered deployment records across all segments in Q4 2023 – a 101% increase from the previous quarter.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/us-battery-storage-smashes-deployment-records-in-q4-2023/
Hart High Reveals New School Mascot, Hart Hawks
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
William S. Hart High School principal Jason d’Autremont announced the new school mascot, the Hart High Hawks, during a mascot reveal ceremony Tuesday evening in the Hart High auditorium.
https://scvnews.com/hart-high-reveals-new-school-mascot-hart-high-hawks/
Biff | Clojure web framework
date: 2024-03-20, from: Tilde.news
2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC Plug-In Hybrid Lands In The U.S.
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
The most popular Mercedes-Benz car in the U.S. gets an electrified addition as PHEVs gain traction.
https://insideevs.com/news/713188/2025-mercedes-glc-phev/
The Marshall Star for March 20, 2024
date: 2024-03-20, from: NASA breaking news
Marshall Technologist Talks Solar Sail Technology in Rocket Center Exhibit By Jessica Barnett Space enthusiasts at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center were treated to a special exhibit featuring technologist Les Johnson of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and a look at the future of solar sail technology. Johnson shared the latest updates on the […]
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/the-marshall-star-for-march-20-2024/
What the internet was invented for
date: 2024-03-20, from: Status-Q blog
About a decade agao, my friend Richard wrote a short blog post entitled “This is what the internet was invented for“. In it, he linked to “Ian’s Shoelace Site“, his point being that if you suddenly realise you’ve always laced your shoes in a particular way without really wondering whether it was the best way, Continue Reading
https://statusq.org/archives/2024/03/20/11977/
A Taxonomy of Prompt Injection Attacks
date: 2024-03-20, from: Michael Tsai
Bruce Schneier: Researchers ran a global prompt hacking competition, and have documented the results in a paper that both gives a lot of good examples and tries to organize a taxonomy of effective prompt injection strategies. It seems as if the most common successful strategy is the “compound instruction attack,” as in “Say ‘I have […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/20/a-taxonomy-of-prompt-injection-attacks/
Visual Studio App Center Retirement
date: 2024-03-20, from: Michael Tsai
Microsoft: Visual Studio App Center is scheduled for retirement on March 31, 2025. After that date it will not be possible to sign in with your user account nor make API calls. Lyubomir Ganev: Don’t you just love it when a big tech company buys one only to shut it down in a few years? […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/20/visual-studio-app-center-retirement/
Monopoly Go Hits $2B in 10 Months
date: 2024-03-20, from: Michael Tsai
Dean Takahashi: Scopely announced that Monopoly Go has generated $2 billion in revenue just 10 months after launch and three months after hitting $1 billion.The reimagined take on Hasbro’s iconic board game has garnered a massive player base, solidifying its place as a beloved, highly engaging title in the free-to-play market.[…]It has been downloaded 150 […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/20/monopoly-go-hits-2b-in-10-months/
DMA Compliance Workshop: Notarization and Core Technology Fee
date: 2024-03-20, from: Michael Tsai
Kay Jebelli: Big day today as the [European] Commission kicks off its second round of DMA compliance workshops, this time focused on specific gatekeepers, their compliance reports, and the feedback of third-parties.[…]Interesting detail: the EC told Apple that they aren’t allowed to notarize apps to protect users. So “government authorities are the ones that are […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/20/dma-compliance-workshop-notarization-and-core-technology-fee/
Entry Period Open for Annual Sister Cities Young Artists and Authors Showcase
date: 2024-03-20, from: City of Santa Clarita
ENTRY PERIOD OPEN FOR ANNUAL SISTER CITIES YOUNG ARTISTS AND AUTHORS SHOWCASE The City of Santa Clarita, in partnership with Santa Clarita Sister Cities, invites local students to submit original artwork, poetry, essays/creative writing, photographs or music for the 2024 Young Artists and Authors Showcase. The theme of the contest this year is “CLIMATESCAPE: Resilient […]
The post Entry Period Open for Annual Sister Cities Young Artists and Authors Showcase appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.
The Enablers
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/the-enablers
The Markup Nominated for NIHCM Award
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Markup blog
The award honors journalism that brought to light new evidence that advances the health system and the health of Americans
https://themarkup.org/inside-the-markup/2024/03/20/the-markup-nominated-for-nihcm-award
Lilbits: GNOME 46, the rise of AI PCs, and a clever DIY Framework Laptop Expansion Card
date: 2024-03-20, from: Liliputing
The Framework Laptop 13 and Framework Laptop 16 both feature a modular Expansion Card system that lets you decide which ports you want the laptop to have, and where they’re positioned (with some limitations). But the company has also open sourced a reference design for Expansion Cards, which allows anyone to design their own. And […]
The post Lilbits: GNOME 46, the rise of AI PCs, and a clever DIY Framework Laptop Expansion Card appeared first on Liliputing.
Manhattan Project Report Signed by J. Robert Oppenheimer Sells at Auction
date: 2024-03-20, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The document was “likely the very first publicly available report on the creation of the bomb,” according to RR Auction
May 5: The Third Annual Painted Turtle Pickleball Tournament
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
After two successful tournaments players are hitting the courts for The 3rd Annual Painted Turtle Pickleball Tournament.
https://scvnews.com/may-5-the-3rd-annual-painted-turtle-pickleball-tournament-returns/
It’s tax season, and scammers are a step ahead of filers, Microsoft says
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Phishing season started early with crims intent on the hooking early filers
As the digital wolves dress in sheep’s tax forms, Microsoft has thrown a spotlight on a crafty 2024 phishing expedition, unraveled in January, that preys on the unsuspecting herd of early tax filers.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/its_tax_season_and_scammers/
☎️ How to handle a phone meeting
date: 2024-03-20, from: Interesting, a blog on writing
Acting like you’re in the room when you’re in your room.
https://inneresting.substack.com/p/how-to-handle-a-phone-meeting
I was a Hackintosher
date: 2024-03-20, from: Liam on Linux
I can’t speak for anyone else but I can tell you why I did it.
I was broke, I know PCs and Macs and Mac OS X – I ran OS X 10.0, 10.1 and 10.2 on a PowerMac 7600 using XPostFacto.
I got the carcase of a Core 2 Extreme PC on my local Freecycle group in 2012.
https://twitter.com/lproven/status/257060672825851904
RAM, no hard disks, no graphics, but case/mobo/CPU/PSU etc.
I took the nVidia card and hard disks from my old Athlon XP. I got the machine running, and thought it was worth a try since it was mostly Intel: Intel chipset, Intel CPU, etc.
I joined some fora, did some reading, used Clover and some tools from TonyMacX86 and so on.
After two days’ work it booted. I got no sound from my SoundBlaster card, so I pulled it, turned the motherboard sound back on, and reinstalled.
It was a learning experience but it worked very well. I ran Snow Leopard on it, as it was old enough to get no new updates that would break my Hack, but new enough that all the modern browsers and things worked fine. (2012 was the year Mountain Lion came out, so I was 2 versions behind, which suited me fine – and it ran PowerPC apps, and I preferred the UI of the PowerPC version of MS Word, my only non-freeware app.)
I had 4 CPU cores, it was maxed out with 8GB RAM, and it was nice and quick. As it was a desktop, I disabled all support for sleep and hibernation: I turn my desktops off at night to save power. It drove a matched pair of 21” CRT monitors perfectly smoothly. I had an Apple Extended keyboard on an ADB-to-USB convertor since my PS/2 ports weren’t supported.
It wasn’t totally reliable – occasionally it failed to boot, but a power cycle usually brought it back. It was fast and pretty stable, it ran all the OS X FOSS apps I usually used, it was much quicker than my various elderly PowerMacs and the hardware cost was essentially £0.
It was more pleasant to use than Linux – my other machines back then ran the still-somewhat-new Ubuntu, using GNOME 2 because Unity hadn’t gone mainstream yet.
Summary: why not? It worked, it gave me a very nice and perfectly usable desktop PC for next to no cost except some time, it was quite educational, and the machine served me well for years. I still have it in a basement. Sadly its main HDD is not readable any more.
It was fun, interesting, and the end result was very usable. At that time there was no way I could have afforded to buy an Intel Mac, but a few years, one emigration and 2 new jobs later, I did so: a 2011 i5 Mac mini which is now my TV-streaming box, but which I used as my main machine until 2017 when I bought a 27” Retina iMac from a friend.
Cost, curiosity, learning. All good reasons in my book.
This year I Hacked an old Dell Latitude E7270, a Core i7 machine maxed out with 16GB RAM – with Big Sur because its Intel GPU isn’t supported in the Monterey I tried at first. It works, but its wifi doesn’t, and I needed to buy a USB wifi dongle. But performance wasn’t great, it took an age to boot with a lot of scary text going past, and it didn’t feel like a smooth machine. So, I pulled its SSD and put a smaller one in, put ChromeOS Flex on it, and it’s now my wife’s main computer. Fast, simple, totally reliable, and now I have spare Wifi dongle. :-/ I may try on one of my old Thinkpads next.
It is much easier to Hackintosh a PC today than it was 10-12
years ago, but Apple is making the experience less rewarding, as is
their right. They are a hardware company.
(Repurposed from a
Lobsters
comment.)
comments
https://liam-on-linux.dreamwidth.org/90591.html
Owners of aging Teslas, this new bespoke warranty plan is for you
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Amber has launched AmberCare, an EV-specific warranty program in the US for aging Tesla models 3, Y, S, and X.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/owners-of-aging-teslas-this-new-bespoke-warranty-plan-is-for-you/
Parte de la Alameda Padre Serra Cerrado al Tráfico de Vehículos el 25 de Marzo Hasta el 28 de Marzo
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
SANTA BARBARA, CA – 20 Marzo 2024 El equipo de pavimentación de la ciudad de Santa Bárbara cerrará Alameda Padre
The post Parte de la Alameda Padre Serra Cerrado al Tráfico de Vehículos el 25 de Marzo Hasta el 28 de Marzo appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Section of Alameda Padre Serra Closed to Vehicular Traffic March 25 Through March 28
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The City of Santa Barbara Street Operations Production Paving Crew will close Alameda Padre Serra to through traffic between Dover
The post Section of Alameda Padre Serra Closed to Vehicular Traffic March 25 Through March 28 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
CSUN Mural Honors Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
When you enter the main floor of the west wing of the California State University Northridge library, you’ll soon notice a new mural blending art, nature and the Indigenous history that the campus sits on
Pace Through Integration? UK Defence Attempts Procurement Reform, Again
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: RAND blog
The Ukraine war has exposed a challenge: how can allies gear their defence industries up to deliver materiel to Ukraine while remaining fit for purpose at home? By introducing a new integrated procurement model, the UK Ministry of Defence aims to consciously integrate lessons learned from past programmes—successful and otherwise.
Santa Barbara Rescue Mission Easter Feast
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara Rescue Mission is pleased to announce its annual Easter Feast for its homeless guests and
The post Santa Barbara Rescue Mission Easter Feast appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/20/santa-barbara-rescue-mission-easter-feast-3/
A couple of kids wrote a science book about Tesla & EVs, by kids and for kids
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
A new children’s science book about Tesla and EVs, Everything Tesla: From How They Work To How Fast They Go And All The Fun In Between!, launches today, written by twin 9th graders Aiden and Eliana Miao, and targeted at kids between the ages of 8 and 13.
West African Migrants Find That Struggles Continue After Arriving in New York
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
The migrant crisis in New York City, which began nearly two years ago with an influx of Venezuelans and other Latin Americans, has seen a tripling in the number of migrants from West African nations in the past year. Aron Ranen reports from New York City.
Archaeologists Keep Finding Preserved Human Brains. But How Do the Organs Remain Intact?
date: 2024-03-20, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Scientists have unearthed more than 4,400 human brains—some more than 12,000 years old—making them less rare than thought, a new study finds
An inexplicably deep dive into a little-watched sitcom called Til Death. “Since…
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044223-an-inexplicably-deep-dive
Following Safe Return, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 to Recount Space Mission
date: 2024-03-20, from: NASA breaking news
After spending 199 days in space, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 crew members will discuss their science mission aboard the International Space Station during a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT Monday, March 25, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration […]
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Nvidia's Omniverse shows the enterprise side of Apple's Vision Pro.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91062084/nvidia-omniverse-digital-twin-apple-vision-pro-nissan-z
The Epic Games Store is coming to Android and iOS
date: 2024-03-20, from: Liliputing
The Epic Games Store has only officially supported Windows and Mac since it first launched in 2019 as an alternative to Steam, GOG, and other game distribution platforms. But folks have been finding ways to get it up and running on Linux for a while, and soon you may also be able to access a […]
The post The Epic Games Store is coming to Android and iOS appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/the-epic-games-store-is-coming-to-android-and-ios/
US task force aims to plug security leaks in water sector
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
From a trickle to a flood, threats now seen as too great to ignore
US government is urging state officials to band together to improve the cybersecurity of the country’s water sector amid growing threats from foreign adversaries.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/us_water_sector_cybersecurity/
Hiboy’s EX6 Step-Thru e-bike is just $800, Greenworks electric tool deals, more
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Today is the first day of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale event, with today’s green deals all seeing new and returning low prices as a result. Headlining the best discounts today is the Hiboy EX6 Step-Thru Fat-Tire e-bike at a new $800 low. It is joined by the Greenworks Pro 80V 580 CFM Cordless Electric Axial Leaf Blower also falling to a new $306 low, as well as Jackery’s Explorer 500 Portable Power Station returning to its $349 low. 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.
Archaeologists Discover 2,000-Year-Old Rock Art in Brazil
date: 2024-03-20, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Recurring symbols across 16 sites suggest that many of the artworks were created by the same cultural group
Is Hyundai’s IONIQ 6 the ultimate EV? Fast charging, long-range, and affordable price
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
While automakers prepare to launch their next wave of electric vehicles, Hyundai already has an EV that checks all the boxes. According to a new report, the Hyundai IONIQ 6 is the only EV on the market offering fast charging in under 20 minutes, over 350 miles range, and at an affordable starting price.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/hyundai-ioniq-6-fast-charging-long-range-affordable/
Biden Administration Unveils Strict Auto Standards to Speed Electric Shift
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
New York — President Joe Biden’s administration announced Wednesday revised pollution standards for cars and trucks meant to accelerate the U.S. auto industry’s shift to electric to mitigate climate change.
The rules set ambitious emission reductions for 2032 but are moderated somewhat compared with preliminary standards unveiled last April. Following carmaker criticism, the final rules give manufacturers greater flexibility and ease the benchmarks in the first three years.
Those shifts were criticized as a sop to corporations from at least one environmental group, even as the final rule won praise from other leading NGOs focused on climate change.
