News gathered 2024-04-22
(date: 2024-04-22 15:34:56)
23 Apr 2024
date: 2024-04-24, from: Miguel de Icaza’s blog
Embeddable Game Engine
Many years ago, when working at Xamarin, where
we were building cross-platform libraries for mobile developers, we
wanted to offer both 2D and 3D gaming capabilities for our users in the
form of adding 2D or 3D content to their mobile applications.
For 2D, we contributed and developed assorted Cocos2D-inspired libraries.
For 3D, the situation was more complex. We funded a few over the years, and we contributed to others over the years, but nothing panned out (the history of this is worth a dedicated post).
Around 2013, we looked around, and there were two contenders at the time, one was an embeddable engine with many cute features but not great UI support called Urho, and the other one was a Godot, which had a great IDE, but did not support being embedded.
I reached out to Juan at the time to discuss whether Godot could be turned into such engine. While I tend to take copious notes of all my meetings, those notes sadly were gone as part of the Microsoft acquisition, but from what I can remember Juan told me, "Godot is not what you are looking for" in two dimensions, there were no immediate plans to turn it into an embeddable library, and it was not as advanced as Urho, so he recommended that I go with Urho.
We invested heavily in binding Urho and created UrhoSharp that would go into becoming a great 3D library for our C# users and worked not only on every desktop and mobile platform, but we did a ton of work to make it great for AR and VR headsets. Sadly, Microsoft’s management left UrhoSharp to die.
Then, the maintainer of Urho stepped down, and Godot became one of the most popular open-source projects in the world.
Last year, @Faolan-Rad contributed a patch to Godot to turn it into a library that could be embedded into applications. I used this library to build SwiftGodotKit and have been very happy with it ever since - allowing people to embed Godot content into their application.
However, the patch had severe limitations; it could only ever run one Godot game as an embedded system and could not do much more. The folks at Smirk Software wanted to take this further. They wanted to host independent Godot scenes in their app and have more control over those so they could sprinkle Godot content at their heart’s content on their mobile app (demo)
They funded some initial work to do this and hired Gergely Kis’s company to do this work.
Gergely demoed this work at GodotCon last year. I came back very excited from GodotCon and I decided to turn my prototype Godot on iPad into a complete product.
One of the features that I needed was the ability to embed chunks of Godot in discrete components in my iPad UI, so we worked with Gergely to productize and polish this patch for general consumption.
Now, there is a
complete patch
under review to allow people to embed arbitrary Godot scenes into
their apps. For SwiftUI users, this means that you can embed a Godot
scene into a View and display and control it at will.
Hopefully, the team will accept this change into Godot, and once this is done, I will update SwiftGodotKit to get these new capabilities to Swift users (bindings for other platforms and languages are left as an exercise to the reader).
It only took a decade after talking to Juan, but I am back firmly in Godot land.
https://tirania.org/blog/archive/2024/Apr-23.html
Entries Needed for ‘Creature Feature’ Art Show
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Acton/Agua Dulce Arts Council has announced a call for entries for “Creature Feature,” a juried art exhibition, with a theme of any living creature
https://scvnews.com/entries-needed-for-creature-feature-art-show/
49ers look to add youth, depth to a stacked roster in NFL Draft
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
49ers general manager addressed his team’s approach to the 2024 NFL Draft with the intention of not revealing too much.
Threats prompt school closures in Palo Alto, Orinda
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
No injuries were immediately reported at either campus, and authorities did not specify the nature of the threats.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/22/threats-prompt-school-closures-in-palo-alto-orinda/
Acton/Agua Dulce Arts Council Announces Call for Photographers
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Acton/Agua Dulce Arts Council has announced a call for entries for a juried exhibit open to all photographers, both professional and amateur
https://scvnews.com/acton-agua-dulce-arts-council-announces-call-for-photographers/
Federal judge finds ‘strong evidence’ Alameda prosecutors deliberately kept Black and Jewish people off juries
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
The finding has broad and far-reaching implications regarding old convictions in the Alameda County justice system.
Tokyo wags finger at Google for blocking Yahoo Japan! from using ad tech
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Seven years of stonewalling and no consequences for advertising giant
Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has concluded that Google unfairly blocked its local Yahoo! rival from accessing advertising technology, but will not fine the Chocolate Factory.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/google_yahoo_japan/
Pac-12 finances: Cal, Stanford carrying budget shortfalls as they prepare to enter ACC at partial revenue shares
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
The Bay Area schools are heavily reliant on support from campus to fund their athletic operations.
@Chris Coyier blog (date: 2024-04-22, from: Chris Coyier blog)
Most internet travels by wire. Straight through the dang ocean. Josh Dzieza in a feature for The Verge: These fragile wires are constantly breaking — a precarious system on which everything from banks to governments to TikTok depends. But thanks to a secretive global network of ships on standby, every broken cable is quickly fixed. […]
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/04/22/11294/
Lilbits: Farewell to the Zilog Z80, hello to the next Chromecast (maybe)
date: 2024-04-22, from: Liliputing
The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor that first hit the market in the 1970s. It was the beating heart of classic computers like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and the TRS-80, as well as game consoles like the Sega Master System. And it’s been in production pretty much non-stop for decades. But its time is […]
The post Lilbits: Farewell to the Zilog Z80, hello to the next Chromecast (maybe) appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/lilbits-farewell-to-the-zilog-z80-hello-to-the-next-chromecast-maybe/
NASA Astronaut to Inspire Artemis Generation in Boston
date: 2024-04-22, from: NASA breaking news
April 22, 2024 NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, along with representatives from NASA and the International Space Station National Laboratory, will visit Boston on Wednesday, April 24, and Thursday, April 25, as part of the agency’s Destination Station to highlight research opportunities aboard the station. Destination Station was created to educate the public and engage prospective […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-astronaut-to-inspire-artemis-generation-in-boston/
NASA Invites Media to Learn About New Tech Mission Powered by the Sun
date: 2024-04-22, from: NASA breaking news
A new NASA mission is testing a new way to navigate our solar system by hoisting its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is led by the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The microwave oven-sized CubeSat is scheduled to launch aboard a […]
U.S. Non-Tesla EV Sales Slowed Down In Q1 2024, But There Are Some Clear Winners
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
Ford is the only brand besides Tesla that sold over 20,000 EVs. Kia, BMW and Hyundai exceeded 10,000, while Cadillac’s EV share surged.
https://insideevs.com/news/716996/us-ev-sales-q1-2024/
The top 10 most expensive home sales in Oakland, reported the week of April 15
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
A house that sold for $3 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Oakland in the past week.
Report: Fix child exploitation tipline before AI makes it worse
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
The system is behind technologically and plagued by a constant challenge among government and nonprofit tech platforms: the lack of highly skilled engineers, who can get paid far higher salaries in the tech industry. Sometimes those employees are even poached by the same companies that send in the reports.
Paying for it doesn’t make it a market
date: 2024-04-22, from: OS News
Cory Doctorow, nailing it as usual. If you care about how people are treated by platforms, you can’t just tell them to pay for services instead of using ad-supported media. The most important factor in getting decent treatment out of a tech company isn’t whether you pay with cash instead of attention – it’s whether you’re locked in, and thus a flight risk whom the platform must cater to. ↫ Cory Doctorow I’m sick and tired of the phrase “if you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product”, because it implies that if just you pay for a product or service, you’re not going to be treated like ass. The problem is, as Doctorow points out, that this simply is not supported by the evidence, and that it isn’t whether or not you’re paying that makes you have a good or bad experience – it’s whether or not you’re locked in. If you’ve got nowhere else to go, then corporations can treat you like ass. There are so, so many free services and products I use where I’m anything but a “product”. My Linux distribution of choice, Fedora. My web browser, Firefox. The countless open source applications I use on my desktops, laptops, and smartphone. Those are all cases where even though I’m not paying, I know I’m being treated with respect, and I feel entirely comfortable with all of those. And no, you don’t get to exclude the open source world just because it’s inconvenient for the “you’re the product” argument. There are also countless services and products where the opposite is true; I’m a paying customer, but I still feel like I’m the product. I pay for additional Google Drive storage. I pay for an Office 364 subscription because I needed it as a translator (I’m working on OSNews full-time now, and could use your help keeping the site going), but I can’t cancel it because my wife, my parents, and my parents-in-law use that same subscription. We pay for Netflix and one or two other video services. I don’t know if our ISP or wireless provider do anything malicious, but it wouldn’t surprise me. And so on. Being a paying customer means nothing. It’s how easy it is for you to stop being a customer that matters.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139393/paying-for-it-doesnt-make-it-a-market/
Rivian (RIVN) reaffirms Georgia EV plant commitment as state presses for answers
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Rivian (RIVN) is still planning to build electric vehicles in Georgia, just not as soon as expected. After delaying construction, Rivian reaffirmed its commitment to an EV manufacturing plant in GA.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/rivian-reaffirms-ga-ev-plant-commitment-state-presses-more/
Richmond: Driver accused of two hit-and-run crashes, including one killing 6-year-old Little Leaguer nicknamed ‘Big Bat’
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
The driver admitted to drinking liquor and taking a painkiller before getting behind the wheel, authorities say.
FBI and friends get two more years of warrantless FISA Section 702 snooping
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
US Senate kills reform amendment, Biden swiftly signs bill into law
US lawmakers on Saturday reauthorized a contentious warrantless surveillance tool for another two years — and added a whole bunch of people and organizations to the list of those who can be compelled to spy for Uncle Sam.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/fisa_section_702_renewed/
These are the best-selling used EVs – and what’s being traded in for them
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Used car retailer CarMax just released its latest used EV sales data, and while the leaders are the same, their prices aren’t.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/best-selling-used-evs-2024/
The Home Page | Cottages, Kitchens, and Carrizo
date: 2024-04-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
This edition of The Home Page was originally emailed to subscribers on April 21, 2024. To receive Sarah Sinclair’s real estate newsletter
The post The Home Page | Cottages, Kitchens, and Carrizo appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/22/the-home-page-cottages-kitchens-and-carrizo/
Attempted Sexual Assault in the USU
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)
An attempted sexual assault in the men’s restrooms near the CSUN University Student Union computer labs was reported on Monday morning. An alert was issued by the Department of Police…
https://sundial.csun.edu/180927/news/attempted-sexual-assault-in-the-usu/
How to talk about Israel and Gaza on a college campus (or anywhere else)
date: 2024-04-22, from: Robert Reich on Substack
Seeking moral clarity
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-to-talk-about-israel-and-gaza
How to Use Experimental Swift Versions and Features in Xcode
date: 2024-04-22, from: Michael Tsai
Donny Wals: We can click the Universal download link to install the Swift toolchain that you’re interested in. For example, if you’re eager to try out a cutting edge feature like Swift 6’s isolation regions feature you can download the trunk development toolchain. Or if you’re interested in trying out a feature that has made […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/04/22/how-to-use-experimental-swift-versions-and-features-in-xcode/
Apple Maps in Tokyo
date: 2024-04-22, from: Michael Tsai
Joe Rosensteel: When searching for a business, like your hotel which is part of a very large hotel chain, Google will show the one saved in your list as the first search result when you start typing. Apple Maps will show you the search results in the same order you’d see them otherwise, but it […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/04/22/apple-maps-in-tokyo/
Hackintosh Is Almost Dead
date: 2024-04-22, from: Michael Tsai
Aleksandar Vacić (via Hacker News, Ric Ford): It’s true that latest macOS 14 (Sonoma) still supports the latest generations of Intel Macs and it’s very likely that at least one or two major versions will still be compatible. But there’s one particular development that is de-facto killing off the Hackintosh scene. In Sonoma, Apple has […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/04/22/hackintosh-is-almost-dead/
The Apple Jonathan
date: 2024-04-22, from: Michael Tsai
Stephen Hackett (Hacker News): Those four machines are well known, but there was a fifth possibility in the mix, named the Jonathan. In his book Inventing the Future, John Buck writes about the concept, which was led by Apple engineer Jonathan Fitch starting in the fall of 1984.This concept envisioned a computer that would expand […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/04/22/the-apple-jonathan/
Full Belly Files | Southern Charm and Chow, Part Two: Savannah, Georgia
date: 2024-04-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
This is the second part of our spring break adventure; part one was about Charleston.
The post Full Belly Files | Southern Charm and Chow, Part Two: Savannah, Georgia appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Marcia Mayeda | Current Challenges in Animal Sheltering
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Recently I had the opportunity, along with spcaLA President Madeline Bernstein and Inland Valley Humane Society & SPCA President Nikole Bresciani, to meet with NBC 4 reporter Kathy Vara to discuss the current challenges facing animal sheltering organizations
https://scvnews.com/marcia-mayeda-current-challenges-in-animal-sheltering/
A close look at the new Tesla Model 3 Performance
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
We get a close look at the new Tesla Model 3 Performance for the first time as it is about to be unveiled.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/a-close-look-at-the-new-tesla-model-3-performance/
Scientists Clone Two Black-Footed Ferrets From Frozen Tissues in Conservation Effort
date: 2024-04-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The aim of cloning the animals is to increase the genetic diversity of the endangered species
Biden commits $7B to low-income solar, expands climate corps on Earth Day
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
President Biden is marking Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in grants for low-income households to go solar, and expanding his administration’s US Climate Corps.
VW Is Launching A New EV Truck Brand. Its Dealers Are Pissed They Might Get Cut Out
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
Honda’s Afeela brand with Sony faces the same problem: dealers who don’t want direct sales, now or ever.
https://insideevs.com/news/716994/vw-scout-honda-afeela-dealers/
PG&E strives to slow pace of increases in electric and gas bills: company CEO
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
PG&E’s top boss held out hope Monday to the utility’s beleaguered ratepayers that they can expect customer monthly bills to reduce.
Europe is the fastest-warming continent on the planet
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
The continent generated 43% of its electricity from renewable resources last year, up from 36% the year before, the agencies say in their European State of the Climate report for last year. More energy in Europe was generated from renewables than from fossil fuels for the second year running.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/22/europe-is-the-fastest-warming-continent-on-the-planet/
US State Department outlines pressing threats to global human rights
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
Are Pollsters Getting Climate Change Wrong?
date: 2024-04-22, from: Heatmap News
Climate change either is or isn’t the biggest issue of our time. It all depends on who you ask — and, especially, how.
In March, as it has since 1939, Gallup asked Americans what they thought was the most important problem facing the country. Just 2% of respondents said “environment/pollution/climate change” — fewer than those who said “poor leadership” or “unifying the country” (although more than those who said “the media.”) Pew, meanwhile, asked Americans in January what the top priority for the president and Congress ought to be for this year, and “dealing with climate change” ranked third-to-last out of 20 issues — well behind “defending against terrorism,” “reducing availability of illegal drugs,” and “improving the way the political system works.”
The Biden administration seems to be taking the apparent message to heart, softening parts of its climate agenda while Democrats in tight elections run interference with their economy-first constituents. Mention of the Inflation Reduction Act, the president’s landmark climate legislation, still mostly elicits blank stares from Americans, and the administration hasn’t done much to help its case. During his State of the Union address, Biden didn’t refer to the IRA by name even once.
And yet Americans clearly, obviously, patently are worried about the climate. More than half of the respondents to a Yale Program on Climate Change opinion poll last winter said “global warming should be a priority for the next president and Congress.” Around the same time, seven in 10 called climate change a “serious issue” and a third reported being “extremely concerned” about it in Heatmap’s own Climate Poll.
“You could also ask, ‘Is the survival of American democracy a defining issue in this campaign or not?,’ and the polls will sometimes mislead you into thinking it’s way down the list,” former Vice President Al Gore said at a recent leadership conference for his nonprofit Climate Reality Project in New York — and indeed the March Gallup poll from March had “elections/election reform/democracy” as the top issue facing the country for just 3% of people. “But when people get into the voting booth,” Gore continued, “and they think about the fact that democracy is at risk — as we saw in the last bye elections — that actually did matter. And I think climate is the same way.”
Gore wasn’t just relying on his own intuition. A widely circulated New York Times/Siena College poll conducted ahead of the 2022 midterms showed 71% of voters believed democracy was at risk, but only 7% identified it as the most important issue facing the country, leading many to start eulogizing American democracy. And yet candidates from the Democratic Party, which has positioned itself as a bulwark against the erosion of representative government, dominated the most contested elections.
When you start to ask more targeted questions, the research tends to concur. “If you say, ‘Is climate change an important priority?,’ you get about two-thirds of people who agree with that,” Matthew Burgess, an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, told me. “If you say, ‘the single most important issue,’ then that’s where it falls off.”
Burgess’s work has examined a particularly odd discrepancy between the limited number of voters who list climate as the most urgent issue facing the country and the fact that climate change, on its own, can seemingly swing elections. In fact, Burgess and his co-authors argued in a paper they published earlier this year that climate voters might have secured Biden’s 2020 victory. Using data from the nonpartisan Voter Study Group, Burgess and his co-authors found that “how important voters considered climate change to be as an issue was one of the strongest predictors of whom they voted for in 2020.” How strong a predictor? Strong enough to shift the national popular vote margin by 3% or more toward Biden, they concluded.
But when I asked Burgess what’s missing from a statistic like Gallup’s, which shows few voters prioritizing climate over other concerns, he admitted, “I don’t know.” He has plenty of theories, though. Recent election margins have been so tight that climate change would not actually have to have a significant effect on voting to swing the outcome, he told me. Or perhaps voters are beginning to connect the dots between climate change and issues they more openly profess to care about, such as the economy and national security. When I asked Justin McCarthy, an analyst at Gallup, about Burgess’ findings, he told me that “our question is not meant to measure issues affecting vote choice.”
It takes a lot of faith to buy any of those arguments, and Democrats in tight down-ballot races might not be willing to bet their limited resources on it. But we risk blowing past important context by writing off polling that shows Americans putting the economy over their concern about climate change, according to Emily Becker, the deputy director of communications on the climate and energy team at Third Way, a center-left think tank.
Becker has no problem advising frontline candidates “not to talk about climate and to talk about clean energy instead,” she told me. In her opinion, the two are separate issues — and the popular habit of using them as euphemisms is helping neither voters nor climate-conscious candidates.
“We tend to talk about clean energy as having one core purpose: emissions abatement. Then there are the positive externalities: job creation, clean air and water, money into your community, etc.,” Becker told me. But when it comes to Americans struggling to pay their bills, or who see minimal opportunities for good, well-paying jobs in their communities, “the positive externalities are no longer side effects,” she said. “They’re the main piece.”
By way of example, Becker said, it’s especially telling that investing in clean energy to address climate change appears to be popular in polls, but follow-up questions that ask how voters would feel about that investment if it raises their household costs see a “big drop.” “It’s kind of a luxury issue,” Becker said of climate change-first voting. Third Way’s own research shows that people who self-identify that way tend to be older, white, and more educated.
But young voters — traditionally thought of as the most climate-friendly demographic — are also facing some of the worst economic odds of any living generation. “The idea that you’re going to make decisions at the ballot box based on a faraway problem and not based on the problems right in front of you is a little bit delusional,” Becker told me.
Heather Hargreaves, the deputy executive director of campaigns at Climate Power, a strategic communications group with a robust research and polling operation, had a slightly different takeaway. “I don’t think any elected official who is seeing a national poll where climate change is getting a lower percentage than the economy should be like, ‘Oh, this means I shouldn’t talk about climate change,’” she told me. “That’s misguided.”
Climate Power’s polling has found that “clean energy and climate messaging” moved every demographic toward Biden, particularly — again — young voters, as well as independents, who were key in Burgess’ research. “If you look at the things people care about the most, gas prices and utility costs are always up there,” Hargreaves said. “And these are both related to how we address climate change.”
As even more evidence that climate is a winning message after all, Hargreaves pointed out that Republicans in red districts are “not shying away” from talking about how the IRA has brought money, improvements, and clean-energy investments to their districts. For example, Senator Tom Cotton bragged last summer that “Senator Boozman and I were able to secure the grants” for highway improvement projects funded by the infrastructure law — which the Arkansas pair had voted against. Likewise, Nancy Mace, a congresswoman from South Carolina, hosted a press conference touting a local transit hub with electric buses despite having once called electric mass transit “socialism.”
“They’re now trying to take credit for it — and that’s proof it’s politically a winner,” Hargreaves told me.
As an election-year message, it’s hard to argue that “climate change” — at least phrased as such — actually resonates with the majority of Americans. But “it must be a big tent issue if we’re going to actually solve it,” Burgess, the University of Colorado Boulder professor, told me. And opinions are still being shaped: Gallup has found that victims of extreme weather events are more likely to worry about climate change and view it as a threat. As Hargreaves stressed to me, polling trends tend to be more revealing than any individual battery questions, and they generally show growing levels of urgency.
Becker also offered a word of advice. “Be willing to be told that your issue does not matter as much as you want it to,” she said. “And figure out how you can make your priorities and the priorities of the electorate overlap.”
https://heatmap.news/politics/climate-change-voting-elections
Ken Striplin | Visit Skyline Ranch Park – Santa Clarita’s Newest Amenity
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
As city manager for 12 years now and a longtime resident of Santa Clarita, I am always proud to see how our community continues to grow
https://scvnews.com/ken-striplin-visit-skyline-ranch-park-santa-claritas-newest-amenity/
Ozempic ‘oops’ babies spark debate about weight-loss shot use as fertility drugs
date: 2024-04-22, from: San Jose Mercury News
A surprising thing is happening to some women on weight-loss drugs who’ve struggled with fertility issues: They’re getting pregnant.
Ex-CEO of ‘unicorn’ app startup HeadSpin heads to jail after BS’ing investors
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Lachwani faked it but didn’t make it
Manish Lachwani, former CEO of app testing firm HeadSpin, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and will pay a fine of $1 million.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/ceo_headspin_prison/
You Can Now Visit Mussolini’s Underground Bunker in Rome
date: 2024-04-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The dictator constructed the shelters below his family’s residence after Italy entered World War II
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-visit-mussolinis-underground-bunker-180984190/
Filming in Santa Clarita Includes Six Productions
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The city of Santa Clarita’s Film Office released the list of six productions currently filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week of Monday, April 22 - Sunday, April
https://scvnews.com/filming-in-santa-clarita-includes-six-productions-4/
Cannabis a rare consensus issue ahead of US election
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
washington — Marijuana use is a rare consensus issue in politically divided America, with polls showing that 88% of Americans support at least partial legalization. But neither of the two main presidential contenders are capitalizing on this, advocates say, with both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump landing far behind where most Americans are on the issue.
VOA spoke to cannabis advocates on the sidelines of a rare, recent policy summit on the issue, held annually in Washington as a preview to a weekend-long music festival.
“One thing [both candidates] have in common is that their track records on cannabis have been inconsistent and incremental,” said Caroline Phillips, organizer of the National Cannabis Policy Summit. “We’ve heard promises from both administrations, neither of which have panned out in full.”
Biden in 2022 directed the Department of Health and Human Services to take a key step toward legalization by ordering a review of its classification of marijuana as a dangerous controlled substance, on par with heroin and LSD.
Nearly a year later, the body recommended moving marijuana to a lighter classification, alongside prescription drugs. That ruling now sits with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which has the power to act.
But, Phillips said, many advocates seek the full removal – or “de-scheduling” – of the substance from the DEA’s Controlled Substances Act.
“They have given us great signals that they’re willing to shift towards de-scheduling, but most likely re-scheduling,” she said of the Biden administration. “However, we haven’t quite seen the action to back up their words.”
Re-scheduling puts marijuana on par with prescription drugs and regulates users’ access to it; de-scheduling removes it from the list of controlled substances entirely.
Neera Tanden, director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, said the administration sees a need to learn more – something that re-scheduling the substance would enable by making it more readily available to scientific researchers.
“There’s been a lot of change on this issue for several years,” she told VOA. “It’s important for us to be able to research it more effectively.”
A small but vocal group of anti-cannabis legislators in Congress have also expressed concerns about changing the status of marijuana. Last year, 14 of them – all Republicans – sent a letter opposing the effort to loosen its classification.
In their letter, the group pointed to the potential for addiction and the increased potency of today’s cannabis, saying “facts indicate that marijuana has a high potential for abuse and that the risk is only increasing.”
Trump’s position on marijuana, advocates say, is hazy. The pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project says he “never brought the issue up proactively” as president. Since leaving office, Phillips said, “we’ve heard him both say that people who sell drugs in the illicit market should be jailed and even put to death.”
On the campaign trail, Trump has largely avoided the issue, said Morgan Fox, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, known as NORML.
“We haven’t heard too much from the Republican nominee so far,” he said.
The personal becomes political
The candidates’ attitudes, Fox said, are out of step with those of many Americans, and lean on old tropes about marijuana that paint users as prone to mania – like in the 1936 film “Reefer Madness” – or use fear as a tool, like the 1980s-era Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.
“Luckily, with the advent of the internet and the development of a lot more communication around these issues, people have not only been able to see that the policy of prohibiting cannabis and criminalizing cannabis consumers is nonsensical, but they’ve also been able to really see the human impact that it has had,” he said.
For entrepreneur William Davis, this is personal. With his pressed jeans, alligator-skin boots, crisp white cowboy hat and penchant for replying to questions with “yes, ma’am,” he knows he does not cut the figure of a stereotypical cannabis user.
“It’s a lot of people that you would never think,” he said.
For years, the Iraq war veteran struggled with PTSD and opioid addiction. He was reluctant to accept a friend’s recommendation that he try cannabis, he said, because to him it evoked a wildly popular 1980s ad that showed a frying egg, and a stern admonition: “This is your brain on drugs.”
“Like in a hot pan with the egg, I thought, ‘Nah, I don’t wanna try drugs, I’m gonna fry my brains,’” Davis said.
Instead, he said, marijuana produced a revelation. Davis says he uses CBD, the non-psychoactive compound found in marijuana, to soothe his anxiety during the day, and the active component, THC, for relaxation after work.
Six years ago, he founded a company, Euphoria Eats, that sells infused hot sauce and barbecue sauce.
Davis, who is from Houston but now lives in solidly Republican Louisiana, said he supports legalization for business reasons.
“Until this will be decriminalized and legal everywhere, there will always be hesitant individuals who are afraid to put their money into a lucrative business that they see is making money, that they see is making an impact on the community,” he told VOA.
‘My vote influences cannabis laws’
Polls show that the greatest pro-cannabis momentum comes from younger Americans.
Community organizer Scotty Smart spoke to VOA about his position as a young progressive, which was summarized neatly on his moss-green T-shirt that read: “MY VOTE INFLUENCES CANNABIS LAWS.”
“I think cannabis is an issue that ignites and excites young people to pay attention,” said Smart, who works with the nonpartisan New Georgia Project and with a pro-marijuana education and awareness movement called We Want all the Smoke.
A key factor that young voters are watching for, he said, is whether the Biden administration moves forward with the process of downgrading cannabis.
“Hopefully that takes place before the election so we can really see, have something to go off of and not just have election speeches giving us hope,” he said.
Maya Tatum, former chair of the national grassroots group Students for Sensible Drug Policy, agreed that the candidates’ actions matter more than their words. Neither man, she said, is a clear winner here.
“A lot of the young voters that I’m around are wanting to hold Joe Biden accountable for what he said,” in support of cannabis, she said. “I don’t personally feel like there’s a lot that Trump is offering as it relates to cannabis.”
Fox said NORML would like to see political aspirants be more open about cannabis on the campaign trail.
“Any candidate that actually wants to get ahead – whether it’s in the presidential election in Congress or state legislatures or local legislators – if they ignore this issue, it’s going to be at their peril,” he said.
Veronica Balderas Iglesias contributed to this report from Washington.
https://www.voanews.com/a/cannabis-a-rare-consensus-issue-ahead-of-us-election/7580441.html
Scientists Translate Sleeping Birds’ Silent Songs Into Sound—and They May Have Recorded a Nightmare
date: 2024-04-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Using surgically implanted electrodes and modeling, researchers brought to life the vocal muscle activity of sleeping great kiskadees
Hundreds in Isla Vista Celebrate Earth Day with ‘The Plunge’
date: 2024-04-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Swimmers flock to the beach to raise awareness for marine conservation and attempt to break a world record.
The post Hundreds in Isla Vista Celebrate Earth Day with ‘The Plunge’ appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/22/hundreds-in-isla-vista-celebrate-earth-day-with-the-plunge/
Colleagues, friends pay tribute to late American journalist Terry Anderson
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
US promises Ukraine swift munitions delivery as Russia advances on battlefield
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
NASA Announces 30th Human Exploration Rover Challenge Winners
date: 2024-04-22, from: NASA breaking news
NASA announced the winners of the 30th Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) April 22, with Parish Episcopal School, from Dallas, winning first place in the high school division, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, capturing the college/university title. The annual engineering competition – one of NASA’s longest standing challenges – held its concluding event […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-announces-30th-human-exploration-rover-challenge-winners/
BYD Shark Is China’s New Plug-In Hybrid Pickup Truck
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
The BYD Shark is a plug-in hybrid that may also get a fully electric version at some point.
https://insideevs.com/news/716991/byd-shark-plug-in-pickup/
Huawei wants to take homegrown HarmonyOS phone platform worldwide
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Chinese tech juggernaut eyes global expansion despite US tech restrictions
Huawei plans to expand its native HarmonyOS smartphone platform worldwide, despite coming under US-led sanctions that have deprived it of access to key technologies.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/huawei_harmonyos_expansion/
High School Spring Musicals 2024
date: 2024-04-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara, San Marcos, and Dos Pueblos get ready to put on their dancing shoes and sing their hearts out.
The post High School Spring Musicals 2024 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/22/high-school-spring-musicals-2024/
Kia EV9, Genesis EV prices cut with generous $7,500 discount offer
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
More automakers are offering steep discounts on electric vehicle models. Kia and Genesis are two of the latest to slash EV prices with generous deals. The Kia EV9 and several Genesis EVs are now $7,500 off with new discount offers.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/kia-ev9-genesis-ev-prices-cut-generous-7500-discount/
Tesla fired its entire new ad team in recent layoffs
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla has fired its entire 40-person “growth content” ad team as part of its recent massive round of layoffs. The ad team had been part of Tesla’s push to increase traditional advertising.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/tesla-fired-its-entire-new-ad-team-in-recent-layoffs/
Lenovo’s easier-to-repair ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 laptops is now available
date: 2024-04-22, from: Liliputing
Earlier this year Lenovo announced that it had partnered with online repair shop iFixit to design new Lenovo ThinkPad T-series laptops that are easier to repair than most of the company’s other recent notebook computers. Now the new Lenovo Thinkpad T14 Gen 5 is available to purchase, featuring a user-replaceable battery and keyboard as well as […]
The post Lenovo’s easier-to-repair ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 laptops is now available appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/lenovos-easier-to-repair-thinkpad-t14-gen-5-laptops-is-now-available/
Blurring the Lines Between Technology and Old-School Art
date: 2024-04-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s ‘Made by Hand/Born Digital’ puts tech tools and AI on view with tradition.
The post Blurring the Lines Between Technology and Old-School Art appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/22/blurring-the-lines-between-technology-and-old-school-art/
Electric Cars Will Soon Outnumber Gasoline Cars In Norway
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
Diesel could be next in 2-3 years.
https://insideevs.com/news/716943/electric-cars-will-outnumber-gasoline-norway/
The Las Vegas–LA electric high-speed rail line just broke ground
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Brightline West, a future electric high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, broke ground today in Nevada.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/las-vegas-la-electric-high-speed-rail-line/
Free Will Astrology
date: 2024-04-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Week of April 25.
The post Free Will Astrology appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/22/free-will-astrology-208/
Tesla slashes vehicle and self-driving-ish software prices as shares plummet
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Because nothing reassures investors like discounting some inventory
After a week beset by disaster after disaster, Tesla has decided to reassure investors that it’s still a safe bet … by discounting prices around the world. …
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/tesla_cuts_prices/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Ten Peter Gabriel songs.
https://chat.openai.com/c/b246f0fc-d74e-4d60-ab21-c0f213e20455
Henry Mayo Celebrating National Volunteer Week
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital is recognizing its valued volunteers during National Volunteer Week April 21-
https://scvnews.com/henry-mayo-celebrating-national-volunteer-week/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
76ers' Tyrese Maxey questionable for Game 2 vs. Knicks; series odds shift.
Elon Musk is a pigeon CEO, ’he comes, sh*ts all over us, and goes’, says former Tesla manager
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Elon Musk was described as a “pigeon CEO”: “he comes, shits all over us, and goes”, said a former Tesla employee.
Now, the CEO is signaling a focus on Tesla.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/elon-musk-pigeon-ceo-former-tesla-manager/
Take Control Author Charles Edge Dies
date: 2024-04-22, from: TidBITS blog
It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of Charles Edge, a prolific author, blogger, and podcaster who was one of the best-known figures in the Mac admin community.
https://tidbits.com/2024/04/22/take-control-author-charles-edge-dies/
Extensive Desert ‘Lava Tubes’ Sheltered Humans for 7,000 Years, Archaeologists Find
date: 2024-04-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Formed after volcanic activity, the underground caves periodically hosted early humans and their livestock in Saudi Arabia, facilitating cultural exchange
NASA Nurtures Promising Tech Ideas from Small Businesses
date: 2024-04-22, from: NASA breaking news
New space technology ideas emerge every day from innovators across the country, and NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program on Monday selected more than 100 projects for funding. This program offers small businesses in the United States early-stage funding and support to advance the agency’s goals of exploring the unknown in air and space […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-nurtures-promising-tech-ideas-from-small-businesses/
How Breaking Went From a Street Dance to an Olympic Sport
date: 2024-04-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
This summer, 32 athletes will compete in what’s commonly known as breakdancing, a dance sport that combines athleticism and artistry
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/breaking-will-debut-at-the-summer-olympics-180984199/
Save $650 on Aventon’s Level.2 e-bike at $1,299 today only, Greenworks Optimow robot lawn mower, and more
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Kicking off this week’s green deals is a one-day sale on the Aventon Level.2 Step-Through Commuter e-bike at a new $1,299 low. It is joined by another one-day deal, the Greenworks Optimow Robotic Lawn Mower which has returned to its $1,000 low, as well as Sun Joe’s 1,450 PSI Electric Pressure Washer at $142. Plus all of the other green deals that have dropped today or are still hanging on from last 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/2024/04/22/aventons-level-2-e-bike-greenworks-optimow-robot-lawn-mower-and-more/
L.A. County Unveils $45.4B Recommended Budget
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Los Angeles County’s 2024-25 Recommended Budget—which doubles down on an accelerated response to homelessness and underscores the role mental health services play in multiple County strategies—will be presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 23 by Fesia Davenport, chief executive officer. Despite slowing revenue growth from property taxes, the Recommended Budget continues to…
Our Beautiful Water World
date: 2024-04-22, from: NASA breaking news
This Jan. 30, 2012 image of Earth was created from photographs taken by the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the Suomi NPP satellite. Many features of North America and the Western Hemisphere are particularly visible. The composite was created from the data collected during four orbits of the robotic satellite taken earlier in […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/our-beautiful-water-world/
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman invests in solar power firm Exowatt to fuel AI datacenters
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
$20m to keep the industry from having to rely on fossil fuels
Solar energy company Exowatt has launched with the financial support of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, alongside two other investors.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/openai_ceo_sam_altman_invests/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Columbia in crisis, again.
https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/columbia_arrests_1968_campus_speech_media.php
April 23: Saugus Union to Discuss 2023/24 Personnel Report
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The regular meeting of the Saugus Union School District Governing Board will take place Tuesday, April 23, with closed session beginning at 5:30 p.m., followed immediately by public session at 6:30 p.m
https://scvnews.com/april-23-saugus-union-to-discuss-2023-24-personnel-report/
Facebook opens its Android-based Quest operating system to other VR device makers
date: 2024-04-22, from: OS News
Today we’re taking the next step toward our vision for a more open computing platform for the metaverse. We’re opening up the operating system powering our Meta Quest devices to third-party hardware makers, giving more choice to consumers and a larger ecosystem for developers to build for. We’re working with leading global technology companies to bring this new ecosystem to life and making it even easier for developers to build apps and reach their audiences on the platform. Meta Horizon OS is the result of a decade of work by Meta to build a next-generation computing platform. To pioneer standalone headsets, we developed technologies like inside-out tracking, and for more natural interaction systems and social presence, we developed eye, face, hand, and body tracking. For mixed reality, we built a full stack of technologies for blending the digital and physical worlds, including high-resolution Passthrough, Scene Understanding, and Spatial Anchors. This long-term investment that began on the mobile-first foundations of the Android Open Source Project has produced a full mixed reality operating system used by millions of people. ↫ Facebook’s blog In summary, Facebook wants the operating system of their Quest series of virtual reality devices – an Android Open Source Project fork optimised for this use – to become the default platform for virtual reality devices from all kinds of OEMs. Today, they’re announcing that both Asus and Lenovo will be releasing devices running this Meta Horizon OS, with the former focusing on high-end VR gaming, and the latter on more general use cases of work, entertainment, and so on. Facebook will also be working together with Microsoft to create a Quest “inspired by Xbox”. The Meta Quest Store, the on-device marketplace for applications and games, will be renamed to the Meta Horizon Store, and the App Lab, where developers can more easily get their applications and games on devices and in the hands of consumers as long as they meet basic technical and content guidelines, will be integrated into the Meta Horizon Store for easier access than before. In addition, in a mildly spicy move, Facebook is openly inviting Google to bring the Google Play Store to the VR Android fork, “where it can operate with the same economic model it does on other platforms”. The odds of me buying anything from Facebook are slim, so I really hope this new move won’t corner the market for VR headsets right out of the gate; I don’t want another Android/iOS duopoly. I’m not particularly interested in VR quite yet – but give it a few more years, and I certainly won’t pass up on a capable device that allows me to play Beat Saber and other exercise-focused applications and games. I just don’t want it to be a Facebook device or operating system.
Work starts on bullet train rail line from Las Vegas to Los Angeles
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
las vegas — A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction, officials said Monday, amid predictions that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.
“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement released to coincide with a ceremony at the future site of a terminal to be built just south of the Las Vegas Strip.
Buttigieg predicted the project will bring “thousands of union jobs, new connections to better economic opportunity, less congestion on the roads, and less pollution in the air.”
Brightline West, whose sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida, aims to lay 351 kilometers of new track between Las Vegas and another new facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Almost the full distance is to be built in the median of Interstate 15, with a station stop in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area.
Brightline Holdings founder and Chairperson Wes Edens dubbed the moment “the foundation for a new industry.”
“This is a historic project and a proud moment,” Edens said in the statement. “Today is long overdue.”
Brightline aims to link other U.S. cities that are too near to each other for air travel to make sense and too far for people to drive the distance.
Company CEO Mike Reininger has said the goal is to have trains operating in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
Brightline received $6.5 billion in backing from the Biden administration, including a $3 billion grant from federal infrastructure funds and approval to sell another $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds. The company won federal authorization in 2020 to sell $1 billion in similar bonds.
The project is touted as the first true high-speed passenger rail line in the nation, designed to reach speeds of 186 mph (300 kph), comparable to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains.
The route between Vegas and L.A. is largely open space, with no convenient alternate to I-15. Brightline’s Southern California terminal will be at a commuter rail connection to downtown Los Angeles.
The project outline says electric-powered trains will cut the four-hour trip across the Mojave Desert to a little more than two hours. Forecasts are for 11 million one-way passengers per year, or some 30,000 per day, with fares well below airline travel costs. The trains will offer restrooms, Wi-Fi, food and beverage sales and the option to check luggage.
Las Vegas is a popular driving destination for Southern Californians. Officials hope the train line will relieve congestion on I-15, where drivers often sit in miles of crawling traffic while returning home from a Las Vegas weekend.
The Las Vegas area, now approaching 3 million residents, draws more than 40 million visitors per year. Passenger traffic at the city’s Harry Reid International Airport set a record of 57.6 million people in 2023. An average of more than 44,000 automobiles per day crossed the California-Nevada state line on I-15 in 2023, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data.
Florida-based Brightline Holdings launched the Miami-to-Orlando line in 2018 with trains reaching speeds up to 125 mph (200 kph). It expanded service to Orlando International Airport last September. It offers 16 roundtrips per day, with one-way tickets for the 235-mile (378-kilometer) distance costing about $80.
Other fast trains in the U.S. include Amtrak’s Acela, which can top 241 kph while sharing tracks with freight and commuter service between Boston and Washington, D.C.
Passenger trains to Las Vegas ended in 1997, when Amtrak ended service.
Ideas for connecting other U.S. cities with high-speed passenger trains have been floated in recent years, including Dallas to Houston; Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina; and Chicago to St. Louis. Most have faced delays.
In California, voters in 2008 approved a proposed 805-kilometer rail line linking Los Angeles and San Francisco, but the plan has been beset by rising costs and routing disputes. A 2022 business plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority projected the cost had more than tripled to $105 billion.
Aptera to sell its solar EVs in the UAE, beginning with 53 exclusive ‘Union Editions’ with ‘Solar Chill’
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Just weeks after announcing plans to showcase its solar EV technology to the public in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), startup Aptera Motors is taking things a step further. The company recently shared intentions to begin selling its nascent vehicles in the UAE, kicking off the new market entry with 53 production builds of an exclusive “Union Edition” model for early adopters in the Middle East.
Meta Quest operating system to power third-party headsets from Asus, Lenovo, and others
date: 2024-04-22, from: Liliputing
Facebook’s parent company Meta has announced that the operating system that powers its Meta Quest virtual reality headsets is now available to third-party device makers. And two of the first companies planning to launch products powered by Meta Horizon OS are Asus and Lenovo. Microsoft and Meta are also “working together to create a limited-edition […]
The post Meta Quest operating system to power third-party headsets from Asus, Lenovo, and others appeared first on Liliputing.
BYD unveils luxurious Sea Lion 07 mid-size electric SUV interior poised to rival Tesla’s Model Y
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
BYD is coming for Tesla’s sweet spot in the mid-size electric SUV market with its new Sea Lion 07. Ahead of its official launch, BYD unveiled the Sea Lion 07’s luxurious interior. Check out the first images below.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/byd-unveils-luxurious-sea-lion-07-interior-rival-tesla-model-y/
Typewriter Community Braces for Influx of Taylor Swift Fans Inspired by Tortured Poets Department
date: 2024-04-22, from: 404 Media Group
“I, for one, welcome our new Taylor Swift overlords.”
https://www.404media.co/taylor-swift-typewriter-tortured-poets-department/
Tiny11 Builder trims Windows 11 fat with PowerShell script
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
The Reg accepts no responsibility for borked installations
Worried about Windows 11 bloat and want a bit more control over what goes into its ISOs? Over the weekend, a new version of Tiny11 Builder in PowerShell guise arrived.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/tiny11_builder_update/
April 24: COC Board of Trustees’ Self-Evaluation Workshop
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees will hold a self-evaluation workshop Wednesday, April 24, beginning at 2 p.m
https://scvnews.com/april-24-coc-board-of-trustees-self-evaluation-workshop/
There’s Now One EV Fast Charging Station For Every 15 Gas Stations
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
Favorable policy is sparking a charging infrastructure boom in the U.S.
https://insideevs.com/news/716967/one-charger-for-every-15-gas-stations/
Professor with Strong Santa Barbara Ties Receives Prestigious Translation Award Celebrating Career Achievement Across Five Decades
date: 2024-04-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Prolific translator and Professor Emerita Suzanne Jill Levine to receive the prestigious PEN Award for career achievement.
The post Professor with Strong Santa Barbara Ties Receives Prestigious Translation Award Celebrating Career Achievement Across Five Decades appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
‘Come from Away’ Comes to Santa Barbara
date: 2024-04-22, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Uplifting Broadway musical about the true story of planes rerouted on 9/11 comes to the Granada April 30 through May 1.
The post ‘Come from Away’ Comes to Santa Barbara appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/22/come-from-away-comes-to-santa-barbara/
April 21, 2024
date: 2024-04-22, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-21-2024-733
LASD Deputy Dies Months After Pitchess Shooting Range Explosion
date: 2024-04-22, from: SCV New (TV Station)
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy, who was severely injured in October after an explosion and fire at a Pitchess Detention Center mobile shooting range, died Saturday, LASD announced Sunday.
https://scvnews.com/lasd-deputy-dies-months-after-pitchess-shooting-range-explosion/
Europol now latest cops to beg Big Tech to ditch E2EE
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Don’t bore us, get to the chorus: You need less privacy so we can protect the children
Yet another international cop shop has come out swinging against end-to-end encryption - this time it’s Europol which is urging an end to implementation of the tech for fear police investigations will be hampered by protected DMs.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/europol_becomes_latest_cop_shop/
Oregon Senate faces shake-up after Republican walkout last year
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
Ten months after most of Oregon’s Republican state senators ended a six-week boycott of the legislature, they are facing steep consequences for their protest. Deborah Bloom has the story from Salem, Oregon’s capital.
MOONDROP MIAD01 will be a HiFi smartphone with 3.5mm and 4.4mm audio jacks
date: 2024-04-22, from: Liliputing
At a time when most smartphone makers are dropping headphone jacks altogether, HiFi audio company MOONDROP has announced that its upcoming smartphone will not only support headphones designed to plug into 3.5mm jacks, but also supports 4.4mm audio connectors. The phone will be called the MOONDROP MIAD01, and the company describes it as a “5G […]
The post MOONDROP MIAD01 will be a HiFi smartphone with 3.5mm and 4.4mm audio jacks appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/moondrop-miad01-is-a-hifi-smartphone-with-3-5mm-and-4-4mm-audio-jacks/
Analysis of 34 Hours of Orgasm Recordings Finds People Cum Quietly
date: 2024-04-22, from: 404 Media Group
A researcher claiming to have published the first study of its kind painstakingly, manually analyzed a dataset of 3,528 recordings and then asked volunteers to rate them from “Relaxed” to “Orgasm.”
https://www.404media.co/orgasm-sounds-study/
Fedora 40 is just around the corner with more spins and flavors than ever
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
KDE edition has the most conspicuous changes, and could become future flagship
Fedora 40 is in the final stretch before launch tomorrow, with release candidate 1.14 in testing.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/fedora_40_at_rc_stage/
Tesla Sales Declines Put U.S. EV Registrations Into The Red For First Time Since 2020
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
Without Tesla, which is the biggest player by far in the EV game, the numbers actually went up compared to last year.
https://insideevs.com/news/716952/new-us-ev-registrations-negative-february-2024-tesla/
This Bonkers 48-Cylinder Kawasaki Just Sold For Over $114,400
date: 2024-04-22, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
In case you’re keeping count, the selling price including premium was approximately $2,363.06 per cylinder.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/716992/48-cylinder-kawasaki-custom-sold/
US charity trains medics to improve health care in rural Kenya
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
Experts say one of the health care challenges in Africa is a shortage of training and education for workers. To help, a U.S. charity called Mission to Heal is training local workers who serve patients in remote locations. Juma Majanga reports from Ngurunit village in northern Kenya. Videographer: Jimmy Makhulo
Tritium DCFC Limited (DCFC) enters insolvency, is seeking buyers
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Australian EV charging company Tritium is facing financial collapse, with its directors declaring insolvency and putting the company into receivership.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/tritium-dcfc-limited-dcfc-enters-insolvency-is-seeking-buyers/
Call Oregon’s Poetry Hotline to Hear a New Poem Every Day This Month
date: 2024-04-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The hotline, created by the state’s poet laureate, has already received thousands of callers
BIGTREETECH launches BIGTREETECH Pi 2 single-board PC and CB2 compute module with RK3566 processor
date: 2024-04-22, from: Liliputing
The BIGTREETECH Pi 2 is a single-board computer with a 1.8 GHz Rockchip RK3566 quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 processor. While it looks a bit like a Raspberry Pi Model B, this little has a few things that Raspberry Pi’s computers lack including support for up to three storage devices (eMMC, SD card, and M.2 2242 PCIe […]
The post BIGTREETECH launches BIGTREETECH Pi 2 single-board PC and CB2 compute module with RK3566 processor appeared first on Liliputing.
Germany arrests trio accused of trying to smuggle naval military tech to China
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Prosecutors believe one frikkin’ laser did make its way to Beijing
Germany has arrested three citizens who allegedly tried to transfer military technology to China, a violation of the country’s export rules.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/germany_arrests_espionage_suspects/
Zoom Workplace 6.0.1
date: 2024-04-22, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/zoom-6-0-1/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Ghost announces it will support ActivityPub and "become part of the largest open publishing network in the world." I don't think that's true. Just sayin. And size isn't the only thing that matters, btw. 😀
https://mastodon.xyz/@johnonolan/112315231711519319
Prosecutor, Trump defense lawyer spar over charges facing former president
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-could-be-asked-about-past-verdicts-judge-/7580022.html
Mathematicians Marvel at ‘Crazy’ Cuts Through Four Dimensions
date: 2024-04-22, from: Quanta Magazine
Topologists prove two new results that bring some order to the confoundingly difficult study of four-dimensional shapes.The post Mathematicians Marvel at ‘Crazy’ Cuts Through Four Dimensions first appeared on Quanta Magazine
https://www.quantamagazine.org/mathematicians-marvel-at-crazy-cuts-through-four-dimensions-20240422/
GraphicConverter 12.1.1
date: 2024-04-22, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/graphicconverter-12-1-1/
Ford drops its cheapest 2024 F-150 Lightning trim for customer orders
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
The cheapest 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning trim is no longer available for orders, at least for retail customers.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/ford-drops-cheapest-2024-f-150-lightning-trim-customer-orders/
‘Vast and Rich:’ Studying the Ocean With NASA Computer Simulations
date: 2024-04-22, from: NASA breaking news
“Every time I help with visualizing [ocean] simulation data, I learn about an entirely new area of ocean or climate research, and I’m reminded of how vast and rich this area of research is. And…the real magic happens at the intersection and interaction of simulated and observed data. It is a great honor – and […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/vast-and-rich-studying-the-ocean-with-nasa-computer-simulations/
1Password 8.10.30
date: 2024-04-22, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/1password-8-10-30/
Default Folder X 6.0.6
date: 2024-04-22, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/default-folder-x-6-0-6/
Microsoft Office for Mac 16.84
date: 2024-04-22, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/microsoft-office-for-mac-16-84/
Why is Methane Seeping on Mars? NASA Scientists Have New Ideas
date: 2024-04-22, from: NASA breaking news
The most surprising revelation from NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover — that methane is seeping from the surface of Gale Crater — has scientists scratching their heads. Living creatures produce most of the methane on Earth. But scientists haven’t found convincing signs of current or ancient life on Mars, and thus didn’t expect to find methane […]
Helper Helper Streamlines Volunteer Management
date: 2024-04-22, from: TidBITS blog
If you organize events that require significant numbers of volunteers, you know how much work it is to track everything manually in a spreadsheet. A better option is a volunteer management system like Helper Helper, which Adam Engst has used for over a year.
https://tidbits.com/2024/04/22/helper-helper-streamlines-volunteer-management/
Tesla Drops Full Self-Driving Price From $12,000 To $8,000
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
The price of the monthly FSD subscription has also been halved and is now $99 per month.
https://insideevs.com/news/716963/tesla-fsd-price-drop/
Lawsuit accuses Grindr of illegally sharing users’ HIV status
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
LGBTQ+ dating app’s maker previously denied selling sensitive user data
Hundreds have joined a UK class action lawsuit against LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr, seeking damages over a historical case of the company allegedly forwarding users’ HIV status as well as other sensitive data to third-party advertisers.…
Scientists Uncover Bones of Massive Extinct Snake, Comparable in Size to the 43-Foot Titanoboa
date: 2024-04-22, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The 27 vertebrae discovered in India suggest the enormous creature, dubbed Vasuki indicus, was between 36 and 50 feet long
Post(news) Script
date: 2024-04-22, from: Om Malik blog
Post.News, a Twitter-like news-first social network, is shutting down. It is not surprising. It lacked dynamism and excitement, even as an early adopter and a former media professional. Given the overwhelming emphasis they put on establishment media, I am not surprised. The last time I visited Post.News was to read founder Noah Bardin’s post. “Our service is not growing fast enough to become a real business or a …
https://om.co/2024/04/22/postnews-script/
Walmart is putting AI-powered electric forklifts to work [video]
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
American retail giant Walmart has announced plans to put 19 autonomous electric forklifts to work at at four of its distribution centers as its experiments with a robotic workforce continue.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/walmart-is-putting-ai-powered-electric-forklifts-to-work-video/
US mulls sending more military advisers to Ukraine
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
Pentagon — The United States may send additional military advisers to its embassy in Kyiv to advise and support the Ukrainian government and military, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told VOA Monday.
The troops would serve in a “non-combat” role, Ryder said.
“Throughout this conflict, the DOD (Department of Defense) has reviewed and adjusted our presence in-country, as security conditions have evolved. Currently, we are considering sending several additional advisers to augment the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) at the embassy,” Ryder said in a statement.
Two U.S. defense officials, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that were not finalized, said the number of advisers was “small” and could fluctuate slightly based on embassy requirements. A source familiar with the considerations said the number of troops was “fewer than two dozen.”
The troops could advise on missions ranging from logistics, maintenance, communications and sustainment, the defense officials added.
Per the Pentagon, the ODC performs a variety of advisory and support missions and is embedded within the U.S. Embassy under the chief of the mission.
Politico was first to report the additional troop consideration.
The Pentagon’s latest troop discussion comes after the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday passed a four-part, $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, structured the bills so that they could be combined into one after each bill was approved, to prevent opposition to any one piece from derailing the entire deal. Johnson had declined to bring the aid packages to the floor for a vote for months. The Senate had passed a supplemental aid bill in February, as Ukraine said ammunition shortages were causing its forces to pull back in areas.
The newly-passed House legislation includes $61 billion for Kyiv’s ongoing war against Moscow’s invasion, as well as $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza, and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
President Joe Biden in a statement Saturday urged the Senate to “quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law, and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs.”
He said the bills advanced U.S. national security interests and sends “a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-mulls-sending-more-military-advisers-to-ukraine/7579949.html
Gone in 35 seconds – the Cybertruck’s misbehaving acceleration pedal
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Riveting conclusion to Tesla recall saga
While the vast majority of recent Tesla recalls have been addressed with over-the-air updates, the fix for Cybertruck’s recalcitrant acceleration pedal necessitates a rare venture into meatspace. And it’s as underwhelming as it is simple.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/tesla_accelerator_fix/
Tesla has lowest maintenance and repair cost of any brand
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla has the lowest maintenance and repair cost of any brand, according to a new study by Consumer Reports.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/tesla-lowest-maintenance-repair-cost-any-brand/
Advent of Computing: Episode 129 - ALGOL, Part I
date: 2024-04-22, from: Tilde.news
https://adventofcomputing.libsyn.com/episode-129-algol-part-i
New York’s Columbia University cancels in-person classes after pro-Palestinian protests
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
Recall: Intimidator And Mahindra UTV U-Joint Failures Could Sever Brake Lines
date: 2024-04-22, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Talk about a double whammy.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/716880/intimidator-utv-recall-u-joint-failure/
NASA Sets Coverage of Roscosmos Spacewalk Outside Space Station
date: 2024-04-22, from: NASA breaking news
NASA will provide live coverage, beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 25, as two Roscosmos cosmonauts conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. The spacewalk is expected to begin at 10:55 a.m. and could last up to seven hours. NASA will stream the spacewalk on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-coverage-of-roscosmos-spacewalk-outside-space-station-2/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Archives as Commons.
https://doc.searls.com/2024/04/21/archives-as-commons/
BYD confirms Shark electric pickup name as Ford F-150 Lightning rival in latest teaser
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
A new electric pickup is coming to global markets. BYD is launching its first electric pickup soon after confirming it will go by the name “Shark” in its latest teaser, revealing a Ford F-150 Lightning look up front.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/22/byd-confirms-shark-electric-pickup-name-latest-teaser/
PepsiCo Ordered 100 Tesla Semis In 2017. Tesla Delivered 36 So Far
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
Tesla built roughly 140 Semis to date, according to historical data and a new report from Reuters.
https://insideevs.com/news/716902/tesla-semi-deliveries-pepsico-april-2024/
Watchdog tells Dutch govt: ‘Do not use Facebook if there is uncertainty about privacy’
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Meta insists it’s just misunderstood and it’s safe to talk to citizens over FB
The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) has warned that government organizations should not use Facebook to communicate with the country’s citizens unless they can guarantee the privacy of data.…
Tesla Investors To Musk: ‘At Least Appear To Make Tesla Your Top Priority’
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
This week is set to be a tumultuous one for Tesla as investors seek answers about robotaxis, the stock price and Musk’s compensation.
https://insideevs.com/news/716953/tesla-turmoil-critical-materials/
Find OpenCitations on Infra Finder, a new tool to discover and support Open Infrastructures
date: 2024-04-22, from: Open Citation blog at Hypotheses.org
If you are a leader of a Library or a Research Institution and would like to learn more about the existing open infrastructures that could help your institution to evolve in the research environment, but you don’t know where to look for, you can now use Infra Finder, a brand-new tool aimed at foster discovery, adoption, and investment for open infrastructure services. Infra Finder is launched by Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI), and is designed to be the go-to resource for anyone navigating the … Continue reading Find OpenCitations on Infra Finder, a new tool to discover and support Open Infrastructures
https://opencitations.hypotheses.org/3605
More than a third of enterprise datacenters expect to deploy liquid cooling by 2026
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Which one of you is already running 100-plus kilowatt racks?
Survey As CPUs and GPUs grow ever denser and power-hungry, many, including Register readers, expect liquid cooling to play a larger role in enterprise datacenters over the next few years.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/register_liquid_cooling_survey/
Homelessness by law and by economics
date: 2024-04-22, from: Marketplace Morning Report
On Monday, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case that could determine whether cities can fine or arrest people in homeless encampments. The case comes at a time when higher interest rates and rising insurance costs are making it more expensive to build low-income housing — especially in California. Also: the macroeconomic vibe for the week ahead and Ireland’s big bet on high-tech media production.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/homelessness-by-law-and-by-economics
Microwave Man Is The Vibe We Need Right Now
date: 2024-04-22, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Skidding into our hearts and pumping us up for what lies ahead.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/716946/microwave-man-good-vibes-only/
US House passes fresh TikTok ban proposal to Senate
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Sadly no push to end stupid TikTok dances, but ByteDance would have year to offload app stateside
Fresh US legislation to force the sale of TikTok locally was passed in Washington over the weekend after an earlier version stalled in the Senate.…
Instagram Advertises Nonconsensual AI Nude Apps
date: 2024-04-22, from: 404 Media Group
Some of the most harmful applications of AI tools are not hidden on the dark corners of the internet, but are actively promoted to users by social media companies.
https://www.404media.co/instagram-advertises-nonconsensual-ai-nude-apps/
Ex-Amazon exec claims she was asked to ignore copyright law in race to AI
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
High-flying AI scientist claims unfair dismissal following pregnancy leave
A lawsuit is alleging Amazon was so desperate to keep up with the competition in generative AI it was willing to breach its own copyright rules.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/ghaderi_v_amazon/
Biden’s Big Earth Day Agenda
date: 2024-04-22, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: Torrential rains forced Mauritius to shut down its stock exchange • “Once in a century” flooding hit southern China • In the Northern Hemisphere, the Lyrid meteor shower peaks tonight.
THE TOP FIVE
- Biden kicks off Earth Day with $7 billion for expanding solar access
Today is Earth Day, but President Biden and his cabinet are celebrating all week long. Senior members of the administration have scheduled a national tour of events and announcements related to the president’s climate and environmental record. It starts with Biden’s visit to Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia, today, where he will announce $7 billion is being awarded to 60 state and local governments, tribes, and national and regional nonprofits through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All initiative, which aims to support solar in low- to moderate-income communities. The average grant size will be more than $80 million, and the funding will be used to design new programs and bolster existing ones that subsidize the cost of rooftop solar installations, community solar projects, and battery storage.
There’s a lot more on the schedule for the rest of the week, but here’s an abbreviated version:
Today: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is out West helping break ground on the Brightline West High-Speed Rail Project; Arati Prabhakar, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, is in Maine to announce $123 million in funding for habitat restoration; Energy Secretary Tom Vilsack heads to Pennsylvania to announce funding for clean energy projects.
Later this week: Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland will be in New Orleans to unveil new measures to develop an offshore wind economy; Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm heads to New Mexico to talk about new efforts to support domestic solar and wind manufacturing; and Haaland will cut the ribbon at a new visitors’ center at Delaware’s First State National Historical Park.
Get Heatmap AM directly in your inbox every morning:
- American Climate Corps website officially up and running
The Biden administration launched the jobs board for the American Climate Corps (ACC) today. Nearly 2,000 jobs and training opportunities will be listed on ClimateCorps.gov, which is still in beta form but “will be regularly updated” as new positions become available. In addition, three states – Vermont, New Mexico, and Illinois – are launching their own state-based climate corps programs. The administration also said ACC members will have access to an “apprenticeship readiness curriculum” during their terms, which will train them up on skills needed in the green energy economy.
- EPA expected to release final power plant rules
The EPA’s final power plant emissions regulations are expected this week. CNN reported the administration is considering ditching its “cutting edge” proposal for new natural gas plants to use hydrogen as well as natural gas to generate electricity, which would mean future gas-fired and existing coal-fired power plants would rely on carbon capture and storage to cut their emissions. Other rules governing wastewater and solid combustion waste from coal plants are also expected to be finalized, according to E&E News.
- A quick recap of the World Bank and IMF spring meetings
In case you missed it: The World Bank and IMF spring meetings came to a close on Saturday without any firm plans for mobilizing the funds needed to help developing countries fight climate change – certainly nothing close to the $2.4 trillion that is needed per year to help poorer nations in their energy transitions. The week wasn’t a complete bust. France, Kenya, and Barbados launched a taskforce to explore more creative ways to fill the gap in climate finance, including “taxes on wealthy people, plane tickets, financial transactions, shipping fuel, fossil fuel production, and fossil fuel firms’ windfall profits,” Climate Home News reported. Finance ministers from Brazil and France are pushing for a 2% annual wealth tax on billionaires to help alleviate problems like global hunger and climate change. And 11 rich countries (including the U.S.) pledged a total of $11 billion to boost the World Bank’s lending power.
- VW plant in Tennessee votes to join UAW
A majority of Volkswagen workers at a Tennessee plant voted over the weekend to join the United Auto Workers union. The Chattanooga factory is the first auto plant in the South to unionize, but the UAW hopes it won’t be the last. A Mercedes plant in Alabama is set to vote on UAW membership next month, and the union wants to see more plants unionize over the next two years. Anti-union sentiment runs deep in southern auto plants, but non-union workers typically have lower wages and fewer job protections than unionized workers, so a series of UAW victories could change a lot of lives. It could also be a “shot in the arm” for the union’s campaign to unionize Tesla.
THE KICKER
Roughly a third of U.S. adults are interested in cutting back on their meat consumption, according to the nonprofit Food for Climate League.
https://heatmap.news/politics/earth-day-biden-climate-corps
The Volvo EX30 Takes On The Hyundai Kona Electric And The Winner Isn’t Obvious
date: 2024-04-22, from: Inside EVs News
This is not a one-sided comparison by any means.
https://insideevs.com/news/716870/volvo-ex30-hyundai-kona-ev-comparison/
Your Guide To Following California’s ‘Compost’ Law
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The LAist
We’re two years into a state law that requires us to keep food waste out of the trash. It’s anything but straightforward, but here is how to do it right.
https://laist.com/news/california-compost-law-guide
Millions Of California Trees Were Lost To Drought. Will Two Wet Winters Help Repair Our Forests?
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The LAist
The drought years were very, very hard on our trees. Conditions have improved a lot.
Earth Day 2024: 8 Ways To Live More Sustainably
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The LAist
These tips might not solve the climate crisis, but they can help garner momentum as we work toward a more sustainable future.
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/earth-day-2024-8-ways-to-live-more-sustainably
Cerebral to Pay $7 Million Fine and Limit Health Data Use for Ads Under Federal Order
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Markup blog
Telehealth company Cerebral will pay a $7 million fine and limit the consumer health data it uses for advertising purposes under a new FTC order
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Google is a strangler fig, in the long term its only goal is to kill the World Wide Web.
https://mastodon.social/@secretgeek@mastodon.cloud/112314664970125435
A landmark moment for the labor movement
date: 2024-04-22, from: Marketplace Morning Report
For the first time, autoworkers at a foreign-owned plant in a Southern state have voted to unionize. The United Auto Workers union recently saw a landslide victory at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee — a win that comes years of failed unionization efforts in the South. We’ll discuss what comes next. Then, we’ll hear the role janitors from El Salvador have played in local labor movements in Houston.
Copilot auto-launch bug now takes flight in multiple Windows Insider channels
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Clippy 2024 is something else
Microsoft has acknowledged an error – Copilot is auto-launching for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel as well as the Canary and Dev builds.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/windows_insider_copilot_bug/
New version of Tiny11 Builder lets you debloat any Windows 11 build or version
date: 2024-04-22, from: OS News
The maker of Tiny11, a third-party project that aims to make Windows 11 less bloated with unnecessary parts, released a new version of Tiny11 Builder, a special tool that lets you create a custom Windows 11 image tailored to your needs and preferences. The latest release makes it much easier to create a lightweight Windows 11 ISO without worrying about installing a system modified by unknown third parties. ↫ Taras Buria at Neowin Perhaps you can make Windows 11 slightly more bearable with this. If there’s any interest from y’all, I could build my own debloated Windows 11 install and see if I can make this platform bearable for myself? Let me know in the comments.
Inside the Super Nintendo cartridges
date: 2024-04-22, from: OS News
One of the remarkable characteristics of the Super Nintendo was the ability for game cartridges (cart) to pack more than instructions and assets into ROM chips. If we open and look at the PCBs, we can find inside things like the CIC copy protection chip, SRAM, and even “enhancement processors”. ↫ Fabien Sanglard When I was a child and teenager in the ’90s, the capabilities of the SNES cartridge were a bit of a legend. We’d talk about what certain games would use which additional processors and chips in the cartridge, right or wrong, often boasting about the games we owned, and talking down the games we didn’t. Much of it was probably nonsense, but there’s some good memories there. We’re decades deep into the internet age now, and all the mysteries of the SNES cartridge can just be looked up on Wikipedia and endless numbers of other websites. The mystery’s all gone, but at least now we can accurately marvel at just how versatile the SNES really was.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139387/inside-the-super-nintendo-cartridges/
Read floppy disks and CD-ROMs with Raspberry Pi 5 | #MagPiMonday
date: 2024-04-22, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
Play old games from original media, back up your floppies before they die, and image replacement disks.
The post Read floppy disks and CD-ROMs with Raspberry Pi 5 | #MagPiMonday appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/read-floppy-disks-and-cd-roms-with-raspberry-pi-5-magpimonday/
UK data watchdog questions how private Google’s Privacy Sandbox is
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Leaked draft report says stated goals still come up short
Google’s Privacy Sandbox, which aspires to provide privacy-preserving ad targeting and analytics, still isn’t sufficiently private.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/ico_google_privacy_sandbox/
Relief and hope in Ukraine following U.S. aid vote
date: 2024-04-22, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: We hear from Ukrainians after a military aid package gets approval in the U.S. House of Representatives. Then, Ecuadorians vote to tighten security in its fight against gang violence, as the government fears that recent violence could damage the country’s tourism. Plus, the hit TV series “Game of Thrones” was filmed in Northern Ireland. We’ll explore the big bet on film, TV and gaming there.
Innovation through prompting
date: 2024-04-22, from: One Useful Thing
Democratizing educational technology… and more
https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/innovation-through-prompting
Red Bull Stunt Motorcyclist Has Rear Brakes Straight Off a Drift Car
date: 2024-04-22, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
I mean, it’s technically a hydraulic handbrake.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/716653/aaron-colton-stunt-motorcycle-rear-brake-calipers/
Zero Motorcycles Launches Tesla Tap Mini NACS Adapter
date: 2024-04-22, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Go further using Tesla’s L2 Destination network.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/716652/zero-motorcycles-ev-tesla-nacs-charging-adapter/
FAA now requires reentry vehicles to get licensed before launch
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Commercial operators must try Varda
The US Federal Aviation Administration is updating its launch license requirements: if you’re launching something designed for reentry, you’ll need a license for that, too. Before you launch.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/faa_now_requires_reentry_vehicles/
Earth Day puts focus on conservation efforts
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/earth-day-puts-focus-on-conservation-efforts/7579637.html
IT consultant-cum-developer in court over hiding COVID-19 loan
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Syzmon Jastrzebski bagged six figures, money written off as he’s left the country
UK government is kissing goodbye to the £100,000 an IT consultant-cum-software developer wrongly secured under the Bounce Back Loans scheme that was created during the pandemic to financially support firms.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/it_consultant_receives_director_ban/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-22, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Liz Cheney: The Supreme Court Should Rule Swiftly on Trump’s Immunity Claim.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/22/opinion/trump-immunity-supreme-court.html
Biden Hands Out $7 Billion to Expand Solar Access
date: 2024-04-22, from: Heatmap News
The great promise of solar panels — in addition to their being carbon-free — is the democratization of energy. Anyone can produce their own power, typically for less than the going utility rate. The problem is that those who stand to benefit the most from this opportunity haven’t been able to access it.
That pattern could change, however, with Solar for All, a $7 billion program under the Environmental Protection Agency to support solar in low- to moderate-income communities. On Monday, the Biden administration announced it was awarding the funds to 60 state and local governments, tribes, and national and regional nonprofits, at an average grant size of more than $80 million.
The funding will be used to design new programs and bolster existing ones that subsidize the cost of rooftop solar installations, community solar projects and battery storage. During a press call on Friday, the administration said the awardees have committed to deliver at least 20% utility bill savings to the households they serve.
To get a sense of how transformative Solar for All could be, it’s helpful to look at the numbers. According to Department of Energy data, low- to moderate-income households spend an average of 6% of their income on energy, with some paying as much as 30%, whereas households at higher income levels spend an average of just 2%. As much as a quarter of the country reports having struggled to pay electric bills, sacrificing basic needs like food and medicine or keeping their homes at unsafe temperatures because of energy concerns.
The number of these households installing rooftop solar has been increasing steadily year over year, but in 2022, they still made up only about 22% of installations, though they represent about 43% of the population.
The disparity is largely due to the high up-front cost of a solar installation, plus the fact that lower-income Americans are less likely to own their homes. While there’s a federal tax incentive to bring down the cost, low-income households may not have the tax liability to take advantage of it. They also are more likely to live in older homes that require roof repairs, the cost of which are often not covered by incentive programs.
Solar for All represents a potential step change. In at least 25 of the states and territories awarded through the program, there are no pre-existing low-income solar programs. The EPA estimates that the funds will help more than 900,000 households see the benefits of solar. It will also increase resilience in low-income communities during power outages by giving more households access to backup batteries.
Biden and his cabinet are taking a victory lap this week in honor of Earth Day, with a national tour of events and announcements related to the president’s climate and environmental record. In addition to Solar For All, the administration also launched a new web portal for the American Climate Corps on Monday, which lists nearly 2,000 training and job opportunities in fields like solar installation and mangrove restoration.
With this $7 billion heading out the door this summer, Biden will soon have distributed the full $27 billion that Congress allocated to a program called the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund two years ago when it passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The initial $20 billion was awarded in early April to launch a national network of green banks that will provide low-cost loans and other affordable finance options for climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives.
https://heatmap.news/sparks/solar-for-all-ira
Google all at sea over rising tide of robo-spam
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
What if it’s not AI but the algorithm to blame?
Opinion It was a bold claim by the richest and most famous tech founder: bold, precise and wrong. Laughably so. Twenty years ago, Bill Gates promised to rid the world of spam by 2006. How’s that worked out for you?…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/opinion_google_spam/
Young people’s Astro Pi code is sent to the International Space Station
date: 2024-04-22, from: Raspberry Pi (.org)
Young people taking part in the European Astro Pi Challenge are about to have their computer programs sent to the International Space Station (ISS). Astro Pi is run annually in collaboration by us and ESA Education, and offers two ways to get involved: Mission Zero and Mission Space Lab. This year, over 25,000 young people…
The post Young people’s Astro Pi code is sent to the International Space Station appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation.
The stunning rebirth of the American labor movement
date: 2024-04-22, from: Robert Reich on Substack
The pendulum is swinging toward countervailing power
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-rebirth-of-the-american-labor
curl is just the hobby
date: 2024-04-22, from: Daniel Stenberg Blog
Jan Gampe took things to the next level by actually making this cross-stitch out of the pattern I previously posted online. The flowers really gave it an extra level of charm I think. This quote is from a comment by an upset user on my blog, replying to one of my previous articles about curl. … Continue reading curl is just the hobby
https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2024/04/22/curl-is-just-the-hobby/
humans.txt
date: 2024-04-22, from: Tilde.news
https://www.datagubbe.se/humans.txt
Climate Change Is Coming For Your Insurance
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Lever News
As financial safety nets collapse, regulators are letting insurers off the hook.
https://www.levernews.com/climate-change-is-coming-for-your-insurance/
Classifieds – April 22, 2024
date: 2024-04-22, 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 – April 22, 2024 appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/22/classifieds-april-22-2024/
Rarest, strangest, form of Windows saved techie from moment of security madness
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
For once, Redmond’s finest saved the day - by being rubbish in unexpectedly useful ways
Who, Me? It’s Monday once again, dear reader, and you know what that means: another dive into the Who, Me? confessional, to share stories of IT gone wrong that Reg readers managed to pretend had gone right.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/who_me/
Let your roommate control your screen time
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
It’s the easiest way to stay off your phone, and I promise you will be glad you did it.
The post Let your roommate control your screen time appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/22/let-your-roommate-control-your-screen-time/
Architecture can still be beautiful
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
People don’t seem to need architects, and there’s a reason for that.
The post Architecture can still be beautiful appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/22/architecture-can-still-be-beautiful/
Taylor Swift stumbles as chairman of ‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT’ but re-orients in ‘THE ANTHOLOGY’
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The starlet surprised fans with a double album release Friday.
The post Taylor Swift stumbles as chairman of ‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT’ but re-orients in ‘THE ANTHOLOGY’ appeared first on Daily Trojan.
Kaufman choreographers showcase spring compositions
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
BFA juniors and seniors performed their original choreography Thursday.
The post Kaufman choreographers showcase spring compositions appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/22/kaufman-choreographers-showcase-spring-compositions/
Spring football game showcases rising stars
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The defense capitalized on the offense’s miscues to take a sound victory.
The post Spring football game showcases rising stars appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/22/spring-football-game-showcases-rising-stars/
Microsoft foresees a new type of AI PC: A Surface designed with help from machines
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
For now, Redmond is dogfooding Azure for product simulations
Microsoft has bragged that its own Azure HPC service was able to reduce the length of its Surface laptop design process – most notably for a hinge, which was reduced to one iteration, and hopes to use AI to do even better in future.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/microsoft_surface_ai_design/
Zilog to end standalone sales of the legendary Z80 CPU
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
The processor that gave the world the ZX Spectrum and so much more is out of wafers
Production of some models of Z80 processor – one of the chips that helped spark the personal computing boom of the 1980s – is set to end after an all-too-brief 48 years.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/z80_cpu_end_of_sales/
Opening statements expected Monday at Trump’s New York criminal trial
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
Music lovers unite for Coachella Week 2, Day 2
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Fans flocked to the desert for the festival’s electric second day, many celebrating 4/20.
The post Music lovers unite for Coachella Week 2, Day 2 appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/21/music-lovers-unite-for-coachella-week-2-day-2/
Researchers claim Windows Defender can be fooled into deleting databases
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Two rounds of reports and patches may not have completely closed this hole
BLACK HAT ASIA Researchers at US/Israeli infosec outfit SafeBreach last Friday discussed flaws in Microsoft and Kaspersky security products that can potentially allow the remote deletion of files. And, they asserted, the hole could remain exploitable – even after both vendors claim to have patched the problem.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/edr_attack_remote_data_deletion/
April 21, 2024
date: 2024-04-22, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
During her confirmation hearings in 2021, Interior Department secretary Deb Haaland promised “to responsibly manage our natural resources to protect them for future generations—so that we can continue to work, live, hunt, fish, and pray among them.” Noting her Indigenous heritage, Haaland tweeted, “A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior…. I’ll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land.”
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-21-2024
China creates ‘Information Support Force’ to improve networked defence capabilities
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
A day after FBI boss warns Beijing is poised to strike against US infrastructure
China last week reorganized its military to create an Information Support Force aimed at ensuring it can fight and win networked wars.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/china_information_support_force/
What I read this weekend
date: 2024-04-22, from: Om Malik blog
Sad but True: Internet has become cable television. U.S. Internet households watch an average of 43.5 hours of video per week, up from 37.2 hours in 2020. # ** Five Long Reads Why do today’s cars look so similar? Why are today’s cars so boring? Why are today’s cars so much safer? Do you see the connection? [NPlusOneMag] The New Yorker asks, what is …
https://om.co/2024/04/21/what-i-read-this-weekend/
MITRE admits ‘nation state’ attackers touched its NERVE R&D operation
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
PLUS: Akira ransomware resurgent; Telehealth outfit fined for data-sharing; This week’s nastiest vulns
Infosec In Brief In a cautionary tale that no one is immune from attack, the security org MITRE has admitted that it got pwned.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/in_brief_security/
Mary J. Blige, Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, others picked for Rock Hall of Fame
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
new york — Mary J. Blige,Cher, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang and Ozzy Osbourne have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a class that also includes folk-rockers Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton.
Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton earned the Musical Influence Award, while the late Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield will get the Musical Excellence Award. Pioneering music executive Suzanne de Passe won the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
“Rock ‘n’ roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generations,” John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. “This diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”
The induction ceremony will be held October 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in the city of Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. It will stream live on Disney+ with an airing on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu the next day.
The music acts nominated this year but didn’t make the cut included Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, the late Sinead O’Connor, soul-pop singer Sade, Britpoppers Oasis, hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, and alt-rockers Jane’s Addiction.
There had been a starry push to get Foreigner — with the hits “Urgent” and Hot Blooded” — into the hall, with Mark Ronson, Jack Black, Slash, Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney all publicly backing the move. Ronson’s stepfather is Mick Jones, Foreigner’s founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist.
Osbourne, who led many parents in the 1980s to clutch their pearls with his devil imagery and sludgy music, goes in as a solo artist, having already been inducted into the hall with metal masters Black Sabbath.
Four of the eight nominees — Cher, Foreigner, Frampton and Kool & the Gang — were on the ballot for the first time.
Cher — the only artist to have a Number 1 song in each of the past six decades — and Blige, with eight multi-platinum albums and nine Grammy Awards, will help boost the number of women in the hall, which critics say is too low.
Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction.
Nominees were voted on by more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals. Fans voted online or in person at the museum, with the top five artists picked by the public making up a “fans’ ballot” that was tallied with the other professional ballots.
Last year, Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius, Kate Bush, and the late George Michael were some of the artists who got into the hall.
Will there be a ‘superbloom’ in California this year?
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/will-there-be-a-superbloom-in-california-this-year-/7579514.html
Daily EV Recap: Tesla’s biggest retail shareholder votes down CEO package
date: 2024-04-22, from: Electrek Feed
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and…
US House approves aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelming passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill on Saturday. The measure now heads to the U.S. Senate, which is expected to take up a vote early this week. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-house-approves-aid-to-ukraine-israel-taiwan/7579503.html
Coachella: Week 2, Day 3 — as it happened
date: 2024-04-22, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Reneé Rapp, J Balvin, Doja Cat and more as we report live from Indio, Calif.
The post Coachella: Week 2, Day 3 — as it happened appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/21/coachella-week-2-day-3-live-updates/
Elon Musk’s X to challenge Australian content takedown orders in court
date: 2024-04-22, updated: 2024-04-22, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
PLUS: Samsung in ‘emergency mode’; Tim Cook’s Asian charm tour; APAC AI spend to surge
Asia In Brief Elon Musk’s X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, has vowed to commence court action against Australia’s government over orders to take down content depicting violence and violent extremism.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/asia_tech_news_roundup/
Appeals court stifles US city’s efforts to remove Columbus statue
date: 2024-04-22, from: VOA News USA
PITTSBURGH — An appeals court in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania has kept alive an Italian heritage group’s challenge to efforts by the city of Pittsburgh to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from a city park.
The Commonwealth Court on Friday sent the dispute over the 13-foot bronze and granite Schenley Park statue back to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court for further consideration of issues raised by opponents of the removal.
