News gathered 2024-06-19
(date: 2024-06-19 08:48:27)
On “What Money Can’t Buy”
date: 2024-06-19, from: Manu - I write blog
<p>I finished listening to the audio version of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sandel">Michael Sandel</a>’s “<a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/sandel/publications/what-money-cant-buy-moral-limits-markets">What Money Can’t Buy</a>” a few days ago. Great book, I hated every second of it. The topic is very interesting but most of the concepts and examples were infuriating. The book touches on pretty much everything I hate about the current state of the world when it comes to its relationship with money and advertising. Still, was good company on a few long road trips and I love when the audiobooks are narrated by the author. Thanks for suggesting the book <a href="https://johnjago.com">John</a>!</p> <hr>
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https://manuelmoreale.com/@/page/rOjsIufrLYRfJ3fF
Valkey gains momentum with broadening band of backers
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
AlmaLinux and Broadcom added to list of partners for open source Redis fork
Momentum is building behind open source Redis alternative Valkey with the announcement of new partners including Broadcom, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, and Instaclustr by NetApp.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/valkey_picks_up_more_partners/
XREAL Beam Pro is a $199 phone-like Android device designed to pair with XREAL’s augmented reality glasses
date: 2024-06-19, from: Liliputing
XREAL is a company that makes Augmented Reality glasses, which basically put a floating display in front of your eyes without completely obscuring your vision, allowing you to see virtual and real-world objects at the same time. The latest model also support “immersion controls” which let you block out the real world while watching videos. […]
The post XREAL Beam Pro is a $199 phone-like Android device designed to pair with XREAL’s augmented reality glasses appeared first on Liliputing.
Another mysterious monolith appears, this time in Nevada desert
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
It’s the latest in a series of mysterious shiny columns popping up around the globe since 2020.
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-06-19, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
In Yak Shaving news, my last project was “I bet I can rewrite the debugger pads in SwiftUI and it would be fun”.
Good news, I did, it was fun, the result is awesome, and it was quick.
Bad news, the immediate consequence of this was “well there are a lot of other pads that deserve the SwiftUI treatment”
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112643942262939527
Game Studio’s Job Requirement: ‘Non Negotiable’ Nude Sauna Sessions
date: 2024-06-19, from: 404 Media Group
“It is not about getting naked. It’s about experiencing different kind of sauna,” LinkedIn’s new ‘saunaman’ wrote.
https://www.404media.co/game-studios-job-requirement-non-negotiable-sauna-sessions/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-06-19, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Given the current inflationary cost of Yak Shaving, I think Godot for iPad will be feature complete sometime in September/October - this is the earliest I can have useful TestFlight feedback.
Hopefully I can properly launch to the public early next year, depending on how many bugs and warts have to be fixed.
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112643817859041403
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Experts vs. Imitators.
https://fs.blog/experts-vs-imitators/
For Juneteenth, Black creatives use augmented reality to bring past to life
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
June 19th is known as Juneteenth, a U.S. holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the former Confederate states of the American Civil War. In observance of the day, international collaborators gathered in California to connect history with the future using an augmented reality app. Matt Dibble has our story from Oakland.
What to Do if You’ve Been Terminated Unjustly in California
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
Being terminated from a job is a deeply unsettling experience, particularly when the termination feels unjust. In California, where employment laws are designed to protect workers from unfair treatment, understanding […]
The post What to Do if You’ve Been Terminated Unjustly in California appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/what-to-do-if-youve-been-terminated-unjustly-in-california/
Support has waned for the Buy Black Movement
date: 2024-06-19, from: Marketplace Morning Report
One effort in trying to narrow the racial wealth gap is by supporting Black-owned businesses. That effort grew in 2020 amid racial justice protests after the murder of George Floyd, but where do things stand now? We check in. Plus, Brooklyn’s Long Time Tattoo is a queer Asian American Pacific Islander run tattoo collective that’s helping create an inclusive space for clients, other tattoo artists and the wider community.
Emails Reveal the Playbook Used Against Libraries Planning ‘Drag Story Time’ Events
date: 2024-06-19, from: 404 Media Group
Internal messages shared with 404 Media show how an official’s complaint about a drag queen story hour can spiral into bomb threats against the library hosting it.
https://www.404media.co/lancaster-drag-queen-story-time/
Satellite phone service could soon become the norm
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
America’s Big 3 cellcos all signed up already, though most of the ‘non terrestrial’ tech not actually live yet
Convergence between mobile networks and satellite services is becoming the norm rather than a niche strategy: a full 91 telecoms operators worldwide are now signed up to agreements with satellite providers.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/satellite_phone_service_could_soon/
Why the one and only time I talked with Willie Mays was so special
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
Meeting Willie Mays was a daunting experience for reporters who grew up idolizing him.
California workers are third-most productive in US
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
California’s productivity growth averaged 2.2% over 17 years. Nationally, just 1.3% since 2007.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/19/california-workers-are-third-most-productive-in-us/
RP2040 makes Kit-Cat Klock’s eyes follow you around the room
date: 2024-06-19, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
This modified Kit-Cat Klock has an RP2040 hiding inside to make its eyes follow you around the room.
The post RP2040 makes Kit-Cat Klock’s eyes follow you around the room appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/rp2040-makes-kit-cat-klocks-eyes-follow-you-around-the-room/
Horse boarders in limbo as officials decide fate of Los Gatos stables
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
Midpen board member cites ‘serious animal care issues’ at Bear Creek facility.
Additional hatch operations on a Boeing vehicle – but this time it’s Starliner
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Spacecraft to spend some extra testing time at ISS before making its way back home
Boeing’s Starliner will remain at the International Space Station (ISS) for several more days. NASA and Boeing are now targeting no earlier than June 26 for a return to Earth.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/boeing_starliner_prepares_delay_iss/
California wildfires: Point Fire in Sonoma County is 50% contained, growth stops
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
The Post Fire in Los Angeles County, the state’s largest wildfire, had consumed more than 15,000 acres.
Garcia helps veterans get long-overdue medals
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, bestowed decades-overdue recognition Tuesday, describing himself as “a humble dude from Santa Clarita” as he pinned medal after medal on retired Army Chief Warrant Officer […]
The post Garcia helps veterans get long-overdue medals appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/garcia-helps-veterans-get-long-overdue-medals/
Brewery Day Trip: Sip creative craft brews at these three Windsor breweries — and one cidermaker.
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
Make beer the focus of your next pilgrimage to this Sonoma County town.
Brit watchdog gnawing on HPE’s $14B buy of cable giant Juniper Networks
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Invites comments from rivals and customers at start of merger probe
Often the scourge of tech execs in the US, Britain’s competition regulator has a new potential target in its sights: HPE’s proposed $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/cma_hpe_juniper_networks/
New ALPR Vulnerabilities Prove Mass Surveillance Is a Public Safety Threat
date: 2024-06-19, from: Ben Werdmuller’s blog
<div class="known-bookmark">
<div class="e-content">[Dave Maass and Cooper Quintin at EFF]
“When law enforcement uses ALPRs to document the comings and goings of every driver on the road, regardless of a nexus to a crime, it results in gargantuan databases of sensitive information, and few agencies are equipped, staffed, or trained to harden their systems against quickly evolving cybersecurity threats.”
As the EFF points out, it’s often vulnerable software - and even when it’s not, it violates the security principle of only collecting the information you need. Information security and data strategies are not core law enforcement skillsets, and the software they buy is often oversold.
As the EFF explains:
“That partially explains why, more than 125 law enforcement agencies reported a data breach or cyberattacks between 2012 and 2020, according to research by former EFF intern Madison Vialpando. The Motorola Solutions article claims that ransomware attacks”targeting U.S. public safety organizations increased by 142 percent” in 2023.”
The use of these tactics seems uncontrolled - perhaps this is one area where legislation could help.
<p>[<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/new-alpr-vulnerabilities-prove-mass-surveillance-public-safety-threat">Link</a>]</p>
</div>
</div>https://werd.io/2024/new-alpr-vulnerabilities-prove-mass-surveillance-is-a-public-safety
San Jose OKs new protections for tens of thousands of mobile home park residents
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
The city has the most mobile home parks in California.
“Fingerprints of the Thief”: How a Glitch in Descript Drew Me Into the Disturbing World of OpenAI
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Squeeze
Plus: Is Paradiso Media Stiffing Its Contract Workers?
https://thisisthesqueeze.substack.com/p/fingerprints-of-the-thief-how-a-glitch
Amtrak confirms crooks are breaking into user accounts, derailing email addresses
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Rail company goes full steam ahead with notification letters to Rewards customers about spilled card details and more
US rail company Amtrak is writing to users of its Guest Rewards program to inform them that their data is potentially at risk following a derailment of their account security. …
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/amtrak_has_had_another_breach/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-06-19, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
More iOS 18 notes app goodness, when you accept an answer for your calculation, it celebrates it with an animation:
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112643365878182103
Microsoft admits to problems upgrading Windows 11 Pro to Enterprise
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Recent patches have broken the update path
There are problems with Microsoft’s last few Windows 11 updates, leaving some users unable to make the move from Windows 11 Pro to Enterprise.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/problems_upgrading_win_11_pro/
Robotaxis escape legislative move to let cities control them
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
Business group backed by autonomous-taxi companies celebrates the demise of Senate Bill 915.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/19/robotaxis-escape-legislative-move-to-let-cities-control-them/
Newsom wants to limit students’ use of smartphones in school
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted Tuesday for the district to develop policies banning students’ use of cell phones throughout the school day.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/19/newsom-wants-to-limit-students-use-of-smartphones-in-school/
The Great Legacy of Title IX
date: 2024-06-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Title IX was a great civil rights breakthrough for girls and women and a great breakthrough in the promotion of athletics for girls!
The post The Great Legacy of Title IX appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/06/19/the-great-legacy-of-title-ix/
Opinion: If California opts for smaller prison changes, rehabilitation must remain priority
date: 2024-06-19, from: San Jose Mercury News
It’s vital to help prisoners develop goals for dealing with trauma, substance use, gang affiliation and other issues.
Footage of Nigel Farage blowing up Rishi Sunak’s Minecraft mansion ‘not real’
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Hats off to The Guardian for double checking, though
British democracy hangs in the balance after internet mischief makers published a deepfake of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage griefing prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Minecraft server.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/farage_minecraft/
Texas Is Bracing for the First Named Storm of Hurricane Season
date: 2024-06-19, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: Heat records are falling across the Midwest and Northeast while parts of the Pacific Northwest are seeing late-season snow • Wildfires in New Mexico have burned more than 20,000 acres • Nighttime temperatures remained near 100 degrees Fahrenheit in northern India.
THE TOP FIVE
- Tropical storm takes aim at Texas
A weather system churning in the Gulf of Mexico could become the first named storm in what is expected to be a very busy hurricane season. Tropical Storm One, as it’s currently known, is “large but disorganized,” but is forecast to coalesce into Tropical Storm Alberto sometime today as it moves toward the coasts of Mexico and Texas and makes landfall tonight or tomorrow morning. A tropical storm warning was already issued for the Texas coast, indicating that high winds are on the way. Flash flooding is also very likely, especially across South Texas, where six to 10 inches of rain could fall.
- Senate passes bill that boosts development of advanced nuclear
reactors
The ADVANCE Act, which would reform the nuclear regulatory policy to encourage the development of advanced nuclear reactors, passed the Senate yesterday by a vote of 88-2, preparing it for an almost certain presidential signature. The bill is just one of a flurry of legislative and executive actions to support the nuclear energy industry. It is designed to align the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) around so-called “advanced” nuclear reactors, a catch-all term that covers a number of designs and concepts that are typically smaller than the existing light water reactor fleet and would, ideally, be largely factory-built to reduce costs. The ADVANCE Act would eliminate some fees for applicants going through the NRC approval process; instruct the NRC to develop specific rules for “microreactors,” which might only have 20 or so megawatts of capacity and could be used for single sites or rural areas; establish prizes for advanced reactors; and “streamline” the NRC process for advanced nuclear reactors.
- Hajj death toll climbs as Mecca hits 125 degrees
Reports suggest that more than 550 people have died from extreme heat exposure during this year’s Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Updated death tolls are trickling in from various national news outlets, and haven’t been independently verified, but temperatures on Monday hit 125.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade at the Grand Mosque in Mecca and Saudi authorities said they had treated more than 2,000 people for heat stress. Nearly 2 million pilgrims were expected to take part in the Hajj this year. The event, which began last Friday, comes to a close today.
- Fisker files for bankruptcy
Struggling electric vehicle startup Fisker declared bankruptcy yesterday. The announcement wasn’t hugely surprising given the company’s financial troubles and layoffs in recent months, but it serves as a cautionary tale to other EV startups about how a “lack of preparedness” for what happens after a company gets a new car out on the road can cause major problems, as Sean O’Kane at TechCrunch put it. Fisker’s electric Ocean SUV was plagued with a laundry list of problems – electrical failures, braking issues, software glitches – and staff couldn’t keep up while also trying to sell more vehicles, O’Kane wrote, adding: “Fisker wasn’t ready to grapple with bringing a flawed car to market.”
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- GE Aerospace, NASA developing hybrid electric jet engines
NASA is working with GE Aerospace to develop hybrid electric engines for jets, “like a Toyota Prius of the skies,” Reuters reported. The engines are still in the early stages of development, but the goal is to eventually use them to power single-aisle jets, which are responsible for half of the aviation industry’s carbon emissions. “Our collaborations with industry partners like GE Aerospace are paving the way for U.S. leadership in hybrid electric commercial transport aircraft,” said Anthony Nerone, a project manager with NASA’s Glenn research center.
THE KICKER
The Biden administration started swearing in the first cohort of the American Climate Corps this week, and expects to enroll 9,000 young people in the program by the end of the month.
https://heatmap.news/climate/alberto-tropical-storm-texas
US lawmakers meet Dalai Lama as China slams visit
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
New Delhi — A group of U.S. lawmakers met the Dalai Lama in India’s northern town of Dharamshala Wednesday, amid cheers from Tibetans in exile and an angry reaction from China, which calls the Tibetan spiritual leader a separatist and a splittist.
The visit follows the passage last week of a bill by the U.S. Congress that seeks to encourage dialogue between Beijing and Tibetan leaders in exile, who have been seeking more autonomy for Tibet. Talks with the Dalai Lama’s representatives and China stalled in 2010.
“This bill is a message to the Chinese government that we have clarity in our thinking and our understanding of this issue of the freedom of Tibet,” Nancy Pelosi, former House Speaker, said to cheers from hundreds of Tibetans whom the lawmakers addressed at a public ceremony after meeting the Dalai Lama at his residence.
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to soon sign the legislation called “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act,” also referred to as the Resolve Tibet Act.
In Dharamshala, where the Tibetan government in exile is based, the visit of the U.S. lawmakers brought hope. “It is a jubilant moment for all Tibetans. We are all overjoyed. The visit is very significant because it comes soon after the passage of the bill which we hope will soon be passed into law,” Tenzin Lekshay, spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration, told VOA.
Congressman Michael McCaul, who led the seven-member visiting delegation, said the bill reaffirms American support for what he referred to as the Tibetan right to self- determination. He said that their delegation had received a letter from the Chinese Communist Party, warning them not to visit.
Beijing said the U.S. should not sign into law the bill passed by Congress. “China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Lin Jian said on Tuesday, as the lawmakers arrived in the Indian town.
The Chinese embassy in New Delhi reiterated Beijing’s concerns. “We urge the U.S. side to fully recognize the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honor the commitments the U.S. has made to China on issues related to Xizang, stop sending the wrong signal to the world,” it said in a statement Tuesday night. Xizang is China’s name for Tibet.
In his remarks to Tibetans, McCaul said it is important that China not influence the choice of the Dalai Lama’s successor. “Beijing has even attempted to insert itself into choosing the successor of the Dalai Lama,” he said. “We will not let that happen.”
The issue is contentious. China says it has the right to approve the spiritual leader’s successor while according to Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama is reincarnated after his death. The Dalai Lama has said his successor is likely to be found in India but Tibetans in exile fear China will try to designate a person to be the successor, in an effort to bolster control over Tibet.
Meanwhile, Tibetan spokesman Lekshay said China needs to come forward to reinstate a dialogue with exiled Tibetan leaders. “It is a time for introspection for China to see what is going wrong, particularly with the Tibet issue which has been a longstanding conflict. China needs to be more positive.”
Beijing does not recognize the exiled administration. A formal dialogue process between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and the Chinese government ended in 2010 after it failed to produce a concrete outcome.
Pointing out that they are asking for autonomy within China and not independence, Lekshay said the Tibetan administration in exile did not represent a separatist movement.
Tibetans in exile say they fear that their culture, language and identity is under threat due to Chinese assimilation of the region.
The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959, has been instrumental in putting the Tibetan cause in the global spotlight but in recent years some Tibetan activists have expressed concerns that the Tibet cause is not getting appropriate attention in Western capitals.
The Himalayan town of Dharamshala has been the Dalai Lama’s home since he fled Tibet over six decades ago following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-lawmakers-meet-dalai-lama-as-china-slams-visit-/7661821.html
GenAI more buzz than biz as tech barely dents jobs, says survey
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Don’t believe the hype
Despite some astronomical vendor valuations and predictions that it will transform society, the impact of GenAI in the workplace has yet to materialize, according to a recent global survey.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/genai_workplace/
The Black Founders Of Los Angeles
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The LAist
Of the 44 men women and children who settled El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles in 1781, over half had African ancestry.
https://laist.com/news/la-history/the-black-founders-of-la
Black entrepreneurship and closing the racial wealth gap
date: 2024-06-19, from: Marketplace Morning Report
Part of the of the racial wealth gap is a gap in business ownership. Today, we’re joined by Kezia Williams, CEO of the Black upStart, a national initiative and curriculum for Black entrepreneurs, for a conversation about some of the hurdles Black business owners face and efforts to close the gap. Also on the program: A new study finds that expanding early childhood education could be well worth the investment.
GPU-accelerated VMs on Proxmox, XCP-ng? Here’s what you need to know
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Go ahead, toss that old gaming card in your server — you know you want to
Hands on Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has sent many scrambling for alternatives.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/proxmox_xcp_ng_gpu_passthrough/
Did Climate Change Do It?
date: 2024-06-19, from: Heatmap News
Maybe you’re reading this in a downpour. Perhaps you’re reading it because you have questions about the upcoming hurricane season. Or maybe you’re reading it because you’re one of the 150 million Americans enduring record-breaking temperatures in this week’s heat dome.
Whatever the reason, you have a question: Is this climate change?
There’s an old maxim — that, like many things, is often dubiously attributed to Mark Twain — that goes something like, “Climate is what you expect and weather is what you get.” Weather refers to the event itself, while climate refers to the trends (averaged over 30 years or more, usually) that might make such an event more or less likely.
Climate change is almost always an exacerbating factor in the case of something like a heat wave or a heat dome. In other situations, the picture is far more complicated and uncertain. It can take years to understand if and how climate change made an extreme weather event more likely, and while organizations like World Weather Attribution work hard to provide quick and accurate estimations, getting the science wrong can fuel climate skepticism and bolster deniers’ arguments. While it might be tempting to pin all extreme weather on climate change, the truth is, not all of it is.
Still, we do know a lot about how climate change influences the weather — and we’re always learning more. While this guide is far from the be-all and end-all of attribution and should be referred to with caveats, here is what we know about how climate change is shaping the extreme weather we see today.
The Big Four
Heat waves and heat domes
“When you’re looking at heat extremes, there is almost always a climate change signal,” Clair Barnes, a research associate with World Weather Attribution, told me. “I don’t think there’s ever not been a climate change signal since I’ve been doing it in the last couple of years.”
As the planet warms, local temperatures respond everywhere. There are not as many complicating variables in this relationship as there are with something like drought. “With heat waves, it’s the same answer every time: It got hotter because it’s got hotter,” Barnes said.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found that the kind of heat waves that would have occurred once in a decade before the Industrial Revolution now occur almost three times more frequently and are 1.2 degrees Celsius (or 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer. The most extreme examples — like the 2021 heat dome over the Pacific Northwest — appear to have been possible only because of warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, about 37% of global heat-related deaths, which amount to tens of thousands of deaths per year, are attributable to climate change.
There have, of course, always been heat waves. But it is with high confidence that scientists say they are hotter and last longer now than they would otherwise because of climate change.
Did climate change do it? It is “virtually certain” that heat waves are more frequent and hotter than they otherwise would be because of climate change.
Wildfires
WWA doesn’t specifically study wildfires since they aren’t technically “weather” (though once they form, they can make their own). Instead, the organization studies the conditions that make a fire more likely. In the American West, this deadly combo usually involves high pressure, extremely dry air, and some wind.
Globally, burned areas decreased between 1998 and 2015, but that isn’t because fire-weather conditions are improving — rather, regional leaders have gotten better at things like land use and fire management. Fire weather, meanwhile, is increasing and lasting longer due to climate change. In particular, hotter temperatures — especially hotter overnight temperatures — make it more difficult to combat the fires that do ignite. (Most fires in the U.S. start due to human negligence or arson, rather than by natural causes such as lightning strikes.)
This is especially the case in California, where 10 of the state’s largest fires have occurred in the past two decades, with five in 2020 alone; a 2023 National Integrated Drought Information System-funded study further found a 320% increase in burned areas in the state between 1996 and 2021 due to contributions of human-caused climate change, with that number expected to grow in the coming decades.
On average, wildfire weather season lengthened by two weeks around the globe from 1979 to 2019. The IPCC has medium confidence in the claim that fire weather has become more probable in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and parts of Europe over the past century, and high confidence that fire weather will increase regionally due to global warming in the coming years.
Did climate change do it? Climate change has almost certainly exacerbated the heat, humidity, and drought conditions necessary for wildfires to start. The actual ignition of the fire is frequently human-caused, however, and complicating variables such as local vegetation, forest management, and land use can also muddle the picture.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
Tropical cyclones are large and complicated storm systems. