News gathered 2024-04-29
(date: 2024-04-29 13:21:35)
Tornado-battered towns in Oklahoma clean up after deadly storms
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The storms, part of an outbreak of severe weather across the middle of the U.S., began in Oklahoma late Saturday and killed four people, including an infant, and left at least 100 others injured, authorities said. The deadly weather in Oklahoma followed dozens of tornadoes that raked Iowa and Nebraska on Friday, killing one person.
The First Major Line-Up Announcement Is Kenny Loggins for September’s One805LIVE! Event
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara, CA, April 29, 2024 — One805 is thrilled to announce the 2024 One805LIVE! concert supporting Santa Barbara’s First Responders.
The post The First Major Line-Up Announcement Is Kenny Loggins for September’s One805LIVE! Event appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Pacifica Graduate Institute Welcomes Deneatrice A. Lewis, MS, as Vice President of People, Culture, and Belonging
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara, CA — 4/29/2024— With Diversity Equity and Inclusion policies, programs, and initiatives under the microscope of legislative and
The post Pacifica Graduate Institute Welcomes Deneatrice A. Lewis, MS, as Vice President of People, Culture, and Belonging appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Guatemala becoming tourism hot spot for young travelers
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Guatemala is a friendly country that remains largely unexplored by many Americans.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/guatemala-tourism-guide-trendy-young-travelers/
Noah and Tish Cyrus ignite fascination with lurid mother-daughter triangle
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Over the weekend, Noah Cyrus slammed someone who asked her on Instagram about her mother getting ‘sexy’ with her reported ex-lover, actor Dominic Purcell.
Cash-strapped election offices have fewer resources after bans on private grants
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The debate over the role of outside money reveals a broader worry among election experts, who say there are significant shortcomings in local government funding of election offices.
Original ‘Star Trek’ Enterprise Model Resurfaces Decades After It Went Missing
date: 2024-04-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The model used in the original series’ opening credits is now back with Eugene Roddenberry Jr., the son of the show’s creator
Sale closed in Palo Alto: $3.5 million for a three-bedroom home
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
A house located in the 300 block of Iris Way in Palo Alto has new owners. The 1,284-square-foot property, built in 1948, was sold on April 9, 2024, for $3,460,000, or $2,695 per square foot.
Open source Z80 clone seeks to help bring classic chip back from the dead
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Whether the project will bear fruit is perhaps questionable
Zilog’s classic Z80 chip is soon to be dead, though it might not be gone forever if one open source project succeeds in its goal to clone the legendary processor.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/open_source_z80_clone/
On the move: Former Saint Mary’s guard Aidan Mahaney commits to UConn
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Aidan Mahaney has transferred to UConn, he announced Monday.
Vote now: Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Make your choice for the top performance among girls high school athletes from April 22-27
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/vote-now-bay-area-news-group-girls-athlete-of-the-week-113/
The path to a better tuberculosis vaccine runs through Montana
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
While it is 40% to 80% effective in young children, its efficacy is very low in adolescents and adults, leading to a worldwide push to create a more powerful vaccine.
How Intelligent Was T. Rex? Scientists Suggest the Dinosaurs Were Like ‘Smart, Giant Crocodiles’
date: 2024-04-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine
A new paper refutes the idea that T. rex was as brainy as a baboon, furthering the debate on the extinct reptile’s intellect
New star putting her own stamp on ‘Funny Girl’: ‘No universe in which I will be Barbra Streisand’
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Katerina McCrimmon takes Broadway by storm with performance in iconic role in revived “Funny Girl.”
Rivian Reveals New Charger Design That Works With Other EVs
date: 2024-04-29, from: Inside EVs News
The new Rivian charger works with both 400- and 800-volt EVs and features CCS connectors with no native NACS support.
https://insideevs.com/news/717894/rivian-adventure-network-new-charger/
Vote now: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Make your choice for the top performance among boys high school athletes from April 22-27
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/vote-now-bay-area-news-group-boys-athlete-of-the-week-116/
San Jose’s Los Tigres del Norte still going strong after more than 50 years
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Ever wonder how Los Tigres del Norte got its name? Here’s that story and so much more about this incredible San Jose band.
Doobie Brothers star goes from San Jose State to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
We chat with vocalist-guitarist Tom Johnston, the former San Jose State University student who helped form the Doobie Brothers.
Brentwood: Police suspected couple of $50,000 liquor store burglary when they stumbled upon DMT lab
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
A Brentwood man and woman made headlines when police found a suspected drug lab at their home, but it was a burglary at Hops and Scotch in Walnut Creek that led them there.
Unsheltered people are losing Medicaid in redetermination mix-ups
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
There’s no public data on how many unhoused people nationwide have lost Medicaid, but homeless service providers and experts say it’s a big problem.
Review | Surveying the Rhiannon Landscape
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Rhiannon Giddens’s Arlington concert from UCSB Arts & Lectures gave an overview of her brilliant career in motion.
The post Review | Surveying the Rhiannon Landscape appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/29/review-surveying-the-rhiannon-landscape/
Haiku Stairs hikers arrested during last-chance trek to Hawaii’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
“Due to rampant illegal trespassing, Haiku Stairs is a significant liability and expense for the city,” councilmember Esther Kiaʻāina said.
Best of the West: The top prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft (Oregon, Colorado and Arizona are loaded)
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
In a twist, Arizona and Colorado have more high-round talent than USC and Washington. Meanwhile, Oregon is loaded.
FTC orders Razer to refund customers who bought its Zephyr face mask
date: 2024-04-29, from: Liliputing
Remember when gaming hardware company Razer decided it was a good idea to launch a face mask with RGB lighting effects, a clear window that let people see your face while you talk, and “N95 grade filters?” And remember how it turned out the Razer Zephyr face mask didn’t actually filter out 95% of airborne […]
The post FTC orders Razer to refund customers who bought its Zephyr face mask appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/ftc-orders-razer-to-refund-customers-who-bought-its-zephyr-face-mask/
Gaza Solidarity Encampment opens at UC Riverside; Cal Poly Pomona protest planned
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The sit-in is announced via social media posts that demand the university’s action as Cal Poly Pomona student plan protest.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/gaza-solidarity-encampment-opens-at-uc-riverside/
Musk schmoozes Chinese Premier as Tesla Full Self-Driving remains parked
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Automaker could really do with the training data
Tesla boss Elon Musk met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing to discuss electric vehicles and self-driving cars.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/elon_musk_china_visit/
Get Blix’s Ultra e-bike with free accessories from $1,399, Anker PowerCore Reserve Power Station $110, and more
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
Kicking off this week’s Green Deals is a new Spring Savings sale from Blix Bikes that is taking up to $700 off its e-bike models and also giving you up to $465 in free add-on accessories, with the Ultra Fat-Tire All-Terrain e-bike hitting a new $1,399 low. It is joined by the return of the Anker PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Station to $110, as well as the Bosch Tronic 4000 6.5kW Electric Tankless Water Heater at $158. 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.
The Home Page | Everything’s Blooming for Earth Day
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
A plethora of plants, purple doors, and poppies.
The post The Home Page | Everything’s Blooming for Earth Day appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/29/the-home-page-everythings-blooming-for-earth-day/
2024 high school grads could face nearly $37,000 in college debt
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Amid financial aid delays stretching months beyond what’s typical, some students are feeling pressured to make college decisions without even knowing how much they’ll be required to pay.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/2024-high-school-grads-could-face-nearly-37k-in-college-debt/
Student from California killed at party near University of Arizona
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Three other people — a teenage girl, a man and a woman — were treated at a hospital early Sunday for injuries.
San Jose airport passenger rebound shows signs of losing altitude
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Passenger travel at San Jose International Airport is showing signs of fading.
DeSantis, Trump meet to make peace, plan fundraising
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
DeSantis has a deep network of donors from his runs for governor and president. Though he endorsed Trump when he dropped his bid for the GOP nomination in a video after failing to gain traction, he has yet to campaign or fundraise on Trump’s behalf.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/desantis-trump-meet-to-make-peace-plan-fundraising/
Truck driver charged with misdemeanor in fatal Pleasanton crash
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The driver was determined to be speeding, according to police.
More Bay Area Rite Aids closing, including one in San Jose
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Drugstore chain Rite Aid added three Bay Area stores this month to its growing list of nationwide store closures.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/more-bay-area-rite-aids-closing-including-one-in-san-jose/
London Drugs closes all of its pharmacies following ‘cybersecurity incident’
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Canadian stores shuttered ‘until further notice’
Canadian pharmacy chain London Drugs has closed all of its stores until further notice following a “cybersecurity incident.”…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/canada_london_drugs/
Review | Lizzy McAlpine’s ‘The Older Tour’
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The Philly-raised singer-songwriter is unabashedly herself on opening night of her new tour.
The post Review | Lizzy McAlpine’s ‘The Older Tour’ appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/29/review-lizzy-mcalpines-the-older-tour/
San Jose: Driver died due to injuries from February collision
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
The driver was initially stabilized after the Feb. 23 crash at the intersection of Saratoga Avenue and Moorpark Avenue.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/san-jose-driver-died-due-to-injuries-from-february-collision/
NASA Sets Coverage for Boeing Starliner’s First Crewed Launch, Docking
date: 2024-04-29, from: NASA breaking news
NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, which will carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to and from the International Space Station. Launch of the ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket and Boeing Starliner spacecraft is targeted for 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, […]
Santa Barbara Fishermen and Enviros Team Up to Remove Lobster Traps from Local Beaches
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Twenty-five volunteers with Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and members of the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara and Tidy Seas remove thousands of pounds’ worth of traps and debris from the coastline.
The post Santa Barbara Fishermen and Enviros Team Up to Remove Lobster Traps from Local Beaches appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
The Horse’s Mane
date: 2024-04-29, from: NASA breaking news
This image of part of the Horsehead Nebula, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and released on April 29, 2024, shows the nebula in a whole new light, capturing the region’s complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution. Located roughly 1,300 light-years away, the nebula formed from a collapsing interstellar cloud of material, and glows because […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/the-horses-mane/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Florida’s 6-Week Abortion Ban Is Taking Effect This Week.
https://truthout.org/articles/floridas-6-week-abortion-ban-is-taking-effect-this-week/
US House, Senate agree on bill to boost safety of air travel
date: 2024-04-29, from: VOA News USA
Five Productions Filming in Santa Clarita
date: 2024-04-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The city of Santa Clarita’s Film Office released the list of five productions currently filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week of Monday, April 29 - Sunday, May
https://scvnews.com/five-productions-filming-in-santa-clarita/
California now has 1 EV fast charging station for every 5 gas stations
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced on Saturday that there is now one EV fast charging station for every five gas stations in California.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/29/california-1-dc-fast-charging-station-for-every-5-gas-stations/
Tesla Wants To Turn Cars Into ‘Amazon Web Services’ On Wheels. Here’s How
date: 2024-04-29, from: Inside EVs News
Tesla envisions turning its future cars into mobile distributed data centers where it can monetize a car’s onboard computing power like Amazon AWS.
https://insideevs.com/news/717206/tesla-distributed-datacenter-on-wheels/
NASA Sets Coverage for Dragon Spacecraft Relocation on Space Station
date: 2024-04-29, from: NASA breaking news
In preparation for the arrival of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, four crew members aboard the International Space Station will relocate the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft to a different docking port Thursday, May 2, to make way for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. NASA will provide live coverage of the move beginning at 7:30 a.m. EDT on […]
Climate Investors Aren’t Buying Your AI Startup
date: 2024-04-29, from: Heatmap News
At San Francisco Climate Week, everyone wanted to talk about artificial intelligence.
“I was looking through all of the events on SF Climate Week, and it seemed like every single one of them had AI somewhere in the name,” joked (sort of) Rohan Nuttell of OpenAI last week, while moderating a panel called AI for Climate.
Sure, with over 300 events, there were opportunities for climate nerds to learn about carbon dioxide removal or sustainable fashion or grid infrastructure. But AI was inescapable. I heard from companies using AI to monitor flood risk, model forest carbon sequestration, and help utilities identify vulnerabilities from climate threats. I even learned about a company using AI to decarbonize pet food.
Yet one notable section of the climate world wasn’t buying the hype: Investors. In my one-on-one conversations with venture capitalists and other financiers throughout the week, the prevailing approach was wait and see. It was a striking departure from the rest of Silicon Valley, where 6-month-old AI startups are getting multi-billion-dollar valuations.
“I think there are very few large business opportunities that have single-handedly been unlocked,” Sophie Purdom, managing Partner at climate tech VC Planeteer Capital, told me, with regards to AI. “Maybe they make it better or faster or whatnot. But I don’t think we’ve seen a whole lot of new large markets that have suddenly been uniquely unlocked in climate.”
One problem is that AI can mean anything from “we have a machine learning algorithm” to “we use a large language model to help write your climate grant applications,” as this company does. But that distinction is important. Generative AI, which takes in reams of data and spits out brand-new content (think ChatGPT or DALL-E), is what’s been driving the AI hype machine since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022. Eventually, generative AI could have powerful climate implications — think the development of novel EV battery chemistries or synthesis of new, more climate-friendly proteins.
But not quite yet, Shawn Xu, a partner at climate tech VC Lowercarbon Capital, told me.
Xu said he was left disappointed after a Climate AI hackathon that Lowercarbon hosted with OpenAI last year. “To be honest there was a lag between the number of interesting AI engineers and founders who wanted to go build real climate applications coming out of that hackathon.”
In the last couple of months though, Xu has been excited to see AI companies proposing “foundational models” for sectors like materials science and biology. These are generative models trained on large datasets that can perform a wide variety of tasks, like a ChatGPT for meteorology or architecture that could build weather models or design green buildings. “But I don’t think that there has been a slam dunk case on a company that we’re excited about yet,” Xu said.
This doesn’t mean that Lowercarbon and other climate tech investors are avoiding AI investments. There are plenty of well-funded climate tech companies using increasingly powerful machine learning models and algorithms to analyze patterns in large datasets and predict outcomes. It’s just that this isn’t exactly new. Companies across many industries have been using this type of predictive AI for much of the last decade. Now incorporating generative AI in the form of large language models is becoming relatively common too.
“Anything that’s solving workflow inefficiencies, anything that’s helping you get context from somewhere else, anything that’s helping you understand more data,” are well understood applications of AI that Juan Muldoon, a partner at climate software VC Energize Capital, told me he’s excited about.
“I think you’re going to see it materially impact long-running operational costs for [energy] projects,” Scott Jacobs, co-founder and CEO of the sustainable infrastructure investment firm Generate Capital, told me. “It’s just another use of technology replacing humans.”
That doesn’t always make for a particularly flashy business. Muldoon cited one of Energize’s portfolio companies, Jupiter Intelligence, which “takes very, very large amounts of climate, weather, and terrain data to be able to more accurately predict asset level risks associated with particular climate events,” he explained. “So that’s a data AI company. But it’s not really marketed that way.”
Maybe that’s because in this era, the term is almost self-evident. As an old editor once told me, writing that a tech company uses “machine learning” or “AI” to perform data analysis can be as mundane and obvious as advertising that a company uses “the internet.” But as generative AI moves beyond advanced chatbots and towards the type of broader foundational models that Xu is most excited about, investment could heat up.
Xu told me that Lowercarbon has made a yet-unannounced investment in a company that gathers vast amounts of earth observation data, which could hopefully one day be used to create a “foundational model for earth science.” This model could potentially do things such as generate custom maps to track natural disasters or the climate risks to crops and built infrastructure. Xu says a company like this would be “a holy grail.”
Yet the main holdup to some of these “holy grail” companies is that we often lack not only enough data but a comprehensive understanding of how to characterize that data, said Clea Kolster, partner and head of science at Lowercarbon.
“We’ve seen a lot of pitches on AI for chemistry,” she told me. And while AI could spit out new atomic and molecular combinations for use in novel battery cells, “the amount of those new things that are actually going to be good is probably very small until you actually start to have a better understanding of how many of these materials work in different structures and environments.”
Even if scientists and researchers get a better handle on the datasets they’re working with, Purdom told me she’s generally skeptical of investing in companies that use AI to do basic R&D, citing the buzzy example of AI being used in critical minerals exploration and extraction “The competency of the prospecting and the R&D approach seems distinct to me from the actual value extraction, physical resource extraction part of the business,” she told me. The same could be said of using AI for battery design or protein development. “I have seen few examples where the platform approach of just the research and identification part is where there’s been a big standalone business.”
Not to say everyone takes that point of view. Bay Area-based KoBold Metals, an AI-enabled minerals exploration company, has raised over a billion dollars, with Bill Gates’ climate tech VC, Breakthrough Energy Ventures as a leading investor.
But overall, the potential for novel applications of AI in the climate space is still largely being figured out. And in these early stages, many climate investors are treading carefully.
“I have talked to a number of these AI companies,” Jacobs told me. “They’re talking about climate impacts and they have real value propositions that they’re going after. Great! But they don’t have real success stories yet.”
https://heatmap.news/technology/climate-tech-venture-capital-ai
Mission: Impossible’s Motorcycle Stunt Rig is Something You Have to See
date: 2024-04-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
That’s one way to film your actors.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717757/mission-impossible-rogue-nation-motorcycle-stunt-rig/
May 2: Parks Commission to Discuss Rink Sports Pavilion
date: 2024-04-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission will hold its regular meeting Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m., in Council Chambers at City Hall
https://scvnews.com/may-2-parks-commission-to-discuss-rink-sports-pavilion/
Smartphone builder Xiaomi rolls 10,000 units of its flagship SU7 off assembly line in just 32 days
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
Just over a month after launching its first-ever BEV, smartphone developer, Xiaomi is touting some big production numbers for the SU7. Better yet, such output supports encouraging orders to date as the Chinese tech company is off to a hot start in its newly entered vehicle manufacturing segment.
Cloudflare CEO sues over free-roaming fidos at his ski resort paradise
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Who let the dogs out?
When regular people have disputes with neighbors, the more reasonable party will grit their teeth, bite their tongue, and try to avoid conflict as much as possible. When billionaires have disputes with millionaire neighbors, they’ll see you in court.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/cloudflare_ceo_dog_lawsuit/
Reuniones comunitarias de SB Esencial
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Únase a nosotros en una serie de reuniones comunitarias dedicadas a debatir las finanzas y el estado de los servicios
The post Reuniones comunitarias de SB Esencial appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/29/reuniones-comunitarias-de-sb-esencial/
HAPPY ELECTION DAY
date: 2024-04-29, from: The California Tech (Caltech student paper)
Voting for all ASCIT positions is now OPEN on Donut! Article contains more details on ASCIT presidential candidates’ plans and campaign platforms.
https://tech.caltech.edu/2024/04/26/happy-election-day/
Peaceful Sit-In for Palestine
date: 2024-04-29, from: The California Tech (Caltech student paper)
Caltech students plan to hold a peaceful protest about the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict to take place Monday April 29th 10:30am–12:00pm.
https://tech.caltech.edu/2024/04/26/palestine-sit-in/
Essential SB Community Town Hall Events
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Join us for a series of Community Town Halls dedicated to discussing the City’s finances and the status of essential
The post Essential SB Community Town Hall Events appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/29/essential-sb-community-town-hall-events/
Moulin Rouge Windmill Blades Fall Off in the Middle of the Night
date: 2024-04-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The iconic Paris landmark has never experienced such a mishap in its 135-year history
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/moulin-rouge-windmill-blades-fall-off-180984235/
NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars
date: 2024-04-29, from: NASA breaking news
The Sun will be at peak activity this year, providing a rare opportunity to study how solar storms and radiation could affect future astronauts on the Red Planet. In the months ahead, two of NASA’s Mars spacecraft will have an unprecedented opportunity to study how solar flares — giant explosions on the Sun’s surface — […]
https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/mars/nasa-scientists-gear-up-for-solar-storms-at-mars/
Arc Search iPhone App Now Syncs Arc Sidebar Tabs
date: 2024-04-29, from: TidBITS blog
An update to the Arc Search app for the iPhone gives Arc users using macOS and Windows access to all their tabs and the ability to save pages from the iPhone to the Arc sidebar.
https://tidbits.com/2024/04/29/arc-search-iphone-app-now-syncs-arc-sidebar-tabs/
Banker in key transaction testifying Tuesday at Trump trial
date: 2024-04-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/banker-in-key-transaction-testifying-tuesday-at-trump-trial/7589508.html
NASA Administrator Names New Stennis Space Center Director
date: 2024-04-29, from: NASA breaking news
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Monday named John Bailey as director of the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, effective immediately. Bailey had been serving as acting director since January. “John will build on his nearly 35 years of federal service to lead our talented workforce at Stennis,” said Nelson. “So much […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-administrator-names-new-stennis-space-center-director/
Memorial Service Announced for Slain Idaho Deputy, TMU Alum
date: 2024-04-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Tobin Bolter, a 2017 graduate of The Master’s University, was killed earlier this month in the line of duty working as a deputy for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in Boise, Idaho
https://scvnews.com/memorial-service-announced-for-slain-idaho-deputy-tmu-alum/
Tesla unveils new Cybertruck off-roading features, Cybertent mode, and more
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla has unveiled a new Cybertruck software update coming to bring new off-roading features to the electric pickup truck, as well as Cybertent mode, and more.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/29/tesla-cybertruck-off-roading-features-cybertent-mode/
Intel tells mobo makers to go easy on the BIOS settings amid CPU instability reports
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Do not disable safeguards by default, says chipmaker
Intel is reportedly telling motherboard manufacturers to use its recommended BIOS settings by default to stop CPU instability issues with 13th and 14th Generation chips.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/intel_cpu_instability_motherboards/
CrytoChameleon Phishing Kit Targets LastPass, Others
date: 2024-04-29, from: TidBITS blog
If you have a LastPass account, beware of voice phishing calls that will warn about your account being accessed from a new device. Are we on the cusp of being targeted by AI-driven phishing calls?
https://tidbits.com/2024/04/29/crytochameleon-phishing-kit-targets-lastpass-others/
A Case for Community
date: 2024-04-29, from: Tilde.news
https://h-i.works/2024/04/a-case-for-community.html
Watch Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Drag Race A Tesla Model Y Performance
date: 2024-04-29, from: Inside EVs News
Except for a quirk in the EX30’s throttle response, these two high performance vehicles are very evenly matched at the drag strip.
https://insideevs.com/news/717768/race-volvo-ex30-tesla-model-y/
Major Martian Milestones
date: 2024-04-29, from: NASA breaking news
There’s good news from NASA’s Cloudspotting on Mars project! That’s the project that invites you to help identify exotic clouds high in the Martian atmosphere. Congratulations to the Cloudspotting on Mars team and all the volunteers who have helped spot Martian clouds!
https://science.nasa.gov/get-involved/citizen-science/major-martian-milestones/
The Public Finally Has Access to an Accurate List of Japanese Americans Detained During World War II
date: 2024-04-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Researchers who spent years fixing errors in shoddy government records have partnered with Ancestry to make a wide selection of historical documents related to the period available for free
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
My family lost the Civil War. Last year they finally lost this symbol of power.
NIO begins public trials of its 150 kWh semi-solid-state battery packs ahead of a full rollout
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
Less than a month after beginning mass production of its new semi-solid-state battery packs, NIO has opened the technology to the public in China to trial this month, ahead of a full rollout of official operations.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/29/nio-begins-public-trials-150-kwh-semi-solid-state-battery-packs/
Breaking: US, other G7 countries to phase out coal by early 2030s
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
In a historic agreement, the G7 just agreed to phase out coal in the first half of the 2030s, according to statements made today.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/29/us-g7-countries-to-phase-out-coal-by-early-2030s/
New Audiobook Anthology Highlights Public Domain Folktales from 1928
date: 2024-04-29, from: Internet Archive Blog
After Laura Gibbs retired from teaching mythology and folklore at the University of Oklahoma, she wanted to continue sharing her love of storytelling with digital learners everywhere. Following her own […]
Apple’s pleas ineffective: iPadOS on EU’s gatekeeper list
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
iFought the law, but the law wasn’t particularly interested in my line of reasoning
The European Commission just brought months of legal wrangling to an end with a decision to add Apple’s iPadOS to the Digital Markets Act’s list of gatekeepers. …
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/apple_ipados_dma_gatekeeper/
I went to China to test drive Yadea’s electric scooters, e-bikes, and A LOT more!
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
I recently took a trip to China to visit Yadea’s sprawling Anhui factory, which is just one of the company’s eight worldwide manufacturing centers. Together, they produced over 16 million electric vehicles last year, more than all of the big electric car manufacturers combined.
Since these pint-sized electric vehicles are so massively popular, I wanted to go there and try them myself and see what all the fuss was about. As it turns out, there’s a good reason why these are the best-selling little EVs in the world! And now that several of the models are coming to Europe and North America, Yadea’s lineup is looking even more interesting.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/29/test-drive-yadea-electric-scooters-e-bikes/
Rescuers Save 130 Beached Pilot Whales in Western Australia After Mass Stranding
date: 2024-04-29, from: Smithsonian Magazine
An additional 29 whales died, officials reported last week, while the reason behind the stranding remains unknown
What does it mean to be a red state or a blue state?
date: 2024-04-29, from: VOA News USA
Here’s a look at how the tradition of calling states that usually favor Republicans “red” and Democrats “blue” came about.
https://www.voanews.com/a/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-red-state-or-a-blue-state-/7589354.html
ACEMAGIC F2A Mini PC with Intel Meteor Lake now available for $699 and up
date: 2024-04-29, from: Liliputing
The ACEMAGIC F2A is a small desktop computer with dual HDMI ports, a 2.5 GbE LAN port, and support for WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. It’s also the first mini PC from ACEMAGIC powered by an Intel Meteor Lake processor, which brings Intel Arc integrated graphics and an NPU for hardware-accelerated AI features. That’s why […]
The post ACEMAGIC F2A Mini PC with Intel Meteor Lake now available for $699 and up appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/acemagic-f2a-mini-pc-with-intel-meteor-lake-now-available-for-699-and-up/
Consumers, jobs and interest rates — oh my!
date: 2024-04-29, from: Marketplace Morning Report
This week, we’re getting important insights on how the U.S. economy is doing. We’ll receive reports on consumer confidence, the unemployment rate and how many jobs are out there. And in the middle of it all, the Federal Reserve is meeting to discuss what to do with interest rates. We’ll sort through it all. Plus, musicians love the sounds of nature. Now, those sounds can help support environmental causes.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/consumers-jobs-and-interest-rates-oh-my
Jill On Money: What’s your retirement number?
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
What will it take for you to retire comfortably? For years, people would contact me to help them figure out their “NUMBER,” as if there were one, magic number that anybody could use. A recent oft-quoted survey from Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance tried to boil the results down to one number and (drum roll, please) it is […]
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/jill-on-money-whats-your-retirement-number/
WROCC comes face to face with Doom, thanks to Gerph
date: 2024-04-29, from: RiscOS Story
Okay, it’s a talk, and it’ll also feature Hexen and Heretic Coming just days after this year’s Wakefield Show, the next Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club (WROCC) meeting will take place on Wednesday, 1st May, and the guest speaker will be Charles Ferguson, aka Gerph. He’ll be talking about the work he did to port Doom to RISC OS, which was during his university days, and later became the enhanced Doom+, which was then followed by ports of Heretic and Hexen. And more recently, updated versions of the games, allowing…
https://www.riscository.com/2024/wrocc-comes-face-to-face-with-doom-thanks-to-gerph/
An emergency slide falls off a California-bound Delta plane, forcing pilots to return to New York
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Delta said the plane was removed from service for evaluation and it was cooperating with investigators and supporting efforts to find the slide.
VirtuDesk 1.14 released
date: 2024-04-29, from: RiscOS Story
If you sometimes find your RISC OS desktop a bit cluttered (which speaking personally would make it much like my real desktop) one solution is to close a few windows (or in the case of my actual desk, put some stuff away). Another solution is to run a piece of software that expands the size of the desktop beyond the visible area shown on screen, and move some of your windows into other spaces, ready for access when necessary. One such piece of software is VirtuDesk, by David Llewellyn-Jones, aka…
https://www.riscository.com/2024/virtudesk-1-14/
San Jose: Family courthouse closes again Monday amid power struggle with PG&E
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Family Justice Center is dark for first half of Monday after another generator fails, continuing electricity problems since an initial equipment failure in March.
BusyCal 2024.2.1
date: 2024-04-29, from: TidBITS blog
https://tidbits.com/watchlist/busycal-2024-2-1/
Python, Flutter teams latest on the Google chopping block
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Never mind the record revenues, costs must be cut
Updated Google’s latest round of layoffs have hit engineers working on its Flutter and Python teams.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/google_python_flutter_layoffs/
Two wounded in separate Oakland shootings hours apart
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Motives and suspects are being sought in the shooting of two men in East Oakland Sunday night and Monday morning.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/two-wounded-in-separate-oakland-shootings-hours-apart/
Long Lost Song Hunted By Thousands Found in 80s Porno
date: 2024-04-29, from: 404 Media Group
The search is over for ‘Everyone Knows That,’ also known as ‘Ulterior Motives’ by Christopher Saint Booth, when it was found in the pornographic film “Angels of Passion.”
https://www.404media.co/ekt-everyone-knows-that-song-ulterior-motives-christopher-booth-porn/
Elon Musk Goes To China, Brings Home A Win For Tesla’s Full Self-Driving
date: 2024-04-29, from: Inside EVs News
Musk’s meeting with officials in China goes a long way toward his autonomy dreams. Meanwhile, Ford faces an investigation too.
https://insideevs.com/news/717826/musk-china-critical-materials/
Polestar shows off 5 GT charging capabilities, replenishing 10-80% in just ten minutes [Video]
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
Polestar is showcasing the charging capabilities of the upcoming Polestar 5 sports sedan using a prototype model and StoreDot’s Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) technology. This is the first EV to test StoreDot’s ultra-fast charging technology, and the initial tests are quite promising.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/29/polestar-5-gt-charging-capabilities-10-80-ten-minutes-video-ev/
April 28, 2024
date: 2024-04-29, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-28-2024-2e2
How Slack used Deno to save months of engineering effort in launching their new platform
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: Deno blog
Learn how building with Deno helped Slack launch their new development platform in weeks and not months.
https://deno.com/blog/slack-saves-engineering-effort-with-deno
California is joining with a New Jersey company to buy a generic opioid overdose reversal drug
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Amneal Pharmaceuticals will sell naloxone to California for $24 per pack, or about 40% cheaper than the market rate. California will give away the packs for free to first responders, universities and community organizations through the state’s Naloxone Distribution Project.
Innovation that Impacts All NASA Missions: Improving How We Engineer Our Systems
date: 2024-04-29, from: NASA breaking news
Download PDF: Innovation that Impacts All NASA Missions: Improving How We Engineer Our Systems John F. Kennedy set the tone for NASA’s culture in 1961 during his famous speech on going to the Moon, “We choose to go to the Moon not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard; because that goal will serve to […]
Many Russian immigrants in California buy propaganda that Nazis thrive in Ukraine
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Russian propaganda is strong. It can convince Russian ex-pats in California that Ukrainians are nationalists and Nazis.
Twilio cofounder buys The Onion
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Satirical news site asks everyone for a buck
The former CEO of web comms tools provider Twilio has bought The Onion, the US satirical magazine that saw its popularity boom in the early days of the web.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/extwilio_ceo_buys_the_onion/
MSI 1P17 is a slim fanless desktop PC with Alder Lake N and 2.5 GbE LAN
date: 2024-04-29, from: Liliputing
The MSI 1P17 is a small fanless computer with an Intel Alder Lake-N processor that packs dual 2.5 GbE Lan ports, two video outputs, six USB ports and a COM port into a slim chassis that measures just 197 x 163 x 25mm (7.8″ x 6.4″ x 1″). Part of MSI’s line of industrial computers […]
The post MSI 1P17 is a slim fanless desktop PC with Alder Lake N and 2.5 GbE LAN appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/msi-1p17-is-a-slim-fanless-desktop-pc-with-alder-lake-n-and-2-5-gbe-lan/
Vespa World Days Welcomed Over 20,000 Fans To Italy
date: 2024-04-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
What’s more, an estimated 15,000 scooters spanning the entire range of Vespa’s history rode in the parade.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717691/vespa-world-days-2024-photos/
Russia Clones Wikipedia, Censors It, Bans Original
date: 2024-04-29, from: 404 Media Group
Ruviki is intended to be a more “trustworthy” source of information for Russians by editing out anything that makes the Russian government look bad.
https://www.404media.co/russia-clones-wikipedia-censors-it-bans-original/
How a NASA Probe Solved a Scorching Solar Mystery
date: 2024-04-29, from: Quanta Magazine
The outer layers of the sun’s atmosphere are a blistering million degrees hotter than its surface. The hidden culprit? Magnetic activity.The post How a NASA Probe Solved a Scorching Solar Mystery first appeared on Quanta Magazine
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-nasa-probe-solved-a-scorching-solar-mystery-20240429/
Polestar 5 Prototype Charges 10-80% In 10 Minutes At Over 370 KW
date: 2024-04-29, from: Inside EVs News
The Polestar prototype had a special 77-kWh battery pack with experimental silicon-dominant cells provided by StoreDot.
https://insideevs.com/news/717837/polestar-5-prototype-charging-test/
Why are two Sunnyvale dogs eating dirt and is it bad for them?