The final rules — which were described by administration official as “the strongest ever” and would likely be undone if Republican Donald Trump defeats Biden in November — still require a nearly 50% drop in fleet-wide emissions in 2032 compared with 2026 through increased sales of electric vehicles (EVs) and low-emission autos.
The rules, which dovetail with other key Biden programs to build more EV charging stations and manufacturing facilities and incentivize EV sales, establish the environment as a significant point of difference in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump has mocked climate change as a problem and cast the transition to EVs as a job-killer that will benefit China at the expense of American workers.
Biden argues that U.S. auto builders need to take the lead in the expanding EV market.
“I brought together American automakers. I brought together American autoworkers,” said Biden in a statement. “Together, we’ve made historic progress.”
Alluding to his target set three years ago that 50% of new vehicles in 2030 would be EVs, Biden predicted “we’ll meet my goal for 2030 and race forward in the years ahead.”
EVs accounted for 7.6% in 2023 sales, up from 5.9% in 2022, according to Cox Automotive.
The original proposal had envisioned the EV share surging to as much as 67% of new vehicle sales by 2032.
Carmakers, which are midway through sweeping, multi-billion-dollar investments to build more EV capacity, criticized the initial standards as overly-stringent. They cited the limited state of charging capacity in the United States that has dampened consumer demand, as well as difficulties in supply of metals and other raw materials for EV batteries.
Following input from the auto industry, organized labor and auto dealerships, Biden administration officials decided to allow manufacturers a “variety of pathways” to reaching the standard, a senior Biden administration official said Tuesday.
This path could include a mix of EVs, conventional but more fuel-efficient engines, and plug-in hybrid vehicles, which have seen a rise in demand of late.
Biden administration officials opted to soften year-to-year emissions improvements in the 2027-2030 period, while maintaining the same target in 2032.
Moderating the targets in these first three years “was the right call,” said John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a Washington lobby representing carmakers.
“These adjusted EV targets — still a stretch goal — should give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up,” said Bozzella, adding that the extra time will allow more EV charging stations to come on-line.
The final standards set a fleet-wide target of 85 grams of carbon dioxide in 2032, down from 170 in 2027, according to an administration fact sheet.
Wednesday’s initiative won praise from leading environmental groups including the Sierra Club and NRDC, which said the new rules “take us in the right direction,” according to a statement from the Natural Resources Defense Council chief Manish Bapna.
But Dan Becker, director of the climate transport campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, slammed the adjusted rules as “significantly weaker.”
“The EPA caved to pressure from Big Auto, Big Oil and car dealers and riddled the plan with loopholes big enough to drive a Ford F150 through,” Becker said.
“The weaker rule means cars and pickups spew more pollution, oil companies keep socking consumers at the pump, and automakers keep wielding well-practiced delay tactics.”
Trusting content on the KDE Store
date: 2024-03-20, from: OS News
A global theme on the KDE third party store had an issue where it executed a script that removed user’s data. It wasn’t intended as malicious, but a mistake in some shell parsing. It was promptly identified and removed, but not before doing some damage to that user. This has started a lot of discourse around the concept of the store, security and upstream KDE. With the main question how can a theme have access to do this? ↫ David Edmundson That ‘some damage’ was personal data loss, which is quite something to happen after installing a theme. KDE kind of shot itself in the foot here by having something called ‘global themes’, which is a combination of themes for various elements of the desktop, like the application style, icon theme, cursor theme, colour scheme, and so on, but also things like panel layout and even widgets, applets, and other things that can run code. Some of these global themes use shell scripts to implement the more advanced aspects of their themes, and all these things combined means that global themes installed through KDE’s own built-in theme installer can cause some serious damage. The problem is getting some attention now, and I hope they can find a way to make this process more transparent for end users, so people know what they’re getting themselves into. I’m not advocating for dumbing all this stuff down – this isn’t iOS or whatever – but better communication, perhaps clearer labels and warnings are definitely needed.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138884/trusting-content-on-the-kde-store/
Keyboard Maestro 11
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Daring Fireball
https://wiki.keyboardmaestro.com/manual/Whats_New
Tesla Cybertruck’s Open Tonneau Can Make A Big Dent In The Driving Range
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
At 75 mph, running with the tonneau open resulted in a range loss of about 25 miles, Car and Driver found.
https://insideevs.com/news/713071/tesla-cybertruck-tonneau-effciency-gains/
Celebrity Marathoners
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/celebrity-marathoners
The NES game console has an unused expansion port, this NES Hub project could put it to use
date: 2024-03-20, from: Liliputing
Nintendo’s first home game console to launch in North America was an 8-bit system with support for up to two removable controllers and a 15-pin expansion port on the bottom. But Nintendo never actually released any accessories for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) that use the expansion port. Over the years, some hardware hackers have […]
The post The NES game console has an unused expansion port, this NES Hub project could put it to use appeared first on Liliputing.
BBEdit 15
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/notes-15.0.html
Academic Senate talks bots, course standards
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
Dystopian robot films where bots blend in with humans are no longer a thing of fiction. Bots have now entered academia, posing as students and
The post Academic Senate talks bots, course standards appeared first on The Roundup.
DARPA tasks Northrop Grumman with drafting lunar train blueprints
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Um. Let’s successfully land on Moon without immediately faceplanting first, amirite?
All aboard the space train – DARPA has commissioned defense contractor Northrop Grumman to figure out what would be necessary for a railroad network on the Moon.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/darpa_moon_train/
Do We Really Need A Gimbal-Mounted Headlight On Our Motorcycles?
date: 2024-03-20, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
BMW certainly thinks so.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/713050/bmw-motorrad-gimbal-mounted-headlight/
VW is ready to bring autonomous driving to large-scale production
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
VW is now the first vehicle manufacturer to develop a Level 4 autonomous driving (AD) service vehicle for large-scale production.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/vw-is-ready-to-bring-autonomous-driving-to-large-scale-production/
LAPC Theatre previews first production of spring semester
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
Scene partners Angelo Rosales and Rocio Ibarra stood together and rehearsed an argument between their characters. In the moment, as the pair intensely channeled Helena
The post LAPC Theatre previews first production of spring semester appeared first on The Roundup.
A dedicated community of gamers is racing to complete every uncleared level…
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044222-a-dedicated-community-of-
Volunteers Get Window to US Chinese Exclusion Act Era
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Seattle — The National Archives at Seattle keeps 50,000 records from the Chinese Exclusion Act era that banned Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States. Volunteers working on the documents find stories of resilience and some find details of their family’s past.
A group of volunteers has been gathering each week at the Seattle archives to index thousands of documents from the Chinese Exclusion Act years. Volunteers say they never know what kind of drama the files will reveal. It may be an intrusive questioning of a woman about her pregnancy, or a letter from a husband to the detention center authorities, asking to transfer money to his wife.
“No, they’re not happy, but at least the story is there,” said genealogist and historian Trish Hackett Nicola. She has been volunteering with the National Archives project for more than 20 years, sharing some of the stories on the project’s blog.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States and prevented those already in the country from becoming naturalized citizens. It was repealed in 1943. The National Archives at Seattle holds more than 50,000 files spanning over 60 years, documenting Chinese people entering or leaving the country.
“Immigration did interrogations, which obviously changed over the course of the exclusion period,” said Valerie Szwaya, director of archival operations at the National Archives at Seattle. “And they got substantially more detailed as the time period for exclusion went on.”
Volunteer Rhonda Farrar was motivated to join the project to resolve mysteries in her own family’s past. As she works with the files, she discovers that sometimes the questions are intrusive, she said, and sometimes they are mundane.
“They’ll ask you how many mirrors you have in the house back home in China, where you sleep, and where do you keep your rice,” Farrar said.
Sometimes, they are about family.
Farrar’s father, Edwin Law, died when she was a teenager. She found a file on him as she was working on a file from the last years of the Act. The file misspelled his name as “Low Yow Edwin.” He was interrogated at the beginning of World War II as he left the U.S. to serve as a fighter-pilot mechanic in China’s military. Finding his file came as a surprise.
“My job that day was just to go through the file and input the name that I saw on the header into the computer,” she said. “This file was sitting on the very end of this box. I thought, ‘That looks kind of close to my dad’s name.’ I opened it up and there was a picture of him, at age 23, staring me in the face. I physically started shaking, I had tears, it was just unbelievable. It really helped to bring everything together for me.”
Lily Eng found the files of several family members, including her great-grandfather, who went by the name of “Hop Lee.”
“We had no pictures; my grandfather never spoke about him,” Eng said. “Only after I got the immigration files, I realized that my great-grandfather had died in 1918, so my grandfather had never met him. His father had returned to America before my grandfather was born.”
Joyce Liu, who joined the project as a volunteer a year ago, said the stories revealed through the files made her appreciate the resilience of the earlier generation of Chinese people who came to America.
“I look at the tidbits of their lives, and it looks tough,” she said. “An arrival form of a mom who came back with her son from China that says that her son died on board of the ship … I was shocked. I mean, the mom must be devastated. It also dawned on me, how long was that voyage from the southern China to Seattle?”
Liu sees the Chinese people who arrived in America during the Chinese Exclusion Act period as pioneers.
“The history can really help us put things in perspective as a Chinese American here, and I just hope that history doesn’t repeat itself,” she said.
https://www.voanews.com/a/volunteers-get-window-to-us-chinese-exclusion-act-era-/7535589.html
US may sanction those rumored to be in covert Huawei chip network
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Crouching entity list candidate, hidden semiconductor … or that’s the idea, anyway
The US government is considering measures against a number of Chinese semiconductor companies linked with technology giant Huawei, in what appears to be further escalation of Washington’s chip wars strategy.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/washington_may_sanction_huawei_ring/
US Sanctions Russian Firms Over ‘Fake Websites’
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Washington — The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Wednesday against two people and their Russia-based companies it accused of supporting a Kremlin-directed disinformation campaign involving the impersonation of legitimate news websites.
The sanctions targeted Moscow-based company Social Design Agency and its founder, Ilya Andreevich Gambashidze, as well as the Russian-based Company Group Structura and its owner, Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tupikin, according to a statement from the Treasury Department.
On behalf of the Russian government, they handled a network of more than 60 websites that mimicked media organizations and used fake social media accounts to amplify their content, the statement said.
“The fake websites appeared to have been built to carefully mimic the appearance of legitimate news websites,” the Treasury Department said.
“The fake websites included embedded images and working links to legitimate sites.”
The sanctions come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year.
The United States has repeatedly accused Moscow of orchestrating what it calls global “malign influence campaigns” aimed at sowing instability in democratic countries.
Last October, a U.S. intelligence report said Russia was using its spy network, state-run media and social media to undermine public trust in elections around the world.
The United States shared the report with some 100 countries.
“We are committed to exposing Russia’s extensive campaigns of government-directed deception, which are intended to mislead voters and undermine trust in democratic institutions in the United States and around the world,” Brian E. Nelson, under-secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, was quoted as saying in Wednesday’s statement.
U.S.-based disinformation researchers say hundreds of sites mimicking news outlets — powered by artificial intelligence — have cropped up in recent months, fueling an explosion of false narratives, about subjects ranging from war to politicians.
That includes several Russian-linked websites mimicking news outlets and pushing Kremlin propaganda ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, according to researchers at Clemson University and the watchdog organization NewsGuard.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-sanctions-russian-firms-over-fake-websites-/7535593.html
Ride1Up CF Racer1 review: Testing the lowest cost, quality carbon fiber gravel/road e-bike
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
In the world of electric bikes, the words “carbon fiber” usually means big bucks. Actually, it’s the same in the pedal bike industry, it’s just that e-bikes already start out more expensive. That means carbon fiber electric bikes have always commanded premium prices – at least, until now. When Ride1Up rolled out the new CF Racer1 e-bike, it shook up the electric gravel bike market with a reasonably priced direct-to-consumer model that can scratch that lightweight e-bike itch for more hardcore riders.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/ride1up-cf-racer1-review-e-bike/
How much of it is an act?
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
A crime film with a comedy twist set in the 1930s opened the 2024 French Film Festival at Pierce College on March 12. The first
The post How much of it is an act? appeared first on The Roundup.
This Is The Only Snowmobile Designed By Pininfarina, And It’s Electric
date: 2024-03-20, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Meet Vidde, the Swedish electric snowmobile startup out to keep more than just the snow clean.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/712652/vidde-alfa-snowmobile-pininfarina-design/
Angband 4.2.5 for DOS
date: 2024-03-20, from: FreeDOS News
If you like “dungeon” style adventure games, you might be interested in Angband. Angband is a free, single-player dungeon exploration game, where you play an adventurer seeking riches, fighting monsters, and preparing for a final battle. Angband is open source software at the Angband website. Ben Collver has compiled a DOS version of Angband 4.2.5, which you can download at archive.org.
https://sourceforge.net/p/freedos/news/2024/03/angband-425-for-dos/
Fetch4FD system info program
date: 2024-03-20, from: FreeDOS News
Fetch4FD is a DOS version of the neofetch program from some Unix and Linux systems. (Neofetch displays information about your system, next to an ascii logo of some kind.) Laaca’s Fetch4FD is based on Dosfetch by Leah Neukirchen, but is heavily reworked and extends its capabilities, including: + screen is not deleted before program output + output can be redirected to file + multilingual support + help screen + detects RAM over 4GB + detects hard drives over 2GB + more informative CPU detection. You can download it directly as a zip file, at Fetch4FD. Includes source code.
https://sourceforge.net/p/freedos/news/2024/03/fetch4fd-system-info-program/
Efforts by US to Crack Down on TikTok Spark Backlash Against Israel
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Washington — The initial backlash came quickly.
Within hours of last week’s vote in the House of Representatives approving legislation that could lead to a ban of the popular TikTok app in the United States, anger and outrage poured onto multiple social media platforms.
Some of the anger targeted U.S. lawmakers who supported the bill. Some focused on China.
And a number of social media accounts, some with large followings, put the blame on Israel and pro-Jewish groups in the United States.
“A foreign government is influencing the 2024 election,” Briahna Joy Gray posted on X.
“I’m not talking about China, but Israel,” added the former national press secretary for Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign.
Jake Shields, a former mixed martial arts fighter who has used social media in the past to share his views on transgender issues, blamed the Anti-Defamation League and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
“The ADL said Tiktok Is a threat to Israel,” Shields posted on X. “AIPAC the Israeli lobby gave Dan Crebsahaw [sic] millions of dollars Now Crenshaw fights to ban TikTok.”
And journalist Glenn Greenwald said on X that the TikTok legislation gained momentum only after “Bipartisan DC became enraged so many Americans were allowed to criticize Israel” using the TikTok app.
Other posts and videos were quickly shared across other major platforms, including TikTok and Facebook.
U.S. officials contacted by VOA said the rush by some social media users to blame Israel or Jewish groups was not a surprise.
“Unfortunately, there are antisemitic people in America who will blame Israel and the Jewish people for anything, even Congress banning a Chinese-controlled app,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in a statement to VOA.
“Their love for TikTok is no coincidence; it’s a tool used by the Chinese Communist Party to sow division and weaken our nation,” said Rubio, the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a supporter of the legislation. “We can debate Middle East policy, but we must not tolerate hate or allow Communist China to manipulate our discourse.”
The FBI, which has warned repeatedly over the last several months both about the danger of TikTok and about a rising tide of antisemitism across the country, declined to comment, pointing to comments made by Director Christopher Wray at congressional hearings earlier this month.
“Americans need to ask themselves whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control access to their data, whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control the information they get through their recommendation algorithm,” Wray told House lawmakers during the annual Worldwide Threats hearing last week.
“When it comes to the algorithm and the recommendation algorithm and the ability to conduct influence operations, that is extraordinarily difficult to detect,” Wray added.
Researchers who track influence operations on social media, while wary, tell VOA that they have yet to see evidence that the spread of conspiracy theories blaming Israel or Jewish groups for the TikTok legislation is part of a concerted campaign.
“The period after 10/7 [Hamas terror attack on Israel] made clear that antisemitic conspiracies can spread rapidly across TikTok just by the nature of the platform’s algorithm, so no external coordination would be required as an explanation,” said Ben Dubow, president of Washington-based Omelas, which uses a combination of data collection, artificial intelligence and experts to track and analyze online disinformation and influence operations.
Dubow did not rule out the possibility that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, could be giving the anti-Israel and antisemitic posts more play if the Chinese government thought it might be helpful.
“The scant research available on TikTok’s algorithm often suggests ByteDance privileges content favorable to CCP [Chinese Communist Party] policy goals,” he said.
Omelas also found the conspiracy theories received some attention from other media outlets, including Russia-controlled RT and Qatar-based Al Jazeera.
“We’re seeing a few posts from RT and Al Jazeera tying the renewed push for a ban to TikTok’s role in the spread of ‘anti-Zionism’ in response to October 7,” Dubow said. “But none tying it explicitly to AIPAC and ADL.”
Geoff Roth, a professor of practice and journalism at the University of Houston, agreed the surge of social media posts echoing the Israel-TikTok narrative appeared to be “more organic.”
“The Israel conspiracy theory, as I like to put it, just seems to be coming from people who in general post stuff that is anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian,” he told VOA.
“It comes from different sides of the political spectrum,” Roth said. “But I think there’s people on both sides of the political spectrum that have a lot of anti-Israeli sentiment because of what’s going on in Gaza.”
Roth also noted that the theory tying the TikTok legislation to Israel and Jewish groups, while possibly the most prominent, is not the only narrative that gained traction following the bill’s passage in the House.
“There’s the narrative of security and concerns about the [Chinese]Communist Party and whether or not that [the legislation] is justified,” he said. “And then sort of the more far out things out there like, this is a Republican plot to get younger voters to be against Biden because if Biden signed it into law, he’s going to lose votes from younger people.”
One account on X pushing the Republican plot theory called the TikTok legislation “another trick.”
A second X account added, “I’d wager Republicans who just voted for a TikTok Ban will rename it the ’Biden Ban the moment he signs it and within weeks that will be the official name and all anyone remembers.”
March 19, 2024
date: 2024-03-20, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-19-2024-515
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Manton
Reece gives Facebook the
benefit
of the doubt. I have at times been that optimistic. And there are good
well-intentioned people at every bigco. The problem is, when you get to
the top, they don’t actually give a F about any of this. They like to
keep their users where they are. Right now Facebook is hoovering up
people who are looking for something new in the Twitter space. So it
helps to encourage people to believe that there will be a way out if
they want to try something else. But everyone knows for real that that
isn’t what’s going to happen. This is in the tech playbook. When
you’re growing, you want everything to be open. When there aren’t any
more users to get from other places, well, that was a
nice
idea.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/20.html#a163628
Last year, MacKenzie Scott announced plans to give $250 million to nonprofit…
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044221-last-year-mackenzie-scott
Tesla partners on new solar solution expected to slash rooftop solar costs
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla has partnered with IronRidge, a solar mount manufacturer, to combine their products into a solution that’s expected to slash rooftop solar costs.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/tesla-partners-solar-solution-expected-slash-rooftop-solar-costs/
Polestar (PSNY) officially announces EVs can now charge at Tesla Superchargers in China
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Polestar (PSNY) has officially teamed up with Tesla, granting its EVs access to Tesla’s Superchargers in China.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/polestar-evs-officially-charge-tesla-superchargers-china/
Garlic chicken without garlic? Critics think Amazon recipe book was cooked up by AI
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Twitter tipster points to suspicious signs from author producing thousands of recipes
Updated Late last year, Sam Altman, the optimistic CEO of chatbot manufacturer OpenAI, predicted artificial general intelligence would be with us in five years, give or take.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/amazon_selling_crockpot_recipe_books/
Meet the Women Launching, Recovering Artemis Missions
date: 2024-03-20, from: NASA breaking news
In celebration of Women’s History Month, NASA highlights the multifaceted group of women behind the launch and recovery efforts for Artemis missions. They are a driving force in preparing and planning for crewed missions and are helping inspire the next generation of space explorers – the Artemis Generation. On the left is Artemis Launch Director […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/meet-the-women-launching-recovering-artemis-missions/
Subaru And Panasonic’s Cylindrical EV Battery Deal Is Taking Shape
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
The two partners announced a basic cooperative agreement.
https://insideevs.com/news/713037/subaru-panasonic-cylindrical-ev-battery-deal/
The Vela Supernova Remnant
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/the-vela-supernova-remnant
Judge Allows Trump to Appeal Ruling Keeping DA on Georgia Election Case
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
ATLANTA, GEORGIA — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case is allowing Donald Trump to appeal a ruling letting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis remain on the prosecution.
Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday granted a request by defense attorneys to ask the Georgia Court of Appeals to review the judge’s decision. It’s now up to the appeals court to decide whether the court will hear it.
McAfee in a ruling last week denied the defense’s request to disqualify Willis from the case or dismiss the indictment over her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The judge said Willis can remain on the case if Wade resigns, which Wade did on Friday.
But the judge also rebuked Willis for her “tremendous” lapse in judgment and questioned the truthfulness of Wade’s and her testimony about the timing of their relationship.
Wade’s resignation allowed Willis to remain on the most sprawling of four criminal cases against the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
But the long-term damage to the public perception of the prosecution remains unclear, particularly considering Trump’s relentless barrage of attacks on the pair who pledged to hold Trump accountable but found their own actions under a public microscope.
Wade offered his resignation in a letter to Willis, saying he was doing so “in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the American public and to move this case forward as quickly as possible.”
“I will always remember — and will remind everyone — that you were brave enough to step forward and take on the investigation and prosecution of the allegations that the defendants in this case engaged in a conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 Presidential Election,” Willis wrote.
Trump’s team felt differently.
In a social media post, Trump said the “Fani Willis lover” had “resigned in disgrace,” and Trump repeated his assertion that the case is an effort to hurt his campaign to reclaim the White House in November. Trump has denied doing anything wrong and pleaded not guilty.
Attorneys for Trump and the other defendants had said a failure to remove Willis could imperil any convictions and force a retrial if an appeals court later finds it was warranted.
“Neither the Court nor the Parties should run an unnecessary risk of having to go through that process more than once,” they wrote.
EPA finalizes softer exhaust rule to save you billions and Big Auto’s still mad about it
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
The EPA has finalized its proposed 2027-2032 emissions rule, which is expected to result in a large increase in zero emission vehicle sales as vehicle exhaust limits rise rapidly through the end of the decade, on top of a separate rule yesterday from DoE about EV mpg-equivalents. Both rules were softened from their original proposals just like automakers asked for, but the largest automaker lobbyist is still complaining.
A moment with a bunch of fun sheep
date: 2024-03-20, from: Manu - I write blog
<p>You know, it’s never too late to change career. Maybe one day. Sheep are fun though.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Get in touch</h2> <p>Have something to share? Want me as your <a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/i-ll-read-it">first reader</a>? Get in touch. My inbox is always open.</p> <a href="mailto:hello@manuelmoreale.com">Connect</a> —
<a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/guestbook">Guestbook</a>
<hr>
<h2>One a month</h2> <p>That's how little it takes to help with my <a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/on-dreams-and-goals">goal</a>. If you feel generous, consider supporting what I do.</p> <a href="https://ko-fi.com/manuelmoreale">Donate</a> —
<a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/supporters">Supporters</a>
<hr>
<h2>People and Blogs</h2> <p>I ask people to talk about themselves and their blogs. <a href="https://peopleandblogs.com/">Learn more</a> or subscribe.</p> <a href="https://manuelmoreale.com/feed/peopleandblogs">RSS</a> —
<a href="https://buttondown.email/peopleandblogs">Email</a>
https://manuelmoreale.com/@/page/IgvXibI4kHInwHdR
Nothing Phone (2a) Community Edition Project aims to crowdsource design for a special edition model
date: 2024-03-20, from: Liliputing
The Nothing Phone (2a) is a mid-range smartphone with premium features including a 120 Hz AMOLED display and a camera system that includes optical image stabilization and two 50MP cameras. It also has a stripped-down version of Nothing’s signature feature: LED light “glyphs” on the back of the phone that can be used for custom […]
The post Nothing Phone (2a) Community Edition Project aims to crowdsource design for a special edition model appeared first on Liliputing.
The EPA’s Final Auto Emission Rules Are Out
date: 2024-03-20, from: Heatmap News
The Biden administration announced final new emissions standards for cars on Wednesday, significantly curtailing both the carbon dioxide and the toxic soot and chemicals that spew from the tailpipes of the nation’s light- and medium-duty vehicles.
With that, Biden is checking off one of the two most important pieces of unfinished climate business he has left on his first term to-do list. The rules tighten pollution limits gradually over six years, beginning in 2027. In concert with other Biden policies including consumer tax credits for electric vehicles purchases, initiatives to build out charging infrastructure, and support for domestic manufacturing, the standards will help accelerate the transition to electric vehicles that is already well underway.
Transportation is responsible for more planet-warming emissions than any other part of the U.S. economy. To get the country on the path of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, as Biden has set out to do, curbing car emissions is unavoidable.
When the rules were originally proposed last year, we wrote that they would “roughly halve carbon pollution from America’s massive car and truck fleet, the world’s third largest, within a decade.” That’s still broadly the case, even though the final version features one big change: Automakers will now have more time to cut emissions from their fleets. They will still have to achieve the same standard in 2032 as what was originally proposed, but they can transition to it more slowly.
Ahead of the official release, senior administration officials downplayed the significance of the slower rollout. They argued that giving automakers, dealers, and labor unions more time in the near-term would make for a sturdier rule, and that the cumulative emissions benefits of the final standard converge with the original proposal. At a White House event on Wednesday, members of the president’s climate team built on that message, framing the new rules not as a government mandate but rather as a tool to give consumers more of what they already want. “We are witnessing a technological revolution driven by the markets,” Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael Regan proclaimed.
Also speaking at the event was John Bozzella, head of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents most U.S. automakers, including the Big Three. Bozzella praised the administration for heeding the industry’s concerns over the original proposal’s rapid phase-in and said the new rules were “much improved” from what had initially been proposed. “Pace matters to automakers,” he said. “It certainly matters to consumers.”
The full rule was released mid-day Wednesday, and we’re digging through it to find out exactly what else has changed. But here’s what we know so far.
What do the rules say?
The rules strengthen greenhouse gas emission limits, in terms of grams of CO2 per mile, that automakers will have to adhere to, on average, across their product lines. They also tighten limits on dangerous pollutants, including particulate matter — the tiny bits that make up soot — and nitrogen oxides.
This chart shows how the cuts in the final rule compare to those proposed in the draft rule. The version released last April required automakers to make steeper reductions to carbon emissions in the first three years, while the final rule allows for a more gradual reduction.
Will the rules ban gas-powered cars?
No. They are what’s called technology-neutral standards, meaning that automakers have options for how to comply with them. Since automakers have to meet the emissions targets on average across their fleets, rather than for each vehicle, it’s likely they’ll produce a range of options in 2032, including plug-in hybrids, regular hybrids, and even some gas cars with improved efficiency — though their fleets will probably have a much higher proportion of EVs than they do now.
While that generally hasn’t changed from the preliminary rule, the Biden administration’s messaging around it has.
When it released the initial proposal, the EPA emphasized that the least-cost path to achieving the standards would be for about two-thirds of new vehicles sold in 2032 to be electric. Although this was just one potential scenario, it was widely interpreted as a target or even a mandate — particularly by Biden’s political opponents.
On Tuesday, administration officials said that the two-thirds finding had been based on limited data. The EPA now estimates that EVs may make up anywhere between 30% and 56% of new light-duty sales from model years 2030 to 2032.
How much carbon pollution will the rules avoid?
By 2032, the light-duty fleet on offer from automakers will emit half as much carbon as vehicles on the market in 2026.
The EPA estimates that these rules will avoid 7.2 billion metric tons of carbon from 2027 to 2055, which accounts for the vehicles’ full lifetime on the road. That’s slightly less than the 7.3 billion metric tons the initial proposal would have avoided.
How will the rules affect new car-buyers?
The rules will change the mix of vehicles sold by automakers, encouraging dealers to sell more hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles. They’re also expected to save Americans roughly $62 billion in fuel costs and avoided maintenance costs, since the EPA assumes that EVs are still cheaper to operate and maintain. On average, a consumer will save about $6,000 over the lifetime of a 2032 vehicle compared to one sold in 2026, according to the agency.
The tailpipe rule will likely increase the cost of building each vehicle, which could translate into higher prices for consumers. However, state and federal tax incentives — as well as the cheaper cost of operating and fueling EVs — will offset that increase.
How will the rules affect people who don’t own a car — or who don’t plan to buy one soon?
The rules are projected to deliver major health and environmental benefits to the public. The EPA estimates they will produce $37 billion in benefits from improved public health and climate mitigation, including avoided hospitalizations and premature deaths.
This is what the EPA was created to do — use the best available science to protect human health and the environment. But even after decades of improvements in air quality, there is still a lot of room for improvement. More than one third of the population still live in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particulate pollution, according to The American Lung Association’s most recent “ state of the air” report. The risks are deeply unequal, with people of color making up half of those exposed. The report also noted that climate change is making it harder to protect people, as heat, drought, and wildfires increasingly lead to spikes in these pollutants. Altogether, ozone and particulate matter are responsible for more than 60,000 premature deaths annually, according to the Health Effects Institute, a nonprofit, independent research organization funded by the EPA and automakers.
How is the Biden administration selling the rule?
Officials stressed that EV sales are already shattering analyst predictions, prices are dropping, and product availability is growing. They see this rule as part of a larger ecosystem of policies — including those in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act — that are revitalizing American manufacturing and creating jobs while also contributing to the global fight against climate change. The EPA’s press release notes that companies have announced more than $160 billion in domestic clean vehicle manufacturing, and that the auto manufacturing sector as a whole has added more than 100,000 jobs since Biden took office.
The administration is also, perhaps less loudly, selling the pollution standards as a path to freedom from fossil fuels. During the press call Tuesday, a senior administration official said the rules would enable consumers to break loose from the oil industry’s grip on how we get around and how much it costs us.
What happens next?
The new rules kick in for cars in model year 2027, which will go on sale in 2026 and are being designed right now. Although the Biden administration has suggested that the new rules have won the support of the car industry — including automakers, labor unions, and dealerships — it could still face a court challenge from attorneys general in Republican-controlled states. Republican officials have repeatedly sued to block the Biden administration’s climate policies.
It’s unclear how the Supreme Court would respond to such a challenge. Although the Court has long backed the EPA’s ability to limit climate pollution from cars and trucks, its hard-right majority has recently rolled back what were once thought to be bedrock environmental laws. In this term alone, the Court seems likely to restrict the EPA’s ability to regulate toxic air pollution while sweeping away a central legal doctrine of environmental regulation.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the White
House event announcing the new rules.
https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/epa-auto-emissions-rule
London Clinic probes claim staffer tried to peek at Princess Kate’s records
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
First: Not being able buy a meat pie with a credit card. Now this
The London Clinic where the Princess of Wales had surgery at the start of this year says it is investigating claims an employee tried to access her medical records.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/london_clinic_probes_claims_staffer/
The EPA’s New Emissions Standards Mean A More Gradual EV Transition
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
Experts say the standards are worth celebrating, but they don’t go far enough to meet U.S. obligations towards climate change.
https://insideevs.com/news/713144/epa-announces-new-emissions-standards-evs/
55 Years Ago: Four Months Until the Moon Landing
date: 2024-03-20, from: NASA breaking news
The road to the Moon landing cleared a major hurdle in March 1969 with the flight of Apollo 9 that tested all components of the spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Astronauts James A. McDivitt and Russell L. Schweickart flew the Lunar Module (LM) Spider while David R. Scott awaited their return in the Command Module […]
https://www.nasa.gov/history/55-years-ago-four-months-until-the-moon-landing/
California’s state Senate is set to hit gender milestone
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
Women make up 41.7% of the California Legislature, making it 11th in the U.S. in terms of female representation.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/20/californias-state-senate-is-set-to-hit-gender-milestone/
Canadian arrested for ‘stealing secret’ to speedy Tesla battery production
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Special tech allegedly lets Musk’s assembly lines produce 5-10 times more kit than rivals
Canadian battery exec Klaus Pflugbeil, a 58-year-old who lives in Ningbo, China, was arrested in Long Island yesterday for trying to sell undercover agents “battery assembly trade secrets” so crucial to Tesla’s ops that it spent millions on them.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/tesla_complaint/
Let’s Talk About the Flock Study That Says It Solves Crime
date: 2024-03-20, from: 404 Media Group
A Flock study claims it is “instrumental in solving 10% of reported crime in U.S.” A researcher who oversaw the study is now questioning how it was done.
https://www.404media.co/researcher-who-oversaw-flock-surveillance-study-now-has-concerns-about-it/
Joann fabric and hobby stores enter bankruptcy; post-pandemic craft decline cited
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
One industry analyst noted that Joann has let its “specialist-type service” slide with staffing cuts.
Xiaomi’s New EV Will Let You Add Physical Buttons Below Its Touch Screen
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
The SU7 comes from the factory with an all-touch interface, but you can install buttons yourself.
https://insideevs.com/news/713044/xiaomi-docking-buttons-screen/
Addressing Underrepresentation in Rural New England Community Archives: Documenting the History of Black Lives in Rural New England
date: 2024-03-20, from: Internet Archive Blog
Guest post by Dylan Gaffney, Information Services Associate for Local History & Special Collections, Forbes Library. This post is part of a series written by members of the Community Webs […]
Behind the Scenes: The Marketplace Tray Drop
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
At the Occidental Marketplace, used trays, dishes and excess food rotate around into the seeming abyss. Associate Director of Campus Dining Robert Starec said that the Marketplace was remodeled in 1999, and the tray drop system has been in place for the past 25 years. According to Starec, guests who eat at the Marketplace take […]
The post Behind the Scenes: The Marketplace Tray Drop appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/culture/2024/03/20/behind-the-scenes-the-marketplace-tray-drop/2911808
Highland Theatre closure sparks community mourning and hope for resurrection
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Feb. 29, five days before its 99th anniversary, the Highland Theatre closed its doors indefinitely. Since then, graffiti has appeared on the theater’s marquee, and the lobby has remained dim behind drawn gates. Ralph Waxman, president of the Arroyo Arts Collective, said the closure was an inevitable result of the theater’s recent financial troubles, which […]
The post Highland Theatre closure sparks community mourning and hope for resurrection appeared first on The Occidental.
Emmons offers a plethora of mental health services
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
According to their website, Emmons features several mental health services available to students, including drop-in chat spaces and group counseling services, which occur once per week for one to two hours. Examples of these spaces include What’s the Word, Hummingbird? — a space centering the experiences of POC, LGBTQ+, first-generation and international students — and […]
The post Emmons offers a plethora of mental health services appeared first on The Occidental.
Breakfast
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
I sit at the table, watching the world go by feeling like pure freedom, I think I can fly and write, and act, and shout with joy out a spell what was this marvel, pray tell? When the mental hurricane strikes, and your senses shatter, there is no pain or pleasure, nothing really matters, […]
The post Breakfast appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/media/2024/03/20/breakfast/2911768
Berkus Hall renovations underway, Berkus Gym remodeled
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
After two weeks of renovations, the Berkus Gym in Berkus Hall reopened March 18 and is now a cardio-only gym and half the size, according to an email from Residential Education and Housing Services (REHS). In comparison to the larger 1,600 square-foot Alumni Gymnasium, the original Berkus Gym was a smaller fitness facility with a selection […]
The post Berkus Hall renovations underway, Berkus Gym remodeled appeared first on The Occidental.
The Occidental wins seven awards including Best Newspaper from California College Media Association
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Occidental’s student-run newspaper, The Occidental, placed in the top three for seven awards and won the Best Newspaper award for the four-year colleges and universities with under 15,000 students division at the 2023 California College Media Association Awards March 9. The senior leadership team of the Spring 2023 to Fall 2023 semesters — former Editor-In-Chiefs […]
The post The Occidental wins seven awards including Best Newspaper from California College Media Association appeared first on The Occidental.
Professors on sabbatical dive into planetary metaphysics, Mexican philosophy and more
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Every year, the Dean’s Office makes decisions about sabbatical applications for Occidental professors. According to Salvador Fernández, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, applications from professors for sabbatical leaves are due Dec. 15, and the Dean’s Office takes at least two months to come to a decision about the application. “The College supports sabbaticals to provide release time for intellectual enrichment […]
The post Professors on sabbatical dive into planetary metaphysics, Mexican philosophy and more appeared first on The Occidental.
USC Street Medicine teams treat the homeless one patient at a time
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
In 2018, USC Street Medicine Founders Brett Feldman and Dr. Jehni Robinson took on one of LA’s greatest obstacles: healthcare for its unsheltered homeless population. The USC Street Medicine Team provides point of care health services that meets homeless patients wherever they are. The program combines medical expertise, social service outreach, and cutting-edge research to […]
The post USC Street Medicine teams treat the homeless one patient at a time appeared first on The Occidental.
Athletes of the Week Koko Butcher and Nico Morales are optimistic about 2024 season
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Koko Butcher Koko Butcher (junior) had a standout performance at the Convergence water polo Tournament March 1 in wins against UC Merced and Penn State Behrend, totaling eight goals and four assists. “At the end of the game against UC Merced, there was five seconds left, and we got the ball while the game was tied 8-8,” Butcher […]
The post Athletes of the Week Koko Butcher and Nico Morales are optimistic about 2024 season appeared first on The Occidental.
Opinion: Why do I support geoengineering?
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Occidental News (Occidental College Student Newspaper)
Before the creation of modern industrial society, it’s hard to say that life for humans was “good” in any meaningful capacity. More than half of children died before age 15 (compared to one in 20 now), life expectancy was less than half what it is now and countries such as the United Kingdom had per-capita […]
The post Opinion: Why do I support geoengineering? appeared first on The Occidental.
https://theoccidentalnews.com/opinions/2024/03/20/opinion-why-do-i-support-geoengineering/2911782
Key Test Drive of Orion on NASA’s Artemis II to Aid Future Missions
date: 2024-03-20, from: NASA breaking news
Astronauts will test drive NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the first time during the agency’s Artemis II test flight next year. While many of the spacecraft’s maneuvers like big propulsive burns are automated, a key test called the proximity operations demonstration will evaluate the manual handling qualities of Orion. During the approximately 70-minute demonstration set to […]
Girls Do Porn Ringleader Pleads Not Guilty
date: 2024-03-20, from: 404 Media Group
Michael Pratt pleaded not guilty to 19 felony counts as his partner was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
https://www.404media.co/michael-pratt-not-guilty-plea-girls-do-porn/
It’s one of those days when I’m thinking about the interactive hot…
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044210-its-one-of-those-days
Turns out we don’t scream for ice cream
date: 2024-03-20, from: Marketplace Morning Report
The ice cream business is pretty chilly these days. Consumer goods giant Unilever announced this week that it’s going to spin off its ice cream business, which includes familiar names like Ben & Jerry’s, Popsicle and Klondike. The industry is dealing with declining demand, so how does it plan to defrost? Plus, the secret to using AI well at work may involve “more chat and less bot.”
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/turns-out-we-dont-scream-for-ice-cream
Serial extortionist of medical facilities pleads guilty to cybercrime charges
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Robert Purbeck even went as far as threatening a dentist with the sale of his child’s data
A cyberattacker and extortionist of a medical center has pleaded guilty to federal computer fraud and abuse charges in the US.…
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
An application for AI. Work with a user to get a great bug report. I think I’ve even written about this once before when AI was more of a dream.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/20.html#a142922
Northern California tribe that lost 90% of land during Gold Rush to get site to serve as gateway to redwoods
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
The Yurok will be the first Native people to manage tribal land with the National Park Service under a historic memorandum of understanding signed Tuesday by the tribe, Redwood National and State Parks and the nonprofit Save the Redwoods League.
Move over Toyota, this Japanese electric pickup takes aim at Ford’s F-150 Lightning
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
A new Japanese all-electric EV pickup is set to hit global markets, and it’s not a Toyota. Isuzu will unveil its first 100% electric pickup truck, the D-MAX BEV, later this month. The rugged-looking 4X4 EV will compete with Ford’s F-150 Lightning in overseas markets.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/move-over-toyota-japanese-ev-pickup-rival-fords-lightning/
So much for ‘all-electric’ – Fiat 500e may come with a gas engine
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Stellantis-owned Fiat has had high hopes for its all-electric Fiat 500, available in the US, but now a report says that the company may backtrack due to low demand and add an ICE version to the lineup.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/so-much-for-all-electric-fiat-500e-may-come-with-a-gas-engine/
How much should a 4-year university tuition cost?
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Round Up (Peirce College Student Paper)
“I feel for a four-year tuition for me—I want to go to UCLA—so I say about $37,000 to $40,000 dollars for four years.”
The post How much should a 4-year university tuition cost? appeared first on The Roundup.
Intel scores $8.5B in government cheddar to supercharge fab builds
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Department of Commerce says it’s the largest such investment in US semiconductor manufacturing
Intel is set to grab up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and up to $11 billion in loans from the US government under the CHIPS and Science Act to help build out its semiconductor manufacturing capacity.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/intel_chips_act_funding/
Ferrari CEO: ‘Our EV Will Not Be Silent’
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
An all-electric prancing horse is expected to launch in the final quarter of 2025.
https://insideevs.com/news/713042/ferrari-ceo-our-ev-will-not-be-silent/
Tesla produces enough battery cells for 1,000 Cybertrucks a week
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla has confirmed that it has ramped battery cell production enough to 1,000 Cybertrucks a week at Gigafactory Texas.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/tesla-produces-enough-battery-cells-for-1000-cybertrucks-a-week/
Delta pilot found drunk before transatlantic flight sentenced to 10 months prison
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
The pilot, 63-year-old American citizen was due to captain a flight from Edinburgh to New York’s JFK airport on the morning of June 16, 2023, but his blood alcohol test exceeded the legal limit. He had two bottles of Jägermeister liqueur in his bag.
West Eyes New Measures After Passage of Hong Kong Security Law
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Taipei, Taiwan — Hong Kong’s adoption of a second national security law Tuesday is being criticized by foreign governments, while some business figures say the law will hasten foreign businesses’ departure from the city.
The United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union expressed concern about the ambiguous language in the law and its speedy adoption, which was completed in less than two weeks.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned that the vague provisions in the bill, also known as Article 23, could lead to the criminalization of freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to receive and impart information, which are all rights protected under international human rights law.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department said passage of Article 23 could accelerate the closing of a once-open society, adding that the U.S. is analyzing the potential impact of the law.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the law has failed to “provide certainty for international organizations, including diplomatic missions” operating in Hong Kong, and it will foster “the culture of self-censorship” that is now dominating the social and political landscape in the city.
Apart from reiterating concerns about the law’s potential impact on Hong Kong people’s basic rights and freedom, the EU said the bill’s increased penalties, extraterritorial reach and partial retroactive applicability are “also deeply worrying.”
Despite the international criticism, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee hailed the passage of Article 23 as “a historic moment for Hong Kong,” while the Chinese government expressed “full support” of the development.
Rights activists call for sanctions
While they welcome the concerns expressed by foreign governments, some human rights activists urged democratic countries to respond with more forceful measures.
“With the enactment of the Article 23 legislation, now is the time to impose sanctions on officials like Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee,” said Benedict Rogers, the CEO of U.K.-based nongovernmental organization Hong Kong Watch.
Since Hong Kong implemented the controversial national security law and detained dozens of pro-democracy activists and politicians in 2020, the U.S. is the only country that has imposed sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials, 24 of them in all.
Rogers said since the U.K. doesn’t want to damage trade relations with China, the British government remains reluctant to impose sanctions on Chinese officials over the deteriorating conditions in Hong Kong.
“[While] they imposed sanctions on some Chinese officials over the human rights violations in Xinjiang, they haven’t done anything similar on Hong Kong,” he told VOA by phone.
While the U.S. has introduced some tools to counter China’s tightening control over Hong Kong — including sanctions, new legislation to ban the export of certain items to Hong Kong and the elimination of Hong Kong’s special status — some observers urged Washington to roll out more forceful measures following the passage of the Article 23.
“There’s a lot that Congress and the administration can do, including issuing additional sanctions against people responsible for the implementation of the two national security laws and advancing other existing legislations related to Hong Kong,” Samuel Bickett, a Washington-based human rights activist, told VOA by phone.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday, leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party urged him to consider imposing new sanctions against officials responsible for undermining freedom and rule of law in Hong Kong.
They also vowed to advance the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office Certification Act and the Transnational Repression Policy Act through Congress. Once passed, the two bills would require Hong Kong to shut down its trade offices in the U.S. and allow the U.S. government to impose sanctions against Chinese or Hong Kong officials responsible for launching transnational repression against dissidents in the U.S.
Laws’ effect on immigration, business
Apart from adopting more forceful measures against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, Bickett and Rogers think democratic countries should introduce new immigration measures to accommodate the growing number of Hong Kong citizens leaving the city. According to statistics from Bloomberg, around 500,000 people have left Hong Kong since 2021.
While the U.K. has introduced an immigration program for holders of British Overseas Passports from Hong Kong, which was recently extended to more young people, Rogers hopes other countries, including the U.S. and those in Europe, can create similar programs tailored for Hong Kongers.
“I would like to see the EU and the U.S. offer some options so Hong Kongers who don’t qualify for the U.K.’s immigration scheme can have alternative options,” he said.
Since the Article 23 legislation uses vague language to define espionage and theft of state secrets, some analysts say foreign businesses may face serious challenges when conducting due diligence investigations or seeking information.
“This could be a big blow to banks and financial institutions, and it will further discourage investors from coming to Hong Kong since access to information is now further restricted,” Eric Lai, an expert on Hong Kong’s legal system at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, told VOA by phone.
Some analysts say the growing uncertainty in the business environment would lead more foreign businesses to consider leaving Hong Kong.
“Article 23 will hasten the departure of international businesses unless the Hong Kong government quickly establishes guard rails constricting the operational boundaries of the new law,” Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research, told VOA in a written response.
Trader Joe’s recalls some cashews in California and 15 other states due to salmonella risk
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
The affected 50% Less Salt Roasted and Salted Whole Cashews are sold in 16 states.
Saratoga contracts with AI company to increase transparency
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
Hamlet uses artificial intelligence to compile summaries of council meetings, agendas.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/20/saratoga-contracts-with-ai-company-to-increase-transparency/
Arsonist starts fire in Campbell business
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
Building was occupied, but no injuries reported.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/20/arsonist-starts-fire-in-campbell-business/
A 3-year-old left in a running truck at Northern California gas station was behind the wheel when it hit and killed a 2-year-old
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
The truck’s owner had gone inside the gas station store, police said. While he was inside the store, “the three-year-old got out of their car seat and got into the driver’s seat.
Miramar Open to Change
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
After seeing the significant changes they made in response to the feedback we shared with them, including removing the third floor near Eucalyptus, I now fully support the plan.
The post Miramar Open to Change appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/20/miramar-open-to-change/
The WMO Just Issued a Climate ‘Red Alert’
date: 2024-03-20, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: Much of the Northeast will be cold, windy, with a chance of snow today • Rio de Janeiro remains under an excessive heat warning • It is 45 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Seoul, South Korea, where the MLB kicked off its regular season.
THE TOP FIVE
- UN agency issues ‘red alert’ on worsening climate crisis
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization is “sounding the Red Alert to the world” on the urgency of the climate crisis after publishing its annual State of the Global Climate report yesterday. The report paints a dire picture of the state of the planet in 2023, with record high greenhouse gas levels, temperatures, and sea level rise. “Climate change is about much more than temperatures,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “What we witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat, and Antarctic sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern,” she said. A few key findings:
- More than 90% of the global ocean experienced heatwave conditions at some point in 2023.
- Glacier ice loss was the highest on record and Antarctic sea ice was the lowest on record.
- 2023 was the warmest year in the 174-year instrumental record according to six data sets (seen below).
WMO
The report came on the same day that climatologist Gavin Schmidt, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, penned a commentary in Nature explaining that the planet warmed 0.2 degrees Celsius more last year than climate scientists expected, and nobody knows why. “Many reasons for this discrepancy have been proposed but, as yet, no combination of them has been able to reconcile our theories with what has happened,” Schmidt said. He suggests new regulations on sulfur emissions in the shipping industry could be playing a part, but said “if the anomaly does not stabilize by August … then the world will be in uncharted territory.”
- BYD CEO thinks hybrids and EVs will soon make up half of China’s car
sales
The CEO of Chinese EV maker BYD predicts electric and hybrid vehicle sales could make up 50% of auto sales in China within the next three months, Electrek reported. New energy vehicles (which include fully-electric cars as well as hybrids) hit a 48.2% share last week, “and if it continues at this rate, I estimate that the penetration could cross 50% in the next three months,” Wang Chuanfu said over the weekend. That’s a dramatic shortening of the time frame compared to a month ago, when Wang said the 50% mark could be reached by the end of the year. Last year, NEVs accounted for 35% of China’s auto sales. In the U.S., hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and fully electric vehicles rose to about 18% of total new light-duty vehicle sales in 2023.
- EPA’s new tailpipe rules expected today
The EPA is expected to announce its new tailpipe emissions rules for cars and light-duty trucks “as soon as” today, so be on the lookout for that. The rules have likely been softened to give automakers more time to ramp up electric vehicle sales, but still with the expectation that EVs will make up two-thirds of all new car sales by 2032 (last year EVs accounted for about one-tenth of sales). A similar standard for heavy-duty trucks is expected in the next few weeks, E&E News reported. Yesterday the Energy Department issued a new formula for calculating the fuel efficiency of electric vehicles “that’s meant to better reflect the real world and is likely to further drive sales of emission-free cars,” Bloomberg reported.
- ‘Rice bowl’ of Vietnam faces drought and creeping salt water
A part of Vietnam known as the country’s “rice bowl” is threatened by encroaching salty sea water after an unusually long drought. The rice fields in the Mekong Delta feed the country’s 90 million people, but the lack of rain over the last month has left rice paddies and fruit farms parched. Meanwhile salt water has been creeping into the ground more as sea levels rise. One recent study finds the delta could see crop losses amounting to $3 billion a year because of salinization. Vietnam is the world’s fifth-largest rice producer, and the third largest exporter.
- Environmental groups side-eye Coke’s new ‘recycled’ bottles
Starting this week, 20-ounce Coca-Cola beverages sold in the U.S. will come in plastic bottles made from 100% recycled plastic. The company claims this initiative (which excludes bottle caps and wrappers) will reduce 83 million pounds of plastic from its supply chain, but it hasn’t impressed environmentalists, CNN reported. One watchdog group, Break Free From Plastic, called the new design the “bare minimum.” “Plastic recycling is never going to make a dent in the plastic pollution crisis — plastic was never designed to be recycled, and it cannot be recycled indefinitely,” Emma Priestland from Break Free from Plastic told CNN. “Coca-Cola needs to urgently and dramatically reduce its use of plastic — full stop,” she said. In 2023 the group named Coca-Cola the world’s top plastic polluter for the sixth year in a row.
Coca-Cola
Company
THE KICKER
A new study finds that homes see on average a 1% reduction in value after a wind turbine is constructed within view, but that this drop in value diminishes as the years pass.
https://heatmap.news/climate/red-alert-climate-wmo
Officials Caution US Voters About Election Misinformation, Disinformation
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Analysts say U.S. voters need to be alert for foreign misinformation and disinformation seeking to disrupt the November presidential election. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias looks at how Americans perceive the so-called “influence operations” threat and what the government and nonprofits are doing to help them fend it off.
Biden Touts America’s ‘Future’ as Government Invests $8.5 Billion in Chipmaker Intel
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Chandler, Arizona — President Joe Biden on Wednesday celebrated an agreement to provide Intel with up to $8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for computer chip plants around the country, talking up the investment in the political battleground state of Arizona and calling it a way of “bringing the future back to America.”
The Biden administration has predicted that the cash infusion should help the U.S. boost its global share of advanced chip production from zero to 20%. The Democratic president highlighted the investment while visiting Intel’s Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona, where he inspected silicon wafers and expressed amazement at how thin the chips were.
In remarks after the tour, Biden talked about the impact his policies could have on the U.S. economy as he tries to translate his policy wins into a political boost ahead of November’s election. Intel plans to invest in facilities in Arizona, Ohio, Oregon and New Mexico, with some of the government money helping to support workforce development.
“This isn’t just about investing in America,” Biden said. “It’s about investing in the American people as well.”
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the deal reached through her department would put the United States in a position to produce 20% of the world’s most advanced chips by 2030, up from zero. The United States designs advanced chips, but its inability to make them domestically has emerged as a national security and economic risk.
“Failure is not an option — leading-edge chips are the core of our innovation system, especially when it comes to advances in artificial intelligence and our military systems,” Raimondo said on a call with reporters. “We can’t just design chips. We have to make them in America.”
The funding announcement came amid the heat of the 2024 presidential campaign. Biden has been telling voters that his policies have led to a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing and job growth. His message is a direct challenge to former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, who raised tariffs while in the White House and wants to do so again on the promise of protecting U.S. factory jobs from China.
U.S. adults have dim views of Biden’s economic leadership, with just 34% approving, according to a February poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. The lingering impact of inflation hitting a four-decade high in 2022 has hurt the Democrat, who had a 52% approval on the economy in July 2021.
Intel’s projects would be funded in part through the bipartisan 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which the Biden administration helped shepherd through Congress at a time of concerns after the pandemic that the loss of access to chips made in Asia could plunge the U.S. economy into a recession.
When pushing for the investment, lawmakers expressed concern about efforts by China to control Taiwan, which accounts for more than 90% of advanced computer chip production.
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat up for reelection this year, stressed that his state would become “a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing” as Intel would be generating thousands of jobs. Ohio has voted for Trump in the past two presidential elections, and Brown in November will face Republican Bernie Moreno, a Trump-backed businessman from Cleveland.
Wednesday’s announcement is the fourth and largest so far under the chips law, with the government support expected to help enable Intel Corp. to make $100 billion in capital investments over five years. About 25% of that total would involve building and land, while roughly 70% would go to equipment, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said.
“We think of this as a defining moment for the United States, the semiconductor industry and for Intel,” said Gelsinger, who called the CHIPS Act “the most critical industrial policy legislation since World War II.”
Biden administration officials say that computer chip companies would not be investing domestically at their expected scale without government support. Intel funding would lead to a combined 30,000 manufacturing and construction jobs. The company also plans to claim tax credits from the Treasury Department worth up to 25% on qualified investments.
The Santa Clara, California-based company will use the funding in four states. In Chandler, Arizona, the money will help to build two new chip plants and modernize an existing one. The funding will establish two advanced plants in New Albany, Ohio, which is just outside the state capital of Columbus.
The company will also turn two of its plants in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, into advanced packaging facilities. And Intel will also modernize facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The Audi Q6 E-Tron May Also Have To Be Built In America To Satisfy Demand
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
Plus, Stellantis strikes a deal with California it once fought against, and Germany’s lefties and right-wingers are equally mad at Tesla.
https://insideevs.com/news/713055/audi-q6-etron-scout/
Stalkerware usage surging, despite data privacy concerns
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
At least 31,031 people affected last year
Stalkerware has reached “pandemic proportions,” according to Kaspersky, which documented a total of 31,031 people affected by the intrusive software in 2023 – up almost six percent on the prior year.…
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-20, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Finally the EU will allow trust and bridges to be rebuilt for struggling couples!
https://spydrill.com/best-keyloggers-android/
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112128187440754266
City of Sunnyvale receives $1 million in federal funding for fire station renovation
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
Fire Station 2 is slated to be rebuilt in late 2025.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
AP, Lenfest Institute open call for Democracy Demo Day presenters.
Why Sharks’ upcoming homestand still holds some intrigue
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
Three questions for the San Jose Sharks as they prepare to host Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks (with Connor Bedard) and Dallas Stars
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/20/why-sharks-upcoming-homestand-still-holds-some-intrigue/
With demand for food assistance sky-high, one Bay Area county is trying to shake a decade-long legacy of failing residents in need
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
In Alameda County and across the Bay Area, food banks say that families’ needs are as high as they have ever been, rivaling the demand seen during the pandemic.
Tesla Cybertruck Has The ‘Worst Panel Gap’ MKBHD Has Ever Seen
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
Musk later confirmed that 15 Cybertrucks have been in service due to a gap caused by an improperly torqued door striker.
https://insideevs.com/news/713112/cybertruck-panel-gap-mkbhd-video/
Podcast: Shrimp Jesus
date: 2024-03-20, from: 404 Media Group
Shrimp Jesus (of course); Pornhub pulling out of Texas; and backdoors in safe locks. That’s all on this week’s episode of the 404 Media Podcast.
https://www.404media.co/404-media-podcast-shrimp-jesus/
NASA Sees Progress on Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef Life Support System
date: 2024-03-20, from: NASA breaking news
A NASA-funded commercial space station, Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef, recently completed testing milestones for its critical life support system as part of the agency’s efforts for new destinations in low Earth orbit. The four milestones are part of a NASA Space Act Agreement originally awarded to Blue Origin in 2021 and focused on the materials […]
Famed Bike Brand Fezzari Rebrands To Ari, Launches New Nebo Peak Electric MTB
date: 2024-03-20, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
A bang-for-buck all-around e-MTB.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/711616/versatile-ari-nebo-peak-emtb-launched/
Intel gets $20 billion in US grants, loans for chip plants
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
President Joe Biden will tour an Intel campus in Phoenix and announce a preliminary agreement with Intel for a major award from the 2022 Chips and Science Act.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/20/intel-gets-20-billion-in-us-grants-loans-for-chip-plants/
49ers offensive depth chart: New faces backing up stars, and big money at receiver
date: 2024-03-20, from: San Jose Mercury News
Coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense will look to carry that momentum forward with a familiar crew, barring a shocking trade or arrival in the coming weeks and months from the 49ers.
Putty-Looking-Ass Whips
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: One Foot Tsunami
https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/03/20/putty-looking-ass-whips/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Oprah, Ozempic and Us.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/opinion/oprah-ozempic-special-obesity.html
Check which phase the moon was in on a special day with this desktop lunar display
date: 2024-03-20, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
Lorraine used a Raspberry Pi Pico W to create a moon phase display for her desk. It might look like it’s just stalled on one particular phase, but it’s much smarter than that.
The post Check which phase the moon was in on a special day with this desktop lunar display appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
Watch How Easy It Is To Charge A Rivian R1T At A Tesla Supercharger
date: 2024-03-20, from: Inside EVs News
The NACS to CCS1 adapter that will be sent for free to R1S and R1T owners is made by Tesla.
https://insideevs.com/news/713111/rivian-r1t-r1s-tesla-supercharger-adapter-charging/
Euclid space telescope needs de-icing
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Warm water and a scraper not an option when you’re 1.5 million kilometers from home
Less than 12 months into its six-year survey mission, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid telescope is experiencing optical issues that require European teams to devise a de-icing procedure.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/euclid_space_telescope_deicing/
Jeep-owner Stellantis and California strike Trump-proof deal on emissions
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Stellantis – the parent company of Jeep, Chrysler, Fiat, Dodge, and Ram – says that it will comply with California’s stricter emissions policy requiring two-thirds of new cars to be zero-emissions or all-electric by 2030 – and will commit to the deal even if former President Donald Trump makes a return to office and tries to dismantle the policy.
Two men are charged with trying to sell Tesla battery trade secrets
date: 2024-03-20, from: Electrek Feed
Two men have been charged in New York for trying to sell Tesla battery manufacturing trade secrets to undercover agents.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/20/two-men-charged-trying-sell-tesla-battery-trade-secrets/
Britain enters period of mourning as Greggs unable to process payments
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
First they came for McDonald’s and I did not speak out because I have even worse taste in food
A princess is AWOL, the government refuses to admit defeat, and now pastry purveyor Greggs is unable to process card payments. How many more national crises can the Great British public weather before the streets burn?…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/greggs_payments_meltdown/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
America is “sleepwalking toward dictatorship,” she warned.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/19/liz-cheney-trump-biden-election-2024-difference/
About investing in climate resilience
date: 2024-03-20, from: Marketplace Morning Report
Today, we’re bringing you a very ESG-focused podcast. First, Texas is pulling $8.5 billion from the country’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock, which the state’s school fund says is hostile to the fossil fuel industry. It’s a pushback against ESG investing, in which environmental, social and corporate governance issues factor into decision-making. Then, a new paper says climate resilience is an investment opportunity for big-time institutional investors. We delve in.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/about-investing-in-climate-resilience
Cheating Automatic Toll Booths by Obscuring License Plates
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-14, from: Bruce Schneier blog
The Wall Street Journal is reporting on a variety of techniques drivers are using to obscure their license plates so that automatic readers can’t identify them and charge tolls properly.
Some drivers have power-washed paint off their plates or covered them with a range of household items such as leaf-shaped magnets, Bramwell-Stewart said. The Port Authority says officers in 2023 roughly doubled the number of summonses issued for obstructed, missing or fictitious license plates compared with the prior year.
Bramwell-Stewart said one driver from New Jersey repeatedly used what’s known in the streets as a flipper, which lets you remotely swap out a car’s real plate for a bogus one ahead of a toll area. In this instance, the bogus plate corresponded to an actual one registered to a woman who was mystified to receive the tolls. “Why do you keep billing me?” Bramwell-Stewart recalled her asking…
China and Australia’s rocky trading relationship
date: 2024-03-20, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: China’s foreign minister is making his first trip to Australia in seven years. Will the talks bring a bitter three-year trade war to an end? Plus, the Red Sea is used by 30% of the world’s container ships using the Suez Canal, but the journey is being made perilous by drone attacks from Houthi rebels in Yemen. We hear from one of the U.S. warships now patrolling the waters.
Back of the net? Google’s DeepMind is coming for football tactics
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
2026 FIFA World Cup in US could be first to see ML models play a part… and you thought video referees were crap
A team at Google’s DeepMind claim to have demonstrated the efficacy of an AI model in predicting outcomes in soccer football game set pieces, as well as generating on-field tactics.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/googles_deepmind_football/
Michel Talagrand Wins Abel Prize for Work Wrangling Randomness
date: 2024-03-20, from: Quanta Magazine
The French mathematician spent decades developing a set of tools now widely used for taming random processes.The post Michel Talagrand Wins Abel Prize for Work Wrangling Randomness first appeared on Quanta Magazine
KTM Parent Company Says It’s Taking Over MV Agusta
date: 2024-03-20, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Pierer Mobility’s previous timeline had the takeover happening in 2026, so it’s a full two years ahead of plan.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/712862/ktm-mv-agusta-takeover-2024-pierer/
Five Eyes tell critical infra orgs: Take these actions now to protect against China’s Volt Typhoon
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Unless you want to be the next Change Healthcare, that is
The Feds and friends yesterday issued yet another warning about China’s Volt Typhoon gang, this time urging critical infrastructure owners and operators to protect their facilities against destructive cyber attacks that may be brewing.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/five_eyes_volt_typhoon/
Larry Moore | Out of Touch with Reality
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
Once again, Gary Horton has outdone himself. For the 460th time, he has penned, yet again, another I-Hate-Trump column (March 13) that, like all the others, is completely out of touch with reality. What he saw during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and what 95% of the rest of the country saw […]
The post Larry Moore | Out of Touch with Reality appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/larry-moore-out-of-touch-with-reality/
Héctor Hernández | County on Shaky Legal Ground
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
Part 2 of 3. In my previous letter, I wrote about L.A. County’s ill-advised plan to recover defensible space inspection costs through Section 14902 of the California Health and Safety Code. I also wrote that the plan was sneaky at best and illegal at worst. In this letter, I’ll look more closely at the code […]
The post Héctor Hernández | County on Shaky Legal Ground appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/hector-hernandez-county-on-shaky-legal-ground/
Thomas Oatway | You Should Be Terrified of Trump
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
Brian Richards (letters, Feb. 4) took umbrage at my “weekly screed” and irrational fear of Donald Trump being elected president in 2024. I am mystified why any American would not be terrified of that prospect. Recently, Trump suggested that NATO members who do not meet the alliance’s military budget guidelines should be invaded by Russia’s […]
The post Thomas Oatway | You Should Be Terrified of Trump appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/thomas-oatway-you-should-be-terrified-of-trump/
Capitalism Quest: The Sierra Online Story
date: 2024-03-20, from: RIP Corp
RIP Corp is a Charts & Leisure production. Find us at ripcorp.biz, or follow in places @ripcorpdotbiz for all your dead business needs.
To support the show, please consider aligning yourself even more deeply with the brand, via our merch shop: ripcorp.threadless.com
RIP Corp is written and hosted by Ingrid Burrington. Produced by Meghal Janardan and Mike Rugnetta. Associate producer, Taylor Behnke. Original music and sound design from Andrew Atkin and Michael Simonelli. Fact-checking from Matt Giles. Logo design by Beatriz Lozano and illustrations by Megan Mulholland. Executive produced by Jason Oberholtzer.
https://ripcorp.biz/episodes/capitalism-quest-the-sierra-online-story-sn_FsPGV
Brits blissfully unbothered by snail-paced mobile network speeds
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Too busy not using X to notice
Brits are satisfied with the speed of their mobile network, research finds, despite the UK having some of the slowest average 5G download speeds among G7 nations. Twitter is also no longer among the top 10 most used mobile apps.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/brit_mobile_habits/
What the New Rivians Say About the Future of EVs
date: 2024-03-20, from: Heatmap News
Earlier this month, the electric-car maker Rivian announced its new SUV, the R2 — a $45,000 family hauler that will get more than 300 miles in range. It also debuted the R3 and R3X hatchbacks, which entranced online car nerds.
These new Rivian models are sleek and important, but they won’t go on sale until 2026 at the earliest. Can Rivian last that long? We also chat about how electric vehicles’ physical requirements — big batteries, high voltage wires — are changing the design of cars themselves.
In this week’s episode, Rob and Jesse discuss Rivian’s quest to survive, how electrification is creating new vehicle categories, and the coolest EVs coming down the pike.
Subscribe to “Shift Key” and find this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also add the show’s RSS feed to your podcast app to follow us directly.
Here is an excerpt from our conversation:
Robinson Meyer: There’s this term called carcinization in evolutionary biology.
Jesse Jenkins: Ooh.
Meyer: People know this meme, which is that things in the sea tend to evolve into crabs. There’s lots of animals that look like crabs in the sea that are not true crabs, so to speak, because the crab is like a very successful bottom dweller form factor. And so animals that do not start as crabs, once they fill the same ecological niche as crabs, will wind up looking like crabs after you know 10 million, 15 million years.
To remember another guy, I have been thinking also a lot of the — again, if you’re not driving, Google this — the 1990s Toyota Previa, which was a kind of, it was a minivan that was like a half oval. It was kind of pill shaped. And again, the wheels were right at the front and right at the back. It was a more successful car, you’ll see it, it was the iconic 90s Toyota minivan.
And I do feel like, to some degree, the whole car market is undergoing this process of carcinization, where what is actually the vehicle that people want the most, especially families want the most, is a minivan. But minivans are not seen as cool or rugged, and so the whole car market is like trying to generate a vehicle that is as close to the Previa as possible but does not look like a mini— You know, it’s not actually, but to some degree I feel like we keep evolving minivans again and again.
If you think about the history of what the family car has been, where it was a station wagon in the 70s and 80s, then it was a minivan. Now it’s this crossover SUV thing.
Jenkins: Yeah, because they make a lot of sense.
Meyer: Those are, broadly, very similar cars. They’re very similar, right? They let you seat two to three kids and they give you a lot of space in the back. But as fashion changes and what’s cool, we have to keep redesigning that form factor for just what’s trendy at the moment. But we’re just dancing around this common design.
Jenkins: Yeah, it’s really interesting. There’s such a funny love hate relationship out there with minivans. I mean, they are incredibly useful cars, right? But it’s so hard culturally. It’s so hard to be like, Oh, I got a minivan, I gotta drive a minivan now. I turned 40 this year, so I’m right there. I grew up—
Meyer: You’re closer to your midlife crisis than I am here.
Jenkins: —in a household with, originally, when I was first born, they had two Volkswagen bugs. And then as we, my sister and I grew up and we needed more space, both my parents traded in their bugs for Volkswagen minibuses. So we had the Volkswagen bus. And it was like the best family car growing up, right? Because we could all camp in it. Like, you know, we could throw the back seat down and put a mattress there. One of us could sleep on the floor, the middle seats. All my friends would fit inside it for trips to the beach. You know, it was just a super useful vehicle.
And of course that, you know, that sort of design atrophied out in terms of the mass market. People still buy them to convert for campers and things like that, like the Volkswagen California and other kinds of models like that in the van segment. But it’s interesting, the ID.4 Buzz is coming back to the market in the U.S. this year, as well. It’s the sort of rebirth of theVolkswagen microbus, and I’m really curious to see how it does because it’s a cool design. It’s a very retro forward, right? Which is very similar to how the R3 looks, I’d say.
I’ll come back to that in a minute. But I’m really curious to see how it sells. I know my family’s been really interested in it, waiting for it to come out and see what it actually looks like in real life, and maybe test drive it and see if it’s something we might want in the future. But I would love to see more in that category, right? The van.
And you know, the SUV is really just trying to imitate a van with rugged looks that you really don’t need. If you just admit it, you just want a minivan.
This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by…
Advanced Energy United educates, engages, and advocates for policies that allow our member companies to compete to power our economy with 100% clean energy, working with decision makers and energy market regulators to achieve this goal. Together, we are united in our mission to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy in America. Learn more at advancedenergyunited.org/heatmap
KORE Power provides the commercial, industrial, and utility markets with functional solutions that advance the clean energy transition worldwide. KORE Power’s technology and manufacturing capabilities provide direct access to next generation battery cells, energy storage systems that scale to grid+, EV power & infrastructure, and intuitive asset management to unlock energy strategies across a myriad of applications. Explore more at korepower.com.
Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
https://heatmap.news/podcast/shift-key-episode-8-rivian-minivans
The Savvy Senior | How to Tap Underutilized Burial Benefits for Veterans
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
Dear Savvy Senior, What types of funeral benefits are available to old veterans? My 83-year-old father, who has Alzheimer’s disease, served during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. — Planning Ahead Dear Planning, Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration actually offers a variety of underutilized burial benefits to veterans as well as their spouses […]
The post The Savvy Senior | How to Tap Underutilized Burial Benefits for Veterans appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
UK awards £1.73M to AI projects to advance net zero goals
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Great! Just ignore the energy needed to train them, process queries, keep the lights on in datacenters …
As the world struggles to keep up with decarbonization pledges, the UK government is dumping £1.73 million ($2.2 million) into a series of AI projects to help it meet 2050 net zero goals.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/uk_awards_173m_to_ai/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
2024 Tesla Cybertruck vs. Rivian R1T vs. Ford F-150 Lightning.
Office Hours: What is the most important thing we should be doing now to ensure that Biden and Harris are elected in November?
date: 2024-03-20, from: Robert Reich on Substack
Friends, Our Office Hours is used to deliberate issues in the open that are quietly being debated but without the advantage of fuller debate. And because this space is reserved for active participants in our community, we can debate even uncomfortable issues freely.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/office-hours-should-biden-keep-kamala
March 19, 2024
date: 2024-03-20, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
In Florida, Kansas, Ohio, Illinois, and Arizona, Republican voters chose their presidential candidate today. The results highlight the weaknesses former president Trump is bringing to the 2024 presidential contest. Trump, who is the only person still in the Republican race, won all five of today’s Republican races. But the results showed that his support is soft. Results are still coming in, but as I write this, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who has suspended her campaign, received between 13% and 20% of the vote, Florida governor Ron DeSantis—who has also suspended his campaign—picked up votes, and “none of the names shown” got more than 5% in Kansas.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-19-2024
Immigration a Top Issue for Floridians
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Five U.S. states held presidential primaries Tuesday. The presumptive nominees, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, have achieved enough votes to secure their party nominations. Former President Trump voted in his home state of Florida. That’s where VOA senior Washington correspondent Carolyn Presutti is and tells us where that state stands on a big issue, immigration.
https://www.voanews.com/a/immigration-a-top-issue-for-floridians/7535014.html
Fossil Fuel Cash Is Fracking Democrats’ Climate Support
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Lever News
After Biden paused liquid natural gas exports, fossil fuel-backed Democrats have worked to undo the climate win.
https://www.levernews.com/fossil-fuel-cash-is-fracking-democrats-climate-support/
Classifieds – March 20, 2024
date: 2024-03-20, 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 20, 2024 appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/classifieds-march-20-2024/
European Space Agency to measure Earth at millimeter scale
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Awards contracts for spacecraft to bring the IoT to space
The European Space Agency has committed €76.6 million ($83 million) toward the development of Genesis – a flying observatory that will provide positioning services accurate to a single millimeter.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/esa_1_millimeter/
How Texas’ Plans to Arrest Migrants Would Work
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
McALLEN, Texas — A law that would allow Texas law enforcement to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. is back on hold.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Tuesday issued an order preventing its enforcement, just hours after the Supreme Court allowed the strict new immigration law to take effect.
The Justice Department is challenging the law, saying Texas is overstepping the federal government’s immigration authority. Texas argues it has a right to take action over what the governor has described as an “invasion” of migrants on the border.
Here’s what to know:
Who can be arrested?
The law would allow any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, migrants could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t leave could face arrest again under more serious felony charges.
Arresting officers must have probable cause, which could include witnessing the illegal entry or seeing it on video.
The law cannot be enforced against people lawfully present in the U.S., including those who were granted asylum or who are enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Critics, including Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, fear the law could lead to racial profiling and family separation.
American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Texas and some neighboring states issued a travel advisory a day after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law. The advisory warns of a possible threat to civil and constitutional rights when passing through Texas.
Abbott has rejected concerns over profiling. While signing the bill, he said troopers and National Guard members at the border can see migrants crossing illegally “with their own eyes.”
Where would the law be enforced?
The law can be enforced in any of Texas’ 254 counties, including those hundreds of miles from the border.
But Republican state Rep. David Spiller, the law’s author, has said he expects most arrests would occur within 80 kilometers of the U.S.-Mexico border. Texas’ state police chief has expressed similar expectations.
Some places are off-limits. Arrests cannot be made in public and private schools, places of worship, or hospitals and other health care facilities, including those where sexual assault forensic examinations are conducted.
It is unclear where migrants ordered to leave might go. The law says they are to be sent to ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, even if they are not Mexican citizens. However, Mexico’s government said Tuesday it would not accept the return of any migrants to its territory from the state of Texas.
Is the law constitutional?
The Supreme Court’s decision did not address the constitutionality of the law.
The Justice Department, legal experts and immigrant rights groups have said it is a clear conflict with the U.S. government’s authority to regulate immigration.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, agreed in a 114-page order. He added that the law could hamper U.S. foreign relations and treaty obligations.
Opponents have called the measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law — denounced by critics as the “Show Me Your Papers” bill — that was largely struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Ezra cited the Supreme Court’s 2012 Arizona ruling in his decision.
Texas has argued that the law mirrors federal law instead of conflicting with it.
What is happening on the border?
Arrests for illegal crossings along the southern border fell by half in January from record highs in December. Border Patrol officials attributed the shift to seasonal declines and heightened enforcement by the U.S. and its allies. The federal government has not yet released numbers for February.
Texas has charged thousands of migrants with trespassing on private property under a more limited operation that began in 2021.
Tensions remain between Texas and the Biden administration. In the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas, National Guard members have prevented Border Patrol agents from accessing a riverfront park.
Other Republican governors have expressed support for Abbott, who has said the federal government is not doing enough to enforce immigration laws. Other measures implemented by Texas include a floating barrier in the Rio Grande and razor wire along the border.
https://www.voanews.com/a/how-texas-plans-to-arrest-migrants-would-work/7535016.html
curl turns 26 today
date: 2024-03-20, from: Daniel Stenberg Blog
years++; It feels like it was not very long ago that we had the big curl 25 year celebrations. I still have plenty of fluid left in my 25 year old whiskey from last year and I believe I will treat myself a drink from that tonight. I have worked on curl full-time and spare … Continue reading curl turns 26 today
https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2024/03/20/curl-turns-26-today/
Today in SCV History (March 20)
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
2012 – County supervisors approve 50-year operating agreement for Placerita Canyon State Park. [read
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-march-20/
Court Puts Texas Border Enforcement Law Back on Hold
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/court-puts-texas-border-enforcement-law-back-on-hold/7535010.html
SpectrumSC creates community for LGBTQIA+ students
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The club welcomes students of all identities who have an interest in business to join.
The post SpectrumSC creates community for LGBTQIA+ students appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/spectrumsc-creates-community-for-lgbtqia-students/
We all deserve a better advising system
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
USC administration must take accountability for these issues and conduct reforms.
The post We all deserve a better advising system appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/we-all-deserve-a-better-advising-system/
Senators call to reinstate AAA
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Funding to provide sexually transmitted infection tests depleted by 78% this spring.
The post Senators call to reinstate AAA appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/senators-call-to-reinstate-aaa/
California offers support for disabled students
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Government programs offer disabled students financial help with higher education.
The post California offers support for disabled students appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/dor-offers-educational-help-for-disabled-students/
Love all: A competition of tradition
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
In the continued battle for “proper” tennis attire, is it time to give in to tradition? Or keep pushing for stylistic freedom on the court?
The post Love all: A competition of tradition appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/love-all-a-competition-of-tradition/
Vapes are out and cigs are in
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
We need to look at the risks and causes of this trend among youth to address it.
The post Vapes are out and cigs are in appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/vapes-are-out-cigs-are-in/
Freshman filmmakers craft a vision with ‘We Were Strangers’
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Four students navigated the challenges and triumphs of bringing a short film to life.
The post Freshman filmmakers craft a vision with ‘We Were Strangers’ appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/freshman-filmmakers-craft-a-vision-with-we-were-strangers/
Baseball crushes Cardinal on the road
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
USC won its first true-road series of the season as it searches for momentum.
The post Baseball crushes Cardinal on the road appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/baseball-crushes-cardinal-on-the-road/
My March Madness predictions
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and I’ve got you prepared for your brackets.
The post My March Madness predictions appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/20/my-march-madness-predictions/
China, Not Russia, Still Tops List of Threats to US
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — Russia’s war in Ukraine — portrayed by top U.S. officials as posing a danger to the United States itself — still trails China when it comes to long-term threats to America’s security, according to a top Pentagon official.
The warning from Ely Ratner, the Defense Department’s assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, comes in testimony prepared for a hearing Wednesday by the House Armed Services Committee on security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to present the most comprehensive and serious challenge to our national security,” Ratner is set to tell lawmakers, according to a copy his opening statement obtained by VOA.
“The PRC remains the only country with the will and increasingly the capability to dominate the Indo-Pacific region and displace the United States,” Ratner warns, adding, “the PRC is pursuing its revisionist goals with increasingly coercive activities in the Taiwan Strait, the South and East China seas, along the Line of Actual Control with India, and beyond.”
This is not the first time Ratner has addressed the growing threat from Beijing.
In October he called out China’s military for what he described as a “sharp increase” in risky behavior in the East and South China seas.
Ratner also cautioned, separately, that China’s leaders were “increasingly turning to the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] as an instrument of coercion.”
Additionally, the Pentagon’s annual China Military Power report said that China’s nuclear arsenal has been growing faster than expected, while Beijing is building out the infrastructure needed for a further expansion of its nuclear forces.
China has responded to such allegations by accusing the U.S. of “hyping up” the threat.
On Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a warning of his own, emphasizing the threat from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The United States stands by Ukraine because it’s the right thing to do,” Austin told a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany. “But we also stand by Ukraine because it’s crucial to our own security.”
“The United States would face grave new perils in a world where aggression and autocracy are on the march and where tyrants are emboldened and where dictators think that they can wipe out democracy off the map,” he said.
U.S. intelligence officials argued recently that the threats from Russia and China are linked, and that Russia’s war has served to embolden China’s leadership.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers earlier this month that Beijing has managed to get long-sought concessions from Moscow in exchange for support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
And CIA Director William Burns said Russian success in Ukraine could “stoke the ambitions of the Chinese leadership in contingencies ranging from Taiwan to the South China Sea.”
Ratner is set to tell U.S. lawmakers Wednesday that the Defense Department is working to strengthen key alliances in the Indo-Pacific and develop what he calls a “regional force posture” including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia.
He is also set to testify that the Pentagon’s proposed 2025 budget is placing a priority on investments in air, sea and undersea power, as well as in modernizing U.S. nuclear forces with an eye toward Beijing’s own military modernization efforts.
https://www.voanews.com/a/china-not-russia-still-tops-list-of-threats-to-us/7534999.html
How to improve Chinese TV? Better censorship, says top tellie-maker
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Sales are down at home and poor compared to other nations
The founder and chairman of Chinese electronics maker TCL has taken the bold step of suggesting China’s censors “improve” their work, to help his company sell more televisions … and help China succeed at home and abroad.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/tcl_chair_television_content_ideas/
Dos Pueblos High School Celebrates Opening of New Media Center
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Virgil Elings Media Arts and Communications Center is the new home to the DP News team and other budding journalists and creatives.
The post Dos Pueblos High School Celebrates Opening of New Media Center appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Some tips for road trips
date: 2024-03-20, from: Matt Haughey blog
Since the pandemic began, I've been taking lots of solo road trips around the western US in lieu of flying. And after 20,000 miles of trips in the last couple years, I thought I'd write up some tips I picked up along the way.
Reduce
https://a.wholelottanothing.org/road-trip-tips/
Alibaba’s research arm promises server-class RISC-V processor due this year
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
And teases a laptop to show off its current silicon – running the open edition of Huawei’s CentOS spinout
Alibaba’s research arm, the Damo Academy, has promised to deliver a server-grade RISC-V processor later this year, showed off a RISC-V-powered laptop running the open source cut of Huawei’s CentOS spinout, and talked up a growing community working on the permissively licensed CPU instruction set architecture.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/alibaba_c930_riscv/
Hart becomes the ‘Hawks’
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
New mascot unveiled, set to replace ‘Indians’ next year Students at Hart High School, get ready to fly: The “Hawk” is coming to Newhall. Hart High and William S. Hart Union High School District officials celebrated on Tuesday the unveiling of the school’s new mascot inside Hart’s auditorium during open house, in the latest step […]
The post Hart becomes the ‘Hawks’ appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/hart-becomes-the-hawks/
India’s competition regulator orders Google Play payment probe
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Choice of alternative payment providers labelled ‘illusory’ – because none existed
India’s competition regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), has ordered an investigation into Google’s in-app billing systems after accusations they levy excessive charges and are discriminatory.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/20/india_google_pay_antitrust_probe/
Biden, Trump Notch Wins; Other Races Offer Hints on National Politics
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As Joe Biden and Donald Trump moved closer to a November rematch, primary voters around the country on Tuesday urged their favored candidate to keep up the fight and worried about what might happen if their side loses this fall.
There was little suspense about Tuesday’s results as both candidates are already their parties’ presumptive nominees. Trump easily won Republican primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio. Biden did the same except in Florida, where Democrats had canceled their primary and opted to award all 224 of their delegates to Biden.
Instead, the primaries and key downballot races became a reflection of the national political mood. With many Americans unenthusiastic about 2024’s choice for the White House, both Biden and Trump’s campaigns are working to fire up their bases by tearing into each other and warning of the perils of the opponent.
Those who did turn out to vote Tuesday seemed to hear that.
Pat Shackleford, an 84-year-old caregiver in Mesa, Arizona, said she voted for Trump in Arizona’s primary to send the former president a message.
“I wanted to encourage him that the fight has been worthwhile, that more of us are behind him than maybe the media tells you,” Shackleford said.
Jamie and Cassandra Neal, sisters who both live in Phoenix, said they were unenthusiastic Biden supporters until they saw the vigor the president brought to his State of the Union speech. It fired them up for the coming election.
“Beforehand it was like, ‘Well, he’s the only decent one there,’” said Cassandra Neal, 42. “After his address it was like, ‘OK, let’s do it!’”
Jamie Neal, 45, said Biden had been “way too nice” before and needed to match Trump, whom she described as “vicious.”
“I hate to say it, sometimes you need to equal the lowness to get the person out,” she said. “Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.”
In Ohio’s Republican Senate primary, Trump-backed businessman Bernie Moreno defeated two challengers, Ohio Secretary of State Frank Frank LaRose and Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team.
Moreno and Trump appeared together Saturday at a rally where Trump praised his endorsed candidate as a “warrior” and ramped up his dark rhetoric, saying that were he not to be elected, “it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.” His campaign insists he was referring to the auto industry and not the country as a whole.
In the final days of the campaign, The Associated Press reported on Thursday that in 2008, someone with access to Moreno’s work email account created a profile on an adult website seeking “Men for 1-on-1 sex.” The AP could not definitively confirm that it was created by Moreno himself. Moreno’s lawyer said a former intern created the account and provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as “part of a juvenile prank.”
Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month, sparking frustration among senior Republican operatives about Moreno’s potential vulnerability in a general election, according to seven people who are directly familiar with conversations about how to address the matter. They requested anonymity to avoid running afoul of Trump and his allies.
Trump and Biden have for weeks been focused on the general election, aiming their campaigns lately on states that could be competitive in November rather than merely those holding primaries.
Trump, a Florida voter, cast his ballot at a recreation center in Palm Beach on Tuesday and told reporters, “I voted for Donald Trump.”
Trump and Biden are running on their records in office and casting the other as a threat to America. Trump, 77, portrays the 81-year-old Biden as mentally unfit. The president has described his Republican rival as a threat to democracy after his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results and his praise of foreign strongmen.
Those themes were evident Tuesday at some polling locations.
“President Biden, I don’t think he knows how to tie his shoes anymore,” said Trump supporter Linda Bennet, a resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, not far from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Even as she echoed Trump’s arguments about Biden, she criticized Trump’s rhetoric and “the way he composes himself” as “not presidential at all.” But she said the former president is “a man of his word,” and she said the country, especially the economy, felt stronger to her under Trump’s leadership.
In Columbus, Ohio, Democrat Brenda Woodfolk voted for Biden and shared the president’s framing of the choice this fall.
“It’s scary,” she said of the prospect that Trump could be in the Oval Office again. “Trump wants to be a dictator, talking about making America white again and all this kind of crap. There’s too much hate going on.”
Bennet and Woodfolk agreed that immigration is one of their top concerns, though they offered different takes on why.
“This border thing is out of control,” said Bennet, the Republican voter. “I think it’s the government’s plot or plan to bring these people in to change the whole dynamic for their benefit, so I’m pretty peeved.”
Woodfolk, the Democrat, said she doesn’t mind immigrants “sharing” opportunities in the U.S. but worried it comes at the expense of “people who’ve been here all their lives.”
Trump and Republicans have hammered Biden on the influx of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years, seeking to capitalize on the issue well beyond border states. Biden has ratcheted up a counteroffensive in recent weeks after Senate Republicans killed a migration compromise they had negotiated with the White House, withholding their support only after Trump said he opposed the deal. Biden has used the circumstances to argue that Trump and Republicans have no interest in solving the issue but instead want to inflame voters in an election year.
For the last year, Trump has coupled his campaign with his legal challenges, including dozens of criminal counts and civil cases in which he faces more than $500 million in fines.
His first criminal trial was scheduled to start Monday in New York on allegations he falsified business records to cover up hush money payments. But a judge delayed the trial for 30 days after the recent disclosure of new evidence that Trump’s lawyers said they needed time to review.
Speaking outside his polling place with a voter’s sticker affixed to his lapel, Trump insisted the cases against him were political and defended himself against criticism of his attacks a day earlier on Jewish Democrats, in which he alleged they hate Israel and their own religion. Democratic leaders on Tuesday criticized his comments as promoting antisemitic tropes about having divided loyalties.
Standing next to him was former first lady Melania Trump, who didn’t have on a sticker. She has rarely appeared in public with Trump since he launched his third bid for the White House.
Asked if she would campaign with him, she replied: “Stay tuned.”
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-20, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
New constellation episode.
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112125852251748170
American Muslim Groups Plan to Boycott White House Ramadan
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
American Muslim leaders outraged by President Joe Biden’s support of Israel say they will not take part in White House Ramadan and Eid celebrations this year as they demand the administration push for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. As White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports, this is not the first time American Muslims’ anger has overshadowed Ramadan at the White House.
https://www.voanews.com/a/american-muslim-groups-plan-to-boycott-white-house-ramadan/7534950.html
White House Pressures Israel on Planned Invasion of Rafah
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
President Biden has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a team to Washington to “discuss ways to target Hamas without a major ground operation in Rafah.” Netanyahu insists that going into Rafah is the only way to destroy Hamas. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen.
https://www.voanews.com/a/white-house-pressures-israel-on-planned-invasion-of-rafah/7534944.html
Secretary of Defense: ‘United States Will Not Let Ukraine Fail’
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says the United States remains determined to provide Ukraine with the resources to fight Russian aggression, even as the U.S. Congress has failed to pass supplemental aid for Ukraine. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb traveled to Ramstein Air Base in Germany with the secretary.
https://www.voanews.com/a/secretary-of-defense-united-states-will-not-let-ukraine-fail-/7534943.html
Nvidia Keynote Fills 11,000-Seat SAP Center
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/nvidia-annual-conference-chips-7692760d
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Amazon.com: Opill Daily Oral Contraceptive, Birth Control Pill, Full Prescription Strength, No Prescription Needed, 84 Count.
https://www.amazon.com/Opill-Contraceptive-Control-Prescription-Strength/dp/B0CJYHQ3CB
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-20, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
OTC birth control: Consumers can start ordering Opill online today.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/health/otc-birth-control-opill-online-orders/index.html
On the Ever-Increasing Accuracy of Weather Forecasts
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Daring Fireball
https://ourworldindata.org/weather-forecasts
Australian techie jailed for accessing museum’s accounting system and buying himself stuff
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Also down under, researchers find security-cleared workers leaking details of their gigs
An Australian IT contractor has been sentenced to 30 months jail for ripping off the National Maritime Museum.…
WiSH hosts first-ever Hart District’s Got Talent
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
There were many moments worthy of the Golden Buzzer last weekend at the Castaic High School Performing Arts building, as students and staff members of the William S. Hart Union High School District took a chance to fulfill their dream and participate in the WiSH Education Foundation’s first-ever Hart District’s Got Talent Variety Showcase. The […]
The post <strong>WiSH hosts first-ever Hart District’s Got Talent</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/wish-hosts-first-ever-hart-districts-got-talent/
Reuters: ‘EU’s Vestager Warns About Apple, Meta Fees, Disparaging Rival Products’
date: 2024-03-20, updated: 2024-03-20, from: Daring Fireball
American Muslim Groups Plan to Boycott White House Ramadan
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — American Muslims outraged by President Joe Biden’s support of Israel say they will not take part in White House Ramadan and Eid celebrations this year as they continue to demand that the administration push for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
Should an invitation come, it’s “widely understood” that American Muslim community leaders and organizations will decline, said Robert McCaw, director of the Government Affairs Department at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR.
“This decision is due to the administration’s failure to address Muslim community demands for an immediate and permanent cease-fire,” McCaw told VOA. “And its refusal to stop supplying manufactured weapons to Israel, which are being used in a genocide against our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza.”
Amid media reports that the administration is considering scaling back Ramadan events at the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said no celebration related to the holy month has been announced.
“We understand that it is a painful time for a number of communities,” she told VOA during her press briefing Monday. Senior White House officials have met with members of the Arab, Muslim and Palestinian communities “to talk about their views, to voice their concerns, and we welcome that,” she added.
The suffering of the Palestinian people “will be front of mind for many” Muslims this Ramadan, President Joe Biden said in a statement marking the beginning of the month. “It is front of mind for me.”
Since taking office, Biden has continued the decadeslong White House tradition of hosting Muslim community leaders that began with President Bill Clinton in 1996. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have hosted iftar dinner during Ramadan or an Eid al Fitr reception to mark the end of fasting after the month.
But this year, in addition to potentially facing the embarrassment of a massive boycott, the White House would likely want to avoid scenes where Biden is shouted at and heckled by pro-Palestinian protesters. Several of them have disrupted his campaign events around the country.
Outrage over Gaza is also affecting Nowruz, the Persian New Year celebrated by diaspora groups of varying ethnicity and religious affiliation from countries beyond Iran, including Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Nowruz this year overlaps with Ramadan. And instead of inviting hundreds of people to a reception as the administration has done in the past, this weekend the White House will be hosting a “Nowruz Open House tour.”
“I’m not sure if the president himself would participate,” said Jawaid Kotwal, board member of the Afghan American Foundation. “So it’s way different. A watered-down, downgraded version of the typical Nowruz celebrations that we had in the White House.”
Kotwal told VOA that he personally declined the invitation but his organization will “look for any avenue to continue to have engagement with any occupant of the White House.”
The White House has not responded to requests for further details on its Nowruz or Ramadan plans.
In his statement marking Nowruz, Biden said the war has “inflicted terrible suffering on the Palestinian people,” and vowed to “continue to lead international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance to them.”
Clouded by controversy
This year is not the first time Ramadan at the White House is clouded with controversy. In his first year in office, President Donald Trump, who campaigned on banning Muslims from entering the United States and signed multiple executive orders restricting immigration from Muslim-majority countries, did not host a Ramadan event.
In 2018 and 2019, Trump welcomed diplomats from Muslim-majority nations to the White House for iftar, but American Muslim organizations and lawmakers were not on the guest list. At the time, American Muslim groups said they would have declined had they been invited.
Some American Muslims boycotted Biden’s virtual Eid celebrations in May 2021 as hostilities escalated between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. More than 260 Palestinians were killed in that round of violence, according to the United Nations.
That death toll is a fraction of the more than 31,000 Palestinians killed since Israel launched its military campaign in response to the Hamas October 7 attacks that took at least 1,200 lives in Israel and more than 240 people hostage. The level of anger felt now by American Muslims, Arabs and wide swaths of Biden’s Democratic base is also exponentially higher.
The community, including those who work in the administration, would feel “gaslit” by a White House Ramadan event this year, said Tariq Habash, a Palestinian American and former policy adviser at the Department of Education who resigned in protest in January.
“You can’t in one hand try and show solidarity and understanding and then in the other hand supply an unrestricted amount of weapons and military funding to an extremist government that is intent on the indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians,” Habash told VOA.
The White House said it has actively engaged with Arab and Muslim Americans since the October 7 Hamas attack. Some in the community have refused to meet with administration officials.
Begum Ersoz, Farhad Pouladi, Anita Powell and Sayed Aziz Rahman contributed to this report.
https://www.voanews.com/a/american-muslim-groups-plan-to-boycott-white-house-ramadan/7534922.html
Three local students named semifinalists in Music Center’s Spotlight Program
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
News release The Music Center announced that 114 of Southern California’s most talented high school students — including three from the Santa Clarita Valley — have advanced to become semifinalists in The Music Center’s 36th Annual Spotlight program, a free, nationally acclaimed performing arts competition, scholarship and artistic development program for teens. This year, […]
The post Three local students named semifinalists in Music Center’s Spotlight Program appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
South Africa Accuses US Congress of Adding it to a New ‘Axis of Evil’ Over Israel Genocide Case
date: 2024-03-20, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — South Africa seeks to limit the damage to its relations with Washington caused by its legal challenge to Israel’s assault on Gaza, a South African official said on Tuesday.
Naledi Pandor, who is South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation, is in Washington seeking to sway members of the U.S. Congress from a proposed law that would further strain U.S. ties to Africa’s most vibrant democracy and a major mining, banking and manufacturing hub.
“I think there’s an attempt to take up punitive action against South Africa, this sort of axis of evil notion that’s very much part of the political culture,” Pandor said in response to a question from VOA at South Africa’s embassy in Washington.
In December, South Africa filed an application to institute proceedings against Israel at the United Nations’ top court. Pretoria argues that Israel’s actions in Gaza are “genocidal in character,” and aim to “destroy Palestinians in Gaza.”
In March, South Africa requested further measures from the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of weaponizing starvation by preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the sealed-off exclave.
Israel’s government has denounced the case, and the White House told VOA in January it considers it “meritless.”
The case has since inspired a bipartisan push in the U.S. Congress for legislation mandating a full review of the bilateral relationship with South Africa. The draft bill, filed by Republican Representative John James and Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz, claims that the actions of South Africa’s long-ruling African National Congress “are inconsistent with its publicly stated policy of nonalignment in international affairs.”
“South Africa has been building ties to countries and actors that undermine America’s national security and threaten our way of life through its military and political cooperation with China and Russia and its support of U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas,” James said in a statement when he introduced the bill in February. “We must examine our alliances and disentangle from those who remain willing to work with our adversaries.”
Pandor, who also met with think tanks and spoke publicly while in Washington, said she intended to remind members of Congress of the value of South Africa, on its own and as a gateway to the continent.
“We believe that any action to diminish the relationship would be most unwise,” she said, in response to another question from VOA. “Because these are two key democracies in the regions in which we exist.”
She said she believes the relationship between the United States and South Africa can help to promote peace and democracy on the African continent — and to support the agenda of development in Africa — “because I can’t imagine how initiatives directed at greater trade and development would become operational if the institutional capacity of South Africa is not utilized.”
South Africa is also a major beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which offers duty-free U.S. market access to 32 African nations. Congress must vote on whether to extend the program beyond 2025.
VOA asked Pandor whether the high-stakes diplomatic pushback has been worth it.
“What I do know is if there’s a struggle underway, the longer you take to address the demands of a struggle, the more violent and vicious the struggle becomes,” she replied. “So, the sooner you address peace and negotiations, the greater the opportunity for everybody to enjoy peace and security. This is the lesson of South Africa.”
And VOA asked analyst Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, if South Africa’s case had done anything to stop the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“I don’t think South Africa has reframed this conflict. I don’t think South Africa has really changed the direction at this point,” he said. “But it’s a thread that runs through it — this concern that South Africa has history which makes it especially sensitive to issues of discrimination and genocide. … It certainly added an element to conversation that wasn’t there until South Africa pushed it as aggressively as it did.”
Pandor, a veteran member of the long-ruling African National Congress, stressed that Pretoria’s problem is not with the White House. She told VOA she had not sought meetings with President Joe Biden or Secretary of State Antony Blinken during her Washington visit.
“The executive understands [South Africa] far more than Congress,” she said.
When asked what she’d tell Biden, Pandor’s answer was short.
“Cease-fire,” she said. “Now.”
National Animal Poison Prevention Month
date: 2024-03-20, from: SCV New (TV Station)
March is National Animal Poison Prevention Month and the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control is dedicated to raising awareness about the risks of pet poisoning and providing essential tips to keep our beloved pets safe
https://scvnews.com/national-animal-poison-prevention-month/
Chamber relaunches small business council
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
News release The Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce has announced the relaunch of its Small Business Council. With a revamped approach, the council will cater specifically to businesses with 50 employees or fewer, delving into the topics essential for small business success in today’s competitive market, according to a news release from the […]
The post Chamber relaunches small business council appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/chamber-relaunches-small-business-council/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-20, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Kate Middleton has been spotted in the wild:
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112125228234042646
Castaic Middle School recognized as 2024 School to Watch
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
News release Castaic Middle School has again been honored with the designation of a 2024 School to Watch by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, in collaboration with the California League of Schools, California Department of Education, and California Middle Grades Alliance. The school has a long-standing history of excellence and innovation in education, […]
The post Castaic Middle School recognized as 2024 School to Watch appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/castaic-middle-school-recognized-as-2024-school-to-watch/
Wednesday 20 March, 2024
date: 2024-03-20, from: John Naughton’s online diary
Gardener’s world Quote of the Day ”A clothes rack in search of a war zone.” Gavin Jacobson on the faux intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Samuel Barber | Adagio for Strings, Op.11 | Vienna Philharmonic … Continue reading
https://memex.naughtons.org/wednesday-20-march-2024/39262/
We Welcome the Miramar’s Proposal
date: 2024-03-20, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
My family and I have lived next door to the Miramar hotel for more than 30 years, and we enthusiastically favor their plans to add employee housing, apartments, and shops to the Miramar.
The post We Welcome the Miramar’s Proposal appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/19/we-welcome-the-miramars-proposal/
Magic is science: Highlands Elementary students get up-close look at the illusion of science
date: 2024-03-20, from: The Signal
Students at Highlands Elementary School got a visit from a wizard last week. But this wizard wasn’t trying to show off his power of illusion. David Hagerman wanted the students to learn that magic is science, and science is magic. “They’re both the same,” Hagerman said. Hagerman performed his Extreme Science 2.0 assembly at both […]
The post <strong>Magic is science: Highlands Elementary students get up-close look at the illusion of science</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
AI is changing writing
date: 2024-03-20, from: Om Malik blog
I recently redesigned my homepage to provide a clearer context about “me” as a writer and as a person. Not just to simplify things, but also to put more “I” in the new age of “AI” where it will increasingly become challenging to distinguish human from machine. The best part of the Internet is that it is always evolving. It is nothing if not a reflection of we the people, who …
https://om.co/2024/03/19/ai-is-changing-writing-here-is-what-to-do-about-it/