The Italian Sons and Daughters of America filed suit in October 2020 after the Pittsburgh Art Commission voted to remove the statue and then-Mayor Bill Peduto also recommended its removal. The group argued that the mayor could not override a 1955 city council ordinance that cleared the way for installation of the 800-pound statue. City attorneys argued that the legislation was more akin to a resolution accepting a gift and no council action to rescind it was needed.
Common Pleas Judge John McVay Jr., after urging both sides for two years to work out a solution such as relocation, ruled in 2022 that because the statue is in a city-owned park, it represents government speech. But the Commonwealth Court wrote Friday that McVay erred in concluding that the group’s claims “are barred in their entirety,” rejecting what it called the idea that claims of violations of the city’s charter, code and ordinance were “irrelevant procedural quibbles.”
The appellate court did reject the group’s challenge to McVay’s refusal to remove himself from the case.
Philadelphia attorney George Bochetto, who filed the lawsuit and subsequent appeal on behalf of the group, hailed the ruling and called on the new mayor to “sit down with me to reach a resolution without further costly litigation.” A message seeking comment was sent Sunday to a spokesperson for the Pittsburgh mayor.
The Schenley Park statue, vandalized several times, was wrapped in plastic in 2020, but local news reports indicate that much of the covering has since worn away or perhaps been removed, although the head remains covered.
Disputes over Columbus statues have roiled other cities across the nation, including Philadelphia on the other side of the state, where supporters in a city with a deep Italian heritage say they consider Columbus an emblem of that heritage. Former Mayor Jim Kenney, however, said Columbus, venerated for centuries as an explorer, had a “much more infamous” history, enslaving Indigenous people and imposing harsh punishments.
After 2020 protests about racial injustice and the statue, Kenney ordered the 1876 statue’s removal, calling it a matter of public safety. But a judge reversed that decision, saying the city had failed to provide evidence of a public safety need for removal. In December 2022, a plywood box covering the statue was removed by judicial order. The group that fought for retention of the statue and removal of the covering filed suit last year alleging that officials conspired to abuse the legal process in trying to remove the statue, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Columbus statues have been removed in nearby Camden, New Jersey, and Wilmington, Delaware. In Richmond, Virginia, a statue of Christopher Columbus was torn down, set on fire and thrown into a lake. In Columbia, South Carolina, the first U.S. city named for Columbus, a statue of the explorer was removed after it was vandalized several times. Another vandalized statue in Boston also was removed from its pedestal.
pgdsat v1.1 released
date: 2024-04-22, from: PostgreSQL News
Hanoi, Vietnam - April 19th, 2024
pgdsat - PostgreSQL Database Security Assessment Tool
pgdsat is a security assessment tool that checks around 80 PostgreSQL security controls of your PostgreSQL clusters including all recommendations from the CIS compliance benchmark but not only.
This PostgreSQL Security Assessment Tool allow assessments to be carried out in an automated manner to verify the security policies established inside the company. It also gives understanding of the security issued that your cluster can be faced.
It consists in a single command that must be run on the PostgreSQL server to collect all necessaries system and PostgreSQL information to compute a security assessment report. A report consist in a summary of all tests status and a second part with all detailed information. See a sample report.
This release adds new checks and fixes issues reported by users since the first release published for the event of FOSSASIA 2024 in Hanoi. New features:
-
Add cluster version mismatch check if
–clusteris used. - Add a check to ensure a data anonymization extension is installed (pg_anonymize or anon).
- Add check to ensure tablespace location is not inside the PGDATA.
- Add statistics about checksum failures if any.
- Double check the Unix socket permission on disk.
- Add check to ensure that the public schema is protected in all database.
For the complete list of changes, please checkout the release note on https://github.com/hexacluster/pgdsat/blob/master/ChangeLog
Links & Credits
pgdsat is an open project. Any contribution to build a better tool is welcome. You just have to send your ideas, features requests or patches using the GitHub tools.
Thank to the developers who submitted patches and users who reported bugs and feature requests, they are all cited in the ChangeLog file.
Links:
- Sample report: http://www.darold.net/sample_pgdsat/report.html
- Download: https://github.com/hexacluster/pgdsat/releases
- Development: https://github.com/hexacluster/pgdsat
- Changelog: https://github.com/hexacluster/pgdsat/blob/master/ChangeLog
About pgdsat
The objective of pgdsat is to have an Open Source and free tool to help PostgreSQL users to enforce the security of their PostgreSQL clusters. Not all checks might correspond to your security policies but pgdsat aims to be a reference on which you can rely to check the compliance of security points with your policy.
Tool created at HexaCluster Corp and maintained by Gilles Darold.
pgdsat works on Linux platform and is available under the GPLv3 licence.
https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/pgdsat-v11-released-2845/
Announcing E-Maj 4.4.0.
date: 2024-04-22, from: PostgreSQL News
We are very glad to announce the 4.4.0 version of E-Maj.
E-Maj is a PostgreSQL extension which enables fine-grained write logging and time travel on subsets of the database.
This new 4.4 version mainly improves the visibility of tables groups and extension versions histories. It also fixes a few bugs. The Emaj_web client has been enhanced to take benefit of these new features.
E-Maj 4.4.0 is compatible with Postgres 11 to 16 versions.
The full documentation is available on line. The core extension is available at pgxn.org for installation or github.org for development.
The Emaj_web client is also available at github.org.
Have fun with E-Maj !
https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/announcing-e-maj-440-2846/
Terry Anderson, US journalist held captive for nearly 7 years, dies
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
los angeles, california — Terry Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, has died at 76.
Anderson, who chronicled his abduction and torturous imprisonment by Islamic militants in his best-selling 1993 memoir “Den of Lions,” died Sunday at his home in Greenwood Lake, New York, said his daughter, Sulome Anderson.
The cause of death was unknown, though his daughter said Anderson recently had heart surgery.
“He never liked to be called a hero, but that’s what everyone persisted in calling him,” said Sulome Anderson. “I saw him a week ago and my partner asked him if he had anything on his bucket list, anything that he wanted to do. He said, ‘I’ve lived so much, and I’ve done so much. I’m content.’”
After returning to the United States in 1991, Anderson led a peripatetic life, giving public speeches, teaching journalism at several prominent universities and, at various times, operating a blues bar, Cajun restaurant, horse ranch and gourmet restaurant.
He also struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, won millions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets after a federal court concluded that country played a role in his capture, then lost most of it to bad investments. He filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
Upon retiring from the University of Florida in 2015, Anderson settled on a small horse farm in a quiet, rural section of northern Virginia he had discovered while camping with friends.
“I live in the country and it’s reasonably good weather and quiet out here and a nice place, so I’m doing all right,” he said with a chuckle during a 2018 interview with The Associated Press.
In 1985 he became one of several Westerners abducted by members of the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah during a time of war that had plunged Lebanon into chaos.
After his release, he returned to a hero’s welcome at AP’s New York headquarters.
As the AP’s chief Middle East correspondent, Anderson had been reporting for several years on the rising violence gripping Lebanon as the country fought a war with Israel, while Iran funded militant groups trying to topple its government.
Chained to wall, threatened with death
On March 16, 1985, a day off, he had taken a break to play tennis with former AP photographer Don Mell and was dropping Mell off at his home when gun-toting kidnappers dragged him from his car.
He was likely targeted, he said, because he was one of the few Westerners still in Lebanon and because his role as a journalist aroused suspicion among members of Hezbollah.
“Because in their terms, people who go around asking questions in awkward and dangerous places have to be spies,” he told the Virginia newspaper Orange County Review in 2018.
What followed was nearly seven years of brutality during which he was beaten, chained to a wall, threatened with death, often had guns held to his head and often was kept in solitary confinement.
Anderson was the longest held of several Western hostages Hezbollah abducted over the years, including Terry Waite, the former envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had arrived to try to negotiate his release.
By his and other hostages’ accounts, he was also their most hostile prisoner, constantly demanding better food and treatment, arguing religion and politics with his captors, and teaching other hostages sign language and where to hide messages so they could communicate privately.
He managed to retain a quick wit and biting sense of humor during his long ordeal. On his last day in Beirut, he called the leader of his kidnappers into his room to tell him he’d just heard an erroneous radio report saying he’d been freed and was in Syria.
“I said, ‘Mahmound, listen to this, I’m not here. I’m gone, babes. I’m on my way to Damascus.’ And we both laughed,” he told Giovanna DellOrto, author of “AP Foreign Correspondents in Action: World War II to the Present.”
He learned later his release was delayed when a third party who his kidnappers planned to turn him over to left for a tryst with the party’s mistress and they had to find someone else.
Trauma lasted for years
Anderson’s humor often hid the PTSD he acknowledged suffering for years afterward.
“The AP got a couple of British experts in hostage decompression, clinical psychiatrists, to counsel my wife and myself and they were very useful,” he said in 2018. “But one of the problems I had was I did not recognize sufficiently the damage that had been done.
“So, when people ask me, you know, ‘Are you over it?’ Well, I don’t know. No, not really. It’s there. I don’t think about it much these days, it’s not central to my life. But it’s there.”
At the time of his abduction, Anderson was engaged to be married and his future wife was six months pregnant with their daughter, Sulome.
The couple married soon after his release but divorced a few years later, and although they remained on friendly terms Anderson and his daughter were estranged for years.
“I love my dad very much. My dad has always loved me. I just didn’t know that because he wasn’t able to show it to me,” Sulome Anderson told the AP in 2017.
Father and daughter reconciled after the publication of her critically acclaimed 2017 book, “The Hostage’s Daughter,” in which she told of traveling to Lebanon to confront and eventually forgive one of her father’s kidnappers.
“I think she did some extraordinary things, went on a very difficult personal journey, but also accomplished a pretty important piece of journalism doing it,” Anderson said. “She’s now a better journalist than I ever was.”
Chose Marines over Michigan
Terry Alan Anderson was born Oct. 27, 1947. He spent his early childhood years in the small Lake Erie town of Vermilion, Ohio, where his father was a police officer.
After graduating from high school, he turned down a scholarship to the University of Michigan in favor of enlisting in the Marines, where he rose to the rank of staff sergeant while seeing combat during the Vietnam War.
After returning home, he enrolled at Iowa State University where he graduated with a double major in journalism and political science and soon after went to work for the AP. He reported from Kentucky, Japan and South Africa before arriving in Lebanon in 1982, just as the country was descending into chaos.
“Actually, it was the most fascinating job I’ve ever had in my life,” he told the Orange County Review. “It was intense. War’s going on — it was very dangerous in Beirut. Vicious civil war, and I lasted about three years before I got kidnapped.”
Anderson was married and divorced three times. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Gabrielle Anderson, from his first marriage.
Episode 130 - ALGOL, Part II
date: 2024-04-21, from: Advent of Computing
This is a hefty one. I usually try to keep things as accessible as possible, but this time we have to get a little more technical than usual. We are picking up in 1964, with the first proposals for a new version of ALGOL. From there we sail through the fraught waters of ALGOL X, Y, W, and finally 68. Along the way we see how a language evolves over time, and how people and politics mesh with technical issues.
Selected Sources:
https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/1061112.1061118 - Successes and Failures of the ALGOL Effort
https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/MAHC.2010.8 - Cold War Origins of IFIP
https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/algol/algol_bulletin/ - The ALGOL Bulletin
https://adventofcomputing.libsyn.com/episode-130-algol-part-ii
Pandemic graduates face yet another ‘redesigned’ commencement
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Some seniors say USC has taken away their final chance at a full graduation ceremony.
The post Pandemic graduates face yet another ‘redesigned’ commencement appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/21/pandemic-graduates-face-yet-another-redesigned-commencement/
Who are the Class of 2024 salutatorians?
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
James McColl III and Lisa Tchitchkan were recognized as salutatorians April 2.
The post Who are the Class of 2024 salutatorians? appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/21/who-are-the-class-of-2024-salutatorians/
April 20, 2024
date: 2024-04-21, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-20-2024-11c
Niri 0.1.5 released
date: 2024-04-21, from: OS News
Earlier this year, we talked about Niri, a very unique tiling window manager for Wayland that scrolls infinitely to the right. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and while it seems polarising, I think it’s absolutely worthy of a dedicated niche. The project’s got a major new release out, and there’s a lot of improvements here. First and foremost, virtually all animations have been overhauled, and new ones have been added for almost every kind of interaction. The videos on the release page do a really good job of highlighting what they’re going for, and I think it looks great, and for the animation-averse, every individual animation can be turned off. Niri now also supports variable refresh rate, and the IPC mechanism has been improved. Among the smaller improvements is a welcome one: when using the touchscreen, the mouse cursor disappears. I really think this one has to be tried before judged, and I’m seriously contemplating setting up a Wayland environment just for this one, to see if it works for me. My window “flow”, if that makes sense, is already left-to-right, so the idea of having that effectively automated with an infinite canvas sounds very appealing to me, especially on smaller displays. I just need to figure out if it works in reality.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139385/niri-0-1-5-released/
One transported following reported hit and run on Fourl Road
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
One person was injured during a hit and run that occurred near the intersection of Fourl Road and Lyons Avenue on Sunday morning, according to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “We had a call for service regarding a hit and run at the indicated location,” said Watch Deputy Adolfo Gonzalez. “It was a vehicle […]
The post One transported following reported hit and run on Fourl Road appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/one-transported-following-reported-hit-and-run-on-fourl-road/
Opening statements expected Monday at Trump’s criminal trial
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
Microsoft now lets you download app executables directly from the Microsoft Store website
date: 2024-04-21, from: OS News
Microsoft is on a roll with updating its app store on Windows 10 and 11. Following the recent release of performance upgrades and improved algorithms, the company announced big changes in how the web version of the Microsoft Store works. Now, every user can download app executables directly from the website using new “installers for web.” ↫ Taras Buria at Neowin Neat.
Lunatik: a framework for scripting the Linux kernel with Lua
date: 2024-04-21, from: OS News
Lunatik is a framework for scripting the Linux kernel with Lua. It is composed by the Lua interpreter modified to run in the kernel; a device driver (written in Lua =)) and a command line tool to load and run scripts and manage runtime environments from the user space; a C API to load and run scripts and manage runtime environments from the kernel; and Lua APIs for binding kernel facilities to Lua scripts. ↫ Lunatik GitHub page I’m not knowledgeable enough to understand what this might be used for, but I figured y’all would be interested in this.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139381/lunatik-a-framework-for-scripting-the-linux-kernel-with-lua/
Gunshot victim transported to hospital
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
One person suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was transported to the hospital after a shooting on the 2500 block of Alicante Drive near Lupita Drive on Sunday morning, according to Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials. Deputies received reports of a shooting at 3:30 a.m. and arrived on the scene 10 minutes […]
The post Gunshot victim transported to hospital appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/gunshot-victim-transported-to-hospital/
The Weekly Frame: Fisheye
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Getting wide and wider.
The post The Weekly Frame: Fisheye appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/21/the-weekly-frame-fisheye/
Biden to talk abortion in Florida; Trump’s NY trial enters new stage
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
The trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump enters a new stage Monday when opening remarks begin. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden will make a campaign stop in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday to talk about reproductive rights. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
Santa Barbara Fish Market Celebrates Official Opening in Goleta
date: 2024-04-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara Fish Market cut an official ribbon at its newest location at The Plaza in Goleta.
The post Santa Barbara Fish Market Celebrates Official Opening in Goleta appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Tesla Cybertruck Tows An Electric RV That’s Controlled Like An RC Car
date: 2024-04-21, from: Inside EVs News
A 45 kWh battery, solar panels and dual motors make for efficient towing and easy living off grid.
https://insideevs.com/news/716869/cybertruck-pebble-flow-electric-rv/
Earth Day at the Space Base
date: 2024-04-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Vandenberg Space Force Base celebrates conservation following launch increase concerns.
The post Earth Day at the Space Base appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/21/earth-day-at-the-space-base/
Deputy dies after suffering burns in Pitchess shooting range explosion
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
By Signal Staff One of the two sheriff’s deputies who were severely burned in an explosion and fire in a mobile shooting range at the Pitchess Detention Center in October has died, according to an announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Sunday. “The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department family is devastated to […]
The post Deputy dies after suffering burns in Pitchess shooting range explosion appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-21, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
In Utah, the Town of Alta Thinks Small, With a School to Match.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/21/us/alta-utah-public-school.html
‘Civil War’ continues box-office campaign at No. 1
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
New York — “Civil War,” Alex Garland’s ominous American dystopia, remained the top film in theaters in its second week of release, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The A24 election-year gamble, the indie studio’s biggest budgeted film yet, took in $11.1 million in ticket sales at 3,929 theaters over the weekend. The $50 million film, set in a near-future U.S. in which Texas and California have joined in rebellion against a fascist president, has grossed $44.9 million in two weeks.
Its provocative premise — and A24’s marketing, which included images of U.S. cities ravaged by war — helped keep “Civil War” top of mind for moviegoers.
But it was a painfully slow weekend in theaters — the kind sure to add to concern over what’s thus far been a down year for Hollywood at the box office.
Going into the weekend, Universal Pictures’ “Abigail,” a critically acclaimed R-rated horror film about the daughter of Dracula, had been expected to lead ticket sales. It came in second with $10.2 million in 3,384 theaters.
That was still a fair result for a film that cost a modest $28 million to make. “Abigail,” which remakes the 1936 monster film “Dracula’s Daughter,” is about a 12-year-old girl taken by kidnappers who soon realize they’ve made a poor choice of hostage. It’s directed by the duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett whose production company goes by the name Radio Silence.
More concerning was the overall tepid response for a handful of new wide releases — and the likelihood that there will be more similar weekends throughout 2024. Last year’s actors and writers’ strikes, which had a prolonged effect on the movie pipeline, exacerbated holes in Hollywood’s release schedule.
Horror films, in recent years among the most reliable cash cows in theaters, also haven’t thus far been doing the automatic business they previously did. According to David A. Gross, who runs the consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, horror releases accounted for $2 billion in worldwide sales in 2023.
Guy Ritchie’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” debuted with $9 million in 2,845 theaters. In the based-on-a-true-story Lionsgate release, which reportedly cost $60 million to produce, Henry Cavill leads a World War II mission off the coast of West Africa.
Though Ritchie has been behind numerous box-office hits, including the live-action “Aladdin” and a pair of Sherlock Holmes films, his recent movies have struggled to find big audiences. The Lionsgate spy comedy “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” grossed $48 million against a $50 million budget, while MGM’s “The Covenant,” also released last year, made $21 million while costing $55 million to make.
A bright sign for “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” — audiences liked it. The film earned an A-minus CinemaScore.
The anime “Spy x Family Code: White,” from Sony’s Crunchyroll, also struggled to stand out with audiences. Though the adaptation of the Tatsuya Endo manga TV series “Spy x Family” has already been a hit with international moviegoers, it debuted below expectations with $4.9 million in 2,009 U.S. theaters.
The mightiest film globally, though, continues to be “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” The Warner Bros. monster movie has for the past month led worldwide ticket sales. It added another $9.5 million domestically and $21.6 million internationally to bring its four-week global total to $485.2 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
“Civil War,” $11.1 million.
“Abigail,” $10.2 million.
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” $9.5 million.
“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” $9 million.
“Spy x Family Code: White,” $4.9 million.
“Kung Fu Panda 4,” $4.6 million.
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” $4.4 million.
“Dune: Part Two,” $2.9 million.
“Monkey Man,” $2.2 million.
“The First Omen,” $1.7 million.
https://www.voanews.com/a/civil-war-continues-box-office-campaign-at-no-1-/7579014.html
Humans versus Machines: The Hallucination Edition
date: 2024-04-21, from: Gary Marcus blog
So many people are confused about the relation between human cognitive errors and LLM hallucinations that I wrote this short explainer: Humans say things that aren’t true for many different reasons • Sometimes they lie • Sometimes they misremember things
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/humans-versus-machines-the-hallucination
Wonderful walking tours in the Golden State
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
There is no better way to experience a city than to take to its streets, walking. Many self-guided walking tours are available throughout the Golden State exploring architecture, history and more. Tour maps are easily accessible for downloading on smart phones or printing on a home computer. Many guided walking tours for purchase are also […]
The post Wonderful walking tours in the Golden State appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/wonderful-walking-tours-in-the-golden-state/
Visit the City’s Newest Amenity – Skyline Ranch Park!
date: 2024-04-21, from: City of Santa Clarita
By City Manager Ken Striplin As City Manager for 12 years now and a longtime resident of Santa Clarita, I am always proud to see how our community continues to grow. In 1987, the City was 39 square miles, today, we are now over 73 square miles and growing. Thanks to the leadership of our […]
The post Visit the City’s Newest Amenity – Skyline Ranch Park! appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.
https://santaclarita.gov/blog/2024/04/21/visit-the-citys-newest-amenity-skyline-ranch-park/
Summer camp options
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
Summer camp season will be here before parents know it. While children anxiously await the last day of school, adults know that it can be challenging to keep kids occupied and mentally stimulated when they aren’t in the classroom. Although it may be alright to enjoy a few days lounging around and playing video games, […]
The post Summer camp options appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/summer-camp-options/
How to find the right fit for summer camp
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
Many adults fondly recall their days at summer camp. The increase in households with two working parents has made it more important than ever to find a camp to accommodate youngsters who need to remain engaged and entertained throughout over summer vacation. That reality has led to more summer camp options, but it’s not always […]
The post How to find the right fit for summer camp appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/how-to-find-the-right-fit-for-summer-camp/
Upstart Lucid has new models, CEO talks pending SUVs, EV future
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
One showroom at Lucid One, the headquarters of Lucid Motors in Newark, includes a display of stators, the electric motor component that helps create a magnetic field. It’s a mini-museum and geek-out showcase for electric vehicle engineering enthusiasts.
The 2024 Mercedes Maybach GLS 600 Ultra Luxury SUV
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
What is a GLS 600? The GLS 600 is an ultra luxury full size SUV built in the Vance, Alabama assembly plant, and sold worldwide by Mercedes Benz. The Maybach brand is at the top of the Mercedes Benz S Class lineup of luxury vehicles, and is built with an exquisitely furnished and extra indulgent cabin.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/21/the-2024-mercedes-maybach-gls-600-ultra-luxury-suv/
@Tomosino’s Mastodon feed (date: 2024-04-21, from: Tomosino’s Mastodon feed)
If any of you are going by the kitchen can you grab me some water? Thanks
https://tilde.zone/@tomasino/112310028733771128
Ukrainian and Western leaders laud US aid package while the Kremlin warns of ‘further ruin’
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Ukrainian and Western leaders on Sunday welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, as the Kremlin warned that passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.
TikTok raises free speech concerns on bill passed by US House that may ban app
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
Washington — TikTok on Sunday raised free speech concerns about a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would ban the popular social media app in the U.S. if its Chinese owner ByteDance did not sell its stake within a year.
The House passed the legislation on Saturday by a margin of 360 to 58. It now moves to the Senate where it could be taken up for a vote in the coming days. President Joe Biden has previously said he will sign the legislation.
The step to include TikTok in a broader foreign aid package may fast-track the timeline on a potential ban after an earlier separate bill stalled in the U.S. Senate.
“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans,” TikTok said in a statement.
Many U.S. lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties and the Biden administration say TikTok poses national security risks because China could compel the company to share the data of its 170 million U.S. users. TikTok insists it has never shared U.S. data and never would.
Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Sunday said TikTok could be used as a propaganda tool by the Chinese government.
“Many young people on TikTok get their news (from the app), the idea that we would give the (Chinese) Communist Party this much of a propaganda tool as well as the ability to scrape 170 million Americans’ personal data, it is a national security risk,” he told CBS News.
Some progressive Democrats have also raised free speech concerns over a ban and instead asked for stronger data privacy regulations.
Democratic U.S. Representative Ro Khanna said on Sunday that he felt a TikTok ban may not survive legal scrutiny in courts, citing the U.S. Constitution’s free speech protections.
“I don’t think its going to pass First Amendment scrutiny,” he said in an interview to ABC News.
The House voted on March 13 to give ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app, or face a ban. The legislation passed on Saturday gives a nine-month deadline which could be further extended by three months if the president were to determine progress toward a sale.
TikTok was also a topic of conversation in a call between Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping earlier this month. The White House said Biden raised American concerns about the app’s ownership.
Microsoft is a national security threat, says ex-White House cyber policy director
date: 2024-04-21, updated: 2024-04-21, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
With little competition at the goverment level, Windows giant has no incentive to make its systems safer
Interview Microsoft has a shocking level of control over IT within the US federal government – so much so that former senior White House cyber policy director AJ Grotto thinks it’s fair to call Redmond’s recent security failures a national security issue. …
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/21/microsoft_national_security_risk/
Lana Del Rey’s Motorcycle Coachella Entrance Was More of a Thing Than You Know
date: 2024-04-21, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
The fire marshalls had some issues.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/716647/lana-del-rey-motorcycle-coachella-ryvid/
Facing Facts
date: 2024-04-21, from: Gary Marcus blog
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” If all we had was ChatGPT, we could say, hmm “maybe hallucinations are just a bug”, and fantasize that they weren’t hard to fix. If all we had was Gemini, we could say, hmm “maybe hallucinations are just a bug”.
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/facing-facts
Firstgreen remote operated electric skid steer hopes to reduce mining deaths
date: 2024-04-21, from: Electrek Feed
Mining fatalities climbed more than 30 percent from 2022 to 2023, with construction fatalities also continuing to rise. In a bid to help keep miners safe, FIRSTGREEN Industries has launched a new line of cabinless, remote operated skid steers designed specifically for use in critical mining operations.
Milpitas police launch transparency portal
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Website’s resources aimed at increasing accountability.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/21/milpitas-police-launch-transparency-portal/
Saratoga Rotary Art Show’s impact is felt throughout South Bay
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
In its 65th year, event’s support of local nonprofits has ripple effect.
Burglars break into 6 vehicles at Saratoga apartments
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Value of items stolen is about $125.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/21/burglars-break-into-6-vehicles-at-saratoga-apartments/
Mavis Staples joins lineup for Heritage Theatre’s 20th anniversary
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Iconic musician, 84, takes the stage May 10 at Campbell venue.
Saratoga Blossom Festival rescheduled to June 8 after weather delay
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
April event date was rained out.
South Bay springs forth with wine and food events
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
Area is replete with Derby Day events, wine dinners.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/21/south-bay-springs-forth-with-wine-and-food-events/
AccuWeather Calls Out Tesla Cybertruck Caught In New Orleans Storm
date: 2024-04-21, from: Inside EVs News
Wade Mode may get you out of a tough spot, but best to avoid these situations if you can.
https://insideevs.com/news/716032/tesla-cybertruck-rainfall-water-new-orleans/
Five hundred and thirty reasons to visit Bradford
date: 2024-04-21, from: RiscOS Open
This year’s show organised by WROCC is once again taking place in the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford on Saturday 27th April from 10:30am to 4:30pm. The venue has convenient road and rail access – see the Google map for directions.
Worth a visit
Whether you’re travelling from La Rochelle (France), Mannheim (Germany), Svenstrup (Denmark), or even Hovden (Norway), that 530 mile trip is sure to be worth making – drop by the RISC OS Open stand to discuss the latest developments in RISC OS and share your thoughts for the future with us.
Over in the show theatre a number of talks will be taking place during the day, including RISC OS Open.
http://www.riscosopen.org/news/articles/2024/04/21/five-hundred-and-thirty-reasons-to-visit-bradford
Saratoga city manager to depart in June after 10 years
date: 2024-04-21, from: San Jose Mercury News
James Lindsay has worked for the city since 2011.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/21/saratoga-city-manager-to-depart-in-june-after-10-years/
LEVER WEEKLY: Affordable Medicine Is Locked Up In The Ivory Tower
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Lever News
From public universities colluding with Big Pharma to Democrats crushing voter choice, here’s all the news from The Lever this week.
https://www.levernews.com/lever-weekly-affordable-medicine-is-locked-up-in-the-ivory-tower/
Have You Seen Beta’s New 390 and 500 RS Special Editions?
date: 2024-04-21, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
All the enduro you need in a street-legal package.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/716524/beta-390-500-rs-special-edition/
NF really is consistent
date: 2024-04-21, from: Logic Matters blog
About eighteen months ago, I noted here that a project was underway to verify Randall Holmes’s rather impenetrable claimed proof of the consistency of NF, using the Lean proof verification system. The project has now been completed by Sky Wilshaw, a Part III student in Cambridge, building on the earlier work of some other students. […]
The post NF really is consistent appeared first on Logic Matters.
https://www.logicmatters.net/2024/04/21/nf-really-is-consistent/
Uber goes to Washington
date: 2024-04-21, from: Enlightenment Economics
Uber arouses strong opinions, for some good reasons. The trouble is – for those who strongly dislike the company’s treatment of its drivers – that it offers a service users and even some drivers seem to like a lot. That … Continue reading
http://www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.php/2024/04/uber-goes-to-washington/
David Hegg | Stick to Your Values
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
By David Hegg With election season in full swing and electioneering filling our mailboxes and TV screens, it’s time to remind ourselves that the most important decisions we make as Americans don’t come in the voting booth. I’m talking about the bedrock values upon which our great democracy is built. As Abraham Lincoln described […]
The post David Hegg | Stick to Your Values appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/david-hegg-stick-to-your-values/
Brian Richards | Useful Idiots!
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
Many of us who have been in California have lived through droughts. I remember my grandparents in Hayward capturing shower water in the early 1970s so they could water their plants. This was back when the climate was perfectly static and never changed. Through 2021-22, California experienced a drought. They tend to happen given our […]
The post Brian Richards | Useful Idiots! appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/brian-richards-useful-idiots/
Rob Kerchner | Presidential Chutzpah
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Signal
It takes a lot of chutzpah to stand before America and condemn the money-grubbing “rich” who “don’t pay their fair share of taxes” in a State of the Union when your son is facing multiple felony counts for not paying any income tax at all, and you received much of the money yourself, also without […]
The post Rob Kerchner | Presidential Chutzpah appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/rob-kerchner-presidential-chutzpah/
Sunday caption contest: The twelve
date: 2024-04-21, from: Robert Reich on Substack
And last week’s winner
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-caption-contest-support
Tesla lowers price of ‘Full Self-Driving’ to $8,000, down from $12,000
date: 2024-04-21, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla has once again lowered the price of its Full Self-Driving software by $4,000, now costing $8,000, down from a previous price of $12,000 in the US.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/21/tesla-lowers-price-of-full-self-driving-to-8000-down-from-12000/
Hawaii lawmakers take aim at vacation rentals after wildfire amplifies housing crisis
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
HONOLULU — A single mother of two, Amy Chadwick spent years scrimping and saving to buy a house in the town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. But after a devastating fire leveled Lahaina in August and reduced Chadwick’s home to white dust, the cheapest rental she could find for her family and dogs cost $10,000 a month.
Chadwick, a fine-dining server, moved to Florida where she could stretch her homeowners insurance dollars. She’s worried Maui’s exorbitant rental prices, driven in part by vacation rentals that hog a limited housing supply, will hollow out her tight-knit town.
Most people in Lahaina work for hotels, restaurants and tour companies and can’t afford $5,000 to $10,000 a month in rent, she said.
“You’re pushing out an entire community of service industry people. So no one’s going to be able to support the tourism that you’re putting ahead of your community,” Chadwick said by phone from her new home in Satellite Beach on Florida’s Space Coast. “Nothing good is going to come of it unless they take a serious stance, putting their foot down and really regulating these short-term rentals.”
The August 8 wildfire killed 101 people and destroyed housing for 6,200 families, amplifying Maui’s already acute housing shortage and laying bare the enormous presence of vacation rentals in Lahaina. It reminded lawmakers that short-term rentals are an issue across Hawaii, prompting them to consider bills that would give counties the authority to phase them out.
Gov. Josh Green got so frustrated he blurted an expletive during a recent news conference.
“This fire uncovered a clear truth, which is we have too many short-term rentals owned by too many individuals on the mainland and it is b———t,” Green said. “And our people deserve housing, here.”
Vacation rentals are a popular alternative to hotels for those seeking kitchens, lower costs and opportunities to sample everyday island life. Supporters say they boost tourism, the state’s biggest employer. Critics revile them for inflating housing costs, upending neighborhoods and contributing to the forces pushing locals and Native Hawaiians to leave Hawaii for less expensive states.
This migration has become a major concern in Lahaina. The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, a nonprofit, estimates at least 1,500 households — or a quarter of those who lost their homes — have left since the August wildfire.
The blaze burned single family homes and apartments in and around downtown, which is the core of Lahaina’s residential housing. An analysis by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization found a relatively low 7.5% of units there were vacation rentals as of February 2023.
Lahaina neighborhoods spared by the fire have a much higher ratio of vacation rentals: About half the housing in Napili, about 11 kilometers north of the burn zone, is short-term rentals.
Napili is where Chadwick thought she found a place to buy when she first went house hunting in 2016. But a Canadian woman secured it with a cash offer and turned it into a vacation rental.
Also outside the burn zone are dozens of short-term rental condominium buildings erected decades ago on land zoned for apartments.
In 1992, Maui County explicitly allowed owners in these buildings to rent units for less than 180 days at a time even without short-term rental permits. Since November, activists have occupied the beach in front of Lahaina’s biggest hotels to push the mayor or governor to use their emergency powers to revoke this exemption.
Money is a powerful incentive for owners to rent to travelers: a 2016 report prepared for the state found a Honolulu vacation rental generates 3.5 times the revenue of a long-term rental.
State Rep. Luke Evslin, the Housing Committee chair, said Maui and Kauai counties have suffered net losses of residential housing in recent years thanks to a paucity of new construction and the conversion of so many homes to short-term rentals.
“Every alarm bell we have should be ringing when we’re literally going backwards in our goal to provide more housing in Hawaii,” he said.
In his own Kauai district, Evslin sees people leaving, becoming homeless or working three jobs to stay afloat.
The Democrat was one of 47 House members who co-sponsored one version of legislation that would allow short-term rentals to be phased out. One objective is to give counties more power after a U.S. judge in 2022 ruled Honolulu violated state law when it attempted to prohibit rentals for less than 90 days. Evslin said that decision left Hawaii’s counties with limited tools, such as property taxes, to control vacation rentals.
Lawmakers also considered trying to boost Hawaii’s housing supply by forcing counties to allow more houses to be built on individual lots. But they watered down the measure after local officials said they were already exploring the idea.
Short-term rental owners said a phase-out would violate their property rights and take their property without compensation, potentially pushing them into foreclosure. Some predicted legal challenges.
Alicia Humiston, president of the Rentals by Owner Awareness Association, said some areas in West Maui were designed for travelers and therefore lack schools and other infrastructure families need.
“This area in West Maui that is sort of like this resort apartment zone — that’s all north of Lahaina — it was never built to be local living,” Humiston said.
One housing advocate argues that just because a community allowed vacation rentals decades ago doesn’t mean it still needs to now.
“We are not living in the 1990s or in the 1970s,” said Sterling Higa, executive director of Housing Hawaii’s Future. Counties “should have the authority to look at existing laws and reform them as necessary to provide for the public good.”
Courtney Lazo, a real estate agent who is part of Lahaina Strong, the group occupying Kaanapali Beach, said tourists can stay in her hometown now but many locals can’t.
“How do you expect a community to recover and heal and move forward when the people who make Lahaina, Lahaina, aren’t even there anymore?” she said at a recent news conference as her voice quivered. “They’re moving away.”
CSUN drops series to Highlanders after intense final game
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)
After splitting the first two games of the series against UC Riverside (14-24, 8-10 Big West) on Friday, the Matadors lost a closely contested ball game on Saturday to close…
https://sundial.csun.edu/180894/sports/csun-drops-series-to-highlanders-after-intense-final-game/
Today in SCV History (April 21)
date: 2024-04-21, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1994 – Sand Canyon homeowner Eddie Murray sets MLB record for switch-hit home runs in games (11 times). [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-april-21/
How to get rid of New York City rats without brutality? Birth control is one idea
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
Chicago’s response to migrant influx stirs long-standing frustrations among its Blacks
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
CHICAGO — The closure of Wadsworth Elementary School in 2013 was a blow to residents of the majority-Black neighborhood it served, symbolizing a city indifferent to their interests.
So when the city reopened Wadsworth last year to shelter hundreds of migrants without seeking community input, it added insult to injury. Across Chicago, Black residents are frustrated that long-standing needs are not being met while the city’s newly arrived are cared for with a sense of urgency, and with their tax dollars.
“Our voices are not valued nor heard,” said Genesis Young, a lifelong Chicagoan who lives near Wadsworth.
Chicago is one of several big American cities grappling with a surge of migrants. The Republican governor of Texas has been sending them by the busload to highlight his grievances with the Biden administration’s immigration policy.
To manage the influx, Chicago has already spent more than $300 million of city, state and federal funds to provide housing, health care, education and more to over 38,000 mostly South American migrants who have arrived in the city since 2022, desperate for help. The speed with which these funds were marshaled has stirred widespread resentment among Black Chicagoans.
But community leaders are trying to ease racial tensions and channel the public’s frustrations into agitating for the greater good.
Political reactions
The outcry over migrants in Chicago and other large Democrat-led cities is having wider implications in an election year: The Biden administration is now advocating a more restrictive approach to immigration in its negotiations with Republicans in Congress.
Since the Wadsworth building reopened as a shelter, Young has felt “extreme anxiety” because of the noise, loitering and around-the-clock police presence that came with it. More than anything, she and other neighbors say it is a reminder of problems that have been left unsolved for years, including high rates of crime, unemployment and homelessness.
“I definitely don’t want to seem insensitive to them and them wanting a better life. However, if you can all of a sudden come up with all these millions of dollars to address their housing, why didn’t you address the homeless issue here?” said Charlotte Jackson, the owner of a bakery and restaurant in the South Loop neighborhood.
“For so long we accepted that this is how things had to be in our communities,” said Chris Jackson, who co-founded the bakery with his wife. “This migrant crisis has made many people go: ‘Wait a minute, no it doesn’t.’”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to comment for this story.
The city received more than $200 million from the state and federal governments to help care for migrants after Johnson appealed to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and President Joe Biden. The president will be in Chicago in August to make his reelection pitch at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Some see opportunity
Some Black Chicagoans are protesting the placement of shelters in their neighborhoods, but others aim to turn the adversity into an opportunity.
“Chicago is a microcosm to the rest of the nation,” said the Reverend Janette C. Wilson, national executive director of the civil rights group PUSH for Excellence. Black communities have faced discrimination and underinvestment for decades and are justifiably frustrated, Wilson said. The attention the migrants are receiving is deserved, she added, but it’s also a chance for cities to reflect on their responsibility to all underserved communities.
“There is a moral imperative to take care of everybody,” Wilson said.
After nearly two years of acrimony, the city has begun to curb some accommodations for migrants – which has caused its own backlash. The city last month started evicting migrants who overstayed a 60-day limit at shelters, prompting condemnation from immigrant rights groups and from residents worried about public safety.
Marlita Ingram, a school guidance counselor who lives in the South Shore neighborhood, said she was concerned about the resources being shared “equitably” between migrants and longtime residents. But she said she also believed that “it doesn’t have to be a competition” and sympathized with the nearly 6,000 migrant children now enrolled in Chicago’s public schools.
As the potential for racial strife rises, some activists are pointing to history as a cautionary tale.
Hundreds of thousands of Black Southerners moved to Chicago in the early 20th century in search of greater freedoms and economic opportunities. White Chicagoans at the time accused them of receiving disproportionate resources from the city, and in 1919 tensions boiled over.
In a surge of racist attacks in cities across the U.S. that came to be known as “Red Summer,” white residents burned large swaths of Chicago’s Black neighborhoods and killed 38 Black people, including by lynching.
“Those white folks were, like, ‘Hell, no, they’re coming here, they’re taking our jobs,’ ’’ said Richard Wallace, founder of Equity and Transformation, a majority-Black community group that co-hosted a forum in March to improve dialogue between Black and Latino residents.
Echoes of past
He hears echoes of that past bigotry — intentional or not — when Black Chicagoans complain about the help being given to migrants. “How did we become like the white folks who were resisting our people coming to the city of the Chicago?” he said.
Labor and immigrant rights organizers have worked for years to tamp down divisions among working class communities. But the migrant crisis has created tensions between the city’s large Mexican American community and recently arrived migrants, many of whom hail from Venezuela.
“If left unchecked, we all panic, we’re all scared, we’re going to retreat to our corners,” said Leone Jose Bicchieri, executive director of Working Family Solidarity, a majority-Hispanic labor rights group. “The truth is that this city wouldn’t work without Black and Latino people.”
Black Americans’ views on immigration and diversity are expansive. The Civil Rights Movement was instrumental in pushing the U.S. to adopt a more inclusive immigration policy.
About half of Black Americans say the United States’ diverse population makes the country strong, including 30% who say it makes the U.S. “much stronger,” according to a March poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Many leaders in Black neighborhoods in and around Chicago are trying to acknowledge the tensions without exacerbating them.
“Our church is divided on the migrant crisis,” said the Reverend Chauncey Brown, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Maywood, Illinois, a majority-Black suburb of Chicago where some migrants are living in shelters.
There has been a noticeable uptick of non-English speakers in the pews, many of whom have said they are migrants in need of food and other services, Brown said. Some church members cautioned him against speaking out in support of migrants or allotting more church resources to them. But he said the Bible’s teachings are clear on this issue.
“When a stranger enters your land, you are to care for them as if they are one of your own,” he said.
Update: Man Dies After Plummeting 50 Feet off Cliff in Isla Vista
date: 2024-04-21, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The fall occurred behind 6625 Del Playa Drive on Saturday afternoon after the unidentified male reportedly climbed over a barrier fence.
The post Update: Man Dies After Plummeting 50 Feet off Cliff in Isla Vista appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/20/man-plummets-50-feet-off-cliff-in-isla-vista/
Artists stun at Day 1 of Coachella’s second weekend
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The Daily Trojan covered the music lovers’ mecca live for the first time, and the start of 2024’s Weekend 2 did not disappoint.
The post Artists stun at Day 1 of Coachella’s second weekend appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/20/artists-stun-at-day-1-of-coachellas-second-weekend/
April 20, 2024
date: 2024-04-21, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
Cheering broke out in the gallery and among Democrats on the floor of the House of Representatives this afternoon when the House passed the $60.8 billion aid bill for Ukraine. The vote was 311–112, with all Democrats and 101 Republicans voting in favor and 112 Republicans voting against. One Republican voted present.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-20-2024
Taiwan to discuss with US how to use new funding
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s defense ministry said Sunday it will discuss with the United States how to use funding for the island included in a $95 billion legislative package mostly providing security assistance to Ukraine and Israel.
The United States is Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms supplier despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Democratically governed Taiwan has faced increased military pressure from China, which views the island as its own territory. Taiwan’s government rejects those claims.
The defense ministry expressed thanks to the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the package on Saturday, saying it demonstrated the “rock solid” U.S. support for Taiwan.
The ministry added it “will coordinate the relevant budget uses with the United States through existing exchange mechanisms and work hard to strengthen combat readiness capabilities to ensure national security and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan has since 2022 complained of delays in deliveries of U.S. weapons such as Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, as manufacturers focused on supplying Ukraine to help the country battle invading Russian forces.
Underscoring the pressure Taiwan faces from China, the ministry said Sunday morning that during the previous 24 hours 14 Chinese military aircraft had crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait.
The median line once served as an unofficial border between the two sides, which neither military crossed. But China’s air force now regularly sends aircraft over it. China says it does not recognize the line’s existence.
On Saturday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said China had again carried out “joint combat readiness patrols” with Chinese warships and warplanes around Taiwan.
China’s defense ministry did not answer calls seeking comment outside of office hours Sunday.
The island’s armed forces are dwarfed by those of China’s, especially the navy and air force.
https://www.voanews.com/a/taiwan-to-discuss-with-us-how-to-use-new-funding-/7578608.html
Once foreign aid bill signed, this is how US can rush weapons to Ukraine
date: 2024-04-21, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon could get weapons moving to Ukraine within days once Congress passes a long-delayed aid bill. That’s because it has a network of storage sites in the U.S. and Europe that hold the ammunition and air defense components that Kyiv desperately needs.
Moving fast is critical, CIA Director Bill Burns said this past week, warning that without additional aid from the U.S., Ukraine could lose the war to Russia by the end of this year.
“We would like very much to be able to rush the security assistance in the volumes we think they need to be able to be successful,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
The House approved $61 billion in funding for the war-torn country Saturday. It still needs to clear the Senate and President Joe Biden’s signature.
Once that happens, “we have a very robust logistics network that enables us to move material very quickly,” Ryder told reporters this past week. “We can move within days.”
Ready to go
The Pentagon has had supplies ready to go for months but hasn’t moved them because it is out of money. It has spent the funding Congress previously provided to support Ukraine, sending more than $44 billion worth of weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
By December, the Pentagon was $10 billion in the hole, because it is going to cost more now to replace the systems it sent to the battlefield in Ukraine.
As a result, the Pentagon’s frequent aid packages for Ukraine dried up because there had been no guarantee that Congress would pass the additional funding needed to replenish the weapons the U.S. has been sending to Ukraine.
The lag in weapons deliveries has forced Ukrainian troops to spend months rationing their dwindling supply of munitions.
How US can quickly move weapons
When an aid package for Ukraine is announced, the weapons are either provided through presidential drawdown authority, which allows the military to immediately pull from its stockpiles, or through security assistance, which funds longer-term contracts with the defense industry to obtain the systems.
The presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, as it’s known, has allowed the military to send billions of dollars’ worth of ammunition, air defense missile launchers, tanks, vehicles and other equipment to Ukraine.
“In the past, we’ve seen weapons transferred via presidential drawdown authority arrive within a matter of days,” said Brad Bowman, director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies center on military and political power.
Those stocks are pulled from bases or storage facilities in the U.S. or from European sites where the U.S. has surged weapons to cut down on the amount of time it will take to deliver them once the funding is approved.
Storage in US
The military has massive weapons storage facilities in the U.S. for millions of rounds of munitions of all sizes that would be ready to use in case of war.
For example, the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in Oklahoma sprawls across more than 16,000 hectares connected by rail and has a mission to surge as many as 435 shipping containers — each able to carry 15 tons worth of munitions — if ordered by the president.
The facility is also a major storage site for one of the most used munitions on Ukraine’s battlefield, 155 mm howitzer rounds.
The demand by Ukraine for that particular shell has put pressure on U.S. stockpiles and pushed the military to see where else it could get them. As a result, tens of thousands of 155 mm rounds have been shipped back from South Korea to McAlester to be retrofitted for Ukraine.
Storage in Europe
According to a U.S. military official, the U.S. would be able to send certain munitions “almost immediately” to Ukraine because storehouses exist in Europe.
Among the weapons that could go very quickly are the 155 mm rounds and other artillery, along with some air defense munitions. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss preparations not yet made public.
A host of sites across Germany, Poland and other European allies also are helping Ukraine maintain and train on systems sent to the front. For example, Germany set up a maintenance hub for Kyiv’s Leopard 2 tank fleet in Poland, near the Ukrainian border.
The nearby maintenance hubs hasten the turnaround time to get needed repairs done on the Western systems.
CSUN alumnus becomes ambassador for Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)
Dominic Parker was seven years old when Barack Obama won the 2008 election. His older sister, Rochelle, who is African-American, had followed the campaign closely along with his mother. In…
CSUN alumnus becomes ambassador for Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign
date: 2024-04-21, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)
Dominic Parker was seven years old when Barack Obama won the 2008 election. His older sister, Rochelle, who is African-American, had followed the campaign closely along with his mother. In…
First ever electric semi truck rides into Mexico with SDG&E
date: 2024-04-21, from: Electrek Feed
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) says the maiden voyage of their Class 8 heavy-duty electric semi marks the first time an electric semi has crossed the border hauling a standard load, marking an important milestone as the two nations move toward a net zero future.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/20/first-ever-electric-semi-truck-rides-into-mexico-with-sdge/
Full Circle Weekly News 362
date: 2024-04-21, from: Full Circle Magazine
Credits
- Host: @bardictriad, @zaivala
- Bumper: Canonical
- Theme Music: From The Dust - Stardust
- https://soundcloud.com/ftdmusic
- CC BY 4.0
https://fullcirclemagazine.org/podcasts/podcast-362/
I somehow managed to lock myself out of my Authy secrets
date: 2024-04-21, from: Ze Iaso’s blog
https://xeiaso.net/notes/2024/authy-fuckup/
“No way to prevent this” say users of only language where this regularly happens
date: 2024-04-21, from: Ze Iaso’s blog
https://xeiaso.net/shitposts/no-way-to-prevent-this/CVE-2024-2961/