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
And what happened to all the hummingbirds in my garden?
TasteFood: Make carnitas for Cinco de Mayo tacos and tasty leftovers
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
This festive, flavorful recipe for Pork Carnitas is great for any feast.
Wish You Were Here: Japanese adventures in Kyoto, Tokyo
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
A Union City couple reports back on their Japanese adventures, from sea urchin tastings to a towering bamboo forest.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/29/wish-you-were-here-japanese-adventures-in-kyoto-tokyo/
9 classic Bay Area concert halls — and what to listen to when you’re there
date: 2024-04-29, from: San Jose Mercury News
Peek inside Antioch’s El Campanil, Lafayette’s pre-World War I Town Hall, San Jose’s magnificent California Theater and more with us.
OpenAI slapped with GDPR complaint: How do you correct your work?
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Irresistible magical tech runs headlong into immovable personal data regulations
Privacy activist group noyb (None of Your Business) has filed a complaint against OpenAI, alleging that the ChatGPT service violates GDPR rules since its information cannot be corrected if found inaccurate.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/openai_hit_by_gdpr_complaint/
Fork it! It’s time for a Mastodon hard fork
date: 2024-04-29, from: Tilde.news
https://privacy.thenexus.today/mastodon-hard-fork/
Tesla (TSLA) surges on reports China is approving Full Self-Driving deployment
date: 2024-04-29, from: Electrek Feed
Tesla’s stock (TSLA) is surging this morning on several reports that China is going to approve the automaker’s deployment of its Full Self-Driving package in the country.
Tech Companies Promise to Try to Do Something About All the AI CSAM They’re Enabling
date: 2024-04-29, from: 404 Media Group
The biggest tech companies in the world pledge to do something about the harmful AI images they are actively enabling.
Here’s How Yamaha Fakes a Throttle Blip In Its EV-Motocross Bike
date: 2024-04-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Why would an electric bike need a clutch? For very good reasons, actually.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717689/yamaha-electric-motocross-transmission-patent/
France willing to buy key Atos assets to keep them French
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Finance minister says government has interests in IT giant’s ‘sovereign activities’
The French government has tabled an offer to buy key assets of ailing IT giant Atos after the company late last week almost doubled its estimate of the cash it will need to stay afloat in the near future.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/france_buy_atos_assets/
Tornadoes Torment Central States
date: 2024-04-29, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: An orange alert for severe thunderstorms is in effect across China’s southern provinces • More rain is expected in Kenya, where extreme flooding has killed at least 70 people • Bangladesh reopened its schools despite an ongoing heat wave.
THE TOP FIVE
- Hundreds of tornadoes rip through central U.S.
Devastating severe thunderstorms wreaked havoc across the Midwest and Southern Plains over the weekend, spawning hundreds of tornadoes and threatening 47 million people. More than 80 tornadoes were reported across five states on Friday alone. Twisters tore through several towns in Nebraska and Iowa, damaging homes and leaving at least one person dead. An outbreak of some 22 tornadoes in Oklahoma killed at least four people and leveled neighborhoods Saturday and Sunday. In the town of Sulphur, Oklahoma, “it seems like every business downtown has been destroyed now,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt.
- House heads into ‘natural resources week’
The House is voting this week on a bunch of legislation coming out of the Natural Resources Committee, E&E News reported. On the docket during “natural resources week” are bills that would give the green light to canceled Alaskan oil and gas leases, remove federal protections for the gray wolf, and let hunters use lead ammunition and tackle on public lands. The full list is here.
- G7 leaders reportedly eyeing 2035 for closing coal-fired power
plants
Environmental ministers from G7 nations (the United States, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, and Japan) meet in Turin, Italy, this week to “make the course set out by COP28 practical, real, concrete,” said Italy’s Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. The 2024 Meeting on Climate, Energy, and Environment is the first major political meeting since last year’s climate summit in Dubai, where nations pledged to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. The hope is that the talks in Turin will serve as a “strategic link” between COP28 and this year’s COP29 in Azerbaijan. Already there are signs of progress:
- Ministers have reportedly “agreed in principle” to a goal of increasing electricity storage capacity sixfold to 1,500 gigawatts by 2030, in part by boosting battery storage development and supply chains, according to the Financial Times. Such a commitment would help fulfill the COP28 pledge to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
- Ministers are considering a target of 2035 for G7 nations to shutter their coal-fired power plants, Reuters reported. Japan “has pushed back against an ambitious shift away from coal,” the FT added.
Other topics up for discussion include new financing models for climate change adaptation, the future roles of nuclear and biofuels in the energy mix, and power grid investments. A report out last week found that no G7 nation is on track to meet 2030 emissions reduction targets.
- Latest round of global plastics treaty talks end today
In Canada, talks on a global plastics treaty come to an end today. The nation’s environment minister Steven Guilbeault said delegates have been “making strides” toward hammering out the details of the international, legally binding treaty, ahead of a final meeting on the text in November of this year. “The treaty could include provisions for what kind of plastics would be controlled, how control measures would be implemented and paid for, and timelines for restricting or banning certain substances,” reported The Globe and Mail. Guilbeault hoped these talks would result in about 70% of the treaty’s text being agreed. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels, and major oil and gas producers see the plastics market as a “plan B” as the world looks to reduce the use of fossil fuels in energy production. According to analysis from the Center for International Environmental Law, nearly 200 fossil fuel and chemical lobbyists registered for this round of talks, a 37% increase from the last meeting in November 2023.
- Red Sea conflict leads to rise in shipping emissions
More than 13 million tons of extra CO2 has been emitted from the shipping sector over the last four months as ocean freighters use longer routes to avoid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Bloomberg reported. That’s about the same as the emissions from 9 million cars over the same time period. The statistics come from a report produced by consultancy INVERTO. “The extra emissions resulting from this crisis will increase companies’ carbon footprints – making it very hard to hit their net zero targets,” said Sushank Agarwal, a managing director at the company. About 80% of the world’s goods are traded by ship, and international shipping accounts for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been attacking ships in the region in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
THE KICKER
In response to the recent deluge in Dubai, the crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum, has approved an ambitious (and expensive) upgrade to the city’s drainage infrastructure.
https://heatmap.news/tornadoes-iowa-nebraska-oklahoma
Watch the Cboys Attempt Hell’s Gate on Three Mini Bikes
date: 2024-04-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Hell’s Gate is the proving ground for any serious off-road vehicle. So there’s no way wannabe Groms could ascend it… right?
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717653/cboys-hells-gate-mini-bikes/
Tesla Model 3 Performance’s $1,000 Price Jump Suggests Strong Demand
date: 2024-04-29, from: Inside EVs News
The first examples of the 510 horsepower electric sport sedan are expected to arrive this June.
https://insideevs.com/news/717784/tesla-model3-performance-instant-price-hike/
Hubble Space Telescope has gyro problems again
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
At 34, things don’t seem to work how they used to
The Hubble Space Telescope has celebrated the 34th anniversary of its launch in the traditional way: by entering safe mode due to an ongoing gyroscope issue.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/hubble_space_telescope_has_gyro/
Watch This Scooter Rider Carry An Entire Wardrobe
date: 2024-04-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Moving day just got a lot more interesting.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717683/scooter-rider-carries-furniture-alone/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-29, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Remarks by President Biden at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Scroll to the end where he talks about the role of journalism in protecting our freedom.
JMP: this week’s sponsor
date: 2024-04-29, from: OS News
JMP is a fully FOSS service providing a way to get a real phone number that operates over the internet using XMPP. They provide numbers in the USA and Canada with everything you need to access SMS/MMS/etc. and voice calls using your XMPP (or SIP) clients of choice across all your devices. They are committed to growing the use of open communications technology such as XMPP, ultimately working to help people move their communication off the unencrypted telephone network and onto the federated, encrypted, and diverse Jabber network. We thank JMP for sponsoring OSNews this week, and they even offer a discount code for OSNews readers who sign up for the service. Use the code OSNEWS for one free month after paying for your account initially.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139475/jmp-this-weeks-sponsor/
9front “DO NOT INSTALL” released
date: 2024-04-29, from: OS News
There’s a new 9front release! So, what exactly is 9front, you may ask? Well, after it became clear that Bell Labs wasn’t doing much with plan9, a group of developers took matters into their own hands and created 9front, a fork of plan9. Their latest release is called DO NOT INSTALL, and brings things like more USB audio support, DNS over TLS, WiFi support for the Raspberry Pi, I2C support, and much more. I’m not particularly well-versed in the world of plan9, and more often than not it feels like a form of high-level programming performance art that I’m just not smart enough to understand. The whole community and its associated web sites have a very unique feel to it, and I always feel like I’m just not cool enough to be part of it. That’s not a dig at the plan9 community – it’s more of an indictment of my lack of coolness. Which really shouldn’t come as a surprise.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139493/9front-do-not-install-released/
run0: a systemd-based, more secure replacement for sudo
date: 2024-04-29, from: OS News
Lennart Poettering, main developer of systemd, has announced run0, a systemd-based replacement for the well-known sudo command that fixes many of he inherent issues with the widely used tool to gain temporary elevated privileges. There are various problems with sudo, which basically come down to that it’s a large SUID binary, meaning it consists of privileged code that unprivileged users can run from their own context. This makes sudo a fairly large attack surface, and why OpenBSD uses doas instead; while doas suffers from the same main problem, it’s much smaller and reduces the attack surface considerably. SUID processes are weird concepts: they are invoked by unprivileged code and inherit the execution context intended and controlled by unprivileged code. By execution context I mean the myriad of properties that a process has on Linux these days, from environment variables, process scheduling properties, cgroup assignments, security contexts, file descriptors passed, and so on and so on. A few of these settings the kernel is nice enough to clean up automatically when a SUID binary is invoked, but much of it has to be cleaned up by the invoked suid binary. This has to be done very very carefully, and history has shown that SUID binaries are generally pretty shit at that. ↫ Lennart Poettering Poettering wants to address this problem, and has come up with run0, which behaves like sudo, but works entirely differently and is not SUID. Run0 asks the services manager to create a shell or command under the target user’s ID, creating a new PTY, sending data back and forth from the originating TTY and the new PTY. Or in other words: the target command is invoked in an isolated exec context, freshly forked off PID 1, without inheriting any context from the client (well, admittedly, we do propagate $TERM, but that’s an explicit exception, i.e. allowlist rather than denylist). One could say, “run0” is closer to behaviour of “ssh” than to “sudo”, in many ways. Except that it doesn’t bother with encryption or cryptographic authentication, key management and stuff, but instead relies on the kernel’s local identification mechanisms. run0 doesn’t implement a configuration language of its own btw (i.e. no equivalent of /etc/sudoers). Instead, it just uses polkit for that, i.e. how we these days usually let unpriv local clients authenticate against priv servers. ↫ Lennart Poettering This approach addresses a whole slew of attack vectors on sudo, and it comes with fun additional features like being able to give your terminal a different background tint when using it, or displaying a little red dot in the terminal window title to further indicate you’re using elevated privileges. It will ship as part of the upcoming release of systemd 256.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139490/run0-a-systemd-based-more-secure-replacemen-for-sudo/
This Company Turned Evel Knievel’s Final Stunt Bike Into a Watch
date: 2024-04-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Wear history on your wrist.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717673/evel-knievel-stunt-motorcycle-watch/
UK lays down fresh legislation banning crummy default device passwords
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
New laws mean vendors need to make clear how long you’ll get updates too
Smart device manufacturers will have to play by new rules in the UK as of today, with laws coming into force to make it more difficult for cybercriminals to break into hardware such as phones and tablets.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/uk_lays_password_legislation/
A copper gold rush courtesy of the energy transition
date: 2024-04-29, from: Marketplace Morning Report
A copper mining company recently turned down a $39 billion takeover bid because it was too low. Right now, the price of copper is near a 2-year high and headed higher. And the metal is critical in many clean energy technologies. Plus, the Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady at its latest policy meetings. When might that change? We also examine the fallout of a strong U.S. dollar.
Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Sales Stayed Flat For 2024 Q1
date: 2024-04-29, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Revenue was also down by three percent as compared to the same period in 2023.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717665/harley-motorcycle-sales-q1-2024/
Bechele 3.0 puppet | #MagPiMonday
date: 2024-04-29, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
Keen to delight family members, maker Rolf Jethon used Raspberry Pi to animate a puppet.
The post Bechele 3.0 puppet | #MagPiMonday appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/bechele-3-0-puppet-magpimonday/
What’s behind Elon Musk’s surprise China trip?
date: 2024-04-29, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: Tesla CEO Elon Musk paid a visit to China, where he’s been trying to clear regulatory hurdles that have hindered the company’s self-driving technology roll-out there. Then, Sweden’s police have been inundated with reports from people who have been swindled out of their gold belongings. And later, musicians who sample nature can now split their profits with environmental causes through a new United Nations-backed project.
Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 40, EndeavourOS, and TrueNAS 24.04 all arrive at once
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Sometimes Linux releases are like buses… frequently clustered together, and rarely as reliable as you might ideally want
FOSS round-up Last week was a busy one for the open source community: EndeavourOS and TrueNAS Scale arrived on Tuesday, Fedora landed on Wednesday, and Ubuntu on Thursday.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/ubuntu_2404_fed_40_et_al/
Oklahoma towns hit by tornadoes begin cleanup after 4 killed in weekend storms
date: 2024-04-29, from: VOA News USA
Microsoft At Work
date: 2024-04-29, from: OS News
Well, this was a wild goose chase of a read. J. B. Crawford dove into the history of something I’ve never heard of – Microsoft At Work – and came away with a story that’ while clearer thanks to his research, is still frustratingly nebulous. I’m still not entirely sure what Microsoft At Work really was, but I think it had the goal of running Windows on communications devices like faxes, to make it easier to share and work on documents across various devices. Crawford did a lot of digging, and eventually settles on what he thinks might be a description of what MAW really consisted of. I am being a bit dismissive for effect. MAW was more ambitious than just installing Windows on a grape. The effort included a unified communications protocol for the control of office machines, including printers, for which a whole Microsoft stack was envisioned. This built on top of the Windows Printing System, a difficult-to-search-for project that apparently predated MAW by a short time, enough so that Windows Printing System products were actually on the market when MAW was announced—MAW products were, we will learn, very much not. MAW devices like the Ricoh IFS77 ran 16-bit Windows 3.1 with a new GUI intended to appear more modern while reducing resource requirements. Some reporters at the time noted that Microsoft was cagey about the supported architectures, I suspect they were waiting on ports to be completed. The fax machine was probably x86, though, as there’s little evidence MAW actually ran on anything else. ↫ J. B. Crawford The ’90s were a wild time, especially as Microsoft, and this MAW project seems to have ’90s written all over it, but I’d still love to learn a lot more about this. I hope this article will bring out some former Microsoft execs or employees who can give us more details, and possibly even some code. I want to know how this works and what it did.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139488/microsoft-at-work/
Blinken: Hamas should accept ‘extraordinarily generous’ Israeli truce offer
date: 2024-04-29, from: VOA News USA
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday he is hopeful Hamas will accept what he characterized as Israel’s “extraordinarily generous” offer for a cease-fire in Gaza in return for the release of hostages.
“In this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas,” Blinken said in Riyadh, on a trip to the Mideast for more talks on halting the nearly seven-month-old Israel-Hamas war.
“They have to decide — and they have to decide quickly,” Blinken said of the militants that Israel declared war on after their October 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. “I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision.
“We can have a fundamental change in the dynamic,” Blinken said.
A delegation from Hamas was due Monday in Egypt, which with Qatar has been seeking to broker a deal that would halt the Israeli offensive and see hostages freed. Israel’s counter-offensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, a figure that Israel says includes several thousand Hamas fighters it has killed.
Meanwhile, Blinken said in Riyadh that the U.S. is close to finishing a security agreement with Saudi Arabia that would be offered if the country makes peace with Israel.
“The work that Saudi Arabia, the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion,” Blinken told an audience at the World Economic Forum.
He added the two nations have done intensive work together over the last month on Israeli-Saudi normalization.
Blinken disclosed that he was scheduled to be in Saudi Arabia and Israel on October 10 last year to focus specifically on the Palestinian part of the normalization deal because that is an essential component. But it did not happen because of the Hamas terror attack on Israel.
“In order to move forward with normalization, two things will be required: Calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state,” Blinken said.
U.S. officials have said creating a pathway to a Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel is key to lasting peace and security in the Middle East and to Israel’s integration in the region.
Blinken met Monday with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman for nearly an hour to discuss the Gaza conflict and ongoing tensions in the Mideast. He then headed to Jordan before another stop in Israel, where he is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.
The Biden administration continues to work on a potential security agreement with Saudi Arabia that could lead to normalization of Saudi relations with Israel, even as some officials and analysts consider it a remote possibility.
Last week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he plans to return to Saudi Arabia soon. Sullivan had earlier postponed his trip to the Middle East due to a cracked rib.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has rejected the two-state solution and the return of the Palestinian Authority to control Gaza, demands that are widely supported by the international community.
The Saudis have demanded, as a prerequisite, to see an Israeli commitment to the two-state solution.
Nimrod Goren, a senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute, told VOA in an email, “Saudi Arabia has been gradually opening towards Israel for a decade. Significant progress was made in the months prior to the Hamas attack of October 7, with the hope of linking an Israeli-Saudi normalization agreement to a pre-presidential election, U.S.-Saudi defense pact. The war stalled the process, but talks are continuing and are at a decisive phase.”
If Netanyahu’s opposition to the two-state solution remains unchanged, Goren added, he might struggle to secure normalization with Saudi Arabia.
Humanitarian assistance
Speaking at a meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh earlier Monday, Blinken said the best way to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is for there to be a cease-fire.
Blinken is visiting Riyadh, Amman, and Tel Aviv through Wednesday — his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East region since the Israel-Hamas war began more than six months ago.
Some analysts said the United States needs to fully enforce its law and arms policy on Israel to ensure accountability and adequate humanitarian aid delivery.
Ari Tolany, director of the Center for International Policy’s security assistance monitor, told VOA, “U.S. law and policy will need to hold its largest recipient of security assistance to account for a meaningful peace.”
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Sundat told ABC’s “This Week” that the United States is continuing to push for a six-week cease-fire. He said Israel has assured U.S. officials it will not send ground troops into the southern Gaza city of Rafah without fully hearing U.S. concerns that such an attack would endanger the lives of more than 1 million Palestinians who are sheltering there.
Kirby said that a makeshift Mediterranean Sea pier being constructed on the Gaza shoreline could be completed in two or three weeks so that more humanitarian aid can be transported into the narrow territory to help feed many starving Palestinians.
Ken Bredemeier and Chris Hannas contributed to this report.
Watchdog reveals lingering Google Privacy Sandbox worries
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Ad tech rewrite to replace web cookies still not to regulatory taste
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) still has privacy and competition concerns about Google’s Privacy Sandbox advertising toolkit, which explains why the ad giant recently again delayed its plan to drop third-party cookies in Chrome until 2025.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/uk_cma_google/
LEVER TIME PREMIUM: How Reagan Created Today’s Monopoly Crisis
date: 2024-04-29, from: The Lever News
On this week’s bonus episode of Lever Time, we explore how lax enforcement of antitrust laws allowed big companies to rob the middle class.
https://www.levernews.com/lever-time-premium-how-reagan-created-todays-monopoly-crisis/
The Hidden Cost of EV Ownership: Your Time
date: 2024-04-29, from: Heatmap News
My wife used to speedrun to San Francisco. A full tank of gas powered the little truck from Los Angeles to the halfway-point pit stop near Coalinga, California, where the L.A. radio stations have faded into static and the “Mr. Brightside” broadcasts from the Bay Area have yet to reach over the horizon. With just that single stop, the trip could be completed in under six hours.
It’s not that way these days in the EV. We stop twice for half-hour recharging sessions — maybe three times if we leave home with a less-than-full battery, and climbing over the Grapevine mountain pass punishes the range. Altogether, it makes the journey seven hours or longer.
I don’t mind too much. Frankly, I’d rather take the occasional break from holding my place in an endless line of cars all headed to the same destination and all trying to pass the same tomato truck than make slightly better time. If the day is already dedicated to a road trip, then it doesn’t really change my life to arrive in six hours rather than seven. Still, every time I undertake the I-5 marathon, the experience makes it clear: the true cost of owning an electric vehicle is your time.
Posts on platforms like Reddit about the hidden costs of EV ownership make me think I’m not alone in this notion.
In strictly monetary costs, one can make a straightforward case that EV life is better. Government rebates and tax credits bring down the upfront front cost to be closer to or nearly competitive with combustion cars. Some recurring routine maintenance costs, like oil changes, are absent. And depending on where you live and the current state of the ever-changing calculus of gas vs. electricity costs, going electric could save you a lot when prices soar at the pump. A New York Times graphic from 2021 illustrates that EV owners really can have it all: lower emissions and lower lifetime cost of ownership at the same time.
There are hidden EV costs in terms of dollars and cents, yes. States have begun to institute extra fees to register an electric car, which is nominally to offset the fact that EVs don’t pay the highway tax built into the price of gasoline yet smacks of political theater. Serious repairs can be expensive. EVs, because they’re powerful and heavy, seem to burn through tires at a faster rate. While the cost of a gallon of gas varies relatively little across town, the price of a kilowatt-hour of electricity can vary wildly from overnight residential electricity to the surge pricing one pays at a Los Angeles Supercharger in the middle of day. If you don’t have home charging, you’re stuck paying the higher rate — or going to get cheap electricity at odd hours, which is another tax on your time.
A lot of those extra financial costs can be strategically mitigated. The time penalty, not so much. While it mostly doesn’t matter, at least for those who can plug in at home and keep their batteries always full enough for their local driving, stopping on a long trip still takes far longer than simply topping up a gas tank. Fast-charging has seen technological leaps forward; whereas a lot of Tesla’s early Superchargers built in the 2010s maxed out at 72 kilowatts, many DC fast-chargers can now provide 250 or 350 kilowatts. But it still takes 15 to 20 minutes to refill the battery from nearly empty back to the 80% or 90% you’ll want for the next leg of a road trip.
Then there’s the not-insignificant time you spend thinking about charging. Some people who haven’t driven an EV seem to think range anxiety is an all-consuming cloud of negative energy, that every mile is driven in a panic about where the next plug will be. Yes, I’ve had my share of worried drives, mostly because I pushed my older standard-range Tesla Model 3 to its limit by trying to jump between distant chargers in the boonies of Arizona or Utah. In truth, worrying about the battery is more of a low-level mental white noise — something you must always be slightly aware of, as opposed to the old days of just noticing the needle is a little close to E and pulling off the freeway. (Again, the penalty here is higher on renters and those without home charging.)
Some of this, I’m afraid, may be unavoidable. To break free from burning fossil fuels in your car is to give up the deal with the devil that gave us the freedom to rarely think about energy.
The good news: As time goes on, these time penalties are fading. My Model 3 that started life with (an over-promised) 240 miles of range requires a lot of extra stops on a very long trip. As the range of a decent EV creeps up to 300 miles or more, we’re approaching a world where you’re not stopping much more than you would in a gas-burning car, unless you’re one of those drivers who refuses to take bathroom breaks to make good time. With range and the number of fast-chargers on the road both ticking upward, the anxiety of not making it to the next plug is dissipating, too, giving you back some of your brain time to think about something else.
EVs may never reach the two minutes it takes to fill a gas tank. They may always ask just a little more of you than a hybrid or plug-in hybrid that conserves the gas engine to keep the range worries at bay. But they might get close enough to gas-pump speed that, by the time you stretch your legs, relieve yourself, and buy another colossal can of Monster Energy, the car says it’s ready for you to resume your trip.
Besides, if those few extra minutes make you feel a little saner while also reducing the emissions of your road trip, then that’s time well spent.
https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/ev-charge-time
People’s CDC COVID-19 Weather Report
date: 2024-04-29, from: Peoples CDC blog
This is the @PeoplesCDC weekly update for April 29, 2024! This Weather Report from the People’s CDC sheds light on the ongoing COVID situation in the US.
https://peoplescdc.org/2024/04/29/peoples-cdc-covid-19-weather-report-73/
NASA Uses Small Engine to Enhance Sustainable Jet Research
date: 2024-04-29, from: NASA breaking news
Located inside a high-tech NASA laboratory in Cleveland is something you could almost miss at first glance: a small-scale, fully operational jet engine to test new technology that could make aviation more sustainable. The engine’s smaller size and modestly equipped test stand means researchers and engineers can try out newly designed engine components less expensively […]
https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/nasa-uses-small-engine-for-sustainable-jet-research/
UK government faces £17.5M shortfall from UKCloud liquidation
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Cabinet Office letter also reveals department lost money on unfinished database project
The UK Cabinet Office has confirmed it is £17.5 million out of pocket after underwriting the official receiver of UKCloud, which went into liquidation in 2022.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/uk_government_ukcloud_costs/
The chip that changed my world – and yours
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Zed 80 is dead baby, Zed 80 is dead…. vulture claws over the astounding tech
Opinion It lasted 50 years, but history finally claimed it. Zilog has called time on the Z80 CPU. Readers may have owned one in an 8-bit microcomputer or showered coins on one in an early arcade video game.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/opinion_z80/
The most important litmus test of all
date: 2024-04-29, from: Robert Reich on Substack
Every Republican House election denier must pledge to certify the 2024 presidential election results
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-most-important-litmus-test-of
The first video game, Spacewar!, on the DEC PDP-1 in your browser
date: 2024-04-29, from: OS News
This is a virtual DEC PDP-1 (emulated in HTML5/JavaScript) running the original code of “Spacewar!”, the earliest known digital video game. If available, use gamepads or joysticks for authentic gameplay — the game was originally played using custom “control boxes”. Spacewar! was conceived in 1961 by Martin Graetz, Stephen Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen. It was first realized on the PDP-1 in 1962 by Stephen Russell, Peter Samson, Dan Edwards, and Martin Graetz, together with Alan Kotok, Steve Piner, and Robert A Saunders. ↫ Norbert Landsteiner It’s wild to me that even for the very first video game, they already made what are effectively controllers anyone today could pick up and use. Note that this emulator can run more than just Spacewar!.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139485/the-first-video-game-spacewar-on-the-dec-pdp-1-in-your-browser/
Software support chap survived breaking his customer
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Sometimes there’s more than enough blame to go around
Who, Me? Welcome once again, gentle reader, to the safe space we like to call Who, Me? wherein Reg readers may unburden themselves with tales of times their tech prowess might have let them down.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/who_me/
April 28, 2024
date: 2024-04-29, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
On Friday, in an interview with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, Trump’s former attorney general William Barr brushed off the recent news that Trump, furious that the story he had taken refuge in a bunker during the Black Lives Matter protests in summer 2020 had leaked, called for the White House leaker to be executed.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-28-2024
Alibaba Yitian 710 rated fastest Arm server CPU in the cloud (for now)
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Researcher finds it beats Intel’s Xeons for speed on one database-related tests, joins AWS Gravitons in cost-efficiency win
The homebrew Yitian 710 CPU developed in 2021 and deployed by Alibaba Cloud is the fastest Arm server processor for rent in hyperscale clouds when handling database-related tasks, according to research published this week in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers journal Transactions on Cloud Computing.…
Today in SCV History (April 29)
date: 2024-04-29, from: SCV New (TV Station)
2002 – LASD Deputy David March, Canyon grad and Saugus resident, murdered during traffic stop. [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-april-29/
US lawmakers strike deal to boost aviation safety, will not raise pilot retirement age
date: 2024-04-29, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — U.S. House and Senate negotiators said early Monday they had reached a deal to boost air traffic controller staffing and boost funding to avert runway close-call incidents, but will not increase the airline pilot retirement age to 67 from 65.
The U.S. House of Representatives in July voted 351-69 on a sweeping bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that would also raise the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67 but the Senate Commerce Committee had voted in February to reject the retirement age increase. International rules would have prevented airline pilots older than 65 from flying in most countries outside the United States.
Congress has temporarily extended authorization for the FAA through May 10 as it works on a new $105 billion, five-year deal. The Senate is set to vote this week on the more than 1,000-page bipartisan proposal.
The bill prohibits airlines from charging fees for families to sit together and requires airlines to accept vouchers and credits for at least five years, but did not adopt many stricter consumer rules sought by the Biden administration.
The bill also requires airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour cockpit recording devices and directs the FAA to deploy advanced airport surface technology to help prevent collisions.
Efforts to boost aviation safety in the United States have taken on new urgency after a series of near-miss incidents and the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 door plug mid-air emergency.
Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell, the panel’s top Republican, Ted Cruz, House Transportation Committee chair Sam Graves and the committee’s top Democrat, Rick Larsen, in a joint statement announced the agreement and said, “now more than ever, the FAA needs strong and decisive direction from Congress to ensure America’s aviation system maintains its gold standard.”
The proposal raises maximum civil penalties for airline consumer violations from $25,000 per violation to $75,000 and aims to address a shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers by directing the FAA to implement improved staffing standards and to hire more inspectors, engineers and technical specialists.
Congress will not establish minimum seat size requirements, leaving that instead to the FAA. The bill requires the Transportation Department to create a dashboard that shows consumers the minimum seat size for each U.S. airline.
The bill boosts by five the number of daily direct flights from Washington Reagan National Airport.
Cantwell said the agreement — including a five-year reauthorization for the National Transportation Safety Board — demonstrates aviation safety and stronger consumer standards are a big priority.
Teardown confirms Huawei’s Pura 70 contains SMIC 7nm process node
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
‘Remarkably similar’ to the Kirin 9000 processor that shocked many last year
A teardown of Huawei’s Pura 70 smartphone by an IC research firm revealed the Chinese tech giant is relying on Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp’s (SMIC) HiSilicon Kirin 9010 processor, likely because US sanctions mean the Chinese company can’t buy from other sources.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/teardown_confirms_huaweis_pura_70/
Snacks, Scenery, and Sunshine Spell Success
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Enjoying a day trip to the Carrizo Plain National Monument.
The post Snacks, Scenery, and Sunshine Spell Success appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/28/snacks-scenery-and-sunshine-spell-success/
Westmont Students Move with the Earth
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The 2024 Fringe Festival ‘Earth on Motion’ took place at SBCAW and on Montecito Campus.
The post Westmont Students Move with the Earth appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/28/westmont-students-move-with-the-earth/
Alex Cuba Embraces His Original Sound
date: 2024-04-29, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The Grammy Award–Winning artist is set to perform at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club on May 8.
The post Alex Cuba Embraces His Original Sound appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/04/28/alex-cuba-embraces-his-original-sound/
Rossier commencement speakers withdraw from ceremonies
date: 2024-04-29, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The decision comes in protest of USC’s response to the “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” and for having “censored” Valedictorian Asna Tabassum by canceling her main stage commencement address.
The post Rossier commencement speakers withdraw from ceremonies appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/04/28/210120/
First Ariane 6 rocket ready to assemble as Europe begins final countdown
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Core and boosters are on the pad ahead of (maybe) June launch
The European Space Agency is ready to put together the first Ariane 6 rocket, and has declared the campaign to get it into orbit is under way.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/ariane_6_campaign_begins/
Discord dismantles Spy.pet site that snooped on millions of users
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
ALSO: Infostealer spotted hiding in CDN cache, antivirus update hijacked to deliver virus, and some critical vulns
Updated - Infosec in brief They say sunlight is the best disinfectant, and that appears to have been true in the case of Discord data harvesting site Spy.pet – as it was recently and swiftly dismantled after its existence and purpose became known.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/infosec_in_brief/
Arrests roil campuses nationwide ahead of graduation
date: 2024-04-29, from: VOA News USA
Japan’s space junk cleaner prototype closes in on its target
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
PLUS: Huawei returns to top Chinese smartphone market; China’s new IPv6 goals; Malaysia’s golden VC Visa
Asia In Brief Japan’s effort to start a business disposing of space junk is off to a promising start, after the ADRAS-J satellite spotted its first target and sent back images.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/29/asia_tech_news_roundup/
Blinken speaks to Azeri, Armenian leaders about peace talks
date: 2024-04-29, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/blinken-speaks-to-azeri-armenian-leaders-about-peace-talks/7588897.html
NLnet Co-founder Frances Brazier Knighted For Exceptional Contribution to Society
date: 2024-04-29, updated: 2024-04-29, from: nlnet feed
https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20240429-Brazier-Knighted.html
HypoPG 1.4.1 is out!
date: 2024-04-29, from: PostgreSQL News
Taipei, Taiwan - April 28th, 2024
HypoPG 1.4.1
I’m pleased to announce the release of the version 1.4.1 of HypoPG, an extension adding support for Hypothetical Indexes, compatible with PostgreSQL 9.2 and above.
Bug fixes: - Fix hypothetical index names when its Oid is more than 1 billion (Julien Rouhaud, thanks to github user sylph520 for the report) - Fix hypothetical index deparsing when attributes need quoting (Julien Rouhaud, thanks to Daniel Lang for the report)
Misc: - Add support for PostgreSQL 17 (Georgy Shelkovy, Julien Rouhaud)
Links & Credits
Thank to the users who reported bugs, they are all cited in the CHANGELOG file.
HypoPG 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 repository at https://github.com/HypoPG/hypopg.
Links :
- Download: https://github.com/HypoPG/hypopg/releases
- Bug tracker: https://github.com/HypoPG/hypopg/issues
https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/hypopg-141-is-out-2851/
Tesla CEO Musk meets China’s No. 2 official in Beijing
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
Beijing — Tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk met in Beijing on Sunday with China’s number two official, Premier Li Qiang, who promised the country would “always” be open to foreign firms.
Musk — one of the world’s richest people — arrived in China earlier the same day on his second trip in less than a year to the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said that during their meeting, Li had promised the country would do more to help foreign firms.
“China’s very large-scale market will always be open to foreign-funded firms,” Li was quoted as saying.
“China will stick to its word and will continue working hard to expand market access and strengthen service guarantees.”
Beijing would also provide foreign companies with “a better business environment” so “that firms from all over the world can have peace of mind while investing in China,” Li added.
Musk later said on X, which he also owns, that he was honored to meet with Li, adding the pair “have known each other now for many years.”
Musk has extensive business interests in China and his most recent visit was in May and June of last year. Tesla has not shared his itinerary for the current trip.
CCTV quoted him as praising the “hardworking and intelligent Chinese team” at his Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai during his meeting with Li.
“Tesla is willing to take the next step in deepening cooperation with China to achieve more win-win results,” Musk reportedly added.
Earlier in the day, the billionaire met with the head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Ren Hongbin, “to discuss next steps in cooperation and other topics,” CCTV said.
The mercurial magnate is a controversial figure in the West, but in China, Tesla’s electric vehicles have become a staple of middle-class urban life.
The future
Having once derided Chinese EVs, Musk described their manufacturers this year as being “the most competitive car companies in the world.”
“It’s good to see electric vehicles making progress in China,” he was quoted as saying by a state-backed media outlet Sunday.
“All cars will be electric in the future.”
Musk’s own company has run into trouble in the world’s second-largest economy: in January, Tesla recalled more than 1.6 million electric vehicles in China to fix their steering software.
His arrival in China coincides with a cut-throat price war between firms desperate to get ahead in the fiercely competitive EV market.
China’s local car giant BYD — “Build Your Dreams” — beat out Tesla in last year’s fourth quarter to become the world’s top seller of EVs.
Tesla reclaimed that title in the first quarter of this year, but BYD remains firmly on top in its home market.
An analysis by Wedbush Securities called the visit “a watershed moment for Musk as well as Beijing,” given the level of domestic competition and recent “softer demand” for Tesla.
The trip also comes as Beijing hosts a massive auto show, which held press events from Thursday and opened to the public over the weekend.
Tesla’s last hope
Comments under posts about Musk’s arrival on the social media site Weibo were full of speculation that the celebrity tycoon would attend Auto China while in Beijing.
One user suggested Musk’s visit was motivated by a desire to test drive an SU7, the first car model released earlier this year by Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi.
Xiaomi’s entrance into the competitive EV sector appears to be off to a positive start, with CEO Lei Jun saying this month that pre-orders had outpaced expectations by three to five times.
Other commenters responded to reports that Musk’s trip was intended to give him an opportunity to talk with Chinese officials about the possibility of bringing Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology to the local market.
“FSD is Tesla’s last hope for saving its domestic sales,” one Weibo user said.
“While the long-term valuation story at Tesla hinges on FSD and autonomous, a key missing piece in that puzzle is Tesla making FSD available in China which now appears on the doorstep,” the Wedbush analysis said.
Musk’s interests in China have long raised eyebrows in Washington, with President Joe Biden saying in November 2022 that his links to foreign countries were “worthy” of scrutiny.
The tycoon has also caused controversy by suggesting the self-ruled island of Taiwan should become part of China — a stance that was welcomed by Chinese officials but deeply angered Taipei.
https://www.voanews.com/a/tesla-ceo-musk-meets-china-s-no-2-official-in-beijing/7588544.html
Biden, Netanyahu discuss Israel-Hamas war, no sign of cease-fire
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
RIZON class 4 and 5 electric MD trucks arrive in Canada
date: 2024-04-28, from: Electrek Feed
Daimler’s new, all-electric truck brand made its Canadian debut this week with the official market launch of its battery electric class 4 and 5 medium duty work trucks.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/28/rizon-class-4-and-5-electric-md-trucks-arrive-in-canada/
CSU campuses fail to return cultural artifacts and remains to native tribes
date: 2024-04-28, from: The Sundail (CSUN student paper)
California State University campuses across the state failed to return human remains and cultural artifacts to Native tribes, disregarding an existing law called Assembly Bill 389, the California Native American…
May 18: Inaugural NextGen Mediamakers Festival
date: 2024-04-28, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Valley Media Collaborative invites local creatives, media industry professionals, students, parents, teachers and others to celebrate the next generation of media makers participating in the inaugural NextGen MediaMakers Festival on Saturday, May 18 from 2-5 p.m. at the Canyon Country Community Center.
https://scvnews.com/may-18-inaugural-nextgen-mediamakers-festival/
777 hp electric overland concept from Italdesign bows in Beijing [video]
date: 2024-04-28, from: Electrek Feed
The all-new, all-electric Italdesign Quintessenza concept is a high-tech Italian take on the Porsche Dakar concept that’s just begging to be put into production.
Watch Porsche’s Portable DCFC Charger Juice Up The Macan Electric
date: 2024-04-28, from: Inside EVs News
This portable charging trailer has 2.1 MWh of capacity and can charge at up to 320 kW.
https://insideevs.com/news/717760/porsche-turbo-charging-portable-macan/
Trump lashes out after Biden’s jokes at White House Correspondents’ Dinner
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
U.S. President Joe Biden’s jokes were well-received by those who attended the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington Saturday. But his political rival, Donald Trump, criticized the event as he gears up for a new round of campaign stops and court appearances this week. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the details.
Brief thoughts on the wave of campus protests across America
date: 2024-04-28, from: Robert Reich on Substack
Let’s be clear about a few things. Antisemitism should have no place in America — not on college campuses or anywhere else. But there is nothing inherently antisemitic about condemning the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza that has so far killed at least 34,000 people, mostly women and children.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/my-thoughts-on-the-wave-of-campus
Microsoft ending newsgroup support (2010)
date: 2024-04-28, from: Tilde.news
https://groups.google.com/g/microsoft.public.vc.mfc/c/zSo9QNvpCQI/m/-xxcZNvGx_wJ
Top Mother’s Day gifts for 2024
date: 2024-04-28, from: The Signal
If you search around the Internet for what are the top gifts for mom, you’ll find a wide range of suggestions. There are the usual flowers, spa gift certificates, fancy dinners. But, there were also some unique gift ideas. Here are a few. My Mom, My Best Friend Personalized Book This was one of […]
The post Top Mother’s Day gifts for 2024 appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/top-mothers-day-gifts-for-2024/
Now is the time to plant those summer flowers
date: 2024-04-28, from: The Signal
April showers bring May flowers, or so the saying goes. Years of unceasing drought brought many a perennial flower garden to its knees in the Santa Clarita Valley. But the past few years of bountiful rain makes one’s gardening heart flutter with possibilities. However, before going too crazy and risking gardening disappointment, it’s important to […]
The post Now is the time to plant those summer flowers appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/now-is-the-time-to-plant-those-summer-flowers/
May the fun be with YOU!
date: 2024-04-28, from: The Signal
May is nearly here and so are many of our favorite May celebrations including Stars Wars Day and Cinco de Mayo. Stars Wars Day is celebrated on May 4. The date originated from the pun “May the Fourth be with you,” a variant of the Star Wars catchphrase “May the Force be with you.” Cinco […]
The post May the fun be with YOU! appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/may-the-fun-be-with-you/
Best sports for older adults, according to experts
date: 2024-04-28, from: The Signal
By Robby Brumberg Forbes Health The joy of playing sports may seem like a young person’s game. But why should they have all the fun — not to mention all the health benefits — that can be unlocked by athletics? According to research conducted at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research center, older […]
The post Best sports for older adults, according to experts appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/best-sports-for-older-adults-according-to-experts/
Celebrate Arbor and Earth Day
date: 2024-04-28, from: City of Santa Clarita
By City Manager Ken Striplin “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir As we transition into a new season, I am honored to share our community’s ongoing efforts to seek innovative ways to protect and beautify our environment. This year we will celebrate both National Arbor Day […]
The post Celebrate Arbor and Earth Day appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.
https://santaclarita.gov/blog/2024/04/28/celebrate-arbor-and-earth-day/
Zendaya tennis movie ‘Challengers’ scores at weekend box office
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
Volvo EX30 AWD Performance Long-Distance Driving Test Shows What To Expect
date: 2024-04-28, from: Inside EVs News
The car completed Bjørn’s 622 miles (1,000 km) challenge in 11 hours but needed eight charging stops.
https://insideevs.com/news/717720/volvo-ex30-awd-performance-1000km-challenge/
Tornadoes kill 4 in Oklahoma, leaving trail of destruction, thousands without power
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
Sulphur, Oklahoma — Tornadoes killed four people in Oklahoma and left thousands without power Sunday after a destructive outbreak of severe weather flattened buildings in the heart of one rural town and injured at least 100 people across the state.
More than 20,000 people remained without electricity after tornadoes began late Saturday night. The destruction was extensive in Sulphur, a town of about 5,000 people, where a tornado crumpled many downtown buildings, tossed cars and buses and sheared the roofs off houses across a 15-block radius.
“You just can’t believe the destruction,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said during a visit to the hard-hit town. “It seems like every business downtown has been destroyed.”
Stitt said about 30 people were injured alone in Sulphur, including some who were in a bar as the tornado struck. Hospitals across the state reported about 100 injuries, including people apparently cut or struck by debris or hurt from falls, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
The deadly weather in Oklahoma added to the dozens of reported tornadoes that wreaked havoc in the nation’s midsection since Friday. On Sunday, authorities in Iowa said a man injured during a tornado that hit the town of Minden on Friday had died, according to local reports.
Authorities said the tornado in Sulphur began in a city park before barreling through the downtown, flipping cars and ripping the roofs and walls off of brick buildings. Windows and doors were blown out of structures that remained standing.
“How do you rebuild it? This is complete devastation,” said Kelly Trussell, a lifelong Sulphur resident as she surveyed the damage. “It is crazy, you want to help but where do you start?”
Carolyn Goodman traveled to Sulphur from the nearby town of Ada in search of her former sister-in-law, who Goodman said was at a local bar just before the tornado hit the area. Stitt said one of the victims was found inside a bar, but authorities had not yet identified those killed.
“The bar was destroyed,” Goodman said. “I know they probably won’t find her alive … but I hope she is still alive.”
Farther north, a tornado near the town of Holdenville killed two people and damaged or destroyed more than a dozen homes, according to the Hughes County Emergency Medical Service. Another person was killed along Interstate 35 near the southern Oklahoma city of Marietta, state officials said.
Heavy rains that swept into Oklahoma with the tornadoes also caused dangerous flooding and water rescues. Outside Sulphur, rising lake levels shut down the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, where the storms wiped out a pedestrian bridge.
Stitt issued an executive order Sunday declaring a state of emergency in 12 counties due to the fallout from the severe weather.
At the Sulphur High School gym, where families took cover from the storm, Jackalyn Wright said she and her family heard what sounded like a helicopter as the tornado touched down over them.
Chad Smith, 43, said people ran into the gym as the wind picked up. The rain started coming faster and the doors slammed shut. “Just give me a beer and a lawn chair and I will sit outside and watch it,” Smith said. Instead, he took cover.
Residents in other states were also digging out from storm damage. A tornado in suburban Omaha demolished homes and businesses Saturday as it moved for miles through farmland and into subdivisions, then slammed an Iowa town.
The tornado damage began Friday afternoon near Lincoln, Nebraska. An industrial building in Lancaster County was hit, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated, and the three injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One or possibly two tornadoes then spent around an hour creeping toward Omaha, leaving behind damage consistent with an EF3 twister, with winds of 217 to 265 kph (135 to 165 mph), said Chris Franks, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Omaha office.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spent Saturday touring the damage and arranging for assistance for the damaged communities. Formal damage assessments are still underway, but the states plan to seek federal help.
Month Of Hell: Tesla Cybertruck Owner Frustrated By Quality Issues
date: 2024-04-28, from: Inside EVs News
A creaking console, a dangling gear shifter, a busted tailgate and a botched pedal recall fix. What more could go wrong?
https://insideevs.com/news/717730/cybertruck-owner-issues-1-month-pedal/
This $128,000 Electric Motorcycle Is No More
date: 2024-04-28, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Startups are hard.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717534/arc-vehicle-vector-ev-motorcycle-bankruptcy/
Obstacles remain as women seek more leadership roles in America’s Black Church
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-04-28, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Good TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@rathbonemakesmusic/video/7353309267979521311
Good editorial by rebmasel:
https://www.tiktok.com/@rebmasel/video/7361586451902991662
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112349375020123285
The Z80 Is Dead. Long Live The Free Z80
date: 2024-04-28, from: Tilde.news
https://hackaday.com/2024/04/28/the-z80-is-dead-long-live-the-free-z80/
LEVER WEEKLY: Pentagon Grifts And Zombie Pipelines
date: 2024-04-28, from: The Lever News
From insurance meltdowns and zombie pipelines to Pentagon grifts, here’s all the news from The Lever this week.
https://www.levernews.com/lever-weekly-pentagon-grifts-and-zombie-pipelines/
Buy a New GasGas Dirt Bike, Get a Free E-bike
date: 2024-04-28, from: Ride Apart, Electric Motorcycle News
Now that’s a deal we can get behind.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/717508/gasgas-ebike-ev-dirt-bike/
David Hegg | From Competition to Collaboration
date: 2024-04-28, from: The Signal
By David Hegg As Americans, we thrive on competition. Our economy is built on it, our love for sport demands it, and our addiction to winning depends on it. We compete for business, resources, attention, and even the best parking space. Cut us, and we bleed competition, so it is no wonder that we’ve foolishly […]
The post David Hegg | From Competition to Collaboration appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/david-hegg-from-competition-to-collaboration/
Larry Moore | Graduation Season
date: 2024-04-28, from: The Signal
We are coming up on graduation season. According to a Young America’s Foundation commencement speaker survey, most speakers at college graduation ceremonies in 2023 had a “liberal perspective.” Out of 100 schools surveyed, an overwhelming 60 liberal speakers were identified, while only a single conservative voice made its way to the podium. These are your […]
The post Larry Moore | Graduation Season appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/04/larry-moore-graduation-season/
Windows NT and NetWare on PA-RISC, and a HP-UX port to x86
date: 2024-04-28, from: OS News
Back when I was working on my article about PA-RISC, HP-UX, and UNIX workstations in general, I made extensive use of OpenPA, Paul Weissmann’s invaluable and incredibly detailed resource about HP’s workstation efforts, HP-UX, and tons of related projects and products. Weissmann’s been doing some serious digging, and has unearthed details about a number of essentially forgotten operating system efforts. First, it turns out HP was porting Windows NT to PA-RISC in the early ’90s. Several magazine sources and USEnet posts around 1993 point to HP pursuing a PA-RISC port to NT, modified the PA-RISC architecture for bi-endianess and even conducted a back-room presention at the ’94 Comdex conference of a (modified HP 712?) PA-7100LC workstation running Windows NT. Mentions of NT on PA-RISC continued in 1994 with some customer interest but ended around 1995. ↫ Paul Weissmann at OpenPA The port eventually fizzled out due to a lack of interest from both customers and application developers, and HP realised its time was better spent on the future of x86, Intel’s Itanium, instead. HP also planned to work together with Novell to port NetWare to PA-RISC, but the work took longer than expected and it, too, was cancelled. The most recent secretive effort was the port of HP-UX to x86, an endeavour that took place during the final days of the UNIX workstation market. Parts of the conversation in these documents mention a successful boot of HP-UX on x86 in December of 2009, with porting efforts projected to cost 100M+ between 2010 and 2016. The plan was for mission-critical x86 systems (ProLiant DL980 and Superdome with x86) and first releases projected in 2011 (developer) and 2012 (Superdome and Linux ABI). ↫ Paul Weissmann at OpenPA I’m especially curious about that last one, as porting HP-UX to x86 seems like a massive effort during a time where it was already obvious Linux had completely obliterated the traditional UNIX market. It really feels like the last death saving throws of a platform everybody already knew wasn’t going to make it.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139479/windows-nt-and-netware-on-pa-risc-and-a-hp-ux-port-to-x86/
A cautionary travel tale
date: 2024-04-28, from: Status-Q blog
On Monday evening, I had a ticket booked to bring me back on the overnight ferry from the Hook of Holland to Harwich. (Here’s a bit of trivia for you: ‘Hook of Holland’ is actually a mistranslation of the Dutch name Hoek van Holland. ‘Hoek’, in Dutch, means ‘corner’, not ‘hook’. And if you know Continue Reading
https://statusq.org/archives/2024/04/28/12042/
@Tomosino’s Mastodon feed (date: 2024-04-28, from: Tomosino’s Mastodon feed)
@vantablack https://massivelyop.com/2024/04/25/arenanet-shifts-more-resources-to-classic-guild-wars-as-it-turns-19-years-old/
https://tilde.zone/@tomasino/112348149344526632
GNOME Foundation in financial trouble
date: 2024-04-28, from: OS News
As you may be aware, the GNOME Foundation has operated at a deficit (nonprofit speak for a loss – ie spending more than we’ve been raising each year) for over three years, essentially running the Foundation on reserves from some substantial donations received 4-5 years ago. The Foundation has a reserves policy which specifies a minimum amount of money we have to keep in our accounts. This is so that if there is a significant interruption to our usual income, we can preserve our core operations while we work on new funding sources. We’ve now “hit the buffers” of this reserves policy, meaning the Board can’t approve any more deficit budgets – to keep spending at the same level we must increase our income. ↫ Robert McQueen Learning that the GNOME Foundation can barely scrape by financially makes me irrationally angry. As much as I’ve grown to dislike using GNOME and thus switched all my machines over to KDE, GNOME is still the most popular desktop environment and used extensively by pretty much all the big corporate Linux distributions. How is it possible that this hugely popular and important open source project has to beg individual users for donations like they’re running an independent tech website or something? Where’s all the financial support from Red Hat, IBM, Oracle, Canonical, and so on? If not even an insanely popular project like GNOME can be financially stable, what hope is there for the countless small, unknown open source projects that form the basis of our entire computing world?
https://www.osnews.com/story/139472/gnome-foundation-in-financial-trouble/
A BSD person tries Alpine Linux
date: 2024-04-28, from: OS News
In February last year I wrote about running a FreeBSD desktop, and concluded that sometimes you need to give yourself permission to tinker. Well recently I’ve started tinkering with Alpine Linux! It’s been recommended to me for years, so I’m finally getting around to checking it out. There’s a lot to like if you come from BSD, which we’ll dig into here. ↫ Ruben Schade Just a quick look at this unexpectedly popular Linux distribution that really has its own identity.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139469/a-bsd-person-tries-alpine-linux/
Sunday caption contest: friendship
date: 2024-04-28, from: Robert Reich on Substack
And last week’s winner
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-caption-contest-support-6fc
Today in SCV History (April 28)
date: 2024-04-28, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1943 – August Rubel, owner of Rancho Camulos, is killed when the ambulance he’s driving hits a German land mine in North Africa. [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-april-28/
America’s child care crisis is holding back moms without college degrees
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
AUBURN, Wash. — After a series of lower-paying jobs, Nicole Slemp finally landed one she loved. She was a secretary for Washington’s child services department, a job that came with her own cubicle, and she had a knack for working with families in difficult situations.
Slemp expected to return to work after having her son in August. But then she and her husband started looking for child care – and doing the math. The best option would cost about $2,000 a month, with a long wait list, and even the least expensive option would cost around $1,600, still eating up most of Slemp’s salary. Her husband earns about $35 an hour at a hose distribution company. Between them, they earned too much to qualify for government help.
“I really didn’t want to quit my job,” says Slemp, 33, who lives in a Seattle suburb. But, she says, she felt like she had no choice.
The dilemma is common in the United States, where high-quality child care programs are prohibitively expensive, government assistance is limited, and daycare openings are sometimes hard to find at all. In 2022, more than 1 in 10 young children had a parent who had to quit, turn down or drastically change a job in the previous year because of child care problems. And that burden falls most on mothers, who shoulder more child-rearing responsibilities and are far more likely to leave a job to care for kids.
Even so, women’s participation in the workforce has recovered from the pandemic, reaching historic highs in December 2023. But that masks a lingering crisis among women like Slemp who lack a college degree: The gap in employment rates between mothers who have a four-year degree and those who don’t has only grown.
For mothers without college degrees, a day without work is often a day without pay. They are less likely to have paid leave. And when they face an interruption in child care arrangements, an adult in the family is far more likely to take unpaid time off or to be forced to leave a job altogether, according to an analysis of Census survey data by The Associated Press in partnership with the Education Reporting Collaborative.
In interviews, mothers across the country shared how the seemingly endless search for child care, and its expense, left them feeling defeated. It pushed them off career tracks, robbed them of a sense of purpose, and put them in financial distress.
Women like Slemp challenge the image of the stay-at-home mom as an affluent woman with a high-earning partner, said Jessica Calarco, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The stay-at-home moms in this country are disproportionately mothers who’ve been pushed out of the workforce because they don’t make enough to make it work financially to pay for child care,” Calarco said.
Her own research indicates three-quarters of stay-at-home moms live in households with incomes less than $50,000, and half have household incomes of less than $25,000.
Still, the high cost of child care has upended the careers of even those with college degrees.
When Jane Roberts gave birth in November, she and her husband, both teachers, quickly realized sending baby Dennis to day care was out of the question. It was too costly, and they worried about finding a quality provider in their hometown of Pocatello, Idaho.
The school district has no paid medical or parental leave, so Roberts exhausted her sick leave and personal days to stay home with Dennis. In March, she returned to work and husband Mike took leave. By the end of the school year, they’ll have missed out on a combined nine weeks of pay. To make ends meet, they’ve borrowed money against Jane’s life insurance policy.
In the fall, Roberts won’t return to teaching. The decision was wrenching. “I’ve devoted my entire adult life to this profession,” she said.
For low- and middle-income women who do find child care, the expense can become overwhelming. The Department of Health and Human Services has defined “affordable” child care as an arrangement that costs no more than 7% of a household budget. But a Labor Department study found fewer than 50 American counties where a family earning the median household income could obtain child care at an “affordable” price.
There’s also a connection between the cost of child care and the number of mothers working: a 10% increase in the median price of child care was associated with a 1% drop in the maternal workforce, the Labor Department found.
In Birmingham, Alabama, single mother Adriane Burnett takes home about $2,800 a month as a customer service representative for a manufacturing company. She spends more than a third of that on care for her 3-year-old.
In October, that child aged out of a program that qualified the family of three for child care subsidies. So she took on more work, delivering food for DoorDash and Uber Eats. To make the deliveries possible, her 14-year-old has to babysit.
Even so, Burnett had to file for bankruptcy and forfeit her car because she was behind on payments. She is borrowing her father’s car to continue her delivery gigs. The financial stress and guilt over missing time with her kids have affected her health, Burnett said. She has had panic attacks and has fainted at work.
“My kids need me,” Burnett said, “but I also have to work.”
Even for parents who can afford child care, searching for it — and paying for it — consumes reams of time and energy.
When Daizha Rioland was five months pregnant with her first child, she posted in a Facebook group for Dallas moms that she was looking for child care. Several warned she was already behind if she wasn’t on any wait lists. Rioland, who has a bachelor’s degree and works in communications for a nonprofit, wanted a racially diverse program with a strong curriculum.
While her daughter remained on wait lists, Rioland’s parents stepped in to care for her. Finally, her daughter reached the top of a waiting list — at 18 months old. The tuition was so high she could only attend part-time. Rioland got her second daughter on waiting lists long before she was born, and she now attends a center Rioland trusts.
“I’ve grown up in Dallas. I see what happens when you’re not afforded the luxury of high-quality education,” said Rioland, who is Black. “For my daughters, that’s not going to be the case.”
Slemp still sometimes wonders how she ended up staying at home with her son – time she cherishes but also finds disorienting. She thought she was doing well. After stints at a water park and a call center, her state job seemed like a step toward financial stability. How could it be so hard to maintain her career, when everything seemed to be going right?
“Our country is doing nothing to try to help fill that gap,” Slemp said. As a parent, “we’re supposed to keep the population going, and they’re not giving us a chance to provide for our kids to be able to do that.”
Wild horses to remain in North Dakota national park, lawmaker says
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — Wild horses will stay in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park amid fears from advocates that park officials would remove the beloved animals from the rugged badlands landscape, a key lawmaker said Thursday.
Republican U.S. Senator John Hoeven said he had secured a commitment from the National Park Service to maintain wild horses in the park, though the number remains to be determined. Roughly 200 horses now roam the park.
Hoeven said the Park Service would abandon its proposed removal of the horses under an environmental review process begun in 2022 and would continue to operate under an existing 1978 environmental assessment that calls for a reduction in their numbers.
“They’ve committed to me that we will have a thoughtful and inclusive discussion on how many horses they keep in the park,” Hoeven told The Associated Press. There is no timeline on that, he said.
In a statement, the park said its decision to terminate the review “was made after careful consideration of the information and public comment received during the [environmental assessment] process.”
Park visitors, much to their delight, often encounter the horses while driving or hiking in the rolling, colorful badlands where a young future president, Theodore Roosevelt, hunted and engaged in cattle ranching in the 1880s in what was then Dakota Territory.
“People love horses,” Hoeven said. “And where do you go to see wild horses? I mean, it’s not, like, an easy thing to do, and most people don’t have horses, and they love the idea of wild horses. They see it as part of our heritage in America.”
Earlier Thursday, Hoeven’s office said in a statement the decision “will allow for a healthy herd of wild horses to be maintained at the park, managed in a way to support genetic diversity among the herd and preserve the park’s natural resources.”
The horses roam the park’s South Unit near the Western tourist town of Medora. In 2022, park officials began the process of crafting a “livestock plan” for the horses as well as about nine longhorn cattle in the park’s North Unit near Watford City. Park officials have said that process aligned with policies to remove non-native species when they pose a potential risk to resources.
“The horse herd in the South Unit, particularly at higher herd sizes, has the potential to damage fences used for wildlife management, trample or overgraze vegetation used by native wildlife species, contribute to erosion and soil-related impacts … and compete for food and water resources,” according to a Park Service environmental assessment from September 2023.
Proposals included removing the horses quickly or gradually or taking no action. Park Superintendent Angie Richman has said the horses, even if they ultimately stay, will still have to be reduced to 35 to 60 animals under the 1978 environmental assessment. The park will continue to manage the longhorns as done previously, according to Hoeven’s office.
Thousands of people made public comments during the Park Service review, the vast majority of them in support of keeping the horses. North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature made its support official in a resolution last year. Governor Doug Burgum offered state help to maintain the horses.
The Park Service reached out to the five tribal nations in North Dakota to find out if the tribes wanted to be involved in managing the horses, Hoeven said. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe indicated interest, he said.
The senator’s announcement came after Congress passed and President Joe Biden recently signed an appropriations bill with a provision from Hoeven strongly recommending the Park Service maintain the horses. The legislation signaled that funding to remove the horses might be denied.
Chris Kman, president of Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates, said she was in tears when she read Hoeven’s announcement. She said she planned to pursue federal protection for the horses and explore potential state legislation.
“If they don’t have federal protection, then they’re at the mercy of the next administration that comes in or whatever policy they want to pull out and cite next time and try to get rid of the horses again,” Kman said by phone from the park.
The horses descend from those of Native American tribes and area ranches and from domestic stallions introduced to the park in the late 20th century, according to Castle McLaughlin, who researched the horses as a graduate student while working for the Park Service in North Dakota in the 1980s.
Republican-led states far from US-Mexico border rush to tighten immigration laws
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican-led states in the U.S. are rushing to give broader immigration enforcement powers to local police and impose criminal penalties for those living in the country illegally as the issue of migrants crossing the U.S. border remains central to the 2024 elections.
The Oklahoma Legislature this week fast-tracked a bill to the governor that creates the new crime of “impermissible occupation,” which imposes penalties of as much as two years in prison for being in the state illegally.
Oklahoma is among several Republican-led states jockeying to push deeper into immigration enforcement as both Republicans and Democrats seize on the issue. That was illustrated in February when President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both visited the U.S.-Mexico border the same day and tussled from a distance over blame for the nation’s broken immigration system and how to fix it.
Here are some things to know about the latest efforts in various states to target immigration:
What’s happening in Texas?
Lawmakers in Oklahoma followed the lead of Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill last year that would allow the state to arrest and deport people who enter the U.S. illegally. That law is currently on hold while the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers a challenge brought by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Opponents consider the law to be the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since an Arizona law more than a decade ago, portions of which were struck down by the Supreme Court.
What does Oklahoma’s bill do?
Oklahoma’s law would make it illegal to remain in the state without legal authorization, with a first offense a misdemeanor punishable by as much as a year in jail. Violators would be required to leave the state within 72 hours of being released from custody. A second and subsequent offense would be a felony punishable by as much as two years in prison.
Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, who carried the bill in the Senate, voiced frustration with the federal government and Congress for not taking more definitive steps to solve the immigration problem.
“The federal government has failed. The U.S. Congress, they have not done anything to impact it,” said Treat, an Oklahoma City Republican. “So what can we do? We can say you have to be here legally in Oklahoma.”
Outside the state Capitol, more than 100 people gathered Tuesday in opposition to the bill.
Sam Wargin Grimaldo, 36, an attorney from south Oklahoma City whose mother emigrated from Mexico in 1979, urged those who rallied to register to vote and become more politically engaged.
Grimaldo said many Latinos in Oklahoma are frightened about the new law.
“We feel attacked,” said Grimaldo, wearing a shirt that read, “Young, Latino and Proud.” “People are afraid to step out of their houses if legislation like this is proposed and then passed.”
What are other states doing?
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill requiring law enforcement agencies to communicate with federal immigration authorities if they discover people are in the the country illegally, and it would broadly mandate cooperation in the process of identifying, detaining and deporting them. That bill takes effect July 1. Another proposal there would allow sentencing enhancements up to life in prison for someone in the country illegally who commits a violent crime.
In Iowa, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill this month that mirrors part of the Texas law. Another approach at a Texas-style bill is advancing in Louisiana. Idaho lawmakers considered a similar measure but adjourned without passing it.
In the U.S. state of Georgia lawmakers passed a bill that seeks to force jailers to check immigration status, part of a continuing political response to the killing of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus, allegedly by a Venezuelan man.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill last month to increase prison and jail sentences for immigrants in the United States illegally if they are convicted of felonies or of driving without a license.
What happens next?
Like Texas’ new law, many of the bills are almost certain to face legal challenges because immigration is a federal, not a state, issue under the U.S. Constitution, said Kelli Stump, an immigration attorney in Oklahoma City and the president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
“The whole thing is a mess and the system is broken, but the Constitution says that states handle state issues and the feds handle federal issues,” Stump said. “This will ultimately end up at the Supreme Court if I’m a betting person.”
VOA Immigration Weekly Recap, April 20- 27
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-immigration-weekly-recap-april-20--27/7586782.html
Virtualizing the 6502 with 6o6 (and The Incredible KIMplement goes 1.0)
date: 2024-04-28, from: Old Vintage Computer Research
Okay, promises, promises. Here’s the first of my bucket list projects I’m completing which I’ve intermittently worked on for literally two decades. Now that I’ve finally shaken out more bugs, tuned it up and cleaned it off, it’s time to let people play with the source code.
It’s almost burying the lede to announce that, though, because the real meat in this entry is how the Commodore 64 manages to emulate a very different 6502-based system. That piece is “6o6,” for “6502-on-6502,” and is a full virtualized software NMOS 6502 CPU that runs on a 6502 CPU — which I’ve open-sourced too. It has full control of guest code execution, including trapping undocumented and jam opcodes, and completely abstracts all memory access, making it possible to remap addresses, intercept illegal reads or writes, or even run entirely from virtual memory. On top of that, it’s complete enough to not only pass a full functional test but also virtualize itself virtualizing itself:
I think all nerds at a certain age want to design “the ultimate operating system.” I made a lot of attempts at this as a kid, mostly concentrating on windowing and menus, and none of them progressed much beyond the level of primitive tech demos. I have a few of these disks still around to smile at.
When I had my first taste of multiuser systems, it hadn’t occurred to me before that people might (unwittingly or otherwise) try to run crap code. After all, I’d grown up in an era where computers generally ran one program that had control of the entire machine, so operating systems — to naïve little me, at least — were more of an exercise in interface design. The program was expected to take over everything, so if the program misbehaved, you simply reset the computer. But people expect multiuser systems not to reboot randomly when they’re in the middle of something. An effective system would either have to deal with the fallout, or actively protect you and others, from code that might (unwittingly or otherwise) corrupt other address spaces, run deleterious instructions or hog all the resources.
Naturally, the trick is how a little 6502 with less than 4,000 transistors can guard against all that. Although memory management with the 6502 was improved with bank-switching hardware — the C64 could have never juggled its own 84K of addressing space without the I/O port on its 6510 — few historical NMOS 6502 systems could move around the special zero page or the processor stack in memory (as it happens, the Commodore 128 is one of those systems but little software takes advantage of it), and none could remap addresses such that program code could be moved to and run from an arbitrary location without fixups. It also could not comprehensively prohibit programs from accessing certain memory locations, and if any of the number of undocumented jam or “KIL” opcodes were executed, then the processor would lock up completely. (These opcodes are unintended consequences of how the original NMOS 6502 decodes instructions, and CMOS versions of the 6502 make them into no-ops or repurpose them for other operations.)
Some other issues could also be conceivably mitigated with hardware. A process determined to monopolize the system by setting the interrupt flag (to disable interrupts) can still be halted externally with a source of periodic non-maskable interrupts (NMIs), which is how some multitasking 6502 kernels implement preemptive task switching, assuming that source exists. For mitigating dangerous instructions, in-circuit emulators did exist — the Eastern House Software “Trap65” comes to mind, which turned bogus opcodes into trappable BRKs — but they were very expensive and at the time weren’t generally sophisticated enough to directly manipulate live bus lines in a complex fashion. And, of course, you’d still need some sort of supervisor/hypervisor kernel to control all this.
So what if we just do it all in software? Even a simple-minded interpreter isn’t completely nuts: the 6502 has few registers, so keeping track of the processor state is easy, with a manageable 56 instructions and only a handful of addressing modes. We can abstract memory access in any way we want, and we can throw controlled exceptions for bad instructions or protection faults instead of crashing or hanging.
The “virtualization” part comes in by 6o6 also using the host’s ALU to do processor-internal operations on behalf of the guest. Again, this is facilitated by how simple the 6502’s internal state is. If we’re asked to add a value to the accumulator, we load the guest register and processor flags on the host 6502, run the same instruction the guest would have, record the result and processor flags and clean up. (This is how we avoid a guest with, say, the interrupt flag and decimal flag set from corrupting our own state.) Here’s an example from the source code for the ADC # immediate (opcode $69) instruction.
-IMMPTR = hpadc69+1
opadc69 ARGIMM
GETAP
hpadc69 adc #$00
PUTAP
This uses xa preprocessor macros to fetch an immediate argument from the instruction stream and store it as the operand to the immediate instruction at hpadc69, then loads the accumulator and processor state from the guest into the host CPU, runs the instruction, stores the accumulator and processor state and clears the I and D flags. (Do note this is self-modifying in case you wanted to put it in ROM.) Not only does this give us the answer without having to implement the logic ourselves, but we also get all the CPU flags precisely handled “for free,” and stuff like decimal mode (i.e., BCD) arithmetic just works as a natural consequence. Similarly, if we’re asked to shift it, or subtract, or increment or decrement the X or Y registers, we do the same thing.
Even if we’re just loading or operating on a value from memory, or transferring registers, we still do this because we still have to set the negative and zero flags. As an example, here’s an indirect indexed LDA (),Y (opcode $b1), where we take the result from memory and then load it as an immediate. Notice we don’t bother loading the guest accumulator since we’ll immediately clobber it.
-IMMPTR = ipldab1+1
opldab1 ARGINYF
GETP
ipldab1 lda #$00
PUTAP
Regardless of how we get there, the approach yields a result exactly the same as a 6502 because a 6502 computed it, and we get the results faster than doing the math and flags manually.
That, in a nutshell, was my first version of 6o6 in 2002. As a test case to emulate the simplest 6502 system I could think of, I added code to support the LEDs and TTY, and that became the first version of the Incredible KIMplement.
The first part is the harness, which is 6o6’s interface to guest memory and the rest of the managed hardware. The harness has a standardized jump table that serves as its binary interface. It implements loads and stores for a given address, including instruction fetches, and maintains the hardware stack and stack pointer. The VM assumes nothing — not even the page size or that memory is even paged. (By the way, while the VM calls the harness to get and store the 8-bit stack pointer register using X, it also calls the harness for all pushes and pops because it deliberately doesn’t touch the stack itself. That means the VM doesn’t have an actual dependency on the location or size of the stack, so regardless of what you say is the stack pointer value, nothing says you couldn’t implement a bigger stack internally.)
Converting a virtual to a physical address could be as simple as addition or bit shifts, but if you wanted to implement something more complex like a paged virtual memory scheme, you’d also do it here: instead of generating page faults for something else to handle, the harness itself would do the paging in and out as part of a load or store. The harness can also raise protection exceptions. Here’s an example store from the included demonstrations (we’ll talk about it a little later too):
* = HARNESS
jmp mpeek
jmp spush
jmp spull
jmp stsx
jmp stxs
; these drivers should not change dptr
; poke .a into location indicated by dptr
; okay to clobber x and y
mpoke tax
lda dptr
sta hhold0
lda dptr+1
cmp #>KERNEL
bcs mpokehi
; $0000 and $0100 go to EMURAM and EMURAM+0x100
mpokelo adc #>EMURAM
bcc mpokec ; carry still clear
; accesses to kernel and up go to the payload
; add offset keeping in mind carry is set
mpokehi adc #(PAYLOAD >> 8)-(KERNEL >> 8)-1
bcc mpokehj
; fault if the result wraps
mpokefa lda #R_MFAULT
jmp BAILOUT
mpokehj ; fault if the result hits I/O
#ifdef C64
; VIC
cmp #$d0
#else
; Apple II
cmp #$c0
#endif
bcs mpokefa
; OK to store
mpokec sta hhold1
txa
ldy #0
sta (hhold0),y
rts
I included the jump table so you can see the functions the harness is expected to provide. dptr is the virtual address pointer provided by 6o6 for the harness to dereference and hhold0/1 are zero page work areas the harness can use for this task. EMURAM indicates where the bottom of guest memory is in physical memory, PAYLOAD indicates where the payload is in physical memory, and KERNEL is the address of the kernel, which in this case may or may not be a physical address (more later). Here, accesses to virtual zero page and the stack go to the same place offset by EMURAM and accesses to the kernel address and up are offset by the computation at mpokehi. If the resulting physical address wrapped or hits I/O, then this routine will raise an exception, though it could just as easily ignore it. Otherwise, having computed the physical address, it performs the store and returns to the VM. You should note that the way this scheme is constructed, memory above the stack but below the starting address of the payload may be aliased; also, the full 64K addressing space is not available beyond a certain point. Neither is an intrinsic limitation of 6o6, just how this particular harness was written for pedagogic purposes.
Now, suppose you do have an MMU or some other hardware assist for managing memory. The beauty of it is, you just write it into the harness and make the harness the driver for your hardware; 6o6’s memory model is so completely abstracted that it won’t notice the difference. I’ll have an example of that later on.
The second part is the kernel, which is what actually kicks off the VM. The kernel and its associated headers define for the VM where the harness is located and what zero page locations it can use for registers, which are shared with the kernel so that the kernel can initialze and manipulate them. The kernel next calls the VM to run an instruction from the payload (or a group of instructions; more in a moment). The VM executes some portion of the instruction stream and returns a status code to the kernel, which may include an exception from either the harness or 6o6 itself that the kernel needs to act on, after which the kernel can inspect or modify the guest processor state and do any needed emulation tasks. For example, it might notice the PC is at a service routine it handles natively, so it does that task, adjusts the registers with any return value, and (I provide a utility routine for this) pulls the return address off the stack at the end. All necessary work having been done, it goes back to call the VM again for the next payload instruction or instruction group, and so on and so forth, looping until termination.
The harness in KIMplement provides a virtual standard 6502 stack in the usual location and a KIM-4 expansion device with read/write memory between $0000 and $17ff, ROM from $1800 to $1fff, RAM from $2000 to $3fff, unmapped unwriteable space from $4000 to $fff7, and mirroring $1ff8-$1fff to $fff8-$ffff for vectors. The host C64 stores the low 16K at $4000 through $7fff and the rest is synthesized by the harness, so in most cases computing the effective physical address is just bit twiddling and adds. Meanwhile, the KIMplement kernel handles emulating the RRIOTs (picking up the writes from the harness), drawing the LEDs, servicing the TTY, inserting NMIs for stops and the Single-Step Switch, and also trapping portions of the KIM-1 ROM monitor. After a VM run the KIMplement kernel examines 6o6’s PC to see if we want to intercept the current routine, which is how the TTY and certain other features are implemented.
There are two other performance enhancements in 6o6. The clever among you will have already recognized the 6o6-harness edge as a potentially massive bottleneck, since even the simplest instructions will involve at least one fetch and things like indirect addressing could require many. To eliminate the overhead of a subroutine call (at least 12 cycles) on every byte, as part of KIMplement 0.2 I allowed memory loads in 6o6 to be partially inlined with preprocessor macros. These optional macros provide inlineable load routines both for any arbitrary virtual address and an optimized alternative for zero page which are linked right into 6o6. Doing so yielded substantial speedup, but at the cost of bloating the VM, so I chose to keep stores as subroutine calls since they happen less frequently and are usually more complicated than fetches. In this very latest iteration, I also cleaned up an inefficiency in how the inline macro accesses the program counter, which improves instruction fetches further.
That’s a good segue to talk about 6o6’s built-in validation and testing, because we can directly test any optimizations we make and see if that lowers execution time or instruction count. As part of cleaning up the code I pulled down Klaus Dormann’s functional test suite, using the binary he provides so that there’s nothing up my sleeve. This is a widely accepted stress test for 6502 systems for over a decade. The provided binary assumes nothing about the hardware and signals an exit by entering an infinite loop. If the loop isn’t at the point marked as successful completion, then we conclude a failure has occurred.
So that I can test changes easily and quickly, the test suite uses Ian Piumarta’s venerable lib6502 CPU emulator and runs directly from the shell. To detect the testsuite’s “signal” loops I modified David Schmenk’s patch as part of his PLASMA project to implement single-stepping, and ran Klaus’ suite directly against lib6502 to start with (after all, since 6o6 relies on the host CPU’s ALU, it’s only as accurate as the ALU that’s present). Interestingly, lib6502 failed due to an edge case in decimal mode which I also had to patch. I don’t claim my patch is optimal or even correct, but it passes now.
Next we mix in 6o6. The binary Klaus provides is a full 64K, so there’s no room in the basic 6502 address space for both 6o6 and the test suite at the same time. I solved this with another patch to lib6502 to create a single bankswitched minimal system for $7000-$efff (32K), putting the first 32K of Klaus’ binary in the first bank and the second half in the other. The test harness will bank in the proper segment depending on which address is being referenced. The first stage of testing exercises this harness with a payload that stores to each bank and ensures the values are correct. We test this three different ways, one with no extra helpings and no inline fetch macros, then one with inline fetch macros but still no extra helpings, and then both extra helpings and inline fetch macros. If that passes, we move onto the same configurations tested against Klaus’ suite. I had to add a synthetic “X” bit to the status register and adjust the code for BRK slightly, but once done, it passed in all three forms.
The lib6502 patch I added also reports the number of opcodes executed. (At some point I’ll do cycle counts, but even just an instruction count is already useful information.) Against the test suite, the naked lib6502 without 6o6 present executes the test suite in 30,646,178 instructions, while the three configurations of 6o6 from least to most optimized execute it in 2,188,322,914, 1,713,350,225 and 1,602,516,769 instructions respectively. Those are significant savings: at its fastest 6o6 is executing 36.5% fewer instructions than the least optimized version and an average of 52.3 instructions for every guest instruction. Considering those figures necessarily include the harness and the kernel as well as 6o6, I think that’s a darn good number. Notice that while inline fetch macros make the biggest delta, the improvement with extra helpings is certainly no slouch, and the instructions per instruction should not be interpreted as a speed multiplier since different instructions have different cycle counts.
I’ve included four examples with 6o6, not counting KIMplement, its original application. Three of the four will run on either an unexpanded Commodore 64 or on an Apple IIe with 64K (tested using DOS 3.3), and I’ll discuss the fourth after that. (If someone wants to submit an Atari 8-bit port, open a pull request.) You’ve already met one, so let’s meet them all.
* = KERNEL
; NOT payload!
ldx #0
: lda string,x
beq :+
jsr CHROUT
inx
bne :-
: rts
; character set handled by xa
string .asc "hello world", CR, $00
This is a very normal-looking blob of code (on the Apple II we intentionally don’t end with a jmp $03d0, though that wouldn’t be necessary for ProDOS, of course — I’ll explain why in a second). You’ll notice this calls a character-out routine, which maps to either $ffd2 on the Commodore or $fded on the Apple; when the kernel sees the call, it just passes it through to the ROM routine. The kernel is also small, and looks like this:
* = KERNEL
cold lda #>KERNEL
sta pc
lda #<KERNEL
sta pc+1
lda #0
sta preg
lda #$ff
sta sptr
lup jsr VMU
; if we get a stack underflow, treat as clean termination status
cmp #R_STACKUNDER
bne chekok
dun rts ; propagates up
; otherwise we don't handle any return status other than OK
chekok cmp #R_OK
beq chekpc
; err out, wait for a rescue
bail sta $d020
inc $d020
jmp bail
; check for a call to $ffd2 and redirect to Kernal call
chekpc lda pc+1
cmp #>CHROUT
bne lup
lda pc
cmp #<CHROUT
bne lup
kffd2 lda areg
jsr CHROUT ; propagates up
jsr DORTS
cmp #R_STACKUNDER
beq dun
jmp lup
Our cold start sets the start address and zaps both the processor status register and stack pointer, and then starts calling the VM. As the PC ticks along, if the kernel discovers that it points to CHROUT, it grabs the guest accumulator, calls that routine on behalf of the payload, pulls the return address off the stack and returns to the loop.
You’ll have noticed that both the kernel and the payload have the same starting address of KERNEL — and that’s because this kernel can also be its own payload! That’s how it virtualized itself virtualizing itself in those animated GIFs back at the beginning, using the exact same harness and kernel as this example. In fact, I’ve symlinked them to make it clear they’re exactly the same. Only the main program that kicks all that off is different because it has to shift things forward in memory. Here’s how that looks (both the C64 and the Apple IIe use the same memory map):
Consequentially, it should also be noted that by stage 3 the majority of memory usage here is given over to three entire copies of the VM, which with the inlined fetch macros weighs in at over ten kilobytes a pop. While I could probably cut out a few more executed instructions by even more aggressively inlining everything, I think I’m currently at or near the point of diminishing returns with respect to memory usage. Twenty years occasionally refining your own code will do that.
Just like the movie, the deeper you get, the more levels you have to bubble up through. At stage 3, a call to CHROUT gets turned into a call to CHROUT at stage 2, which gets turned into a call to CHROUT at stage 1, which finally gets turned into a call to the native routine. Each is the same code and each handles the call the same way which percolates up to the lowest stage where the native call actually occurs.
Of course, when the payload completes, we’ll need a “kick” to exit.
After all three stages are run, the hypervisor cleans up so you can run it again — on the Apple II, CALL 2051; on the C64, just RUN it — and then terminates to BASIC. I note parenthetically that this program extends up into the resident DOS range on the Apple II above $9000, so you should reboot after you’re done playing around.
The third demo is a tiny task-switching kernel that jumps back and forth between two independent tasks. Each task has its own zero page and stack, along with a tiny address range for its code to live in. Each task is encapsulated and completely unaware of the other task or, indeed, of the VM actually running it.
All that’s necessary to context-switch is to keep track of the current task and have storage areas for the processor state of each one (i.e., A, X, Y, P, S and PC). The harness looks at the task “on CPU” and selects the proper physical addresses for the zero page, stack and executable code accordingly; the kernel stores and loads the other state when instructed to swap and marks the other task as “on processor.” This demo runs until you stop it with RUN-STOP/RESTORE or Control-Break.
For the last demonstration, which runs only on the Commodore 64 (though it could be adapted for 128K systems like the 128 or Apple IIe), we’ll provide a full 64K addressing space that uses none of the system’s own RAM — it’s all external memory. Since the C64 has only 64K of RAM of its own, this will require some hardware.
Similar to schemes like early LIM EMS, the geoRAM maps its memory into a “window” page — in this case a 256-byte page in the I/O range at $de00 — with its control registers at $dffe and $dfff to change which page is accessed. This is convenient since that block of I/O space doesn’t take away any RAM. Pulling up the correct page is merely a matter of setting the registers to the one you want and the window page is instantaneously read-write, so you don’t need to flush any caches to bank in another one. Though the geoRAM complicates this slightly by using 16K “banks” (64K would have been more convenient), overall the geoRAM was a very straightforward and inexpensive scheme that can be implemented with off-the-shelf components, and compatible modern clones now have capacities up to 4MB. VICE can easily emulate a geoRAM.
For this demo I wanted to emulate a simple terminal-based system with a full 64K. As it happens, for a period of time the RC2014 Z80 kit computer had a third-party 6502 processor module available, for which a ROM was provided that has both a simple monitor and Lee Davison’s EhBASIC (rip). Like before I wanted to use a pre-built ROM so that you can see there’s “nothing up my sleeve,” and fortunately there’s a set on Github. We’ll use the 6551 version, though we could use any of them (mutatis mutandis) since we’re going to trap the terminal routines anyway.
Here’s the harness store routine. As I mentioned, the geoRAM deals in 16K instead of 64K banks. We’re going to just occupy the first 64K of what’s there but we’ll still need to handle the bank computation for anything between 16K and 64K.
; poke .a into location indicated by dptr
; okay to clobber x and y
mpoke ldx dptr+1
cpx #>ROMSTART
bcc :+
; no writes to emulated ROM, cheaters
rts
; page unchanged? if so, skip all this nonsense
: cpx curpage
beq :++
; map the high byte maps onto the geoRAM page registers
stx curpage ; cache it
cpx #64
bcs :+
; below $4000, direct mapping
stx $dffe
ldx #0
stx $dfff
ldx dptr
sta $de00,x
rts
; $4000 and up indirect mapping, convert to block and bank
: tay
txa
and #63
sta $dffe
txa
and #192
clc ; carry is still set
rol
rol
rol
sta $dfff
tya
: ldx dptr
sta $de00,x
rts
ROMSTART is the location of ROM in guest memory, which for the
preassembled ROM image is $c100. Writes to it are simply ignored. For
writes below 16K, we have a fast path; for everything else, there’s
MasterCard a quick banking adjust with masks and shifts. This
isn’t a slow calculation but it isn’t necessary if we’re already on the
same page (particularly true for instruction fetches), so we always
cache the current page the geoRAM is on.
The reason I wanted something with both a monitor and BASIC is so that you can mess around with the emulated machine’s memory and any errors just bail out to the monitor. The main program and the kernel are one and the same in this example, so once the main program has checked that there’s a geoRAM present and it seems to be working (by using its own harness, also a good self-test), it will copy the ROM image into geoRAM and begin execution. The relevant instruction loop looks like this:
lup jsr VMU
; check status
cmp #R_BRK
beq dobrk
cmp #R_BADINS
beq doill
cmp #R_UDI
beq doill
cmp #R_MFAULT ; nb - current version can't generate this
beq doill
; other conditions ignored
BRK instructions go back to the monitor, as they do with most monitors.
; brk handler
dobrk ; stack already set up by VM
lda PAYLOAD+ROMSIZE-2
sta pc
lda PAYLOAD+ROMSIZE-1
sta pc+1
jmp lup
But so that we can use the same machinery in the monitor, we “forge” a BRK for other failures like an illegal instruction or the special user-defined instruction trap (also notionally an illegal instruction).
; illegal failure handler
; effectively turn the faulting instruction into a brk
doill ; do what VM opbrk would do, but wind the pc back one instruction
; since the bad opcode was already fetched
lda pc
clc
adc #1 ; not 2
sta hold0
lda pc+1
adc #0
sta hold1
; put high byte on first so it comes off last
jsr SPUSH
lda hold0
jsr SPUSH
lda preg
ora #%00110000
jsr SPUSH
lda preg
ora #%00010000 ; set bit 4 for B-flag, leave IRQs alone
sta preg
jmp dobrk
The other main part of the kernel/main program is handling a simple emulated terminal. Since the RC2014 assumes a PC-type terminal, we intercept its serial vectors (for the other UARTs these values may need to be changed), translate to and from PETSCII and maintain a little cursor, twiddling the guest registers and flags according to the results. At any time you can do a “three finger salute” and reset the emulated system with CTRL-SHIFT-Commodore, leaving memory intact.
; check for emulated ROM routines
; these come from disassembling the reset routine at $ff0f
; use the targets rather than ff03, ff06, ff09, ff0c so that
; the vectors can be redirected to user code if desired
;
; f931 = init (no-op)
; f941 = input_char (wait) ($ff03 vectored at $03d0)
; f94c = input_char (no wait, carry flag) ($ff06 vectored at $03d2)
; f959 = output_char ($ff09 vectored at $03d4)
; fa05 = print string at a, x ($ff0c)
lda pc+1
cmp #$f9
beq lowchek
cmp #$fa
bne lup
; $fa05 is the only routine in $faxx we patch
lda pc
cmp #$05
bne lup
jmp epstrax
; check $f9xx routines
lowchek lda pc
cmp #$31
beq euinit
cmp #$41
beq euinput
cmp #$4c
beq euscan
cmp #$59
beq euout
jmp lup
Let’s pop it into VICE.
The screenshot here shows starting it up and entering EhBASIC (from the monitor, g c100 for cold start or g c103 for warm). This particular version has been minimally patched by the RC2014-6502 author to implement a SYS command to return to the monitor. On a cold start, EhBASIC will ask for the memory size, or if you give it none, count it up itself. The unaccelerated C64 using geoRAM takes about a minute to discover that it has 32768 bytes free (it’s actually more but this ROM was built with a hard cap at $8000, so you can put things at $8000 through $c0ff) because it has to swap the window back and forth between the instructions it fetches and the RAM locations it reads, or you can just type 32768 to skip all that. EhBASIC annoyingly does not accept lower-case commands or keywords and you must type everything in UPPERCASE. We run a simple little BASIC program to show it works, then intentionally try to foul the machine by storing and executing a jam instruction. The monitor is duly and swiftly invoked with the PC correctly pointing to the offender.
What are some future improvements to 6o6? Naturally I’d like it to be able to run from ROM, though this would require some refactoring and would possibly make it slower, so this would only ever be an option. Also, although I consider making something like this emulate a 65816 on an NMOS 6502 to be thoroughly out of scope, it might be possible to have it emulate CMOS instructions on the NMOS system, just as this will (mostly) act like an NMOS CPU when run on a CMOS system. Note that since the ALU is used, an NMOS 6502 emulating a CMOS 65C02 will still have flags set the way the NMOS system would do it and vice versa, and the addressing is currently written the way an NMOS CPU would do it, like indirect jumps to $xxff pulling the vector from $xxff and $xx00. Additionally, despite the performance improvements I’ve implemented over the years, depending on how the inline memory macros are done there are peephole optimization opportunities that could potentially be accomplished with a “post-preprocessor” pass before actual assembly. That would make the tooling more complex, so I’d have to see how much benefit that realizes in the general case.
Other than using 6o6 to power a custom operating system, though, another obvious use is running downloaded code without messing up what you’re currently doing. My next application might be as part of a Gopher client where you can dynamically run what you download, like a networked file system. That could have possibilities!
If you’re designing your own ultimate 6502 system, of course, 6o6 is not (primarily) meant for you — you can just implement the hardware you want to implement the features you need, and because you’re in control of the design you’d be able to do it faster. But if you’re trying to do this on an NMOS CPU where you have fewer guardrails, or to do it with a minimum of added silicon, then here’s another option that’s designed to be flexible and adaptable.
Meanwhile, the updates for KIMplement 1.0 are just minor bug fixes and cleaning it up for public display. I’ve also included Tiny PILOT courtesy of Dave Hassler, which originally appeared in MICRO magazine written by Nicholas Vrtis in 1979 with patches by Bob Applegate (rip) and Dave himself. It runs splendidly and is a nice small implementation of an interesting language that ought to have a second life in scripting. Dave also ported ELIZA to it from the 1980 Atari PILOT implementation by Carol Shaw and Harry Stewart, which serves as a historically noteworthy demonstration.
The Incredible KIMplement is available from its homepage, along with sourcecode on Github. 6o6 is also available on Github and all four of the examples shown here. Both the KIMplement and 6o6 are under the Floodgap Free Software License.
https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2024/04/virtualizing-6502-with-6o6-and.html
Class of 2024 reflects on college years marked by life’s lost milestones
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
LOS ANGELES — On a recent afternoon, Grant Oh zigzagged across the University of Southern California campus as if he was conquering an obstacle course, coming up against police blockade after police blockade on his way to his apartment while officers arrested demonstrators protesting the Israel-Hamas war.
In many ways, the chaotic moment was the culmination of a college life that started amid the coronavirus pandemic and has been marked by continual upheaval in what has become a constant battle for normalcy. Oh already missed his prom and his high school graduation as COVID-19 surged in 2020. He started college with online classes. Now the 20-year-old will add another missed milestone to his life: USC has canceled its main commencement ceremony that was expected to be attended by 65,000 people.
His only graduation ceremony was in middle school and there were no caps and gowns.
“It’s crazy because I remember starting freshman year with the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which came after senior year of high school when the Black Lives Matter protests were happening and COVID, and xenophobia,” he said “It feels definitely surreal. It still shocks me that we live in a world that is so fired up and so willing to tear itself apart.”
Oh, who is getting a degree in health promotion and disease prevention, added that his loss of a memorable moment pales in comparison to what is happening: “At the end of the day, people are dying.”
College campuses have always been a hotbed for protests from the civil rights era to the Vietnam war to demonstrations over apartheid in South Africa. But students today also carry additional stresses from having lived through the isolation and fear from the pandemic, and the daily influence of social media that amplifies the world’s wrongs like never before, experts say.
It’s not just about missed milestones. Study after study shows Generation Z suffers from much higher rates of anxiety and depression than Millennials, said Jean Twenge, a psychologist and professor at San Diego State University, who wrote a book called “Generations.” She attributes much of that to the fact that negativity spreads faster and wider on social media than positive posts.
“Gen Z, they tend to be much more pessimistic than Millennials,” she said. “The question going forward is do they take this pessimism and turn it into concrete action and change, or do they turn it into annihilation and chaos?”
Protesters have pitched tents on campuses from Harvard and MIT to Stanford and the University of Texas, Austin, raising tensions as many schools prepare for spring commencements. Hundreds of students have been arrested across the country. Inspired by demonstrations at Columbia University, students at more than a dozen U.S. colleges have formed pro-Palestinian encampments and pledged to stay put until their demands are met.
The campus will be closed for the semester at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, which has been negotiating with students who have been barricaded inside a campus building since Monday, rebuffing an attempt by the police to clear them out.
USC announced Thursday that it would be calling off its main graduation ceremony after protests erupted over not only the Israel-Hamas war but the school’s decision earlier this month to call off the commencement speech by its valedictorian Asna Tabassum, who expressed support for Palestinians. Officials cited security concerns.
“By trying to silence Asna, it made everything way worse,” Oh said, adding that he hopes there will be no violence on graduation day May 10 when smaller ceremonies will be held by different departments.
Maurielle McGarvey graduated from high school in 2019 so was able to have a ceremony but then she took a gap year when many universities held classes only online. McGarvey, who is getting a degree in screenwriting with a minor in gender and social justice studies at USC, called the cancellations “heartbreaking,” and said the situation has been grossly mishandled by the university. She said police with batons came at her yelling as she held a banner while she and fellow demonstrators said a Jewish prayer.
“It’s definitely been like an overall diminished experience and to take away like the last sort of like typical thing that this class was allowed after having so many weird restrictions, so many customs and traditions changed,” she said. “It’s such a bummer.”
She said the email by the university announcing the cancellation particularly stung with its link to photos of past graduates in gowns tossing up their caps and cheering. “That’s just insult to injury,” she said.
Students at other universities were equally glum.
“Our grade is cursed,” said Abbie Barkan of Atlanta, 21, who is graduating from the University of Texas in two weeks with a journalism degree and who was among a group of Jewish students waving flags and chanting at a counter-protest Thursday near a pro-Palestinian demonstration on campus.
University of Minnesota senior Sarah Dawley, who participated in pro-Palestinian protests, is grateful graduation plans have not changed at her school. But she said the past weeks have left her with a mix of emotions. She’s been dismayed to watch colleges call in police.
But she said she also feels hope after having gone through the pandemic and become part of a community that stands up for what they believe in.
“I think a lot of people are going to go on to do cool things because after all this, we care a lot,” she said.
Student protesters seek amnesty to keep arrests, suspensions from trailing them
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
Taking the Words Out of My Mouth (With AI)
date: 2024-04-28, from: Internet Archive Blog
Everyone has a different idea of what they’d do with a time machine. Mine’s pretty simple: Head back to 2012, find myself working on a side project to film a […]
https://blog.archive.org/2024/04/28/taking-the-words-out-of-my-mouth-with-ai/
April 27, 2024
date: 2024-04-28, from: Heather Cox Richardson blog
Buddy and I are on the road and my brother just sent me this photo from home. I figure there’s probably nothing I could write tonight that tops it. So I’m calling it quits tonight. I’ll be back at it tomorrow. [Photo by Irv Richardson]
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-27-2024
At conservative conference, Orban, Trump revive right-wing alliance
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
london — Former U.S. President Donald Trump said he is ready to renew a right-wing alliance with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban if he wins the presidential election in November.
The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee made the comments in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Europe, which was held in Budapest on Thursday and Friday.
The conference has long been a powerful force in right-wing American politics. The first European edition of the conference was held in Budapest in 2022 and has been an annual fixture since.
Orban, the host and keynote speaker, received a standing ovation as he told the audience that conservatives had a chance to seize power in a major election year.
“These elections coincide with major shifts in world political and geopolitical trends. The order of the world is changing, and we must take our cause to triumph in the midst of these changes. … Make America great again, make Europe great again! Go Donald Trump, go European sovereigntists!” Orban told a delighted crowd.
He claimed that liberal forces were trying to silence the political right.
“This is what they are doing with the conservatives in the progressive liberal European capitals. The same thing is happening in the United States when they want to remove [former] President Donald Trump from the ballot with court rulings,” he said.
‘Battling to preserve our culture’
In a recorded address to the conference, Trump said he was ready to renew a conservative alliance with Orban.
“Together we’re engaged in an epic struggle to liberate our nations from all of the sinister forces who want to destroy them,” Trump said. “Every day we’re battling to preserve our culture, protect our sovereignty, defend our way of life and uphold the timeless values of freedom, family and faith in Almighty God.”
“As president I was proud to work with Prime Minister Orban — by the way, a great man — to advance the values and interests of our two nations,” Trump said.
Orban’s critics, including most of his European Union allies, accuse him of overseeing a backsliding of democracy. The Hungarian prime minister sees an opportunity to hit back, said Zsolt Enyedi, a political analyst at Central European University in Budapest.
“Orban has an ambition to change the discourse, so he’s not simply someone who is, who cares about staying in office, but he also wants to have an impact on the ideological climate, and he thinks that by sponsoring particular friendly parties, governments and intellectual clubs and initiatives, he will emerge as the leader of this conservative movement and that can counterbalance the fact that the mainstream in Europe and in liberal democracies hates him,” Enyedi told VOA.
Another of the keynote speakers at the CPAC conference was the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who is facing anti-government protests at home over a controversial proposed foreign agent law, which has been widely compared to similar Russian legislation. The EU has said the law would be incompatible with Georgia’s membership in the bloc.
“(Kobakhidze) at the moment is turning his country more and more toward Russia, trying to in a way turn his back on the European Union, and interestingly, he is welcome at a club that is supposed to stand for the interest of the West. So, these kinds of strategic alliances are possible, because all speak the language of culture wars,” Enyedi said.
Orban faces challenges at home
While right-wing parties are expected to do well in June’s European parliamentary elections, Orban’s Fidesz party is battling an economic crisis alongside a series of political scandals.
The U.S. presidential election is set for November 5. Polls suggest a tight race between Trump and incumbent Joe Biden.
Trump, Orban seek leadership of global conservative movement at right-wing conference
date: 2024-04-28, from: VOA News USA
Former U.S. President Donald Trump says he is ready to renew a right-wing alliance with Hungary’s Viktor Orban if he wins the election in November. The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee made the comments in an address to the CPAC conservative conference in Budapest. As Henry Ridgwell reports, analysts say Orban seeks a global conservative movement that is hoping for success at the ballot box in a crucial election year.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-04-28, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Mastodon forms new U.S. non-profit.
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2024/04/mastodon-forms-new-u.s.-non-profit/
Full Circle Weekly News 363
date: 2024-04-28, from: Full Circle Magazine
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The Gentoo Project has banned the adoption of changes prepared using AI tools:
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Linus Torvalds spoke out against Kconfig parsers that do not support tabs:
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