News gathered 2024-03-23
(date: 2024-03-23 16:12:39)
Stanford’s roadblock to NCAA regional is Iowa State post Audi Crooks
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
Iowa State and freshman sensation Audi Crooks are in the way as Stanford seeks berth in Portland 4 regional.
The Exception That Proves the Rule: HP Sold PCs With iTunes Pre-Installed in 2004
date: 2024-03-23, updated: 2024-03-23, from: Daring Fireball
‘They stole everything’: Fremont diner Skillet’z burglarized
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
Owner says it’s the first time her Niles restaurant has been hit
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/23/they-stole-everything-fremont-diner-skilletz-burglarized/
Police drone aids in capture of East Bay kidnapping suspects, hostage release
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
Two men arrested in Tracy on charges that include kidnapping, rape and possession of methamphetamine
The Weekly Frame: Portrait
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The people who make our community special.
The post The Weekly Frame: Portrait appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/23/the-weekly-frame-portrait/
Chinese Pastor Released After 7 Years in Prison, Unable to Get ID
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
beijing — Unable to buy a train ticket, or even see a doctor at a hospital, a Chinese pastor found that his even after release from prison, he is not quite free.
The Rev. John Sanqiang Cao was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison while coming back from a missionary trip in Myanmar. Now back in his hometown of Changsha in southern Hunan province, he is without any legal documentation in his country, unable to access even the most basic services without Chinese identification.
“I told them I’m a second-(class) Chinese citizen, I cannot do this, I cannot do that,” Cao in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m released, I’m a free citizen, why should there be so many restrictions upon me?”
Cao, who was born and raised in Changsha, had dedicated his life to spreading Christianity in China, where the religion is strictly regulated. He had studied in the U.S., married an American woman and started a family, but said he felt a calling to go back to his home country and spread the faith.
It’s a risky mission. Christianity in China is allowed only in state-sponsored churches, where the ruling Communist Party decides how Scripture should be interpreted. Anything else, including clandestine “house” churches and unofficial Bible schools, is considered illegal, though it was once tolerated by local officials.
Cao was undeterred, citing the courage of Chinese Christians he had met who spent time in prison for their faith. During his years in China, he said he had set up some 50 Bible study schools across the country.
In the years leading up to his arrest, he had started bringing Chinese missionaries to parts of northern Myanmar that had been impacted by the country’s civil war. They focused on relief work, campaigning against drug use, and setting up schools in areas bordering China.
It was in coming back from one of these crossings that he was detained in 2017. He was sentenced to seven years on a charge of “organizing others to illegally cross the border,” which is usually reserved for human traffickers.
His family and supporters advocated for Cao’s sentence to be reduced, but to no avail. Cao was a prisoner of conscience, according to the federal U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which also called for his freedom.
After completing his sentence, Cao is no longer behind bars. But he is facing another major obstacle.
He said that police who came to his mother’s house in 2006 took away her “hukou” registration book, which had also included Cao.
Every child born in China is registered in the hukou, which is an identification system through which social benefits are allocated by geography. Later in life, the hukou is needed to apply for a national ID card, which is used in everything from getting a phone number to public health insurance.
According to Cao, police said they would help his mother update the hukou. It was only later that he found out in updating her registration that they removed his name.
Cao never took American citizenship because of his calling, spending his time between the two countries. He had kept his U.S. permanent residency throughout this time, though he says that’s not accepted as an ID in China.
He was traveling on his Chinese passport. Though he noted that he no longer had the hukou registration, he did not realize how serious the problem was until much later.
In prison, his Chinese passport had expired, he said, and he could not renew it.
Cao said he has been to the police station many times since his release and had even hired a lawyer. So far, he said police had not given him a satisfactory answer as to why his records no longer exist.
A police officer at the Dingwangtai police station in Changsha, where Cao’s hukou registration is supposed to be, said he did not know how to address Cao’s claims. “Even if he went to prison, he should still have a hukou,” he told the AP. The officer refused to give his name because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media.
Cao’s two adult sons were able to visit him this month, spending two weeks with their father. Cao said he wants to join them and his wife in the U.S., though it’s unclear how he can do that.
“I moved from a smaller prison … to come to a bigger prison,” he said.
Collision results in downed power lines in Saugus
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
A traffic collision near the intersection of Plum Canyon Road and Bouquet Canyon Road resulted in downed power lines Saturday afternoon, according to Melanie Flores, supervising dispatcher for the L.A. County Fire Department. According to Flores, firefighters were dispatched at 1:53 p.m. and arrived on the scene at 2 p.m. Two to three vehicles were […]
The post <strong>Collision results in downed power lines in Saugus</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/collision-results-in-downed-power-lines-in-saugus/
Pac-12 business affairs: Inside a wild and lucrative eight days for Washington State and Oregon State
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
The two schools remaining in the Pac-12 have increased future revenue by more than $30 million in the past week alone.
Senate passes $1.2 trillion funding package, ending threat of partial shutdown
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
Shortly before midnight Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a breakthrough.
25 Years After NATO’s Intervention, Serbia, Kosovo and the War in Ukraine
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
Scattered thunderstorms bring heavy rains to parts of the Bay Area
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
Sunday expected to be dry and breezy
Edwin Vasquez holds exhibition at The Main
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
Edwin Vasquez’s “The Joshua Tree Chronicles AI Images” is an homage to the Joshua tree, or yucca brevifolia, as his artificial intelligence images capture the essence of the dying trees. The exhibition, which has been up since Feb. 6, will remain until April 1. Vasquez’s reception took place on March 21, simultaneously occurring during the […]
The post <strong>Edwin Vasquez holds exhibition at The Main </strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/edwin-vasquez-holds-exhibition-at-the-main/
Celebrini Bowl?: Blackhawks’ Bedard shares thoughts on ‘special’ centerman
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks said he’s watched Boston University’s Macklin Celebrini, the ex-Jr. Shark, play this season
2 Crew Members Die During Holland America Cruise Ship ‘Incident’
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — Two crew members on a Holland America cruise ship died during an “incident” in the ship’s engineering space, the cruise line said.
The unidentified crew members died Friday while the Florida-based Nieuw Amsterdam was at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, Holland America said in a statement.
Authorities were notified and the cause of the accident is being investigated, the cruise line said. Crew members were being offered counseling.
“All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with our team members’ families at this difficult time,” the statement said. “The safety, security and welfare of all guests and crew are the company’s absolute priority.”
The cruise line did not offer any further details about the crew members. It later said the Bahamas Maritime Authority was leading the investigation. The ship set sail out of Fort Lauderdale on March 16 for a seven-night trip.
https://www.voanews.com/a/crew-members-die-during-holland-america-cruise-ship-incident-/7540035.html
Senses is back with neon lights
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
The Senses Block Party “Neon Nights” lit up Old Town Newhall Thursday evening, marking the first event of the 2024 lineup, and 13 years since its inception. In fact, Senses is celebrating “The Big 100” in August, commemorating 100 events of bringing the community together on Main Street. The colorful start of the 2024 series […]
The post <strong>Senses is back with neon lights</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/senses-is-back-with-neon-lights/
Some personal news
date: 2024-03-23, from: OS News
I’ve got two bits of related news that will affect the future of OSNews. The first bit of news kind of led to the second bit of news. You don’t have to care much about former, but the latter will be important for where OSNews will be going from here on out. First, after 14 years, I’ve effectively quit my job as a translator – I am self-employed so there’s no dramatic clearing of my desk of being led out by security, which is probably a little bit of a letdown to some of you. The translation industry is in the process of collapsing – you know why – and I’ve been feeling the squeeze for a while now, and I like going out on my own terms. I’ve known this day would come, and I’m not sad about it. My motto: it is what it is. Of course, this meant I had to think of what to do next. Well, I have decided to work on OSNews full-time. This is risky, scary, and I’m absolutely terrified of what this will mean. Right now, my OSNews income – ads plus Patreon – does not even remotely come close to what I earned as a translator, and as any translator will tell you, translating isn’t exactly a cornucopia either. This means I’ve got some serious work ahead of me to change that. After talking things over with David, OSNews’ owner who takes care of the commercial/advertisement side, we’ve already taken a few steps. First, we’ve switched hosting providers and saved considerably on our hosting costs in the process. Second, David changed advertising partners to one that will most likely yield us some better rates, but since I don’t know much about that side of OSNews – as it should be – I can’t comment much on it. There are two main ways in which I can increase OSNews’ revenue, and that is by growing our readership, and by giving people more reasons to become a Patreon, make individual donations, or buy our merch. In other words, you can expect more original articles so that people will want to keep coming back, and possibly support me financially because they like what I do. A third avenue for revenue I’m exploring is sponsorships – this is a longer-term project, and I’m approaching and talking to several (tech) companies about this. If you happen to work for a company who would be a good fit for an OSNews weekly sponsorship, feel free to contact me for more information. The end goal: have OSNews be entirely funded by readers and sponsors, and remove all regular advertising. This all sounds great, but there is a dark side to this news, too. If all of this fails, if I am unable to attract more readers and make my work for OSNews financially sustainable, I’ll have to find work elsewhere – and that would mean the end of OSNews. I’m not trying to be alarmist or scare you; I just want to be as honest and realistic as possible about where we stand. Anyway, this is a big deal for me. I’ve really only ever had one job, and that’s being a translator, a job I am trained for with two university degrees to show for it. My only other job was a teenage thing where I worked at a hardware store (think hammers and screws, not computers) for eight years. I don’t like taking risks with these sorts of matters, so I’m absolutely terrified, and while I believe there’s a sustainable income hiding in this ol’ website, it’s not always clear how to get at it. Anyway, want to become a Patreon? Or a sponsor? Pretty please? Now would be kind of a really good time to do so.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138936/some-personal-news/
2024-03-23 Isole de Brissago
date: 2024-03-23, from: Alex Schroeder’s Blog
2024-03-23 Isole de Brissago
After visiting the Camellia park, we took the boat the Brissago Islands. One of them has an old villa turned into restaurant and hotel and is a botanical garden.
Towards the end you can spot me sleeping on a park bench. Yay me!
Obviously I did not take that picture. Somebody knows the access code to my phone! 🕵️
This pond had fantastic frogs.
Behind those walls is a tiny “Roman” pool. We’ll come to it towards the end.
The villa where we started our walk in the background…
The “Roman” bath…
A hole in the wall, looking towards Ascona.
And me holding the camera out over the water and looking left, back towards the villa where we started.
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2024-03-23-brissago
2024-03-23 Camellias
date: 2024-03-23, from: Alex Schroeder’s Blog
2024-03-23 Camellias
We visited the Camellia garden in Locarno before taking the boat to the Isole de Brissago.
#Pictures #Flowers #Plants #Camellias #Locarno
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2024-03-23-camellias
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-23, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Something tells me the web site is not very actively maintained:
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112146890765713635
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-23, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Today I logged into Slashdot.org again.
Where did everyone go?
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112146812420078142
How The Cheapest Tesla Model 3 Compares To A $50,000 New One
date: 2024-03-23, from: Inside EVs News
In a new video comparison, we look at how the “Highland” Model 3 stacks up against a used one you can get for fire-sale prices.
https://insideevs.com/news/713549/tesla-model-3-new-old/
Look good, play well? SF Giants hope so with new dress code on the road
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
After 4 years of athleisure under Gabe Kapler, Giants players will be required to wear a minimum of a collared shirt and jeans on the road.
Moscow concert hall attack: 133 dead; Kyiv denies Putin’s allegations about suspects
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
Ukraine’s foreign ministry accused Moscow of using the attack to try to stoke fervor for its war efforts.
Arrests for Illegal Border Crossings Up in February, Among Lowest of Biden Term
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
washington — The number of arrests for illegally crossing the U.S. southern border with Mexico nudged upward February over the previous month. But at a time when immigration is increasingly a concern for voters, the numbers were still among the lowest of Joe Biden’s presidency.
According to figures from Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol agents made 140,644 arrests of people attempting to enter the country between the legal border crossing points during February.
The figures are part of a range of data related to immigration, trade and fentanyl seizures that is released monthly by CBP. The immigration-related figures are a closely watched metric at a time of intense political scrutiny over who is entering the country and whether the Biden administration has a handle on the issue.
Republicans have charged that Biden’s policies have encouraged migrants to attempt to come to the U.S. and that the border is out of control. The Biden administration counters that Republicans failed to work with Democrats to fund a key border security bill and argues that what is happening on the southern border is part of a worldwide phenomenon of more people fleeing their homes to seek safety.
The numbers come after a December that saw the Border Patrol tally 249,785 arrests — a record that increased tensions over immigration — before the numbers plunged in January to 124,220.
Officials have credited enforcement efforts by Mexico as well as seasonal fluctuations that affect when and where migrants attempt to cross the border for the drop from December to January and February.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said during a February 29 trip to Brownsville, Texas, with Biden that the “primary reason is the enhanced enforcement efforts on the part of the Mexican government.” But he said encounters remained up in Arizona in part because Sonora, which is the Mexican state directly south of Arizona, is difficult to patrol.
In February, the Tucson sector in Arizona was by far the busiest region for migrant crossings between the ports of entry, followed by San Diego and El Paso, Texas.
Separately, 42,100 migrants used an app called CBP One to schedule an appointment to present themselves at an official border crossing point to seek entry into the United States.
The app has been a key part of the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce chaos at the border by encouraging migrants to wait for an appointment instead of wading through the river or trekking across the desert and seeking Border Patrol agents to turn themselves in.
The administration has also allowed 30,000 people a month into the country from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela using the administration’s humanitarian parole authority. The migrants must have a financial sponsor in the U.S. and fly into an American airport. According to the data released Friday, 386,000 people from those four countries have been admitted to the country since that program was announced in January 2023.
Support for the Miramar
date: 2024-03-23, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
I have been pleasantly surprised by the proactive and genuine interest the Miramar team has in seeking community input from myself and my neighbors.
The post Support for the Miramar appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/23/support-for-the-miramar/
USC women’s basketball vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi — live updates
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Thomas Johnson and Leila MacKenzie report live from Galen Center in Los Angeles.
The post USC women’s basketball vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi — live updates appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/23/usc-womens-basketball-vs-texas-am-corpus-christi-live-updates/
Valetudo - Cloud replacement for vacuum robots enabling local-only operation
date: 2024-03-23, from: Tilde.news
March 22, 2024
date: 2024-03-23, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-22-2024-8f9
Color Bloq and Paseo Nuevo Join Forces to Celebrate LGBTQ+ Representation at QTCON805 in Santa Barbara
date: 2024-03-23, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Celebrating representation on the Central Coast in Downtown Santa Barbara.
The post Color Bloq and Paseo Nuevo Join Forces to Celebrate LGBTQ+ Representation at QTCON805 in Santa Barbara appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
San Jose Sharks winger suffered concussion from Tkachuk hit
date: 2024-03-23, from: San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Sharks winger Mike Hoffman explained what he’s been dealing with since a hit from Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/23/san-jose-sharks-winger-suffered-concussion-from-tkachuk-hit/
THE ZONE OF SHAME
date: 2024-03-23, from: Howard Jacobson blog
Here is a piece I wrote for the New Statesman recently. It is self-explanatory. Jonathan Glazer’s profoundly subtle and disturbing film, The Zone of Interest, no sooner won an Oscar for Best International Feature than its director delivered an apology for his Jewishness so grovelling in its emotional simplicity it would have made the angels – of any religion – weep.
https://jacobsonh.substack.com/p/the-zone-of-shame
Growth is a mind cancer
date: 2024-03-23, from: Manu - I write blog
<p>I'm following with somewhat vague interest the various legal battles Apple is currently involved in. Reading their response to the EU's DMA makes me sad. Not for the company itself. I honestly could not care less about the company. Nor for the people who run that company. I'm sad because the pursuit of endless growth is such a mind cancer. It consumes and distracts everyone. If you're an artisan, creating amazing objects is your end goal. Ideally, you want those objects to last forever. And if they don't, you want to do such an amazing job that once something is broken beyond repair, people will come to you again and ask you to make something new, rather than buying from someone else.</p>Apple makes amazing products. I bought the laptop I’m typing this 9 years ago. It still works fine. Sure, it’s slow compared to my new machine but I can use it to do calls and write blog posts. And that’s great. I love it. I was happy to give Apple my money back in 2015. But you know who’s not happy? Apple. Apple is not happy that I bought a laptop in 2015 that was so good that it is still working fine 9 years later. And it’s also not happy that I bought a phone more than 4 years ago that still does all the things I need it to do. Because they need to make money. More money. There’s no end state here. “More” has no end state. At some point, a company like Apple will inevitably run out of people willing to buy their stuff. Because it’s unreasonable to expect people to upgrade phones, laptops, screens, watches, tablets, virtual-ski-goggles every damn year. And so what do they do? They move into services. Music, movies, games, fitness, storage. You name it. But those also can’t grow forever. Because guess what? There are other companies out there doing the same.
But they can’t stop. They’re a public company. If they’re not growing enough it means they’re failing. Forget that they make amazing products that can last decades with no issues. Forget that they’re an almost 3-fucking-trillions dollar company. If they’re not growing enough, stock goes down and that’s no good. Because remember, there’s no finish line here. They can’t just be happy with their size. They can’t be happy with the idea of employing thousands of smart people and creating amazing products. No, they have to keep growing. And sooner or later, this mind cancer becomes malignant.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not just an Apple issue. It’s an issue with any big company. It’s an issue with everyone who can’t accept that they reached their end state.
Cory Doctorow famously coined the enshittification term to describe the sad trend of online services going to shit over time. I don’t think that’s just an online services issue. It’s a societal issue related to the pursuit of endless growth. And if you think about it, it’s a deeply human issue. It’s what happens when you can’t say stop. No matter what you’re doing, it can be something positive or negative, if you can’t say stop, bad things will happen. Try to go for a run, and don’t stop. Ever. Or try to drink water, and don’t stop. Ever.
But it’s our fault. Our as a society. We celebrate when Apple becomes the first trillion-dollar company but we don’t celebrate when someone says “You know what? I think I have enough”.
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US Mega Millions Jackpot Climbs to $1.1B
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.1 billion after no one matched the game’s six numbers Friday night, continuing a stretch of more than three months without a big winner.
The numbers drawn were: 3, 8, 31, 35, 44, 16.
The jackpot increased after a drawing for an estimated $977 million failed to produce a jackpot winner.
No one has won the game’s jackpot since December 8, a string of 30 consecutive drawings without anyone taking home the top prize. That has enabled the jackpot to slowly grow, week after week.
The $1.1 billion prize is for a sole winner who chooses to be paid through an annuity over 30 years. Winners almost always opt for a cash payment, which for the next drawing Tuesday night is an estimated $525.8 million.
A lucky player winning the $1.1 billion jackpot would take home the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history.
The other U.S. lottery game, Powerball, has grown to an annuity jackpot of $750 million and a cash payout of $357.3 million. The next Powerball drawing is scheduled to take place Saturday night.
Deputies detain road rage suspect at gunpoint
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
Deputies detained one person at gunpoint on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after a road rage incident that originated on the 24000 block of Magic Mountain Parkway on Friday evening, according to Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials. Deputies were dispatched to the intersection of McBean Parkway and Arroyo Park Drive in Valencia, […]
The post <strong>Deputies detain road rage suspect at gunpoint </strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/deputies-detain-road-rage-suspect-at-gunpoint/
Luck of the Irish Hits Santa Barbara Audiences on St. Patrick’s Eve
date: 2024-03-23, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
We the Beat presented Darren Kiely at SOhO on March 16, 2024.
The post Luck of the Irish Hits Santa Barbara Audiences on St. Patrick’s Eve appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Craft With International Crew Heads to Space Station
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/craft-with-international-crew-heads-to-space-station/7539922.html
Big Auto is begging governments to let them go bankrupt as Chinese EVs loom
date: 2024-03-23, from: Electrek Feed
Automakers are fiercely lobbying governments to water down already-compromised emissions rules, but doing so will only lead to their doom as market entrants that are serious about EVs will continue ramping them anyway.
Docker launches Testcontainers on former rival Red Hat’s OpenShift
date: 2024-03-23, updated: 2024-03-23, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
CEO Scott Johnston on company pivots and trying not to surprise the community
Interview As the IT industry faces an inflection point thanks to AI, lessons can be learned from Docker in how a company can - or must - pivot in the face of a changing reality.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/23/docker_launches_testcontainers/
Doctorow on the antitrust case against Apple
date: 2024-03-23, from: OS News
The foundational tenet of “the Cult of Mac” is that buying products from a $3t company makes you a member of an oppressed ethnic minority and therefore every criticism of that corporation is an ethnic slur. Call it “Apple exceptionalism” – the idea that Apple, alone among the Big Tech firms, is virtuous, and therefore its conduct should be interpreted through that lens of virtue. The wellspring of this virtue is conveniently nebulous, which allows for endless goal-post shifting by members of the Cult of Mac when Apple’s sins are made manifest. ↫ Cory Doctorow An absolutely brilliant response to the DoJ lawsuit from Cory Doctorow. You notice this “Apple exceptionalism” a lot right now because of the new laws in the EU and now the lawsuit by the US DoJ. Apple products being better is posited as a fact, a law of the universe, and as such, any claims, either through lawsuits or legislation, that Apple is doing something wrong, illegal, or anticompetitive are by definition false. Things that, according to them, make Apple products “superior” can simply not be illegal. You also notice this a lot when it comes to the existence of Android. People who don’t like being locked in or have issues with Apple’s behaviour can just switch to Android, right? The thought that there are real, monetary costs to switching from iOS to Android – costs driven up by Apple’s very behaviour – is irrelevant to them, because in the eyes of the tech pundit, everyone’s rich. What we’ll be discovering over the course of the DoJ lawsuit – a course that will take us years – is that the general public cares a lot less about Apple as a company than Apple tech pundits think it does. People have iPhones not because they love Apple, but because their previous phone was an iPhone, because of network effects, or a bit of both. I doubt the average (in this case) American gives a rat’s ass about Apple, and are much more worried about the fact they have to live paycheck-to-paycheck in a dysfunctional shell of a democracy while being told the economy is doing just great.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138931/doctorow-on-the-antitrust-case-against-apple/
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
I’ve
had my blogroll for a couple of
weeks now, and I’ve got it on-screen a lot, as I’m developing another
user interface that has the blogroll in it. This blogroll is much like
the one I had in the 00s, but it’s in motion, and it’s a source of news
and ideas. It’s also doing the thing that Twitter used to do, it lets me
have a way to see what specific people are interested in. I expect more
of that as new people get this kind of blogroll. Right now I’m pretty
much the only one. The next step is getting the blogroll running in
WordPress. And then getting it running on Om’s
blog and Doc’s blog, both of
whom have real experience with the art of blogrolling. From that, I
expect to have a better idea of what the editorial UI should look like
for people creating and managing these blogrolls. We’ll iterate until
it’s pretty easy to set up and manage one. Also to be clear, I want it
to run in other platforms, this is not exclusive to WordPress. It’s just
the place where the people are right now, the ones I really want to work
with. But I wouldn’t mind it running in
Substack for example, if there are
any writers there who find this compelling. That would require
cooperation from the company though, their platform as far as I know,
does not support other-party plugins.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/23.html#a160012
Tesla Cybertruck Has Hidden Hardware For Wireless Charging
date: 2024-03-23, from: Inside EVs News
The Cybertruck’s service manual reveals that its high-voltage battery pack has connectors labeled for an inductive charger.
https://insideevs.com/news/713486/cybertruck-inductive-charging-equipped-manual/
GEEKOM A7 Review: This AMD Ryzen 7000U mini PC hits the sweet spot
date: 2024-03-23, from: Liliputing
The GEEKOM A7 is a mini PC with support for up to an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, 64GB of RAM, and 2TB of solid state storage. It’s basically the AMD equivalent of the GEEKOM Mini IT13 with an Intel Raptor Lake processor. But, having used the GEEKOM A7 quite extensively over the past month, I’ve found […]
The post GEEKOM A7 Review: This AMD Ryzen 7000U mini PC hits the sweet spot appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/geekom-a7-review-this-amd-ryzen-7000u-mini-pc-hits-the-sweet-spot/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-23, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Four year anniversary of this video
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112145745061619435
Pascal-VU compiler
date: 2024-03-23, from: Hans Otten’s, Pascal for small machines
During my study at the VU Amsterdam in 1979, 1980 I worked with the Pascal-VU compiler. A full ISO standard pascal compiler, in the spirit of the Px compile/interpreter. I have saved several documents from that period, User Manual and Description of the EM machine, the inetrpreter for the p-code coming out of the compiler. […]
http://pascal.hansotten.com/2024/03/23/pascal-vu-compiler/
Pascal-M updates
date: 2024-03-23, from: Hans Otten’s, Pascal for small machines
New developments for Pascal-M: Pascal-M for Flex OS on 6809 , 1980, source of compiler (in Pascal-M) and intepreter (6809 assembler for Flex) sent to me by Mark Rustad. This version of Pascal-M is a further development of Pascal-M, 1978. Noteworthy additions are Reset and Rewrite for files and Value statement for initialization declarations. Pascal-M […]
http://pascal.hansotten.com/2024/03/23/pascal-m-updates/
‘Even stronger’ than imagined: DOJ’s sweeping Apple lawsuit draws expert praise
date: 2024-03-23, from: OS News
The Department of Justice’s antitrust division has come into its own, having filed its third tech monopoly lawsuit in four years. The accumulated experience shows up in the complaint, according to antitrust experts who spoke with The Verge about the complaint filed Thursday accusing Apple of violating antitrust law. The DOJ describes a sweeping arc of behaviors by Apple, arguing that it adds up to a pattern of illegal monopoly maintenance. Rather than focusing on two or three illegal acts, the complaint alleges that Apple engages in a pattern of behaviors that further entrench consumers into their ecosystem and make it harder to switch, even in the face of high prices and degraded quality. ↫ Lauren Feiner at The Verge It’s been somewhat entertaining seeing Apple fanatics claim the complaint is bad, horrible, has no merit, has no chance in court, and that the DoJ has zero clue what it’s doing – while actual experts are actually positively surprised by how the complaint seems better than they expected. I wonder whose judgement to trust more.
Feds ordered Google to unmask certain YouTube users. Critics say it’s ‘terrifying.’
date: 2024-03-23, from: OS News
Federal investigators have ordered Google to provide information on all viewers of select YouTube videos, according to multiple court orders obtained by Forbes. Privacy experts from multiple civil rights groups told Forbes they think the orders are unconstitutional because they threaten to turn innocent YouTube viewers into criminal suspects. ↫ Thomas Brewster at Forbes United States law enforcement has been asking Google who watches certain YouTube videos, covering as many as 30,000 people per video. They wanted names, addresses, telephone numbers and user activity for all Google accounts who had watched a video within a certain week’s timeframe, and the IP addresses of everyone who watched the video without a Google account. That’s an absolute crapton of data, all because they suspected one person of a money-laundering scheme. And this is just one example. Forbes could not determine if Google complied with the requests, but it does highlight the dangers of having so much data on one place.
Problematic
date: 2024-03-23, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
We need to fix our own problems first.
The post Problematic appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/23/problematic-3/
Our View | Badges? We’ve Got Plenty. Who Will Wear Them?
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
By The Signal Editorial Board Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be … law enforcement officers. Yes, that is a take-off of an old song popularized by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. But it does reflect the true sentiment of people and the times we live in. Parents don’t want their kids to […]
The post Our View | Badges? We’ve Got Plenty. Who Will Wear Them? appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/our-view-badges-weve-got-plenty-who-will-wear-them/
Mike Garcia | Time to Halt Chiquita Landfill
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
The fundamental function of our federal government is to guarantee the safety of its citizens. I’ve made ensuring that security, from your pocketbook to the southern border, my top priority in Congress. Now, I’m doing everything in my power to ensure the very public safety of our backyard. The residents of Val Verde and Castaic […]
The post Mike Garcia | Time to Halt Chiquita Landfill appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/mike-garcia-time-to-halt-chiquita-landfill/
Judy Reinsma | Cherrypicking the Bible’s Laws
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
The Mighty Signal is hardly the proper place to argue Christian theology, but since that topic has already been spread across the Opinion page, I would like to address the letters of Thursday, March 21. The writers quote Matthew 5- 17-19 as their justification for condemnation of same-sex relationships. The “law” they refer to is […]
The post Judy Reinsma | Cherrypicking the Bible’s Laws appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/judy-reinsma-cherrypicking-the-bibles-laws/
Ron Perry | Defaming the Indians Again
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
Once again I find it so interesting how people see things differently. For instance: the principal of Hart High School, Jason d’Autremont in an article in The Signal (March 20) described Hawks as “symbols of strength, freedom and intelligence, characteristics of the Hart community.” It seems to me that if, in his quote, he had […]
The post Ron Perry | Defaming the Indians Again appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/ron-perry-defaming-the-indians-again/
NASA Astronaut Tracy Dyson, Crewmates Safely En Route to Space Station
date: 2024-03-23, from: NASA breaking news
Three crew members including NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson successfully launched at 8:36 a.m. EDT Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station. Dyson, along with her crewmates Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus, will dock to the space station’s Prichal module about 11:09 a.m. on […]
YOU LOVE TO SEE IT: The Real Estate Cartel Takes The L
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Lever News
Plus, immigrants catch a break in some states, environmental regulators combat cancer at its source, and states are taking on the gun lobby.
https://www.levernews.com/you-love-to-see-it-the-real-estate-cartel-takes-the-l/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
This week's On The Media is a must-listen for how Trump keeps his MAGAs happy.
VMoto Unleashes The TS Street Hunter Electric Naked Bike
date: 2024-03-23, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
It’s inspired by the naked streetfighter world.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/712497/vmoto-ts-street-hunter/
Atari Falcon030: impressive, but too late to the party
date: 2024-03-23, from: OS News
So looking back, it is obvious that neither Atari or Commodore would really be able to succeed in the long-term, although perhaps one of them could have become the 3rd “also-ran”. For a while, Atari really thought they could be that third choice and some of their late-model computers have some impressive innovations. With that preamble over with, let’s talk about the last Atari computer: the Falcon030. ↫ Paul Lefebvre In my mind, Atari is a game and console company, not a computer company – I don’t have any sale figures, but I feel like the Atari general computers weren’t quite as popular in The Netherlands as they were in some other places.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138920/atari-falcon030-impressive-but-too-late-to-the-party/
Picotron: a fantasy workstation for making pixelart games, animations, music, demos and other curiosities
date: 2024-03-23, from: OS News
Picotron is a Fantasy Workstation for making pixelart games, animations, music, demos and other curiosities. It has a toy operating system designed to be a cosy creative space, but runs on top of Windows, MacOS or Linux. Picotron apps can be made with built-in tools, and shared with other users in a special 256k png cartridge format. ↫ Picotron website Picotron is very similar to PICO-8, but more powerful and with a few additional features – it’s actually made by the same people as PICO-8. It also contains a small, ‘toy’ operating system to serve as a workspace, everything makes use of Lua, and any applications made with it can be shared using a special 256k PNG cartridge format. It’s currently in alpha, and cost $11.99, and uses the early Minecraft model of a one-time purchase for access to all future updates. The FAQ has tons more information. It looks incredibly neat. I don’t have much use for it, but I’m interested to see what people with actual skills will make with it.
@Chris Coyier blog (date: 2024-03-23, from: Chris Coyier blog)
I’m super close to getting productivity-sniped by Godspeed. It appears there is quite a few cool features. I like the focus on speed. I like the file attachments to individual to-dos. I like that recurring to-dos seem like first-class citizens. I like the commitment to keyboard-first usage and the “just remember Command-K” thing. I’m Apple-y […]
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/03/23/11181/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
‘At 80, I’ve discovered a sexual energy I didn’t know I had’
This $40,000 Alibaba drone can carry a passenger, but would you risk it?
date: 2024-03-23, from: Electrek Feed
When I first got into flying quadcopters (back when they were still called quadcopters), I would sometimes imagine what it would be like to shrink myself down Rick Moranis-style and hop aboard. But now thanks to some enterprising Chinese engineers – or perhaps garage tinkerers – I don’t have to imagine it anymore. Instead of shrinking the passengers down, they’ve scaled up the entire drone and added a pilot’s chair.
Now the only question is, how brave are you?
https://electrek.co/2024/03/23/this-40000-alibaba-drone-can-carry-a-passenger-but-would-you-risk-it/
Trump, Kate, and a Misplaced Shark
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Markup blog
Let’s talk about fake news images
https://themarkup.org/hello-world/2024/03/23/trump-kate-and-a-misplaced-shark
Grep by example: Interactive guide
date: 2024-03-23, from: Anton Zhiyanov blog
Interactive introduction to grep with real-world use cases.
https://antonz.org/grep-by-example/
Paul Butler | Out of Office
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
Call me judgmental, but I always believe you can learn a lot about someone when they’re away from work. What do I mean? Well, in my experience, those three words, “Out of office,” can reveal a great deal about a person’s spirit of service or lack thereof. Let’s take a stroll around, and I’ll introduce […]
The post Paul Butler | Out of Office appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/__trashed-5/
Royal Enfield Announced the Pricing on the New Shotgun 650
date: 2024-03-23, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
The company also introduced important updates to the Continental GT 650 and INT 650 at the same time.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/712495/royal-enfield-shotgun-650-pricing-usa/
Flox rocks the Nix box by conquering code chaos
date: 2024-03-23, updated: 2024-03-23, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
FOSS CLI package management framework for repeatable, declarative deployments across multiple platforms
FOSDEM Flox aims to make Nix easier for newcomers, simplifying the job of installing identical development environments across Linux and macOS.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/23/flox_1_nix/
Robert Lamoureux | ‘Cradle to grave’ drainage solution needed
date: 2024-03-23, from: The Signal
Question: Hello Robert, I have a somewhat unique lot that my custom-built house is situated on. I purchased it approximately 10 years ago. I inherited a backyard that has a swimming pool and lots of concrete decking. It’s all designed with everything stepping down to the back of the house. The existing typical 4-inch PVC […]
The post Robert Lamoureux | ‘Cradle to grave’ drainage solution needed appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/robert-lamoureux-cradle-to-grave-drainage-solution-needed/
Is Trump Broke? | The Coffee Klatch, March 23, 2024
date: 2024-03-23, from: Robert Reich on Substack
with yours truly and Heather Lofthouse
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/is-trump-broke-the-coffee-klatch
Russia’s Cozy Bear caught phishing German politicos with phony dinner invites
date: 2024-03-23, updated: 2024-03-23, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Forget the Riesling, bring on the WINELOADER
The Kremlin’s cyberspies targeted German political parties in a phishing campaign that used emails disguised as dinner party invitations, according to Mandiant.…
Biden Signs $1.2 Trillion Budget Measure
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
WILMINGTON, Delaware — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $1.2 trillion package of spending bills after Congress passed the long overdue legislation just hours earlier, ending the threat of a partial government shutdown.
“This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted,” Biden said in a statement. “But it rejects extreme cuts from House Republicans and expands access to child care, invests in cancer research, funds mental health and substance use care, advances American leadership abroad, and provides resources to secure the border. … That’s good news for the American people.”
It took lawmakers six months into the current budget year to get near the finish line on government funding, the process slowed by conservatives who pushed for more policy mandates and steeper spending cuts than a Democratic-led Senate or White House would consider. The impasse required several short-term spending bills to keep agencies funded.
The White House said Biden signed the legislation at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was spending the weekend. It cleared the Senate by a 74-24 vote shortly after funding expired for the agencies at midnight.
But the White House sent out a notice shortly after the deadline announcing that the Office of Management and Budget had ceased shutdown preparations because there was a high degree of confidence that Congress would pass the legislation and the Democratic president would sign it Saturday.
The first package of full-year spending bills, which funded the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and the Interior, among others, cleared Congress two weeks ago with just hours to spare before funding expired for those agencies. The second covered the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, as well as other aspects of general government.
When combining the two packages, discretionary spending for the budget year will come to about $1.66 trillion. That does not include programs such as Social Security and Medicare, or financing the country’s rising debt.
On Ukraine aid, which Biden and his administration have argued was critical and necessary to help stop Russia’s invasion, the package provided $300 million under the defense spending umbrella. That funding is separate from a large assistance package for Ukraine and Israel that is bogged down on Capitol Hill.
Biden, in his statement, again pressed Congress to pass additional aid.
“The House must pass the bipartisan national security supplemental to advance our national security interests. And Congress must pass the bipartisan border security agreement — the toughest and fairest reforms in decades — to ensure we have the policies and funding needed to secure the border. It’s time to get this done.”
A bipartisan border package collapsed last month when Republican senators scuttled months of negotiations with Democrats on legislation intended to cut back record numbers of illegal border crossings.
To win over support from Republicans, House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson pointed to some of the spending increases secured for about 8,000 more detention beds for migrants awaiting their immigration proceedings or removal from the country. That’s about a 24% increase from current levels. Also, GOP leadership highlighted more money to hire about 2,000 Border Patrol agents.
Democrats are boasting of a $1 billion increase for Head Start programs and new child care centers for military families. They also played up a $120 million increase in funding for cancer research and a $100 million increase for Alzheimer’s research.
The spending package largely tracks with an agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California worked out with the White House in May 2023, which restricted spending for two years and suspended the debt ceiling into January 2025 so the federal government could continue paying its bills.
Prospects for a short-term government shutdown had appeared to grow Friday evening after Republicans and Democrats battled over proposed amendments to the bill. But shortly before midnight, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a breakthrough.
“It is good for the country that we have reached this bipartisan deal. It wasn’t easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it,” Schumer said.
The House passed the legislation Friday morning by a vote of 286-134, narrowly gaining the two-thirds majority needed for approval.
The vote tally in the House reflected anger among Republicans over the content of the package and the speed with which it was brought to a vote. Johnson brought the measure to the floor even though most Republicans ended up voting against it. He said afterward that the bill “represents the best achievable outcome in a divided government.”
In a sign of the conservative frustration, Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene initiated an effort to oust Johnson as the House began the vote but held off on further action until the House returns in two weeks. It’s the same tool that was used last year to remove McCarthy.
The vote breakdown showed 101 Republicans voting for the bill and 112 voting against it. Meanwhile, 185 Democrats voted for the bill and 22 against.
100 Iconic Washington Cherry Trees To Be Cut Down, Including ‘Stumpy’
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
washington — The sun is setting on Stumpy, the gnarled old cherry tree that has become a social media phenom. This year’s cherry blossom festivities in Washington will be the last for Stumpy and more than 100 other cherry trees that will be cut down as part of a multiyear restoration of their Tidal Basin home.
Starting in early summer, crews will begin working to replace the crumbling seawall around the Tidal Basin, the area around the Jefferson Memorial with the highest concentration of cherry trees. The work has been long overdue, as the deterioration, combined with rising sea levels, has resulted in Potomac waters regularly surging over the barriers.
The twice-daily floods at high tide not only cover some of the pedestrian paths, they regularly soak some of the cherry trees’ roots. The $133 million project to rebuild and reinforce the sea wall will take about three years, said Mike Litterst, National Park Service spokesperson for the National Mall.
“It’s certainly going to benefit the visitor experience, and that’s very important to us,” Litterst said. “But most of all, it’s going to benefit the cherry trees, who right now are every day, twice a day, seeing their roots inundated with the brackish water of the Tidal Basin.” Litterst said entire stretches of trees to the water, as wide as 100 yards, or 90 meters, have been lost and can’t be replaced “until we fix the underlying cause of what killed them in the first place.”
Stumpy still alive
Stumpy remains alive, if in rough shape.
Plans call for 140 cherry trees — and 300 trees total — to be removed and turned into mulch. When the project is concluded, 277 cherry trees will be planted as replacements.
The mulch will protect the roots of surviving trees from foot traffic and break down over time into nutrient-rich soil, “so it’s a good second life” for the trees being cut down, Litterst said.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is widely considered to be the start of the tourist season in the nation’s capital. Organizers expect 1.5 million people to view the pink and white blossoms this year, the most since the coronavirus pandemic. Large numbers of cherry blossom fans have already been drawn to the area as the trees entered peak bloom on March 17, several days earlier than expected.
Tree becomes social star
Stumpy became a social media star during the pandemic of 2020. Its legacy has spawned T-shirts, a calendar and a fanbase. News of Stumpy’s final spring has prompted people to leave flowers and bourbon and had one Reddit user threatening to chain themselves to the trunk to save the tree.
The good news on Stumpy is that the National Arboretum plans to take parts of the tree’s genetic material and create clones, some of which will eventually be replanted at the Tidal Basin.
The regular flooding at the Tidal Basin — sea levels have risen about a foot since the the seawall was built in the early 1990s — is just one of the ways climate change has impacted the cherry trees. Rising global temperatures and warmer winters have caused peak bloom to creep earlier in the calendar.
This year’s peak bloom, when 70% of the city’s 3,700 cherry trees will be flowering, was originally predicted to start around Saturday but ended up being declared on March 17. By comparison, the 2013 peak bloom began on April 9.
Leslie Frattaroli, national resources program manager for the Park Service, told The Associated Press in February that peak bloom could regularly come in the middle of March by 2050.
“All the timing is off.” he said. “It’s a huge cascading effect.”
Another weather side effect: A mid-March cold snap in the D.C. area should actually extend this year’s bloom past the predicted April 9 ending.
For visitors and cherry blossom enthusiasts, the annual tradition of a stroll on the Tidal Basin under the flowers is a core Washington experience.
Jorge and Sandra Perez make a point of coming every year from Stafford, Virginia.
“Yes, we have cherry blossoms in my community, but it’s a completely different feel when you see all of them bloom together,” Sandra Perez said. “And you can walk through, you know, the trees under it and smell it. And it’s just, it’s a beautiful view.”
They also came looking for Stumpy, having heard the legend and knowing this would be its final spring.
“It’s actually beautiful,” Jorge Perez said. “So, it’s sad to see him leave.”
Today in SCV History (March 23)
date: 2024-03-23, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1886 – Film director Robert N. Bradbury born in Washington state; launched John Wayne’s career in Placerita Canyon. [watch
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-march-23/
March 22, 2024
date: 2024-03-23, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
As expected, Trump’s team has reorganized the Republican National Committee’s donation system, arranging for maximum donations to go first to Trump’s presidential campaign, then to Trump’s Save America political action committee, and finally to the RNC to elect down ballot candidates. The Save America PAC pays Trump’s legal bills. So far in 2024 it has spent $8.5 million on them. In essence, this new flow means Trump is using the RNC to raise money that is then diverted to him.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-22-2024
US Says It Struck 3 Houthi Underground Storage Sites in Yemen
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
Washington — The U.S. military said Friday it had struck three underground storage facilities used by Yemen’s Houthis, as the Iran-backed rebels continue to launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
U.S. forces “conducted self-defense strikes against three Houthi underground storage facilities in Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen,” Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
It said U.S. forces had also “successfully engaged and destroyed four unmanned aerial vehicles” in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen throughout Friday, while also registering four anti-ship ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward the Red Sea.
“There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships,” CENTCOM said.
The Houthis began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
They have vowed to target Israeli, British and American ships, as well as vessels heading to Israeli ports, disrupting traffic through the vital trade route off Yemen’s coasts.
The attacks have sent insurance costs spiraling for vessels transiting the Red Sea and prompted many shipping firms to take the far longer passage around the southern tip of Africa instead.
Baseball Roundup: Dos Pueblos Drops Slugfest to Rio Mesa 10-7
date: 2024-03-23, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
San Marcos defeats Pacifica 6-5 in extra innings.
The post Baseball Roundup: Dos Pueblos Drops Slugfest to Rio Mesa 10-7 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/22/baseball-roundup-dos-pueblos-drops-slugfest-to-rio-mesa-10-7/
With Recent Headlines About Gear Falling Off Planes, Is Flying Safe?
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
DALLAS — It has been 15 years since the last fatal crash of a U.S. airliner, but you would never know that by reading about a torrent of flight problems in the last three months.
There was a time when things like cracked windshields and minor engine problems didn’t turn up very often in the news.
That changed in January, when a panel plugging the space reserved for an unused emergency door blew off an Alaska Airlines jetliner 16,000 feet above Oregon. Pilots landed the Boeing 737 Max safely, but in the United States, media coverage of the flight quickly overshadowed a deadly runway crash in Tokyo three days earlier.
And concern about air safety — especially with Boeing planes — has not let up.
Is flying getting more dangerous?
By the simplest measurement, the answer is no. The last deadly crash involving a U.S. airliner occurred in February 2009, an unprecedented streak of safety. There were 9.6 million flights last year.
The lack of fatal crashes does not fully capture the state of safety, however. In the past 15 months, a spate of close calls caught the attention of regulators and travelers.
Another measure is the number of times pilots broadcast an emergency call to air traffic controllers. Flightradar24, a popular tracking site, just compiled the numbers. The site’s data show such calls rising since mid-January but remaining below levels seen during much of 2023.
Emergency calls also are an imperfect gauge: the plane might not have been in immediate danger, and sometimes planes in trouble never alert controllers.
Safer than driving
The National Safety Council estimates that Americans have a 1-in-93 chance of dying in a motor-vehicle crash, while deaths on airplanes are too rare to calculate the odds. Figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation tell a similar story.
“This is the safest form of transportation ever created, whereas every day on the nation’s roads about a 737 full of people dies,” Richard Aboulafia, a longtime aerospace analyst and consultant, said. The safety council estimates that more than 44,000 people died in U.S. vehicle crashes in 2023.
But a shrinking safety margin
A panel of experts reported in November that a shortage of air traffic controllers, outdated plane-tracking technology and other problems presented a growing threat to safety in the sky.
“The current erosion in the margin of safety in the (national airspace system) caused by the confluence of these challenges is rendering the current level of safety unsustainable,” the group said in a 52-page report.
What is going on at Boeing?
Many but not all of the recent incidents have involved Boeing planes.
Boeing is a $78 billion company, a leading U.S. exporter and a century-old, iconic name in aircraft manufacturing. It is one-half of the duopoly, along with Europe’s Airbus, that dominates the production of large passenger jets.
The company’s reputation, however, was greatly damaged by the crashes of two 737 Max jets — one in Indonesia in 2018, the other in Ethiopia the following year — that killed 346 people. Boeing has lost nearly $24 billion in the last five years. It has struggled with manufacturing flaws that at times delayed deliveries of 737s and long-haul 787 Dreamliners.
Boeing finally was beginning to regain its stride until the Alaska Airlines Max blowout. Investigators have focused on bolts that help secure the door-plug panel, but which were missing after a repair job at the Boeing factory.
The FBI is notifying passengers about a criminal investigation. The Federal Aviation Administration is stepping up oversight of the company.
“What is going on with the production at Boeing? There have been issues in the past. They don’t seem to be getting resolved,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said last month.
CEO David Calhoun says no matter what conclusions investigators reach about the Alaska Airlines blowout, “Boeing is accountable for what happened” on the Alaska plane. “We caused the problem and we understand that.”
Where do design and manufacturing fit in?
Problems attributed to an airplane manufacturer can differ greatly.
Some are design errors. On the original Boeing Max, the failure of a single sensor caused a flight-control system to point the nose of the plane down with great force — that happened before the deadly 2018 and 2019 Max crashes. It is a maxim in aviation that the failure of a single part should never be enough to bring down a plane.
In other cases, such as the door-plug panel that flew off the Alaska Airlines jet, it appears a mistake was made on the factory floor.
“Anything that results in death is worse, but design is a lot harder to deal with because you have to locate the problem and fix it,” said Aboulafia, the aerospace analyst. “In the manufacturing process, the fix is incredibly easy – don’t do” whatever caused the flaw in the first place.
Manufacturing quality appears to be an issue in other incidents too.
Earlier this month, the FAA proposed ordering airlines to inspect wiring bundles around the spoilers on Max jets. The order was prompted by a report that chafing of electrical wires due to faulty installation caused an airliner to roll 30 degrees in less than a second on a 2021 flight.
Even little things matter. After a LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 flying from Australia to New Zealand this month went into a nosedive — it recovered — Boeing reminded airlines to inspect switches to motors that move pilot seats. Published reports said a flight attendant accidentally hitting the switch likely caused the plunge.
Not everything is Boeing’s fault
Investigations into some incidents point to likely lapses in maintenance, and many close calls are due to errors by pilots or air traffic controllers.
This week, investigators disclosed that an American Airlines jet that overshot a runway in Texas had undergone a brake-replacement job four days earlier, and some hydraulic lines to the brakes were not properly reattached.
Earlier this month, a tire fell off a United Airlines Boeing 777 leaving San Francisco, and an American Airlines 777 made an emergency landing in Los Angeles with a flat tire.
A piece of the aluminum skin was discovered missing when a United Boeing 737 landed in Oregon last week. Unlike the brand-new Alaska jet that suffered the panel blowout, the United plane was 26 years old. Maintenance is up to the airline.
When a FedEx cargo plane landing last year in Austin, Texas, flew close over the top of a departing Southwest Airlines jet, it turned out that an air traffic controller had cleared both planes to use the same runway.
Separating serious from routine
Aviation-industry officials say the most concerning events involve issues with flight controls, engines and structural integrity.
Other things such as cracked windshields and planes clipping each other at the airport rarely pose a safety threat. Warnings lights might indicate a serious problem or a false alarm.
“We take every event seriously,” former NTSB member John Goglia said, citing such vigilance as a contributor to the current crash-free streak. “The challenge we have in aviation is trying to keep it there.”
AI and us
date: 2024-03-23, from: Enlightenment Economics
Code Dependent: Living in the shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia is a gripping read. She’s the FT’s AI Editor, so the book is well-written and benefits from her reporting experience at the FT and previously Wired. It is a … Continue reading
http://www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.php/2024/03/ai-and-us/
UCSB Settles with County of Santa Barbara, Goleta on Student Housing
date: 2024-03-23, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The university has agreed to build more housing and contribute $6 million for improvements to the campus community and surrounding areas.
The post UCSB Settles with County of Santa Barbara, Goleta on Student Housing appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
If the Repubs lose the house before 2025, the Dems could in my dreams nuke the filibuster and change the number of Supreme Court justices to 256 (a nice power of 2). Overturn Dobbs, reinstate Roe and 14th Amendment.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/03/22/congress/gallagher-leaving-early-00148586
Sidebar on Meta-Knowledge
date: 2024-03-23, from: Bunnie’s Studio Blog
IRIS (Infra-Red, in-situ) is a multidisciplinary project I’m developing to give people a tangible reason to trust their hardware. Above: example of IRIS imaging a chip mounted on a circuit board. When I set out to research this technique, there were many unknowns, and many skills I lacked to complete the project. This means I […]
https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=7025
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
What if climate change comes to where you live in the form of tornadoes that last 30 days.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/22.html#a033348
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
If only Brendan Eich had incorporated UCSD Pascal units into JavaScript. It was easy to make modular reusable bits of code.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/22.html#a032751
Broken images suck, Google
date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News
Something
the HTTPS evangelists must not understand: there’s substantial breakage
when you convert an HTTP site to HTTPS. Every image in every page
breaks. Broken images make a
statement,
they’re like broken windows, they say no one gives a F about this site.
Well I care about the archive of scripting.com, I hope people understand
that. I have been creating a record here since 1994. It’ll be 30 years
in October.
Instead of trying to blackmail me into breaking my archive, Google should be helping to preserve it. And not just mine, the entire early web. We poured our hearts and hopes into this, and massive amounts of time, without which Google would not exist.
I know Google doesn’t have a heart and it isn’t a living thing, but it’s bad PR to make that so freaking obvious.
I think that perhaps Google is already run by the machines. Maybe it was the first such company.
To remind you of what Google’s idea of the ancient web is, I put a broken image next to this post.
Thanks for listening.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/22/031933.html?title=brokenImagesSuckGoogle
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Fargo's Marge Gunderson Is the Best Coen Brothers Character.
https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/fargo-marge-gunderson-best-coen-brothers-character
Everyone’s driving to Vermont
date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News
http://scripting.com/2024/03/22/025201.html?title=everyonesDrivingToVermont
Reproductive Rights Key for Voters in Next US Presidential Election
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
US President Joe Biden is putting women’s health and reproductive rights at the center of his campaign in the run-up to the November 5th election. Biden, a Democrat, will face the Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, who has spoken about abortion but has not fully clarified his position. VOA’s Laurel Bowman reports.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-23, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
I've started bingeing "3 Body Problem" on Netflix, and two episodes in, I'm loving it.
Seven Years of Institutional Anti-‘Big-Tech’ Bias at The New York Times Might Lead to Cognitive Dissonance
date: 2024-03-23, updated: 2024-03-23, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/technology/personaltech/roku-data-breach-companies.html
@Chris Coyier blog (date: 2024-03-23, from: Chris Coyier blog)
We’re all familiar with processes like “write a weekly status update” that start strong and eventually fade out to low participation, engineers automating their updates, and gibberish. When you ask people why participation faded you hear the same thing over and over, “It didn’t feel like anyone was reading it”. In this scenario, we’ve Pushed. […]
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/03/22/11179/
Asus ROG NUC mini gaming PC with RTX 4000 graphics to sell for $1629 and up
date: 2024-03-23, from: Liliputing
The Asus ROG NUC is a small desktop computer with a 2.5 liter chassis and support for up to an Intel Core ultra 9 185H processor and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics. Basically it’s got the guts of a high-performance gaming laptop stuffed into a mini PC. When Asus first unveiled the ROG NUC during […]
The post Asus ROG NUC mini gaming PC with RTX 4000 graphics to sell for $1629 and up appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/asus-rog-nuc-mini-gaming-pc-with-rtx-4000-graphics-to-sell-for-1629-and-up/
Apple iPhone AI to be powered by Baidu in China, maybe
date: 2024-03-23, updated: 2024-03-23, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Of course it’s called ERNIE seeing as Google has BERT
Future iPhones in China could include AI features powered by Baidu’s ERNIE chat bot.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/23/apple_baidu_ai/
2024-03-23 The end of capitalism
date: 2024-03-23, from: Alex Schroeder’s Blog
2024-03-23 The end of capitalism
A few days ago, I saw a toot claiming that capitalism was the natural state of being since the world just wasn’t altruistic, that is just the way things are.
I… I don’t know where to start. The entire idea that production is part of a natural state is bonkers. Nobody else purchases things. What about other non-altruistic systems like dictatorships, slavery, feudalism, we have so much choice in terrible solutions… and what a strange reaction in face of one’s lack of imagination to just lie down and give up instead of insisting on human ingenuity and demanding that we do better.
If you ever see anybody say anything about the natural state, the first thing is to ask: are they a philosopher? A biologist? Or are they an economist? Or a haver of opinions?
These are not alike.
I love philosophy enough to have read a few books and I spent four years studying biology in the last millennium. I’m a master of science in biology. Homo sapiens survived at least 49500 years without capitalism and now we’ve had 500 years of capitalism max – that doesn’t sound like a natural state, from my biologist perspective. There are a lot of extra factors that are required for capitalism to flourish.
Modern humans appeared about 300,000 years ago. Cultural developments started speeding up 40,000 years ago. Agriculture started about 10,000 years ago. Writing started about 6000 years ago. Mercantilism started about 400 years ago.
I also don’t think that capitalism “evolved” naturally. As a biologist, the word “evolve” is even more tricky than the word “natural”. When the word “evolved” is used like in evolutionary biology, then I have questions about the applicability of the concept to the development of an economic system. It is not clear to me how this can work without using it metaphorically. To compare an economic system with anything that has evolved without genes (DNA or RNA, chromosomes, and so on) is to use the word metaphorically.
My point is about the use of the word “natural” in an argument supporting the existence of capitalism. Using the word “natural” is extremely problematic. It usually raises more questions than it solves. The examples I gave above illustrate that many aspects of capitalism don’t exist in nature without humans. No animal has means of production that allow them to exploit the labour of other creatures to increase their capital and thus allow them to increase their means of production. Thus, there is nothing “natural” about capitalism.
Or perhaps one would be tempted to argue that anything related to humans is natural for humans, and therefore capitalism is a natural thing for humans to engage in? But then all the alternative economic system are just as natural: slavery empires, feudalism – all of it natural? Or maybe the word “natural” would become unusable when used in this way since it would no longer add anything to the conversation.
My point is also about there being a lot of other political systems that are bad, that satisfy the condition of fitting a world that’s “not altruistic”. These other political systems held for centuries, such as monarchies, feudalism, slavery empires and the like. So “natural” cannot be used to describe a tendency towards something so comparatively short-lived as capitalism. We spent many more years doing all these other evil economic systems and all of them at one point seemed “natural” in the metaphorical sense, at the time, for a long time.
In order to argue that capitalism was the natural end-point of an “evolution” is to argue like Hegel, Marx, or Fukuyama, it seems to me – except that now it’s capitalism that’s the stable end-state, instead of Prussia, communism or democracy. And if it isn’t the inevitable end, then that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to say: the use of the word “natural” in this context is bogus.
To have capitalism is at most a choice or maybe the result of external conditions. If the oil dries up, if the energy no longer flows, if famine comes back, then other economic systems might rise again. We might revert to theocracy or to feudalism or to slavery empires.
My claim is that there’s no natural progression, there are just external factors that currently benefit capitalism. And of course evil people will be able to take advantage of power structures, no matter which economic system a society uses.
And one day the conditions will no longer be right and capitalism will end, not with a bang but with a whimper. When the economy crumbles to dust and we’re thrown back into the conditions of the 15th century, there will be no more capitalism. The sword will once again be mightier than the coin.
Or maybe – and here I’ll allow myself to dream – we might yet find another solution so that we can all inhabit this earth without torturing each other to death.
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2024-03-23-end-of-capitalism
Trump Could Get Some Relief From Financial Pressure
date: 2024-03-23, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-may-get-some-relief-from-financial-pressures/7539288.html
In favour of empiricism
date: 2024-03-23, from: Nathan’s blog
https://www.nmke.de/blog/in_favour_of_empiricism.html
Class of 2028 acceptance rate is 9.2%, USC confirms
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
This marks yet another sub-10% rate as the University released its admission results Friday afternoon.
The post Class of 2028 acceptance rate is 9.2%, USC confirms appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/class-of-2028-acceptance-rate-is-9-2-usc-confirms/
March 27: Hart Board Will Explore Next Steps for Superintendent Search
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The regular meeting of the William S. Hart Union High School District’s Governing Board will be held Wednesday, March 27, beginning with closed session at 5:30 p.m., followed immediately by open session at 7 p.m
https://scvnews.com/march-27-hart-board-will-explore-next-steps-for-superintendent-search/
April 17: SCV Chamber Networking Mixer Sand Canyon Country Club
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Join the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce at the Business After Hours Networking Mixer for an unforgettable evening of networking and fun at Sand Canyon Country Club, on Thursday, April 17, 5:30-8:30 p.m
https://scvnews.com/april-17-scv-chamber-networking-mixer-sand-canyon-country-club/
Labor watchdog wants SpaceX’s gag clauses to disintegrate like its exploding rockets
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-23, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
This is why Big Biz wants to dismantle America’s crucial regulators
The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has challenged SpaceX’s severance agreements, alleging the paperwork unlawfully limits what staff can say and do once they leave the rocket maker.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/spacex_nlrb_contracts/
Three SCV Students Named Music Center Spotlight Semifinalists
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
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.
https://scvnews.com/three-scv-students-become-music-center-spotlight-semifinalists/
#194 - Choosing the voice
date: 2024-03-22, from: Interesting, a blog on writing
It’s not just about how characters speak, but why they use that voice.
https://inneresting.substack.com/p/194-choosing-the-voice
Can Trump Afford to Run for President?
date: 2024-03-22, from: Dan Rather’s Steady
His legal fees are trumping campaign cash
https://steady.substack.com/p/can-trump-afford-to-run-for-president
Santa Barbara Artists Invited to Submit Designs for Downtown K-Rails
date: 2024-03-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Public art project intended to support local art and inject color into State Street pedestrian corridor.
The post Santa Barbara Artists Invited to Submit Designs for Downtown K-Rails appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Chinese snoops use F5, ConnectWise bugs to sell access into top US, UK networks
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Crew may well be working under contract for Beijing
Chinese spies exploited a couple of critical-severity bugs in F5 and ConnectWise equipment earlier this year to sell access to compromised US defense organizations, UK government agencies, and hundreds of other entities, according to Mandiant.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/china_f5_connectwise_unc5174/
Android 15 Developer Preview 2 rolling out to Pixel
date: 2024-03-22, from: OS News
Android 15 adds “UI elements to ensure a consistent user experience across the satellite connectivity landscape.” A system-level “Auto-connected to satellite” notification conveys how “You can send and receive messages without a mobile or Wi-Fi network” with a shortcut to “Open Messages” or get more information. Meanwhile, note the status bar icon at the right. Speaking of Google Messages, “Android 15 provides support for SMS/ MMS applications as well as preloaded RCS applications to use satellite connectivity for sending and receiving messages.” Other apps will also be able to “detect when a device is connected to a satellite, giving them more awareness of why full network services may be unavailable.” ↫ Abner Li at 9To5Google 9To5Google also has a list of all the new features in this Developer Preview with copious amounts of screenshots.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138914/android-15-developer-preview-2-rolling-out-to-pixel/
Bobbi Abram Joins Santa Barbara City College Foundationas Chief Executive Officer
date: 2024-03-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara, CA – The SBCC Foundation is excited to welcome Bobbi Abram as its new CEO, starting May 1st.
The post Bobbi Abram Joins Santa Barbara City College Foundationas Chief Executive Officer appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
El Refugio De Animales SBCAS Recibe Una Actualización
date: 2024-03-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
(SANTA MARIA, Calif.) – El Refugio de Servicios para Animales del Condado de SantaBárbara en Santa María espera colocar 36
The post El Refugio De Animales SBCAS Recibe Una Actualización appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/22/el-refugio-de-animales-sbcas-recibe-una-actualizacion/
Election Countdown, 228 Days to Go: Today’s Characters Make Their Mark on History.
date: 2024-03-22, from: James Fallows, Substack
Matchups from America’s past for Robert Hur, Chuck Schumer, Donald Trump, and more.
https://fallows.substack.com/p/election-countdown-228-days-to-go
Elastocaloric Refrigeration for Spaceflight Applications (ESRA)
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
Jun Cui Iowa State University ESI23 Cui Quadchart.pdf Elastocaloric materials heat up when exposed to a mechanical force and cool down, removing the same amount of heat from their environment, when the force is removed. Professor Cui will use the recently established DFT/machine learning guided metals development methodology to unravel the complex relationships between compositions, […]
SBCAS Animal Shelter Gets An Upgrade
date: 2024-03-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
(SANTA MARIA, Calif.) – The Santa Barbara County Animal Services Shelter in SantaMaria is hoping to place 36 dogs this
The post SBCAS Animal Shelter Gets An Upgrade appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/03/22/sbcas-animal-shelter-gets-an-upgrade/
This Week in the IndieWeb
date: 2024-03-22, from: This week in Indie Web
March 8-22, 2024
Recent Events
From events.indieweb.org/archive:
<p>Join us online in Zoom for demos of personal sites, recent breakthroughs, discussions about the independent web, and meet IndieWeb community members! Homebrew Website club is for all levels and areas of IndieWeb interest, whether curious, creative, a coder, or all the above.</p>
</div><div><img src="https://indieweb.org/this-week/images/2024-03-22/720525123f17a8d74446cf9f71e8beff2989c9e3.jpg" style="width:100%" class="u-photo"></div></div>
<p>Join us online in Zoom for demos of personal sites, recent breakthroughs, discussions about the independent web, and meet IndieWeb community members! Homebrew Website club is for all levels and areas of IndieWeb interest, whether curious, creative, coder, or all the above.</p>
</div><div><img src="https://indieweb.org/this-week/images/2024-03-22/6aeb9e4fde3e104f40e25c4db56d208102506aa1.jpg" style="width:100%" class="u-photo"></div></div>- FÜRTH, Bayern: Fab Lab Region Nürnberg e.V.
<p>HWC Nuremberg is a in-person meeting for everybody who is interested in setting up a personal website and talk about web-related issues.</p>
</div><div><img src="https://indieweb.org/this-week/images/2024-03-22/c8ed31120278b4d4258e7feae37f44d2c7c872ea.jpg" style="width:100%" class="u-photo"></div></div>- BRIGHTON AND HOVE, England: The Skiff
<p>IndieWebCamp Brighton 2024 will be the seventh IndieWebCamp to held in Brighton, England.</p>
</div><div><img src="https://indieweb.org/this-week/images/2024-03-22/5302ea6c020b064e07e556dcbfdb7d16ddc2bb7e.jpg" style="width:100%" class="u-photo"></div><div><img src="https://indieweb.org/this-week/images/2024-03-22/dc4a57c9007b40e799636872227075d4604fbffe.jpg" style="width:100%" class="u-photo"></div><div><img src="https://indieweb.org/this-week/images/2024-03-22/a87a5edf095242c626f466e1dfdbaaa4edfb736c.jpg" style="width:100%" class="u-photo"></div></div>Upcoming Events
From events.indieweb.org:
<p>Join us online in Zoom for demos of personal sites, recent breakthroughs, discussions about the independent web, and meet IndieWeb community members! Homebrew Website club is for all levels and areas of IndieWeb interest, whether curious, creative, a coder, or all the above.</p>
</div></div> <p>Join us online in Zoom for demos of personal sites, recent breakthroughs, discussions about the independent web, and meet IndieWeb community members! Homebrew Website club is for all levels and areas of IndieWeb interest, whether curious, creative, a coder, or all the above.</p>
</div></div>- FÜRTH, Bayern: Fab Lab Region Nürnberg e.V.
<p>HWC Nuremberg is a in-person meeting for everybody who is interested in setting up a personal website and talk about web-related issues.</p>
</div></div> <p>Join us online in Zoom for demos of personal sites, recent breakthroughs, discussions about the independent web, and meet IndieWeb community members! Homebrew Website club is for all levels and areas of IndieWeb interest, whether curious, creative, a coder, or all the above.</p>
</div></div>- DÜSSELDORF, Germany:
<p>IndieWebCamp Düsseldorf 2024 is scheduled for 2024-05-11…12, the weekend before btconf Düsseldorf 2024, and Organizers are actively looking for a venue.</p>
</div></div>What We’re Reading
From news.indieweb.org:
New Community Members
From IndieWeb Wiki: New User Pages:
User:Www.claudinec.net
Claudine Chionh (photo)Pronouns: she/her/hersClaudine is a former web developer now working for a community archive https://www.claudinec.net/Chat Nickname: claudinec Elsewhere: @claudinec@aus.social <![CDATA[*/ .iwc-infobox { background-color: #f8f9fa; border: 1px solid #c8ccd0; padding: 0.25em 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 100%; } .iwc-infobox__title { text-align: center; } .iwc-infobox__photo { display: block; margin: 0 auto; max-width: 100%; } @media (min-width: 560px) { .iwc-infobox { float: right; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 15em; } } /*]]>
Created by Www.claudinec.net on Monday and edited 4 more times
User:Douglasjsmith404.com
Created by Douglasjsmith404.com on Friday and edited 2 more times
User:Scoutaloud.net
Scout (photo)Pronouns: she/herScout is a developing developer. Her personal site is incubating. She’s an organiser for codebar Brighton. https://scoutaloud.netChat Nickname: scoutaloud Elsewhere: https://tech.lgbt/deck/@scoutaloud <![CDATA[*/ .iwc-infobox { background-color: #f8f9fa; border: 1px solid #c8ccd0; padding: 0.25em 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 100%; } .iwc-infobox__title { text-align: center; } .iwc-infobox__photo { display: block; margin: 0 auto; max-width: 100%; } @media (min-width: 560px) { .iwc-infobox { float: right; margin-left: 1em; max-width: 15em; } } /*]]>
Created by Scoutaloud.net on Monday and edited 2 more times
User:Douglasjsmith404.com indieweb
Created by Douglasjsmith404.com indieweb on Saturday and edited 1 more time
User:Chrisnewtn.com
Created by Chrisnewtn.com on Tuesday and edited 1 more time
User:Www.plumislandmedia.net
Created by Www.plumislandmedia.net on Monday
User:Btrem.com
Created by Btrem.com on Friday
User:Pesce.cc
Created by Pesce.cc on Thursday
Top New Wiki Pages
From IndieWeb Wiki: New Pages:
2024/Brighton/Demos
2024/Brighton/Demos was a session at the end of day 2 of IndieWebCamp Brighton 2024 where participants took turns demonstrating and talking through what they did, made, created on or using their personal website or for the community.
Created by Tantek.com on Sunday with 23 more edits by paulrobertlloyd.com, qubyte.codes, theadhocracy.co.uk, and chrisnewtn.com
math
math is hard, for real, for most people beyond whole number arithmetic, like not understanding relative sizes of fractions (thinking ⅓ is less than ¼) or mistakes when calculating minutes & days durations across hours or months, so when blogging, writing microcopy, or designing a user interface, keep any use of math relatively simple and instead directly present visually clear durations and relative sizes.
Created by [tantek] on Friday with 8 more edits by tantek.com and loqi.me
Evil Author Day
Evil Author Day is celebrated on February 15th as a time to post unfinished drafts.
Created by Sarajaksa.eu on Monday with 7 more edits by www.ciccarello.me and gregorlove.com
why post
why post is a question that can help you post things more intentionally, perhaps less or more often, and provide motivation to post on your own site instead of social media silos or in addition for more distribution per the POSSE method.
Created by Tantek.com on Friday and edited 6 more times
IndieWebForum
IndieWebForum is an experimental place for people to ask questions and start discussions at a slower pace than in chat.
Created by [aciccarello] on Tuesday with 5 more edits by loqi.me and www.ciccarello.me
Github Actions
GitHub Actions are automation tools for Github that can be used to publish changes for flat-file content management and static websites, or for testing IndieWeb software.
Created by Lifeofpablo.com on Thursday with 4 more edits by tantek.com and gregorlove.com
2024/Brighton/Planning/Emails
2024/Brighton/Planning/Emails are the emails sent to IndieWebCamp Brighton 2024 participants before and after the event.
Created by Paulrobertlloyd.com on Tuesday and edited 4 more times
weekly hashtag
Weekly hashtags are hashtags used on themed posts that usually happen every week.
Created by Alexsirac.com on Monday with 3 more edits by loqi.me and gregorlove.com
Delete Your Drafts Day
Delete your drafts day is a day, when we encourage people to delete the posts in the drafts.
Created by Sarajaksa.eu on Monday with 3 more edits by www.ciccarello.me and gregorlove.com
2024/Brighton/Projects
2024/Brighton/Projects was a session at the beginning of day 2 of IndieWebCamp Brighton 2024 where participants describing their plans and goals for doing, making, creating something on or using their personal website or for the community.
Created by Tantek.com on Sunday and edited 3 more times
Sacramento
Sacramento is a city in California that will host an IndieWebCamp in 2024.
Created by [Joe_Crawford] on Monday with 2 more edits by artlung.com and gregorlove.com
IndieWebCamp Ticketing
IndieWebCamp Ticketing are the tools and services we use to provide ticketing for IndieWeb events.
Created by Paulrobertlloyd.com on Saturday and edited 1 more time
what to post
what to post is a collection of ideas, suggestions, and examples of things to post your personal site or blog.
Created by Tantek.com on Friday and edited 1 more time
IndieWeb Summit
IndieWeb Summit is a regular, usually annual, gathering of the IndieWeb community, similar to an IndieWebCamp though with space for more participants, many of whom travel a large distance, with more structure such as keynotes, and typically one or more local events in the week before leading up to the main two-day event, usually in Portland (2011-2019).
Created by Tantek.com on Friday and edited 1 more time
2024/Brighton/Planning
2024/Brighton/Planning is an archive of the Planning of IndieWebCamp Brighton 2024.
Created by Tantek.com on Sunday and edited 1 more time
2023/Nuremberg/Projects
IndieWebCamp Nuremberg 2023 Projects was a day 2 session at IndieWebCamp Nuremberg 2023 where participants wrote down and shared ideas and things they wanted to make or improve on sticky notes.
Created by Tantek.com on Sunday and edited 1 more time
2023/Nuremberg/Introductions
IndieWebCamp Nuremberg 2023 Introductions was a session at IndieWebCamp Nuremberg 2023 where participants introduced themselves, shared their personal domain (if any) and showed something they had done, created, or made on their site recently.
Created by Tantek.com on Sunday
New Event Notes
From IndieWeb Wiki: New Pages:
Homebrew Website Club - Pacific: 2024-03-13
Homebrew Website Club Europe/London: 2024-03-20, 2024-03-13
Top Edited Wiki Pages
From IndieWeb Wiki: Recent Changes:
- IndieWebCamp Organizing 56 edits by paulrobertlloyd.com and tantek.com
- 2024/Brighton 31 edits by tantek.com, alexsirac.com, paulrobertlloyd.com, www.lazaruscorporation.co.uk, scoutaloud.net, roobottom.com, qubyte.codes, loqi.me, toddpresta.com, theadhocracy.co.uk, and ohhelloana.blog
- Planning 14 edits by tantek.com, alexsirac.com, david.shanske.com, tracydurnell.com, www.ciccarello.me, and lifeofpablo.com
- Edinburgh 13 edits by tantek.com, jamesg.blog, and gregorlove.com
- Medium 13 edits by aaronparecki.com, tantek.com, and www.ciccarello.me
- post 10 edits by alexsirac.com, tantek.com, and loqi.me
- discuss 9 edits by tantek.com, aaronparecki.com, www.ciccarello.me, jamesg.blog, theadhocracy.co.uk, and pesce.cc
- 2024/Brighton/Schedule 8 edits by tantek.com, loqi.me, fran.fi, jamesg.blog, and paulrobertlloyd.com
- Oxford 5 edits by tantek.com and aaronparecki.com
- to-do 5 edits by loqi.me and tantek.com
https://indieweb.org/this-week/2024-03-22.html
Transparent Superconductors for Single-photon Detectors
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
Manuel Quevedo-Lopez University Of Texas, Dallas ESI23 Quevedo-Lopez Quadchart.pdf Current SNSPD’s use a thin, superconducting film to detect photons. These films are highly reflective and must be made very thin, on the order of a few nanometers, in order to allow light to interact with their entire thickness. This leads to numerous drawbacks including lower […]
Hands and Feet, Full of Color
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/hands-and-feet-full-of-color
Texas installs another big solar + battery storage project
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Power-hungry Texas needs solar and battery storage to help meet demand and balance the grid, so its largest utility-scale storage operator is delivering.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/texas-installs-another-big-solar-battery-storage-project/
March 23-31: OHV Spring Safety Week Urges ‘Share the Trails’
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
California State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division and its partners are encouraging off-highway vehicle enthusiasts to “Share the Trails,” the theme for the upcoming Spring OHV Safety Week, taking place March March 23-
https://scvnews.com/march-23-31-ohv-spring-safety-week-urges-share-the-trails/
Time for some tea… vee
date: 2024-03-22, from: RiscOS Story
Rick Murray recently pranked readers of the RISC OS Open Ltd (ROOL) forums, by posting a screenshot of his RISC OS desktop with an extra icon on the left hand side (where devices sit) depicting a cup of tea. When someone spotted it and asked what it was, he replied that it was ‘the tea device’, which reminds him to drink the tea he’s just made before it gets cold. Rick’s fondness for tea is well known, so this wasn’t questioned – even though it was, in his words, complete…
https://www.riscository.com/2024/time-for-some-tea-vee/
Microsoft’s Brazen AI Inflection
date: 2024-03-22, from: Om Malik blog
Microsoft has hired a big chunk of the team that started Inflection, an AI startup developing large language models. They will lead Microsoft AI, a new division within the company that consolidates its consumer AI initiatives with Copilot, Bing, and Edge. DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, who co-founded the company alongside Karén Simonyan, and LinkedIn co-founder …
https://om.co/2024/03/22/microsofts-brazen-ai-inflection/
Streetfix heads to Norway and Sweden
date: 2024-03-22, from: RiscOS Story
StreetFix, the application from Kevin Wells for keeping track of and reporting local problems, such as damaged street furniture, potholes, and so on, has been updated to work with a couple of additional remote API (application programmer interface) providers that use the FixMyStreet platform. The change, added in version 1.07 of the program, means it can now be used in both Norway (the data for which comes from FiksGataMi) and Sweden (FixaMinGata). The UK data of course comes from FixMyStreet (note the slightly different URL to the platform itself above).…
https://www.riscository.com/2024/streetfix-norway-sweden/
Metamaterial Particles for Orbital Environment Remediation
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
Davide Guzzetti Auburn University ECF 2023 Quadchart Guzzetti.pdf Professor Guzzetti will study and design small metamaterial particles which can be predictably moved by forces that exist on orbit like the Earth’s magnetic field or heat flux. These Programmable Metamaterial Particle Ensembles (PMPEs) could be deployed as dust clouds and used to deorbit small (<1cm), orbital […]
April 18: UCLA Health Santa Clarita Presents ‘Demystifying Cancer’
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
UCLA Health Santa Clarita will present “Demystifying Cancer” on Thursday, April 18, 5:30-9 p.m. at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons
https://scvnews.com/april-18-ucla-health-santa-clarita-presents-dymystifying-cancer/
Hyundai IONIQ 6, Kona EV are two of the cheapest cars (EV or gas) to lease at just $169/mo
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Who said EVs are not affordable? Hyundai is offering two of the cheapest cars to lease (EV or gas-powered), the IONIQ 6 and Kona EV, in the US, with prices as low as $169 per month.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/hyundai-ioniq-6-kona-ev-cheapest-cars-to-lease/
Mozilla drops Onerep after CEO admits to running people-search networks
date: 2024-03-22, from: OS News
The nonprofit organization that supports the Firefox web browser said today it is winding down its new partnership with Onerep, an identity protection service recently bundled with Firefox that offers to remove users from hundreds of people-search sites. The move comes just days after a report by KrebsOnSecurity forced Onerep’s CEO to admit that he has founded dozens of people-search networks over the years. On March 14, KrebsOnSecurity published a story showing that Onerep’s Belarusian CEO and founder Dimitiri Shelest launched dozens of people-search services since 2010, including a still-active data broker called Nuwber that sells background reports on people. Onerep and Shelest did not respond to requests for comment on that story. ↫ Brian Krebs It’s good that Mozilla has immediately responded properly to this discovery, but it does make one wonder – how did this happen in the first place? It seems like a service provider like this would be thoroughly vetted, especially considering Mozilla’s stated mission and types of users. My worries about Firefox’ future are no secret, and this gaffe certainly doesn’t help reduce my worries. It’s clear something went horribly wrong here, and my hope is that it’s a random fluke, and not a sign of more structural problems in Mozilla’s vetting process for potential partners.
Friday Squid Blogging: New Species of Squid Discovered
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-14, from: Bruce Schneier blog
A new species of squid was discovered, along with about a hundred other species.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Read my blog posting guidelines here.
Tesla V4 Superchargers Are Now Being Deployed By Other Charging Networks
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
EG Group’s EV Point is now using Tesla-manufactured chargers at its stations in the UK.
https://insideevs.com/news/713475/evpoint-tesla-v4-superchargers-deployed/
March 23: The Musical ‘Xanadu’ Opens at CTG
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Canyon Theatre Guild will open the musical “Xanadu” on Saturday, March 23 in Old Town Newhall. The show will run through April 27.
https://scvnews.com/march-23-xanadu-the-musical-opens-at-ctg/
NASA Conducts Full-Duration Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Test
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
NASA continued a key RS-25 engine test series for future Artemis flights of the agency’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket March 22 with a hot fire on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. It marked the 10th hot fire in a 12-test series to certify […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-conducts-full-duration-artemis-moon-rocket-engine-test/
NASA Johnson Space Center to Host Visit by Texas Governor Greg Abbott
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
March 22, 2024 NASA Johnson Space Center to Host Visit by Texas Governor Greg Abbott NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will host a Tuesday, March 26, visit by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who will make a major announcement on the future of the space industry in Texas. Media are invited to document the governor’s […]
As L.A. County Cases Increase, Public Health Observes World TB Day
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
As local Los Angeles County landmarks are prepared to light up in red on Sunday, March 24 to commemorate World Tuberculosis Day, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reminds residents that tuberculosis is a deadly disease that must be identified and treated promptly
https://scvnews.com/as-l-a-county-cases-increase-public-health-commemorates-world-tb-day/
Haiku in February: tons of small fixes and improvements
date: 2024-03-22, from: OS News
Haiku published its latest monthly activity report, and this one is a veritable grab bag of a whole bunch of small fixes, improvements, and changes – there’s really no tent pole features or major improvements this month. Going through the list, the items that jump out at me are updated ping and traceroute applications and work on improving FFmpeg, but there’s so much more in there, so be sure to read the whole thing. At the end of the report, the Haiku project states about a possible fifth beta release: A few more tickets in the milestone were fixed, including the “ICU upgrade” one, but a few were also added (some migrated from HaikuPorts that turned out to be regressions in Haiku or its buildtools, etc.). ↫ Haiku Activity and Contract Report, February 2024 So, beta 5 is not quite ready for prime time just yet, but it feels like it’s getting closer.
https://www.osnews.com/story/138908/haiku-in-february-tons-of-small-fixes-and-improvements/
America’s EV Drive Will Go Beyond The 2024 Election, Federal Highway Chief Says
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
The country’s subpar EV charging network is improving quickly, Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt tells InsideEVs. And the cars themselves go beyond politics.
https://insideevs.com/news/713480/interview-shailen-bhatt-ev-charging/
Impressively realistic build of a full-size 3D printed Macintosh 128K. It boots…
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044251-impressively-realistic-bu
Metal Detectorist Discovers 300-Year-Old Silver Thimble Engraved With a Romantic Inscription
date: 2024-03-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The artifact, which features the words “like enduringly, love forever,” had been declared a treasure by officials in Wales
Everrati Land Rover Series IIa Has Classic Charm But No Nasty Emissions
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
That’s because its original powertrain was swapped with an all-electric source of motivation.
https://insideevs.com/news/713452/land-rover-series-iia-ev-conversion-everrati/
Lilbits: Apple’s lousy week: Antitrust lawsuit, unpatchable vulnerability, and scrapped projects
date: 2024-03-22, from: Liliputing
Part of Apple’s pitch to customers has long been that their products “just work,” and that’s due in large part to the tight integration between Apple’s hardware and software. And while that’s largely true of the company’s Mac computers, it’s even more true of its mobile devices like iPhones and iPods, which have often been […]
The post Lilbits: Apple’s lousy week: Antitrust lawsuit, unpatchable vulnerability, and scrapped projects appeared first on Liliputing.
Don’t Abandon Europe in the Name of ‘Asia First’
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: RAND blog
Allies are key to U.S. great power competition. They are the only asset its adversaries do not also share. Instead of a strategic calculation, isolating European partners’ vital interests because they are “less important” than Asia can only harm the United States’ relationship with its Asian partners as well.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/03/dont-abandon-europe-in-the-name-of-asia-first.html
Switch emulator Suyu hit by GitLab DMCA, project lives on through self-hosting
date: 2024-03-22, from: OS News
Switch emulator Suyu—a fork of the Nintendo-targeted and now-defunct emulation project Yuzu—has been taken down from GitLab following a DMCA request Thursday. But the emulation project’s open source files remain available on a self-hosted git repo on the Suyu website, and recent compiled binaries remain available on an extant GitLab repo. While the DMCA takedown request has not yet appeared on GitLab’s public repository of such requests, a GitLab spokesperson confirmed to The Verge that the project was taken down after the site received notice “from a representative of the rightsholder.” GitLab has not specified who made the request or how they represented themselves; a representative for Nintendo was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment. ↫ Kyle Orland at Ars Technica Self-hosting the code repository and binaries is probably the only way the Switch emulator can continue to reasonably exist. The issue with Switch emulation seems to be that the device is current, popular, and still makes endless amounts of money for Nintendo; it’s very different from SNES or Mega Drive emulation, to name a few examples. While I personally don’t think that should make Switch emulation off-limits or any less valid than emulating older systems, I can see how it would draw the ire of Nintendo more readily.
Chappell Roan’s Tiny Desk Concert
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/chappell-roan
Avalon boys volleyball team captures tourney title
date: 2024-03-22, from: Catalina Islander
On Saturday March 16, the Avalon Lancers boys volleyball team hosted their second annual volleyball tournament. The Lancers went 3-1 in pool play losing to Southlands Christian in their first pool play game 25-20, 25-22. The Lancers then defeated the next three teams Legacy College Prep 25-18, 25-19. Magnolia Science Reseda 25-15, 25-10, and Magnolia […]
https://thecatalinaislander.com/avalon-boys-volleyball-team-captures-tourney-title/
Here’s where Virginia is installing its first 18 NEVI EV chargers
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Virginia is handing out $11.295 million in federal grants to install 18 NEVI-compliant EV chargers – here’s where they’re going.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/virginia-first-18-nevi-ev-chargers/
The Advanced Nuclear Industry Would Like to Power Your Data Center
date: 2024-03-22, from: Heatmap News
America’s technology companies need power, and lots of it.
Artificial intelligence combined with still-growing internet and smartphone use will likely require a game-changing investment in data centers — one that its already showing up in huge projected increases for electricity demand across the country. At the same time, many technology companies want to procure and invest in clean power, while many states have clean energy goals that may make it difficult to add new load to the grid without a corresponding investment in clean generation. All told, the Department of Energy estimates that some 700 to 900 gigawatts of new clean firm capacity — energy generation that doesn’t emit greenhouse gases and can run 24 hours a day — will be necessary to build a fully decarbonized grid. Even in the real world, technology companies are interested in acquiring whatever clean power they can.
This is where the nuclear industry would love to step in,
specifically the segment of the industry making small modular reactors,
otherwise known as SMRs. These reactors, which promise to be cheaper,
smaller, and faster to build than the existing nuclear fleet, seem like
an ideal match for what technology companies need. What could be better
for data centers than on-site power (meaning no transmission costs) that
runs all day (meaning no intermittency issues) with no carbon emissions
(meaning no climate worries)? And if those nuclear power plants could be
built quickly and cheaply out of pre-fabricated parts, all the better,
right?
Whether SMRs actually can step in, well … “If I had every agreement in principle SMRs have signed, I could walk from here to Europe without getting my feet wet,” Dan Yurman, the publisher of Neutron Bytes and a former project manager at the Idaho National Laboratory, told me.
The issue is that the most optimistic timeline for commercial deployment of SMRs starts in the late 2020s, with most observers putting actual deployment into sometimes in the 2030s. All the while, demand for data centers is growing now and is projected to accelerate sharply in the next few years.
As of today only a handful of small modular reactors are currently operational anywhere in the world, and none in the United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which governs all civilian nuclear construction in the country, has so far approved just one SMR design; NuScale, the company behind said design, recently laid off almost a third of its employees after its deal to build a power plant in Utah for a collection of local utilities fell through due to rising costs.
That approval process cost $500 million and took around five years, according to the Wall Street Journal — and, of course, NuScale has yet to get a functioning reactor out of it. The company is currently in the process of getting the go-ahead on a more powerful version of its existing design, which the company’s chief executive said could be approved “within 24 months.”
On paper, however, enthusiasm for co-locating SMRs with data centers and industrial sites abounds. Despite the collapse of the Utah project, during an earnings call this month, NuScale eagerly talked up a partnership with Standard Power to provide 2 gigawatts of electricity to data centers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. While its shares are down around 50% for the past 12 months, they are up about 35% (albeit to around $4.20) since the end of last year. In its presentation to investors, NuScale cited estimates that data center electricity consumption would triple by the beginning of the next decade.
“Management is quite enthusiastic around its opportunity with data
center operators, noting that it’s in discussions with large players as
electricity demand accelerates via the AI buildout,” Ryan Pfingst and
Chris Souther, two analysts for B. Riley Securities, wrote in a note to
clients following the release of NuScale’s earnings
report.
That enthusiasm notwithstanding, it’s not clear how far
along the Standard Power project is. “A project of this size has a
significant amount of detail that’s confirmed and structured before a
project begins construction and those discussions are ongoing,” NuScale
CEO John Hopkins told analysts on the company’s most recent earnings
call. Standard Power did not return a request for comment asking for
more details on the financing or construction timeline for its project.
When asked for an update from NuScale, a spokesperson referred me to the
earnings call.
Meanwhile, in Surry County, Virginia, work is advancing on a project adjacent to the existing Surry nuclear plant. The project would combine data centers, small modular reactors, and hydrogen fuel production; the data centers would come first, with SMRs following once costs come down, according to Michael Hewitt, the co-founder and chief executive officer of IP3, the project’s developer.
For Hewitt, the model for SMR deployment is to build them in factories
and scale them directly for end users. “That’s the future of energy: If
I want a gigawatt of data center, I build SMRs for the data center on
day one,” he told me.
Which company will get there first? “If I had to guess right now, in terms of what will be factory-built first and available to consumers like us, it will more than likely be a light water reactor design — GE, NuScale, or perhaps Rolls-Royce,” Hewitt said. GE’s SMR design, the BWRX-300, is in the pre-application process with the NRC, and was picked by Ontario Power Generation for a nuclear development on its existing Darlington site. The Rolls-Royce SMR has been advancing through the British regulatory and procurement process, while the company currently designs light-water reactors for the Royal Navy.
“The first guy to get the factory built is the winner,” Hewitt said. But none will likely be ready for the Virginia project, at least not within the next eight to 10 years, though, he added. Nevertheless, urgent interest persists.
On Tuesday, Google, Microsoft, and the steel company Nucor announced that they were forming a group that would commit to purchasing clean firm technologies and included in its laundry list of potential power sources advanced nuclear. Another advanced nuclear developer, TerraPower, which is backed by Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates, announced Tuesday that it was applying for a construction permit for a plant in Wyoming and plans to start building non-nuclear portions of it in June. The company expects the full plant to come online in 2030.
There are dozens of other SMR designs at various stage of realization, but the absolute fastest a new design could get online, according to Adam Stein of the Breakthrough Institute, is around four years. “If a developer has not already submitted an application to the NRC to build a power plant — which none of them have for a specific site — then they mostly likely would not be able to operate a power plant before 2028,” Stein told me. “That is the soonest it could happen.”
That said, “If there’s more urgency from the market, a clearer and larger demand signal, then developers will move faster than they are right now,” Stein added.
What’s far more likely, according to Yurman, is that tech companies will sign power purchase agreements for existing nuclear power plants, as Amazon has with Talen Energy. “That’s immediate access to reliable power,” Yurman said.
And even if SMRs are actually built, they may not end up adjacent to data centers, but instead on the sites of existing nuclear and even coal plants (this is the plan for the TerraPower site) which have preexisting grid connections. “If I’m putting together this kind of deal,” Yurman told me, “I’m looking at an old coal power plant I can demolish and keep the grid connection.”
While American tech companies are eager to buy up new power, the real opportunity, should it ever come, may be overseas, where smaller countries without indigenous energy supplies could be especially interested in nuclear power.
“What we need to do is get to full rate production and start stamping out SMRs with low risk,” Hewitt said. “If we do that, we can take these things everywhere.”
https://heatmap.news/economy/advanced-nuclear-data-centers
March 26: City Council to Discuss Contracts, State Legislation, Pay Increase
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita City Council will hold a regularl meeting on Tuesday, March 26 at 6 p.m. Among the items on the agenda is awarding a construction contract for the Saugus Phase I: Bouquet Canyon Trail project and an increase in pay for city councilmembers.
https://scvnews.com/march-26-city-council-meets-to-discuss-contracts-state-legislation-pay-increase/
What Sweden’s Accession Means for NATO
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: RAND blog
Russia’s failed invasion of Ukraine pushed neutral Sweden to embrace a role in Europe and NATO’s collective defence and security. With the addition of its 32nd Member, NATO’s toolkit gains Sweden’s ground and air combat, nearshore and undersea warfare capabilities, as well as the country’s expertise in niche areas such as cold weather operations.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/03/what-swedens-accession-means-for-nato.html
City manager confident hospital will stay open
date: 2024-03-22, from: Catalina Islander
By Charles M. Kelly City Manager David Maistros expressed confidence that Avalon’s current hospital (known as Catalina Island Health) would stay open during his report to the City Council on Tuesday, March 19. In early January, Catalina Island Health CEO Jason Paret told the council that the hospital was in bad financial shape and speculated […]
https://thecatalinaislander.com/city-manager-confident-hospital-will-stay-open/
Zonta, Soroptimist Accept Proclaimation for Int’l Women’s Day
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley, together with Soroptimist of Greater Santa Clarita Valley and Soroptimist International of Valencia, accepted a proclamation from the city of Santa Clarita in celebration of Inernational Women’s Day on March
https://scvnews.com/zonta-soroptimist-accept-proclaimation-for-intl-womens-day/
A good read: master tailor Martin Greenfield’s obituary. “Two ripped Nazi shirts…
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044249-a-good-read-master-tailor
Podcast: Tesla slows production, Audi Q6 e-tron, GM Ultium turns a corner, and more
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
On the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Tesla slowing down production, Audi Q6 e-tron unveiling, GM Ultium turning a corner, and more.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/podcast-tesla-slows-production-audi-q6-e-tron-gm-ultium/
_eventFirstResponderChainDescription
date: 2024-03-22, from: Michael Tsai
Stephan Casas: AppKit includes a private category on NSApplication that adds _eventFirstResponderChainDescription — a string describing the current responder chain. This can be a really useful debugging tool!When your views aren’t handling input events in the way you’d expect, consider dropping this extension into your project to see what’s what[…]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/22/_eventfirstresponderchaindescription/
Apple Manuals, Specs, and Downloads
date: 2024-03-22, from: Michael Tsai
John Voorhees (Mastodon): Apple has consolidated documentation for its products, including manuals, technical specifications, and downloads on a new webpage that was first discovered by the Japanese-language website Mac Otakara and reported on this morning by MacRumors.
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/22/apple-manuals-specs-and-downloads/
Epic Challenges External Link Rules and Commission
date: 2024-03-22, from: Michael Tsai
Jon Brodkin (Hacker News): Epic Games yesterday urged a federal court to sanction Apple for alleged violations of an injunction that imposed restrictions on the iOS App Store. Epic cited a 27 percent commission charged by Apple on purchases completed outside the usual in-app payment system and other limits imposed on developers.“Apple is in blatant […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/22/epic-challenges-external-link-rules-and-commission/
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1
date: 2024-03-22, from: Michael Tsai
Juli Clover (release notes, security “coming soon”, developer): According to Apple’s release notes, the iOS 17.4.1 update includes important security updates and bug fixes. Mr. Macintosh: macOS ??? 😰 Previously: iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/03/22/ios-17-4-1-and-ipados-17-4-1/
Sheriff’s Log: March 14 to March 20, 2024
date: 2024-03-22, from: Catalina Islander
The following is the Avalon’s Sheriff’s Stations significant incidents report for the period March 14 to March 20, 2024. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Many people who are arrested do not get prosecuted in the first place and many who are prosecuted do not get convicted. March […]
https://thecatalinaislander.com/sheriffs-log-march-14-to-march-20-2024/
These Are the Most Polluted National Parks
date: 2024-03-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Five California sites made the top ten list for unhealthiest air, according to a new report
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-are-the-most-polluted-national-parks-180984009/
Tesla Cybertruck Completes Epic 4,500-Mile Cross-Country Journey With No Issues
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
There’s already 4,500 miles on the odometer of this Cybertruck after just one week of owning it.
https://insideevs.com/news/712721/tesla-cybertruck-owner-drive-4500-miles-1-week/
New Texas Law Prohibits Public Colleges, Universities From Having DEI Offices
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
A new Texas law prohibits public universities from having special programs supporting minority and LGBTQ students. Critics say these diversity, equity and inclusion programs are discriminatory and divisive. But many students say they are needed. Deana Mitchell has the story from the Texas capital.
Straight Up Builders wins league title
date: 2024-03-22, from: Catalina Islander
The final two league games of the Catalina Co-Ed Winter season did not disappoint. First up was Luau Larry’s vs. Bravo’s Landscaping. Luau Larry’s scored four runs on the two RBI home runs from Gabriel Alvarado and Luis Lazaro. Bravo’s Landscaping answered with a solo home run from Marco Gallegos, followed by a base hit […]
https://thecatalinaislander.com/straight-up-builders-wins-league-title-2/
Spring forward into Avalon Library programs
date: 2024-03-22, from: Catalina Islander
As the first tendrils of spring touch the Island, with the restaurants starting to stay open ’til 8 p.m. and the sun still shining after 6, your Avalon Library continues to offer your programs, activities, and, yes, books for all ages and sensibilities. Stop by and pick up one of our new fiction books–or place […]
https://thecatalinaislander.com/spring-forward-into-avalon-library-programs/
I Am the New York Times’ Paywall, and If I Let Any…
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044248-i-am-the-new-york
Ford may build its affordable EV platform in this key overseas market to revamp sales
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Amid its shift to more affordable electric vehicles, Ford could build its new EV platform overseas as it looks to revamp sales.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/ford-build-affordable-ev-platform-overseas-revamp-sales/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
I know Google doesn't have a heart and it isn't a living thing, but it's bad PR to make that so freaking obvious.
http://scripting.com/2024/03/22.html#a132716
California Lawmakers Extend FAFSA Deadline To May 2, Pending Governor’s Signature
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The LAist
Because of delays at the federal level, some colleges are still waiting to receive financial aid information from the U.S. Department of Education.
https://laist.com/news/education/california-legislature-extension-fafsa-deadline-may-2-newsom
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Democrats Would Save Johnson In Return for Ukraine Aid.
https://politicalwire.com/2024/03/22/democrats-would-save-mike-johnson-in-return-for-ukraine-aid/
US Pledges Additional $22M to Fight Terrorism in Mozambique
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
Maputo, Mozambique — U.S. officials pledged $22 million in new funding Thursday to help Mozambique fight Islamist militants in the country’s troubled, oil-rich Cabo Delgado, where an insurgency has intensified in recent weeks.
The United States already had pledged $100 million.
At the end of a five-day visit to Maputo, Anne Witkowsky, U.S. assistant secretary of state for conflict and stabilization operations, said the funding aims to help Mozambique with stabilizing and peacebuilding efforts in its northern provinces.
Calling security in north Mozambique critical, Witkowsky told VOA that the U.S.-financed programs provide training for local government officials to deliver services; promote social cohesion through peace clubs, sports and the arts; and increase educational and employment opportunities for youth.
“Mozambique is a priority partner country under our strategy to prevent conflict and promote stability,” she said. “So, the U.S. supports a Mozambique that is more prosperous, more secure, more resilient and more democratic for all.”
Since 2017, Mozambique’s province of Cabo Delgado has faced an armed insurgency, with some attacks claimed by an extremist group calling itself Islamic State.
On Monday, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi warned that terrorism could divide the country, advocating that citizens unite to fight rebel groups in the province.
Nyusi spoke after missionaries, priests and religious sisters were forced to flee from remote towns and villages to Pemba and other large cities, which are overwhelmed with persons displaced by the conflict.
Nyusi said resolution of the problem depends on the unity of Mozambicans and foreign forces supporting them.
The Reverend Marcos Macamo, a scholar of African theology and religious sciences, is part of a coalition of religious and civic advocacy groups that are urging the government to open negotiations with the militants. But, he said, even diplomacy has its own challenges.
“The terrorists … wouldn’t have power unless local people give them information,” Macamo said. “They [locals] open the doors slightly so that the enemy can enter.”
The insurgency in northern Mozambique began in 2017 but has seen an increase in attacks since the beginning of this year. In the last few days alone, there have been several raids on towns and villages, and people have been killed or kidnapped.
According to humanitarian agencies, the insurgency has killed at least 5,000 people and displaced more than 1 million.
Oil giants Exxon Mobil and Total are among international energy companies developing natural gas projects offshore of northern Mozambique.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-pledges-additional-22m-to-fight-terrorism-in-mozambique/7538828.html
1000% agreement from me on this: Don’t Miss This Eclipse. “So, if…
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044242-1000-agreement-from-me-on
Kate, Princess of Wales, says she has cancer
date: 2024-03-22, from: Associated Press, World News
Kate, the Princess of Wales, has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy, she said Friday in a stunning announcement that follows weeks of speculation about her health and whereabouts.
https://apnews.com/live/kate-middleton-cancer-royals-updates
Why The Tesla Cybertruck Isn’t The Best EV Truck For Towing
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
Long-range electric towing is about one thing above all else: Battery size. It’s Chevy, not Tesla, that has the lead there.
https://insideevs.com/news/713488/best-electric-truck-for-towing/
Uncle Sam wants to know how big airlines use passenger data
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
‘Problematic’ carriers can look forward to scrutiny, fines, and new rules
Ever suspected an airline was using your data to upsell, overcharge, target you with ads, or was selling it to third parties? Worried about how secure their systems are when you input that passport number? The US Department of Transportation is looking into it with a review of the country’s ten biggest airlines.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/data_privacy_airlines/
Watch Chris Birch Jump the KTM 890 Adventure R Over and Over Again
date: 2024-03-22, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
If you ever want to feel like an inadequate dirt rider, watch Chris Birch put a middleweight KTM 890 Adventure R through hell.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/713474/ktm-890-adventure-r-video-chris-birch-watch/
Two Decades After They Were Stolen, Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers Returned to the Scene of the Crime. Will They Stay There?
date: 2024-03-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Federal investigators have handed over the shoes to their rightful owner, who plans to sell them at auction later this year
March 21, 2024
date: 2024-03-22, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-21-2024-c1e
Save $240 on NIU KQi3 Max e-scooter at $760, wood pellet grill hits $319, electric tools, more
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Headlining today’s green deals is a one-day sale on the NIU KQi3 Max Foldable Electric KickScooter for $760. It is joined by the updated Z Grills 550B2 Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker at $319, as well as another one-day sale on the Greenworks 80V 18-inch Cordless Electric Chainsaw with a 4.0Ah battery at a new $280 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.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/niu-kqi3-max-e-scooter-z-grills-wood-pellet-grill-more/
System76 Pangolin Linux laptop updated with Ryzen 7 7840U processor and 16.1 inch display
date: 2024-03-22, from: Liliputing
The System76 Pangolin is a lightweight Linux laptop with and AMD Ryzen processor and a big screen that first debuted in 2021. Since then, System76 has update the laptop a few times bringing improvements like faster processors and better displays. Now the company has launched a new version that increases the screen size from 15.6 […]
The post System76 Pangolin Linux laptop updated with Ryzen 7 7840U processor and 16.1 inch display appeared first on Liliputing.
Suburbia Is the Real Battleground for Electric Cars
date: 2024-03-22, from: Heatmap News
Where I am from, people worry about
making
good time. Nebraska small talk regresses not to what route you took
— the California concern — but how fast you got there. Rather than get
on a plane, people from the Great Plains will undertake a 10-hour drive
to Cousin Rob’s in Dallas and rue that they could’ve done it in nine and
a half if not for all the construction. Dads refuse to stop on long
drives for
this
very reason.
Electric cars aren’t great for making great time. Even though charging speeds are getting faster, the leisurely pace of the EV break can’t compare to the Cannonball Run pit stop: pump gas, use the restroom, and get back on the road within five minutes. EVs are not (yet) ideal for other, more practical rural concerns. The punishing winter temperatures of North Dakota can sap a battery’s driving range. So does towing the boat to the lake. Flyover country is full of state highways where there is nary a fast-charger in sight.
Those are among the reasons the residents of rural America hesitate to embrace the EV. There is a tribal impetus, too: Rural areas are heavily Republican and more likely to reject electric cars on the basis of political identity. This fact may spell trouble for the Detroit auto giants trying to sell EV pickup trucks to die-hard combustion loyalists and for goals of making America an all-EV nation anytime soon. But when it comes to climate, maybe it’s not a crisis.
Like any environmental issue, the EV question is about scale. To reduce the carbon pollution of the transportation sector, it’s not enough for a few people to trade in their gas-guzzling Ford Expeditions for Mustang Mach-Es. Most people need to do it to take a chunk out of emissions.
Fortunately, electric vehicles work best where people are concentrated. City dwellers generally drive shorter distances than rural residents during errands and commutes, meaning an EV with decent range can cover their everyday needs. Even those at the exurban extents of major metropolitan areas are generally close enough to city centers to make a round trip without charging in the middle.
Charging infrastructure follows the population maps, too. As the country scales up its supply of level 3 fast chargers, it still makes the most sense to put the vast majority of those plugs in cities and along the Interstate System where those urbanites do most of their driving. This drives a feedback loop that will continue to make electric driving more enticing to city people than country people.
For those rooting for mass adoption of EVs, this is good news. According to sustainability researchers at the University of Michigan, 83% of Americans now live in urban areas, up from 64% in 1950. That number could approach 90% by mid-century. The United States, despite its small town self-mythologizing, is an urban country that grows more urban by the day, and that means most people live in a location where an EV could meet their daily driving needs.
(Also, urban areas should embrace EVs to reduce the health-damaging air pollution from ICE tailpipes, which concentrates in places with lots of people, and therefore cars. In rural places where people are spread out and dozens of cars don’t sit idling as a herd during freeway traffic, this is a less pressing concern.)
The fact that electric driving would prove more challenging for rural America sounds like grim news for climate change, since according to one study, they have a 20% larger carbon footprint compared to their urban counterparts, a difference largely attributed to home heating and to driving longer distances. But, again, the question is about scale. Even though living in the boonies necessitates emitting more carbon, there are just so many more metropolitan Americans. The best way to make a big dent in transportation emissions is to get metro residents — the 83% — to embrace the life electric.
Eventually, the EV revolution will reach the countryside, but those who prefer combustion driving will be able to keep doing so for a long time to come. Even if the nation followed the California goal of making the light-duty vehicle market 100% electric by 2035, that’s only new cars. (California banned the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment, but I still hear plenty of small-engine leaf blowers at work around Los Angeles every afternoon.) Vehicles are better-built than they’ve even been and last on the road for more than a decade, meaning there’ll be plenty of gas-burners on the highway deep into the 2040s. It will just become more expensive to fuel and to service them as the country’s infrastructure and mechanic shops finally move away from combustion.
Just like America’s presidential elections, the country’s EV battle may be won or lost in the suburbs.
Consider one recent research project, which found that while rural residents emit more carbon than city-dwellers, it’s suburbanites who are the very worst. They drive more than those who live in the center city and might have access to decent public transportation. And, on average, they earn more than truly rural residents, which is correlated with a higher carbon footprint. That project studied Austria, but the Brookings Institute found the same thing in the United States: “In metropolitan regions, suburbs emit up to four times the household emissions of their urban cores. While households located in more densely populated neighborhoods have a carbon footprint 50% below the national average, those in the suburbs emit up to twice the average.”
To put it another way: It’s suburbanites who could potentially do the most climate good by switching to EVs. Plus, they are potentially affluent enough to afford electric vehicles. They’re also likely to have garages and driveways to make charging at home a simpler affair compared to the apartment-dweller who has little control over whether their landlord puts plugs in the parking lot. (Mine didn’t.)
Certainly suburbia has its share of MAGA rank-and-file who dismiss EVs as the choice of the woke, as well as Towing Dads who’ll hold out until electric pickup range can match that of gas. Yet the politically purple ‘burbs may be ruled by the pragmatists, or people who’ll happily buy an EV — just as soon as they’re convinced it’s the right economic choice for their families, or, perhaps, as soon as everybody else at their kids’ school starts getting one.
Sources like David Rapson of the University of California, Davis have told me these buyers are the tipping point for the mass adoption of the electric vehicle. It makes sense: EVs may never convince their entrenched opponents to ditch internal combustion, but they don’t have to. If the bulk of Americans make the jump and begin driving the kids to practice on battery power, that’s an enormous chunk of carbon that’s simply not emitted.
Transportation is about the right technology for the right situation. EVs are a just-okay choice for dense urban centers — they’re better than gas cars, but thoughtful city planning could help people choose greener and better solutions such as cycling and mass transit. For car-reliant suburbs and exurbs, EVs hold the key to drastically reducing carbon emissions. In truly rural America, the best choice for years to come might be burning gasoline. And maybe that’s fine — as long as the country’s population centers get with the program.
https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/evs-suburbs-rural-city
Lunar 6.7.3
date: 2024-03-22, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/lunar-6-7-3/
Fantastical 3.8.13 and Cardhop 2.2.17
date: 2024-03-22, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/fantastical-3-8-13-cardhop-2-2-17/
Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 17.4.1 and 16.7.7, and visionOS 1.1.1
date: 2024-03-22, from: TidBITS blog
Release notes for these updates list “important bug fixes and security updates” or just “important security fixes” so they probably address one or more zero-day security vulnerabilities.
https://tidbits.com/2024/03/22/apple-releases-ios-and-ipados-17-4-1-and-16-7-7-and-visionos-1-1-1/
From bassist Colin Greenwood, How to Disappear — a Portrait of Radiohead…
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044243-from-bassist-colin-greenw
This Extremely Rare Neurological Condition Makes Faces Appear Distorted or ‘Like a Demon’
date: 2024-03-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
For the first time, scientists have recreated what one patient suffering from prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO, sees when he looks at faces
The North Pole Is Still a Giant Climate Mystery
date: 2024-03-22, from: Heatmap News
As is usually the case, one of the most basic questions in climate science has also been one of the most difficult to answer: How much energy is the Earth sending out into space? The pair of shoebox-sized satellites that comprise PREFIRE — Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment — could very well provide the answer.
Principal investigator Tristan L’Ecuyer, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the director of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, spoke with Heatmap about PREFIRE. Tentatively scheduled to launch in May, the project stands not only to make future climate models more accurate, but could also help shape a new generation of atmospheric exploration.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Could you tell me a little bit about your research and the work that you do?
A lot of our climate information comes from models — where I come in is trying to make sure that those predictions are rooted in actual observations of our planet. But it’s impossible to cover the whole globe with a temperature sensor or water vapor [sensor] or those sorts of things, so I’ve always focused on using satellite observations, and in particular I’ve been focusing on the exchange of energy.
Basically, what drives the climate is the incoming energy from the sun and how that’s balanced by the thermal energy that the Earth emits. One of the big influencers of that balance are clouds — they reflect the sunlight, but they also have a greenhouse effect of their own; they trap the thermal energy emitted. So I’ve spent most of my career trying to understand the effects of clouds on the climate and how that might change if the climate warms.
And what’s the goal of this particular mission?
One of the fastest changing regions on Earth right now is the polar regions — I think a lot of people are aware of that. Normally, the polar regions are very cold — they reflect a lot of sunlight just because of the ice surface. But as the ice surface melts, the ocean is a lot darker than ice, and so [the poles] can actually absorb more of the solar radiation that’s coming in.
A lot of people say, “Well, okay, but that’s the Arctic. I don’t live there.” But the way the climate works is that in order to create an equilibrium between these really, really cold polar caps and the really, really warm tropics. It’s just like heating the end of a rod — the rod is going to transfer some of the heat from the hot end to the cold end to establish an equilibrium between them. The Earth does the same thing, but the way it does that is through our weather systems. So basically, how cold the polar region is versus the equator is what’s going to govern how severe our weather is in the mid-latitudes.
What we’re trying to do is make measurements of, basically, how that thermal energy is distributed. We just have a lack of understanding right now — or it’s more that the understanding comes from isolated, individual field projects, and what we really want to do is map out the whole Arctic and understand all of the different regions and how it’s changing.
How do you expect your findings to influence our climate models? Or how significantly do you expect them to affect the climate models?
This is quite unusual for a satellite project, we actually have climate modelers as part of our team. There’s the people that take, for example, the Greenland ice sheet, and they model things like the melting of the ice, how heat transports into the ice sheet, how the water once it melts percolates through the ice and then runs off at the bottom of the glacier, or even on top of the glacier. And then I have a general climate modeling group that basically uses climate models to project future climate.
There’s two ways that’s going to happen. The first is we’ve developed a tool that allows us to kind of simulate what our satellite would see if it was flying in a climate model as opposed to around the real Earth — we can simulate exactly what the climate model is suggesting the satellite should see. And then of course, we’re making the real observations with the satellite. We can compare the two and evaluate, in today’s climate, how well is that climate model reproducing what the satellites see?
The other way is we’re going to generate models of how much heat comes off of various surfaces — ice surfaces, water surfaces, snow surfaces — and that information can be used to create a new module that goes right into the climate model and improves the way it represents the surface.
So what do these satellites look like and how do they work?
Our satellite is called a CubeSat. It’s not very big at all, maybe a foot wide, a foot-and-a-half or so long. There’s a little aperture, a little hole on the end of the satellite that lets the thermal energy from the Earth go in, and then the the rest of the satellite is basically just this big box that has a radio and a transmitter. In total, I think the whole thing weighs about 15 kilograms.
Because it’s relatively small and relatively inexpensive, we’re actually able to have two of those instead of just having one, and what that lets us do is put them into different orbits. At some point that will cross and see the same spot on the ground — let’s say somewhere in the center of Greenland — but up to eight or nine hours apart. Let’s say it melts in between, we’ll be able to understand how that melting process affected the heat that was emitted from the surface into the atmosphere.
How big of a deal do you think this is? Or how big of a deal do you think it could be?
There’s more than a couple of aspects to this. To really segue from the last question to this one, the reason [the satellites are] inexpensive, it’s not that they’re low-quality. It’s actually because they’re very uniform sizes and shapes. You can mass produce them. And so it’s that fact, coupled with the fact that we can now do real science on this small platform. We’ve been able to miniaturize the technology. If we can keep demonstrating that these missions are viable and producing realistic science data, this could be the future of the field.
Coming back to the polar climate, we absolutely know that the poles are warming at a very alarming rate. We know that the ice sheets are melting. We know that this has implications for the weather in the lower latitudes where we live, and for sea level. But when you try to predict that 100 years from now, there’s quite a range of different answers, from very catastrophic to still pretty bad. Depending on which of those answers is correct, it really dictates what we need to do today. How quickly do we need to adapt to a rising sea level, or to stronger storms or more frequent storms? After this mission, we will be able to improve the climate models in such a way that we’ll have a narrower range of possibilities.
The other thing that’s exciting is also just the unknown. There’s always new things that you learn by measuring something for the first time. We might learn something about the tropics, we might learn something about the upper atmosphere. There are some people in mountainous areas that are quite interested in the measurements — at the top of mountains, it’s actually quite similar in climate to the Arctic. So I’m also really excited about what happens when the science community in general explores that data for the first time.
https://heatmap.news/sparks/prefire-nasa-arctic-satellites
Five Canoes Discovered Northwest of Rome Are the Oldest Boats Ever Found in the Mediterranean
date: 2024-03-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The 7,000-year-old vessels offer evidence of advanced seafaring technology and an extensive regional trade network, a new study suggests
Tesla Slows Down Production At Its Largest EV Factory In China: Report
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
Insufficient demand and fierce competition are cited as the reason.
https://insideevs.com/news/713399/report-tesla-slows-production-china/
3 million doors open to uninvited guests in keycard exploit
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
As months go by without fixes, hotels take the scenic route to securing rooms
Around 3 million doors protected by popular keycard locks are thought to be vulnerable to security flaws that allow miscreants to quickly slip into locked rooms.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/tap_and_go_straight_to/
More Than Just For Fun, Jetskis Save Lives In Hawaii
date: 2024-03-22, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
The Hawaiian Lifeguard Association is promoting the use of Jetskis in rescuing swimmers in distress.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/713359/lifeguards-jet-skis-hawaii-surfers-surfing/
Qualcomm says most Windows games should ‘just work’ on its unannounced Arm laptops
date: 2024-03-22, from: OS News
In a 2024 Game Developers Conference session titled “Windows on Snapdragon, a Platform Ready for your PC Games,” Qualcomm engineer Issam Khalil drove home that the unannounced laptops will use emulation to run x86/64 games at close to full speed. Those laptops may be coming fast. Qualcomm has confirmed it will launch Snapdragon X Elite systems this summer, and unannounced consumer versions of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are expected in May with those chips, sources told The Verge. ↫ Sean Hollister at The Verge I’m genuinely curious to see if they can fulfill this promise. I really want widespread availability of ARM laptops. My hope is that we end up with a more standardised ARM landscape, making it easier for operating systems to support these new machines.
BYD’s new EV, starting at less than $10,000, is stoking fear across the industry
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Leading EV maker BYD shook the industry after unveiling the new Seagull (Dolphin Mini), with starting prices as low as $9,700 (69,800 yuan). Although BYD’s new EV, which earned the nickname “Lamborghini mini,” is not sold in the US, American automakers are taking notes.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/byds-new-ev-starting-under-10000-stoking-fear-rivals/
Women’s History Month: Meet Denise Ryan
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
In honor of Women’s History Month, we recently sat down with Denise Ryan, flight management specialist and member of the Women’s Networking Group (WNG) at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, to learn more about her role and working at NASA. What do you do at NASA and how do you help support […]
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/armstrong/womens-history-month-meet-denise-ryan/
Find Your Place In Space Week
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
The National Space Council invites you to join us for Find Your Place in Space Week. From April 6-13, 2024 museums, science centers, companies, schools, and organizations will engage with communities across the nation to highlight all that space is, has to offer, and the benefits of space for Earth. We know that too many […]
Plane Stupid
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: One Foot Tsunami
https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/03/22/plane-stupid/
UN unanimously adopts ambitious AI resolution, sans teeth
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
‘Safe, secure and trustworthy’ AI a must, says document, but nothing in it ensures anyone plays along
The United Nations has unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at establishing international AI development standards.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/un_unanimously_adopts_ambitious_ai/
Behind the Blog: Coffee in Keyboards and Venture Capitalists
date: 2024-03-22, from: 404 Media Group
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss coffee in keyboards, OSINT and cybersecurity tools, and what venture capitalists will be left with once they’ve bought up all the good websites.
https://www.404media.co/behind-the-blog-coffee-in-keyboards-and-venture-capitalists/
Ghanaian Fantasy Coffin Maker Paa Joe
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/ghanaian-fantasy-coffin-maker-paa-joe
New Humane Demo Video: ‘What Is Ai Pin?’
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Daring Fireball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H4SNFtEzys
Daily Deals (3-22-2024)
date: 2024-03-22, from: Liliputing
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 has earned a reputation over the past few years as one of the best compact gaming laptops around. While specs vary from model to model, Asus has generally managed to fit high-performance processors, graphics, and display technology into a sturdy body that weighs less than 4 pounds. While prices for […]
The post Daily Deals (3-22-2024) appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/daily-deals-3-22-2024/
US Files Antitrust Lawsuit against Apple, Alleging iPhone Monopoly
date: 2024-03-22, from: TidBITS blog
The US Justice Department and 16 states have filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of maintaining an illegal iPhone monopoly based on its practices in super apps, cloud gaming, messaging apps, smartwatches, and digital wallets. The big question is whether the iPhone actually enjoys monopoly status.
https://tidbits.com/2024/03/22/us-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-apple-alleging-iphone-monopoly/
Ukrainian Team Debuts at US Air Force and Marine Corps Trials
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
In early March, the annual U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps Trials for injured veterans took place near Las Vegas. This year, for the first time, the United States welcomed a Ukrainian team. Omelyan Oshchudlyak spoke with one of the Ukrainian participants. VOA footage by Yuriy Dankevych.
NASA, Agencies to Brief Plans for April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
Millions of people across North America will experience a rare celestial sight on Monday, April 8: a total solar eclipse. NASA will host a media briefing with other government agencies at 10 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 26, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The briefing will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, and the agency’s website. Learn how […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-agencies-to-brief-plans-for-april-2024-total-solar-eclipse/
The Markup Wins Sigma Award
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Markup blog
The global contest recognizes excellence in data reporting
https://themarkup.org/inside-the-markup/2024/03/22/the-markup-wins-sigma-award
Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite (2024) will bring processor and operating system spec bumps
date: 2024-03-22, from: Liliputing
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is a 10.4 inch Android tablet with a FHD+ touchscreen display and support for Samsung’s pressure-sensitive S-Pen. It’s also one of the most affordable S-Pen enabled devices. When Samsung first launched the tablet in 2020, it had a list price of $350, and two years later, when the company released […]
The post Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite (2024) will bring processor and operating system spec bumps appeared first on Liliputing.
This unusual-looking mini PC is powered by a Ryzen 9 6900HX processor with RDNA 2 graphics
date: 2024-03-22, from: Liliputing
The latest SZBOX mini PC is a compact desktop computer with a 45-watt AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor featuring 8 Zen 3+ processor cores and Radeon 680M integrated graphics featuring 12 RDNA 2 cores. It’s a chip that’s about two years old at this point, but it’s still not a bad choice for a mini […]
The post This unusual-looking mini PC is powered by a Ryzen 9 6900HX processor with RDNA 2 graphics appeared first on Liliputing.
@Chris Coyier blog (date: 2024-03-22, from: Chris Coyier blog)
The glider was a sister to the lilac and the bee, the slime mold and the earthworm, blossoming forth, bubbling up from the generative froth of the universe, its spontaneous complexity cascading from page to page, filling the grid with evidence for a theory that could not be articulated and did not need to be […]
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/03/22/11177/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-22, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
I watched the UNSC discussion on the ceasefire.
It isn’t a ceasefire resolution, despite what the NYTimes reported. It is propaganda theater.
Watch yourself Algeria (36:38) and Guyana (1:04) get to the bottom of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yveXJyV6s30
China is good too, but I know what people are going to say “yeah but you love TikTok”.
And Russia is good too, but they should get out of Ukraine.
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112140011772019932
Hardware-level Apple Silicon vulnerability can leak cryptographic keys
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-23, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Short of redesigning CPUs, the fix will seriously degrade performance
A side-channel vulnerability has been found in the architecture of Apple Silicon processors that gives malicious apps the ability to extract cryptographic keys from memory that should be off limits. …
Polestar EVs Can Recharge At Tesla Superchargers In China Ahead Of U.S. Access
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
Owners in North America have to wait a little longer.
https://insideevs.com/news/713379/polestar-tesla-supercharger-china/
In a study comparing the perceived scents of infants, toddlers, and adolescents:…
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044241-in-a-study-comparing-the
Tesla Cybertruck is wireless inductive charging-ready
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla Cybertruck is ready for wireless inductive charging based on new connectors found on the electric pickup truck’s battery pack.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/tesla-cybertruck-wireless-inductive-charging-ready/
Yamaha Unveils Its Final-Edition Snowmobiles, Saying Farewell to the Industry
date: 2024-03-22, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Check out a video showcasing the last snowmobiles Yamaha will ever make.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/712484/yamaha-final-edition-snowmobiles-2025/
The Future of Border Patrol: AI Is Always Watching
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Markup blog
Human rights advocates warn of algorithmic bias, legal violations, and other dire consequences of relying on AI to monitor the border
https://themarkup.org/news/2024/03/22/the-future-of-border-patrol-ai-is-always-watching
Redict is an independent, copyleft fork of Redis®
date: 2024-03-22, from: Tilde.news
https://redict.io/posts/2024-03-22-redict-is-an-independent-fork/
“Greedflation” is a thing, the FTC says
date: 2024-03-22, from: Marketplace Morning Report
Are grocery prices high because of supply chain problems and rising costs? Or is it because major grocery chains took advantage of those trends to pad their profits? A new report from the Federal Trade Commission suggests the latter. We’ll unpack what the report says. Plus, Biden cancels $5.8 billion in student debt for public service workers, and we’ll hear key takeaways from CERAWeek, the “Super Bowl” of energy.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/greedflation-is-a-thing-the-ftc-says
Americans Need to Know How the Government Will Use AI
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: RAND blog
Americans have been concerned about tech-enabled government surveillance for as long as they have known about it. With the recent Department of Homeland Security announcement that it is embracing artificial intelligence, that concern isn’t going away anytime soon. How could federal agencies mitigate some of that fear?
https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/03/americans-need-to-know-how-the-government-will-use.html
Fujitsu to shutter operations in Republic of Ireland
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
In wake of Post Office Horizon scandal, global execs set new profit target, and Irish ops fell short
Exclusive Fujitsu is effectively shuttering business operations in the Republic of Ireland and opening consultations with employee representatives before the majority of the workforce is made redundant.…
John Green on how tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest disease, is completely curable…
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044240-john-green-on-how-tubercu
Rivian Screens Now Display Live Charging Costs At Tesla Superchargers
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
CEO RJ Scaringe said the brand collaborated with Tesla to bring this feature to Rivian owners.
https://insideevs.com/news/713456/rivian-screens-display-live-charging-costs-tesla-superchargers/
Hyundai’s rugged new IONIQ 5 XRT caught testing for the first time – A Rivian R3X rival?
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
A new rugged IONIQ 5 model is set to hit the market soon. Ahead of its debut, Hyundai’s new IONIQ 5 XRT was caught out in the wild testing for the first time as a new video gives us our closest look yet. Will it compete with Rivian’s recently revealed R3X?
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/hyundais-rugged-ioniq-5-xrt-spotted-rivian-r3x-rival-video/
NASA Innovation on Display at AAS Goddard Space Science Symposium
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
From the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system to Earth science missions closer to home, NASA shared its goals for the next decades of exploration at this year’s Goddard Space Science Symposium, held March 20-22, 2024, at the University of Maryland in College Park. “We wanted to help bring focus to this long-term […]
Tesla (TSLA) stock drops on report it is reducing EV output at Giga Shanghai
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla’s (TSLA) stock dropped this morning due to a report that automakers are reducing their electric vehicle output at Gigafactory Shanghai because of lower demand.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/tesla-tsla-stock-drops-report-reducing-ev-output-giga-shanghai/
The Fiat 500e, Which Is Only Sold As An EV, Might Get A Gas Engine Option Too
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
The same EU cybersecurity laws that killed the Porsche Macan will reportedly retire the previous-gen gas-powered 500.
https://insideevs.com/news/713433/fiat-500e-gasoline-conversion-report/
Build log: Power Mac G4 MDD
date: 2024-03-22, from: Jeff Geerling blog
Build log: Power Mac G4 MDD
<div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><img class="insert-image" width="700" height="auto" alt="Power Mac G4 MDD on Desk" src="https://www.jeffgeerling.com/sites/default/files/images/power-mac-g4-mdd-hero.jpeg"></p>This blog post will serve as my long-term build log for the Power Mac G4 MDD I started restoring in the video Retro Computing Enthusiasts are Masochists in early 2024. See also: Build log: Macintosh PowerBook 3400c.
The G4’s swan song
Apple’s Blue-and-White G3 brought a bit of fun into the industrial design of Apple’s pro desktop line of Macs. The four-handle polycarbonate design language progressed through a few generations of G3 and G4, culminating in the ‘Mirrored Drive Door’ model.
This model is also nicknamed ‘Windtunnel’ for the amount of noise it generates. The original G3 minitower ran a single 300 MHz G3.
The MDD came in configurations with up to two 1.42 GHz G4 (PowerPC 7455) CPUs, two full-size optical drive bays, and even more expansion.
<span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Jeff Geerling</span></span>
https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2024/build-log-power-mac-g4-mdd
Build log: Macintosh PowerBook 3400c
date: 2024-03-22, from: Jeff Geerling blog
Build log: Macintosh PowerBook 3400c
<div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><img class="insert-image" width="700" height="auto" alt="PowerBook 3400c - Flying Toasters" src="https://www.jeffgeerling.com/sites/default/files/images/powerbook-3400c-after-dark-flying-toasters.jpg"></p>This blog post will serve as my long-term build log for the Macintosh PowerBook 3400c I started restoring in the video Retro Computing Enthusiasts are Masochists in early 2024. See also: Build log: Power Mac G4 MDD.
The fastest laptop period
It’s 1997. Apple just re-acquired Steve Jobs, but he hasn’t been around long enough to materially impact the next few months of product launches.
Gil Amelio, seeing a gap in Apple’s laptop offerings, decides to throw the kitchen sink at the market, in the form of the PowerBook 3400c. It works.
This laptop was the platform for the first G3 laptop, the short-lived ‘Kanga’, which used almost an identical design as a stopgap for Apple to later introduce the iconic Wallstreet G3.
<span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Jeff Geerling</span></span>
https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2024/build-log-macintosh-powerbook-3400c
The teaser trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder,…
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Jason Kittke’s blog
https://kottke.org/24/03/0044239-the-teaser-trailer-for-be
NVD slowdown leaves thousands of vulnerabilities without analysis data
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Security world reacts as NIST does a lot less of oft criticized, ‘almost always thankless’ work
Opinion The United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has almost completely stopped adding analysis to Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) listed in the National Vulnerability Database. That means big headaches for anyone using CVEs to maintain their security. …
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/opinion_column_nist/
Math That Connects Where We’re Going to Where We’ve Been
date: 2024-03-22, from: Quanta Magazine
Recursion builds bridges between ideas from across different math classes and illustrates the power of creative mathematical thinking.The post Math That Connects Where We’re Going to Where We’ve Been first appeared on Quanta Magazine
https://www.quantamagazine.org/math-that-connects-where-were-going-to-where-weve-been-20240322/
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Vs. The Competition: Specs & Pricing Comparison
date: 2024-03-22, from: Inside EVs News
It stacks up well against the Model Y Performance and Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance. But it does cost more than either.
https://insideevs.com/news/713336/hyundai-ioniq-5n-vs-competition/
EU antitrust cops probe Microsoft ties between Entra ID and 365 services
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-23, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Google claims rival has made an ‘art and science’ out of licensing
Exclusive Google says the European Union’s antitrust authorities have asked if Microsoft unfairly ties authentication to Azure, in a further sign that officials are considering multiple aspects of Redmond’s policies.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/eu_antitrust_microsoft_entra_id/
The LNG Lawsuit Everyone Saw Coming
date: 2024-03-22, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: The air quality in Birmingham, Alabama, is “moderate” due to smoke from planned fires • Tourists in drought-stricken Barcelona are being asked to conserve water • It’s 103 degrees Fahrenheit in South Sudan. Tomorrow will be even hotter.
THE TOP FIVE
- 16 states sue Biden administration over LNG pause
Sixteen Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration over its pause on approvals for new liquified natural gas export terminals. The White House announced the pause in January, saying it wanted the Energy Department to first study the effect LNG projects have on the climate. The lawsuit claims this move was illegal and that there should have been a regulatory process giving key stakeholders a voice in the final decision. The U.S. is the biggest exporter of LNG in the world. Gas is “cleaner” to burn than coal, but the emissions footprint of transporting LNG is potentially massive, which is why climate activists celebrated the pause. But the decision was slammed by the fossil fuel industry and some advocates who say gas is “crucial for discouraging coal use in developing nations,” Bloomberg explained, adding: “The White House’s move struck at the heart of the debate over the future of energy.”
Get Heatmap AM directly in your inbox every morning:
- White House tells Ukraine to stop targeting Russian oil refineries
Washington has told Ukraine to stop targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure because its attacks could cause global oil prices to rise and push the Kremlin to retaliate, the Financial Times reported. A military intelligence official told the paper that there have been at least 12 attacks on Russian oil refineries since 2022, nine of which occurred this year. There have also been attacks on terminals and storage infrastructure. “Russia remains one of the world’s most important energy exporters despite western sanctions on its oil and gas sector,” the FT said. Gas prices have risen almost 15% already this year, putting pressure on President Biden leading into the November election.
- NASA: Sea levels saw ‘relatively large jump’ last year
The global average sea level rose by about 0.3 inches between 2022 and 2023, according to NASA. This is a “relatively large jump,” the agency said, driven by climate change and El Niño. Since 1993, the global average sea level has risen by 4 inches and the rate of rise is accelerating. In 1993, sea levels rose by about .07 inches per year.
NASA
“Current rates of acceleration mean that we are on track to add another 20 centimeters [nearly 8 inches] of global mean sea level by 2050, doubling the amount of change in the next three decades compared to the previous 100 years and increasing the frequency and impacts of floods across the world,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, director for the NASA sea level change team and the ocean physics program in Washington.
- Countries pledge to double down on nuclear energy expansion
A group of 35 countries have pledged to “work to fully unlock the potential of nuclear energy” in the quest for energy security and emissions reductions. The relatively vague commitment, cosigned by the U.S., China, Britain, and Saudi Arabia, emerged from the first-ever Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels yesterday. It says countries will help extend the lives of existing nuclear reactors, construct new ones, and support deployment of advanced reactors. “Generating electricity using nuclear fission remains a divisive issue that cuts across partisan lines,” wrote Nicole Pollack at Heatmap. Some environmental groups see the risk of nuclear disasters as too high, while others see it as a reliable low-carbon energy resource that’s available to us right now. “Without the support of nuclear power, we have no chance to reach our climate targets on time,” said International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol.
- Biden administration to award $6.3 billion for projects to
decarbonize heavy industries
In the coming days, the Biden administration is expected to announce which projects will receive a cut of some $6.3 billion in funding to help decarbonize the U.S. industrial sector, Bloomberg reported. Heavy industry contributes nearly one third of the nation’s primary energy-related carbon dioxide, according to the Department of Energy, so slashing emissions here without hurting the economy is a priority. The Industrial Demonstrations Program aims to kickstart the process by focusing on the big emitters, like iron, steel, cement and concrete, chemicals, food and drink, aluminum, and paper products. “We hear every day about industrial companies that are interested in decarbonizing their plants, but the initial costs can be daunting,” Nora Esram, a senior director for research with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy nonprofit, told Bloomberg. “The federal funds are geared to enable them to invest in new technologies to cut emissions while supporting community development.” The announcement could come as soon as Monday.
THE KICKER
New York’s JFK airport is getting a large EV charging station that will be open to the public 24/7.
https://heatmap.news/lng-lawsuit-biden
ZEEKR ‘mixes’ it up with its fifth EV model – a funky new van designed for traveling families
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Chinese EV automaker ZEEKR has confirmed its 5th EV model – a new van-like multi-purpose vehicle called the MIX. Designed for families with a traveling lifestyle, the ZEEKR MIX is the latest in China’s growing segment of all-electric family-size vehicles.
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-03-22, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Back
in the 80s before many of you were born, you could buy a word
processing program, which was basically a text editor, and you could use
it to write and then when it came time to send that writing to other
people, you would print it. And get this the printer could take its
input from any of those writing tools. There were no
tiny
little text boxes. The printers didn’t come with their own editors,
you had choice and therefore there was lots of competition. Amazing,
right?
http://scripting.com/2024/03/22.html#a123748
Stanford hopes attitude adjustment gets them out of Maples Pavilion in NCAA Women’s Tournament
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
Cardinal women about to find out if `re-establishing Stanford basketball’ will play off in NCAA Tournament.
Opinion: California can lead climate change fight by cutting industry pollution
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
Ambitious state policies could put clean technology on factory floors, reward innovation and build new markets.
Opinion: More than 30 states have elected female governors. Will California join them?
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
It’s too early to size up a contest two years off, but the state’s voters could make history in 2026 in several ways
John Boston | Ellen? Please? Stop Making Brown TRPs!
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Signal
Dear Mrs. Ellen Rubin Gordon, CEO, Tootsie Roll Pops, All Chocolate Division — Before I inquire about how your day is going, I must ask, with no malice: “What The Hell Is Wrong With You?” I’m a lifelong fan of most of your lollipop products, specifically, Grape, Cherry, Orange and Raspberry. When the moon […]
The post John Boston | Ellen? Please? Stop Making Brown TRPs! appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/john-boston-ellen-please-stop-making-brown-trps/
San Jose office tower conversion to housing project formally launches
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
A plan to convert a downtown San Jose office tower from offices to housing is officially underway.
NCAA Tournament preview: No. 5 Saint Mary’s takes on Grand Canyon
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
After their 3-5 start, the Gaels went on to win 23 of 25 games to finish the year.
Ron Perry | Guess Who Will Pay
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Signal
According to Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute focusing on budget and taxes, the new budget will result in the highest taxes ever in the United States: “The highest peacetime burden in American history, as well as the highest sustained taxes in American history.” “Not only is the president raising taxes, but […]
The post Ron Perry | Guess Who Will Pay appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/ron-perry-guess-who-will-pay/
Arthur Saginian | Shortest Victory Parade Ever
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Signal
On Dec. 30 (letters), Lois Eisenberg gave herself a pat on the back for eliciting reactions from some of The Signal’s readers. She gleefully proclaimed that she is always “truthful and factual” and took pride in “hitting the political funny bone of some of these writers who have a hard time grasping the truth and […]
The post Arthur Saginian | Shortest Victory Parade Ever appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/arthur-saginian-shortest-victory-parade-ever/
Diane Zimmerman | ‘Trump Girl’ Update
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Signal
So, today at around 1:30 p.m., I had just gotten home from a lot of walking and I was tired. So I drove the couple of blocks to my little neighborhood post office to drop off some bills. Don’t put them in the drive-up post box anymore as, even in this, one of the safest […]
The post Diane Zimmerman | ‘Trump Girl’ Update appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/diane-zimmerman-trump-girl-update/
Dr. Gene Dorio | A Few Ideas for the Doughnut
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Signal
Thank you for your recent article discussing the City Council study session on the Sunridge proposal. Several suggestions might be considered: 1) Build a new hospital that specifically treats pediatric in-patients — which the present hospital does not have — as well as adolescent mental health care so our children do not have to leave […]
The post Dr. Gene Dorio | A Few Ideas for the Doughnut appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/dr-gene-dorio-a-few-ideas-for-the-doughnut/
Lois Eisenberg | Way to Go, Brandon … and Lois
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Signal
This nickname for President Joe Biden, “Let’s Go Brandon,” left the MAGA Cult Congress sitting on his left during his State of the Union with egg on their faces on March 8. The 81-year-old president showed the MAGA Congress Cult and America how vital he is, and left that MAGA group in shock. President Biden […]
The post Lois Eisenberg | Way to Go, Brandon … and Lois appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/lois-eisenberg-way-to-go-brandon-and-lois/
Fireworks planned for Giant Dipper’s 100th anniversary at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
To mark the 100th birthday of the Giant Dipper rollercoaster at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, a number of events are planned that includes a fireworks display in May.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/22/fireworks-planned-for-big-dippers-100th-anniversary/
Vodafone, Three hustle to tie knot before regulators crash wedding
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Price hikes and reduced competition in virtual network space raised as major concerns
Vodafone and Three UK have mere days to convince Britain’s competition authorities that a merger won’t harm consumers. Failure to do so will result in a deeper probe of the proposed corporate marriage.…
Inside El Paso’s Massive Migrant Processing Center
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has set up temporary centers to help expedite the processing of migrants entering the country. Cesar Contreras toured one of the facilities opened last year in El Paso, Texas, in this story narrated by Veronica Villafañe.
https://www.voanews.com/a/inside-el-paso-s-massive-migrant-processing-center/7538312.html
Four-bedroom home sells in Los Gatos for $2.1 million
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
A 1,633-square-foot house built in 1963 has changed hands. The property located in the 200 block of Howes Drive in Los Gatos was sold on March 8, 2024. The $2,060,000 purchase price works out to $1,261 per square foot.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/22/four-bedroom-home-sells-in-los-gatos-for-2-1-million/
Elias: Proof of California Prop. 1’s worth will be in its performance
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
Only time will tell if the benefits of the measure narrowly passed this month to fight homelessness outweigh its $6.4 billion cost.
Kristof: Marginal military gains won’t stop a famine in Gaza
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
Israel must decide which targets to attack, and whether to focus on moving tanks or moving relief trucks.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/22/kristof-marginal-military-gains-wont-stop-a-famine-in-gaza/
P&B: Taylor Troesh
date: 2024-03-22, from: Manu - I write blog
<p>This is the 30th edition of <em>People and Blogs</em>, the series where I ask interesting people to talk about themselves and their blogs. Today we have Taylor Troesh and his blog, <a href="https://taylor.town/">taylor.town</a></p>To follow this series subscribe to the newsletter. A new interview will land in your inbox every Friday. Not a fan of newsletters? No problem! You can read the interviews here on the blog or you can subscribe to the RSS feed.
Let’s start from the basics: can you introduce yourself?
Hello! I’m Taylor (mayor of taylor.town).
I collect hobbies, build things, incite chaos, and engage in elaborate tomfoolery. I work as a developer, designer, DB architect, and other things.
What’s the story behind your blog?
I created my first personal website to quickly teach myself how to make websites, because I fudged my resume and accidentally landed a job as a web developer before I was ready.
My website became a blog when I posted my digital notebooks online circa 2015. I maintained hundreds of markdown files on various topics and ideas, but I was too embarrassed to publish most of the actual notes, so I replaced the body of each file with “Coming soon!”. My private ideas.txt file sits at 110,427 words right now. This does not include hundreds of unfinished essays, papers, books, stories, games, gadgets, etc.
As I grew more specific and organized, my notes became easier to digest. In 2019, I started writing about my opinions, my fears, my inspirations, and my paradoxes.
But I didn’t start writing seriously until I stopped drinking in 2022. Writing was welcome respite from alcohol withdrawals. Without booze to fill my emptiness, I suddenly found myself with plenty of “boring” hours. So I kept writing. And now I can’t stop writing.
What does your creative process look like when it comes to blogging?
I consume absurd amounts of books, small blogs, music, podcasts, and other internet media.
From there, my inspiration ferments in a 1Mb text file called ideas.txt. When I’m not doing chores, I start from the top of ideas.txt and work my way down, making small pseudoprose edits along the way. An idea usually sits at the top of the list for a few months before it’s ripe enough to publish.
Here’s an excerpt from the top of my list on Dec 7, 2023:
Krampus and negative punishment
- holiday alignment chart
- does negative punishment work?
- santa claus is not a god: https://brill.com/view/journals/jocc/8/1-2/article-p149_8.xml
- is santa effective? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0361476X84900031 santa
- visits rich sick children: https://www.bmj.com/content/355/bmj.i6355.abstract
Do you have an ideal creative environment? Also do you believe the physical space influences your creativity?
Countless creations die in the pursuit of Ideal Creative Environments. After hearing how much quality work Tyler Cowen completes while traveling, I taught myself how to scrounge for in-between time. Through that process, I made more time for creative pursuits via extinguishing notifications and bespoke time-tracking software.
Today, most of my creative process occurs on couches – just me and my laptop. When I need more real-estate, I use my battlestation. When my thoughts become tangled, I clean my home or play with my daughter or walk outside. When I draw, I use our makeshift art studio in the basement. And so on.
Everything in a home or office eventually becomes invisible gorillas. In my experience, physical propinquity is the fastest way to modulate creativity. Unsurprisingly, surrounding myself with healthy and supportive people was a really good way to become healthy and supported.
A question for the techie readers: can you run us through your tech stack?
- All my writings are markdown files (with YAML frontmatter) in a GitHub repo.
- An ugly Elixir script converts each file into HTML and compiles an atom feed.
- All of these files are served to the public via Cloudflare Pages.
- Every few weeks, I copy/paste stuff into Buttondown for my email newsletter.
Given your experience, if you were to start a blog today, would you do anything differently?
- More doodles! I’m still working up the courage to share more of my drawings…
- People cannot spell “Troesh” from memory, so I’m glad I chose taylor.town over taylor.troe.sh. But I’ll never know if taylor.town was a better choice than taylor.land.
- If I started over, I probably wouldn’t write my build script in Elixir – maybe Haskell or Go or JS instead?
- I wasted a lot of time on essay ideas that were time-consuming but obviously worthless. I should’ve learned earlier to sort by difficulty vs. impact.
- I’m still unsure about Instagram, X, and other socials media. I love meeting strangers via email – am I missing cool people from other corners of the web?
Financial question since the web is obsessed with money: how much does it cost to run your blog? Is it just a cost or does it generate some revenue? And what’s your position on people monetising personal blogs?
It costs $0 to host my blog on GitHub and Cloudflare. I spend $30/mo on Buttondown. I once hoped that my blog would land me some sweet consulting gigs. As of 2023, total consulting revenue is $0.
I aim to be worth $1/hour. Advertising is spooky, so I’ve been working on books and games and services to sell instead. But it’s hard to juggle making worthwhile art while working for an employer while publishing free content.
Time for some recommendations: any blog you think is worth checking out? And also, who do you think I should be interviewing next?
I support TodePond and Hundred Rabbits via Patreon.
I would also love to support Experimental History and Escaping Flatland, but I’m avoiding Substack for now.
Other people/blogs I follow: Derek Sivers, sonnet.io, BenKuhn, And now it’s all this, Beyond the Frame, Scope of Work, and Steph Ango.
Final question: is there anything you want to share with us?
Things I’ve made recently:
- flashcasts: audio flashcards in a private podcast feed
- scrapscript: a sharable programming language
- wigwam.directory: alternatives to bloat
- blogs.hn: a directory of small tech blogs
- the cheap web: small web manifesto
Ways to keep up:
This was the 30th edition of People and Blogs. Hope you enjoyed this interview with Taylor. Make sure to follow his blog (RSS) and get in touch with him if you have any questions.
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158 Cherry Blossom Trees Will Be Cut Down in D.C. in Effort to Withstand Sea-Level Rise
date: 2024-03-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The National Park Service’s restoration project will reconstruct a protective seawall and plant 274 new cherry blossoms when work is complete
The spending bill is also kind of a border security bill
date: 2024-03-22, from: Marketplace Morning Report
The House is set to vote on a $1.2 trillion spending package Friday ahead of a partial government shutdown deadline. The proposed appropriations bill includes a significant bump in border security funding, including cash intended to more or less double the number of Border Patrol agents. We’ll also break down the Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Apple and hear how the need for insurance is influencing major life decisions.
Do vasectomies really go up during March Madness? Urologists say it’s a ‘popular time’
date: 2024-03-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
A Boston-area urologist said he has been performing “a lot” of vasectomies ahead of March Madness.
Stay in bed and let RP2040 open the door for you
date: 2024-03-22, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
Varun Patel built an RP2040-powered device to let guests into his dorm room without having to go to all the trouble of opening the door himself.
The post Stay in bed and let RP2040 open the door for you appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/stay-in-bed-and-let-rp2040-open-the-door-for-you/
US House Approves Spending Bills Before Shutdown Deadline, Senate Up Next
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
Hubble Spots the Spider Galaxy
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the gauzy-looking celestial body UGC 5829, an irregular galaxy that lies about 30 million light-years away. Despite the lack of observations of this relatively faint galaxy, UGC 5829 has a distinct and descriptive name: the Spider Galaxy. Perhaps its distorted galactic arms with their glowing, star-forming […]
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-spots-the-spider-galaxy/
CNCF boss talks ‘irrational exuberance’ in an AI-heavy Kubecon keynote
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Kubecon? More like Queuecon as Paris-based show’s registration system fails
The European leg of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation’s (CNCF) Kubecon shindig kicked off this week with an AI-infused keynote and a broken registration system that left many attendees locked out.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/cncf_boss_kubecon_keynote/
Google Pays $10M in Bug Bounties in 2023
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-21, from: Bruce Schneier blog
BleepingComputer has the details. It’s $2M less than in 2022, but it’s still a lot.
The highest reward for a vulnerability report in 2023 was $113,337, while the total tally since the program’s launch in 2010 has reached $59 million.
For Android, the world’s most popular and widely used mobile operating system, the program awarded over $3.4 million.
Google also increased the maximum reward amount for critical vulnerabilities concerning Android to $15,000, driving increased community reports.
During security conferences like ESCAL8 and hardwea.io, Google awarded $70,000 for 20 critical discoveries in Wear OS and Android Automotive OS and another $116,000 for 50 reports concerning issues in Nest, Fitbit, and Wearables…
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/03/google-pays-10m-in-bug-bounties-in-2023.html
Say it ain’t so: BMW, Volkswagen, and Renault take aim at Europe’s ICE ban phase-out
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
The heads of BMW, Volkswagen, and Renault have spoken out against European Union’s emission targets in recent days, arguing that the phase-out rules put too much pressure on the industry and that consumers aren’t buying EVs fast enough. Next year, the policy will tighten ahead of the full ban of gas and diesel cars in 2035, leaving automakers to pay steep fines if they fall short.
The German national soccer team puts Adidas on the bench
date: 2024-03-22, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: Nike is replacing Adidas as the sponsor of Germany’s national soccer team. Then, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pleading for more ammunition for Ukraine’s war efforts; German chancellor Olaf Scholz says he’ll back a plan to use money from frozen Russian assets to buy more weapons. And a Swedish pharmacy chain says it won’t sell anti-aging skincare products to kids under the age of 15.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-03-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
2017: Chess champion to miss Saudi Arabia tournament over women's rights.
Whistleblower raises alarm over UK Nursing and Midwifery Council’s DB
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Regulatory body insists it’s on ‘a journey of improvement’
Updated Exclusive The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has received a complaint detailing the mismanagement of personal data at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the regulator that oversees worker registration.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/nmc_database_whistleblower/
Wheel-E Podcast: New e-bikes from Lectric, Ampler, Biktrix, & more
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes several interesting new electric bike launches such as the Lectric ONE, Biktrix Juggernaut FS XD, Ampler Curt Anyroad, a discussion about Rad Power Bikes’ new potted batteries, and more.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/wheel-e-podcast-new-e-bikes-from-lectric-ampler-biktrix-more/
What’s brown and sticky and broke this PC?
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Nothing, according to its user. But the techie who tried to fix it found a sweet solution
On Call As another week ebbs away, The Register hopes that readers have a nice warm cup of whatever they fancy beside them as we present another instalment of On Call, our weekly reader-contributed tale of the trials and tribulations of tech support.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/on_call/
At UN, Russia and China Veto US Effort at Gaza Cease-Fire
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council failed again Friday to demand a Gaza cease-fire after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution supporting a halt to the fighting.
“Russia and China simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States, because it would rather see us fail than see this council succeed,” U.S. Ambassador Linda-Thomas Greenfield said.
Eleven of the 15 council members supported the U.S. text, Algeria joined Russia and China in voting against it, and Guyana abstained.
The United States drafted the resolution following its three earlier vetoes of council texts calling for a halt to the fighting. In what some council members said was vague language, the U.S. draft “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire” to protect civilians, get more humanitarian aid in and hostages out.
“However, to save the lives of peaceful Palestinian civilians, this is not enough,” Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia said of the language. “This is in no way what is stipulated in the mandate of the U.N. Security Council – the council, which is invested with a unique mechanism to demand a cease-fire, and where necessary to compel compliance therewith.”
China’s envoy echoed that, saying the draft resolution was “ambiguous” and did not call for an immediate cease-fire.
Guyanese Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, whose country joined the council in January, said her government could not support a resolution that did not “unequivocally” call for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire.
“The demand for a cease-fire should not be linked to or conditioned on the release of hostages,” she said. “The taking of hostages is strictly prohibited under international law, and their release must be unconditional.”
She also questioned why only Hamas was condemned for its actions and not Israel, as well.
“For example, who is responsible for 1.5 million Palestinians taking refuge in Rafah? And who has announced a planned military ground offensive there? To whom is the demand for compliance with obligations under international law regarding the protection of civilians and civilian objects, humanitarian access, and the protection of humanitarian relief and medical personnel, their assets and infrastructure applicable?” she asked.
The condemnation of Hamas has been a repeated sticking point for some council members. Thomas-Greenfield called it “outrageous” that the council has failed to condemn its terror attack on Israel.
This was the seventh time the council failed to agree on a cease-fire resolution since the war started in October. The International Crisis Group’s U.N. director, Richard Gowan, told VOA that a lot of council members may feel that Russia and China “blew up” what has been the best opportunity to engage with the United States to achieve one.
“If the resolution had passed, it would at least have been a hook for further negotiations and sent a signal to Israel to step back from Rafah,” he said. “Now the Israelis may sense that they can push forward with their operations without facing any censure at the U.N. So, the main beneficiary of the Russian-Chinese vetoes is [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”
A group of seven elected council members – Algeria, Guyana, Malta, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Switzerland – have drafted their own text that “demands” an immediate cease-fire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – which is already under way.
Diplomats said the text will be voted on Saturday morning. Russia and China said they would support it, but Thomas-Greenfield indicated that in its current form it may not have Washington’s support.
“If that alternative resolution comes up for a vote and does not support the diplomacy happening on the ground, we may once again find this council deadlocked,” she said. “I truly hope that that does not come about.”
Regional diplomacy
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the Middle East without convincing Netanyahu to call off a military offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, which many believe would exacerbate the territory’s humanitarian crisis.
Netanyahu said he told Blinken during talks Friday in Tel Aviv, that “we have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah.”
Blinken told reporters at the end of his visit that the U.S. shares Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas.
“But a major ground operation in Rafah is not, in our judgment, the way to achieve it and we were very clear about that,” he said.
The State Department said Blinken emphasized the need to protect civilians in Gaza and increase and sustain humanitarian assistance, including through both land and sea routes.
Blinken’s meeting with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv Friday came as efforts continued to secure a six-week-long cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in exchange for the release of hostages seized on October 7. The threat of a potential invasion of Rafah casts doubt over the talks.
On Thursday, Blinken told reporters after meetings in Egypt that “the gaps are narrowing” and that there’s still “difficult work to get there,” but he believes a deal is possible.
The main point of contention in negotiations has been that Hamas says it will release the remaining hostages only as part of a deal that would end the war, whereas Israel says it will consider only a temporary pause.
At the United Nations, Israel’s ambassador told the Security Council his government does not want to send its “sons and daughters” to fight in Rafah, but that there is “no alternative” as its military must go after the four remaining Hamas battalions it says are in the city.
“The road to a permanent cease-fire passes through Rafah,” Ambassador Gilad Erdan said.
More than a million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, many of them after fleeing other parts of Gaza to try to find safety amid the war.
Hamas’ October 7 terror attack inside Israel triggered the war, killing about 1,200 people. Israel’s subsequent counteroffensive in Gaza has killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
Delivery of humanitarian assistance has been difficult, and a U.N.-backed food insecurity report said last week that more than a million Palestinians are at risk of famine in the coming weeks.
VOA’s State Department bureau chief Nike Ching contributed to this report.
https://www.voanews.com/a/blinken-heads-to-israel-to-push-for-gaza-cease-fire-/7538155.html
The “current branch” in git
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: Julia Evans
https://jvns.ca/blog/2024/03/22/the-current-branch-in-git/
Senior sports staff’s March Madness predictions
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
It’s too late to change your men’s bracket, but it’s not too late to know what to expect.
The post Senior sports staff’s March Madness predictions appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/senior-sports-staffs-march-madness-predictions/
My mentor and friend, Ken Galbraith
date: 2024-03-22, from: Robert Reich on Substack
He gave me a great gift
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/my-mentor-ken-galbraith
Across enemy lines, down the interstate
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Unlikely but inseparable friends Ainsley Radell and Madi Kriz have reinforced beach volleyball for another title run.
The post Across enemy lines, down the interstate appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/204739/
An adieu to a golden age of women’s basketball
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The dissolution of the Pac-12 looms while it’s witnessing one of its strongest seasons.
The post An adieu to a golden age of women’s basketball appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/204773/
Redis tightens its license terms, pleasing basically no one
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
FOSS developers gotta eat, but users need certainty
Leading in-memory database vendor Redis is switching to a dual-license approach, imposing far more restrictive terms.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/redis_changes_license/
Classifieds – March 22, 2024
date: 2024-03-22, 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 22, 2024 appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/classifieds-march-22-2024/
Today in SCV History (March 22)
date: 2024-03-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1875 – Construction begins on San Fernando Railroad Tunnel. [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-march-22/
Tommy unmasked: First man behind the Trojan armor speaks
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Neal Pecchenino was the first to don the suit 10 years ago, and he said it was an unforgettable experience.
The post Tommy unmasked: First man behind the Trojan armor speaks appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/the-first-man-behind-the-trojan-armor-speaks/
There’s no place like home
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
JuJu Watkins’ home floor wasn’t always Galen Center.
The post There’s no place like home appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/204748/
Women’s water polo returns home to face UC Berkeley
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The Trojans face their toughest at-home test of the season.
The post Women’s water polo returns home to face UC Berkeley appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/womens-water-polo-returns-home-to-face-uc-berkeley/
Lacrosse travels to Tempe
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
After falling to Dartmouth Monday, the Trojans will travel to Arizona to take on the Sun Devils.
The post Lacrosse travels to Tempe appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/lacrosse-travels-to-tempe/
Galen Center hosts March Madness
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Four teams travel to Los Angeles from around the country for the NCAA Tournament.
The post Galen Center hosts March Madness appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/galen-center-hosts-march-madness/
Cutting scholarships is a step in the wrong direction
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
USC is overlooking the negative effects of removing Academic Achievement Award and Exceptional Funding.
The post Cutting scholarships is a step in the wrong direction appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/cutting-scholarships-is-a-step-in-the-wrong-direction/
USC Musicians Club cures Monday blues
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The organization, founded in 2021, provides an outlet for musicians of all levels.
The post USC Musicians Club cures Monday blues appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/usc-musicians-club-cures-monday-blues/
SDA presents a reproduction of ‘Twelve Angry Jurors’
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The play invites the audience to think about justice in current-day society.
The post SDA presents a reproduction of ‘Twelve Angry Jurors’ appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/sda-presents-a-reproduction-of-twelve-angry-jurors/
Virtual learning: Here to stay, or ‘Zoom’-ing away?
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Students and faculty shared thoughts on virtual education four years after the coronavirus pandemic moved classes online.
The post Virtual learning: Here to stay, or ‘Zoom’-ing away? appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/zoom-reflections/
New emergency medicine club promotes health, safety knowledge
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Club members handed out $7,000 worth of Narcan after training passersby.
The post New emergency medicine club promotes health, safety knowledge appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/emergency-medicine-club-of-usc-gives-out-free-narcan/
Student organization offers free tax preparation assistance
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Marshall has an opportunity to support USC VITA’s Program.
The post Student organization offers free tax preparation assistance appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/student-organization-offers-free-tax-preparation-assistance/
Vibecheck on AI in college: The Battle over B-quality work
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Ramp up the integrative practice of new AI systems, listen to students and help keep your wise GE professor sane.
The post Vibecheck on AI in college: The Battle over B-quality work appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/03/22/vibecheck-on-ai-in-college-the-battle-over-b-quality-work/
March 21, 2024
date: 2024-03-22, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
In the past few weeks, Josh Kovensky of Talking Points Memo has deepened our understanding of the right-wing attempt to impose Christian nationalism on the United States through support for Trump and the MAGA movement. On March 9, Kovensky explored the secret, men-only, right-wing society called the Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR), whose well-positioned, wealthy, white leaders call for instituting white male domination and their version of Christianity in the U.S. after a “regime” change.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-21-2024
Meta connects Threads to the Fediverse
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Doing things outside the walled garden is kinda hard, devs admit
Meta’s totally-not-a-Twitter clone, Threads, has joined the Fediverse.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/meta_threads_metaverse_connection/
Webcurios 22/03/24
date: 2024-03-22, from: Web Curios blog
Reading Time: 33 minutes THEY MADE FOOTBALL WOKE, ALAN! THEY ONLY WENT AND DID IT! (As ever, this is an INTENSELY-anglocentric opening line which I can only apologise to any non-UK readers for; although, honestly, for any North Americans reading this, it feels like a reasonable exchange for having to hear so much about that tedious fcuking anti-Apple case)…https://webcurios.co.uk/webcurios-22-03-24/
Vigorous US lobbying reportedly reversed India PC import license scheme
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Washington was most displeased and New Delhi knew it made a mistake
India was subjected to intense US lobbying after suddenly imposing a requirement that computer importers obtain a license, according to a news report on Thursday.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/us_lobbies_india_pc_license/
Vernor Vinge, first author to describe cyberspace and ‘The Singularity,’ dies at 79
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
CompSci and math professor by trade, he envisaged a galactic Usenet, and was utterly brilliant
Obituary Science fiction author and academic Vernor Vinge has departed this life, aged 79.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/vernor_vinge_obituary/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-03-22, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
On TikTok I started seeing video snippets from Roy Casagranda’s lecture.
Tonight we treat ourselves to a full lecture on YouTube.
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112137135486320730
Indian court halts operations of government-run social media fact checker
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Rights groups protested potential for sneaky censorship of political rivals
India’s supreme court on Thursday halted a plan to activate a government-run fact-checking unit that would assess info posted about the nation’s government posted to social media platforms – the day after it was told to commence operations.…
Nikola inaugurates first HYLA modular hydrogen refueling station in Ontario, CA
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
Nikola, producer of fuel cell and battery electric semi trucks, held a grand opening for the first of its HYLA refueling stations. The goal is to build a hydrogen refueling network that can be rolled out quickly, and built up over time as fuel cell trucks become more common.
Japan’s NTT and NEC reckon they can boost optical network capacities 12x
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
First tests of manycore fibres hailed as success over oceanic distances
Japanese tech titans NTT and NEC reckon they’ve proven the performance of a novel fiber optic technology that could increase capacity of submarine cables by a factor of 12.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/nec_ntt_multicore_fibre_networks/
New York City’s largest public EV charging station is headed to JFK
date: 2024-03-22, from: Electrek Feed
New York City just announced it will build its largest publicly accessible EV charging station next to JFK Airport.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/new-york-citys-largest-public-ev-charging-station-is-headed-to-jfk/
45 Years Ago: Space Shuttle Columbia Arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
date: 2024-03-22, from: NASA breaking news
On March 24, 1979, space shuttle Columbia arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for the very first time. Following Presidential direction to build the space shuttle in 1972, Congress quickly approved and funded the program later that year. Construction of the first orbital vehicle, later named Columbia, began in 1975. Four years later, Columbia […]
Gloomy Youth Pull US, Western Europe Down Happiness List
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/gloomy-youth-pull-us-western-europe-down-happiness-list-/7538036.html
Impulse Music Co. holding RnB Night featuring Ivey Amour
date: 2024-03-22, from: The Signal
Fans of soul and R&B music can enjoy a night of entertainment at Impulse Music Co. on March 30 as St. Louis-based singer Ivey Amour is coming to Santa Clarita as part of her Haze Tour. The 23-year-old began performing when she was 9 years old and started recording music when she was 13. She […]
The post <strong>Impulse Music Co. holding RnB Night featuring Ivey Amour</strong> appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/03/impulse-music-co-holding-rnb-night-featuring-ivey-amour/
Friday 22 March, 2024
date: 2024-03-22, from: John Naughton’s online diary
Figures in a cloister Quote of the Day “I’ve been accused of vulgarity. I say that’s bullshit.” Mel Brooks Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Liam O’Flynn | The Rocks Of Bawn Link Long Read of the Day A … Continue reading
https://memex.naughtons.org/friday-22-march-2024/39268/
US Official in Guatemala for Talks, Says Texas Migrant Law Unconstitutional
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
Guatemala city — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday that a Texas law giving state authorities the power to arrest and deport migrants who have entered the country illegally is unconstitutional.
“It is our strongly held view as a matter of law that SB4 [the Texas law] … is unconstitutional and it is our hope and confidence that the courts will strike it down with finality,” Mayorkas said during a joint news conference with Guatemala President Bernardo Arevalo in the Guatemalan capital.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on the Texas law Wednesday but did not rule. The law is on hold for now.
Mayorkas was in Guatemala to work on the U.S.-led regional strategy toward immigration. He described it as seeking to “build lawful, safe and orderly pathways for people to reach safety from their place of persecution and, at the same time, returning people to their countries as a consequence when they do not take advantage of those lawful pathways.”
Among those safe pathways is a U.S. effort to streamline the process for those seeking U.S. asylum in the region through so-called safe mobility offices. They allow migrants to start the process where they are rather than making the dangerous and costly journey to the U.S. border.
Guatemala’s safe mobility office, unlike some others like Colombia’s, is only open to Guatemalans seeking U.S. protection. One of the requests made by Mayorkas’ delegation was that Guatemala allow the safe mobility office to process requests for migrants from other countries, according to a Guatemalan official who requested anonymity because the issue was still under discussion.
Asked during the joint news conference if the U.S. government had asked Guatemala to sign a safe third country agreement, which Guatemala’s previous president had agreed to during the Trump administration, Mayorkas did not directly answer. Such an agreement would require migrants from other countries passing through Guatemala to seek protection from the Guatemalan government rather than at the U.S. border.
Asked again in the interview with the AP, Mayorkas said that Guatemala could be a safe destination for some migrants, but that he deferred to Arevalo’s administration on that.
The U.S. has sought to improve cooperation with countries along the migrant route, including Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, but Mayorkas acknowledged that it has been more challenging in Nicaragua and Venezuela, where the U.S. has strained relations with those governments.
Arévalo explained the talks in similar terms.
“We are operating under the principle that the immigration phenomenon is a regional phenomenon and that for that reason has to have answers framed in the collaborative efforts of different countries,” he said.
Mayorkas also offered words of support for the Guatemalan leader, whose election victory last year was challenged and whose party still faces prosecution from Guatemala’s attorney general.
“We know that the forces of corruption continue to seek to threaten democracy and the well-being of the people of Guatemala and beyond,” Mayorkas said. “The United States stands with President Arevalo and his fight for democracy against the forces of corruption and for the people of Guatemala.”
US Bolstering Philippines Amid Increasing Assertiveness by China
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
washington — The U.S. and Philippines will for the first time venture outside Manila’s territorial waters when they begin joint annual combat drills in April, a Philippines government spokesman said Thursday.
Colonel Michael Logico said elements of the Balikatan 2024 drills would be conducted about 22 kilometers (more than 12 nautical miles) off the west coast of Palawan, an island in the archipelago nation that faces a troubled region of the South China Sea.
Chinese ships this month blocked Philippine ships near the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef about 200 kilometers (120 miles) off Palawan that both sides claim.
“The message that we want to send is that we are serious about defending our territory and we have allies,” Logico said at a news conference, according to Philippine media.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which border the sea. An international tribunal at The Hague has rejected China’s claim.
Blinken visit
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Philippines this week to bolster relations between the two countries and underscore Washington’s commitment to Manila in the face of an increasingly assertive China.
Blinken on Tuesday cited China’s “repeated violations of international law and the rights of the Philippines: water cannons, blocking maneuvers, close shadowing, [and] other dangerous operations.”
China has been building up its military presence in the South China Sea by building on reefs, including the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which it effectively seized from the Philippines in 2012.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government has defiantly sought to assert sovereignty over disputed areas by supplying troops and escorting fishing boats. He told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday that he was not trying to start a conflict but “since the threat has grown, we must do more to defend our territory.”
The Philippines announced last week that it would build a new port with U.S. funding on its northern Batanes Islands, 200 kilometers (about 124 miles) from Taiwan.
While the port is expected to be for civilian use, analysts say it could also be used for military purposes and play an important role in defense — and not only for the Philippines.
Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor of politics at Australia’s University of New South Wales School of Humanities and Social Sciences, emailed VOA: “U.S. and Filipino forces in the northern Philippines would be able to monitor and strike Chinese forces in the event a conflict over Taiwan broke out.”
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province that must one day reunite with mainland China, by force if necessary, while the U.S. has vowed to defend Taiwan’s right to self-rule.
But the U.S. mainland is separated from the Taiwan Strait by about 11,000 kilometers (6,000 nautical miles), while mainland China is roughly 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the democratic island.
‘Positive impact’ for Taiwan
Although the U.S. has military bases that are closer to Taiwan in Hawaii, about 8,150 kilometers (4,400 nautical miles); Guam, about 2,780 kilometers (1,500 nautical miles); and Okinawa, about 740 kilometers (400 nautical miles), analysts say the closer its military assets are to Taiwan, the faster they can respond and resupply in the event of a Chinese attack.
“While the Philippines may not change the situation in the Taiwan Strait, the greater interest in the Philippines by Washington and Tokyo will have a positive impact on Taiwan’s security,” said Thomas J. Shattuck, the senior program manager at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House, in an email to VOA.
“It will increase U.S. assets in Taiwan’s south,” Shattuck said. “It will make it harder for China to dominate in the ‘southern theater’ of a possible Taiwan conflict. But again, there is more work to be done in this regard.”
Marcos last year said the U.S. military would be allowed to use four new military bases in the Philippines, in addition to five where they are already allowed, for training, building infrastructure and pre-positioning supplies, though the access would not be permanent.
Although many countries in the Indo-Pacific region receive U.S. military assistance, the Philippines receives the most. From 2015 to 2022, Manila received more than $1.14 billion worth of aircraft, armored vehicles, small arms, equipment and training, $475 million of it in aid.
Blinken’s trip to the Philippines marks the second time a senior U.S. Cabinet official has visited the nation this month. On March 11, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced fresh investments from U.S. firms of more than $1 billion in the archipelago nation.
Despite China’s more assertive moves in the South China Sea, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Gregory Poling argues Beijing has lost momentum. Poling, who is senior fellow and director of CSIS’s Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, notes that since 2022, Southeast Asian nations such as the Philippines have stopped giving ground to China.
At the same time, he writes in Eurasia Review, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have resumed development of infrastructure and oil and gas fields in the disputed region, despite China’s objections.
China’s provocative moves are one of the main topics expected to be on the agenda in April when President Joe Biden hosts a historic summit with Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
Creature Named for Kermit the Frog Offers Clues on Amphibian Evolution
date: 2024-03-22, from: VOA News USA
washington — There definitely were no Muppets during the Permian Period, but there was a Kermit — or at least a forerunner of modern amphibians that has been named after the celebrity frog.
Scientists on Thursday described the fossilized skull of a creature called Kermitops gratus that lived in what is now Texas about 270 million years ago. It belongs to a lineage believed to have given rise to the three living branches of amphibians — frogs, salamanders and limbless caecilians.
While only the skull, measuring around 3 cm long, was discovered, the researchers think Kermitops had a stoutly built salamander-like body roughly 15-18 cm long, though salamanders would not evolve for another roughly 100 million years.
Amphibians are one of the four groups of living terrestrial vertebrates, along with reptiles, birds and mammals. The unique features of the Kermitops skull — a blend of archaic and more advanced features — are providing insight into amphibian evolution.
“Kermitops helps us understand the early history of amphibians by revealing there isn’t a clear trend of step by step becoming more like the modern amphibian,” said Calvin So, a George Washington University paleontology doctoral student and lead author of the study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
The fossil was collected in 1984 near Lake Kemp in Texas and kept in the expansive collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington but was not thoroughly studied until recently.
Kermitops had a rounded snout, not unlike frogs and salamanders. Preserved in its eye sockets were palpebral bones, or eyelid bones, a feature absent in today’s amphibians. Its skull is constructed of roof-like bones, in contrast to the thin and strut-like bones of modern amphibians.
“The length of the skull in front of the eyes is longer than the length of the skull behind the eyes, which differs from the other fossil amphibians living at the same time. We think this might have allowed Kermitops to snap its jaws closed faster, enabling capture of fast insect prey,” So said.
The fossil record of early amphibians and their forerunners is spotty, making it difficult to figure out the origins of modern amphibians.
“Kermitops, with its unique anatomy, really exemplifies the importance of continuing to add new fossil data to understanding this evolutionary problem,” said National Museum of Natural History paleontologist and study co-author Arjan Mann.
Kermit the Frog was created by the late American puppeteer Jim Henson in 1955, and a Kermit puppet made in the 1970s is in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as an important cultural object.
Kermitops means “Kermit face,” a nod to the Muppet’s humorous look.
“We thought that the eyelid bones gave the fossil a bug-eyed look, and combined with a lopsided smile produced by slight crushing during the preservation of the fossil, we really thought it looked like Kermit the Frog,” So said.
Kermitops belonged to a group called temnospondyls that arose a few tens of millions of years after the first land vertebrates evolved from fish ancestors. The biggest temnospondyls superficially resembled crocodiles, including two that each were around 6 meters in length, Prionosuchus and Mastodonsaurus.
Temnospondyls are considered the progenitor lineage of modern amphibians, Mann said.
Kermitops existed about 20 million years before the worst mass extinction in Earth’s history and about 40 million years before the first dinosaurs. It lived alongside other members of the amphibian lineage as well as the impressive sail-backed Dimetrodon, a predator related to the mammalian lineage.
The environment in which Kermitops lived appears to have alternated between warm and humid seasons and hot and arid seasons.
“This environment would be similar to modern-day monsoons that take place in the Southwest U.S. and Southeast Asia,” So said.
Truck-to-truck worm could infect – and disrupt – entire US commercial fleet
date: 2024-03-22, updated: 2024-03-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
The device that makes it possible is required in all American big rigs, and has poor security
Vulnerabilities in common Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) required in US commercial trucks could be present in over 14 million medium- and heavy-duty rigs, according to boffins at Colorado State University.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/22/boffins_tucktotruck_worm/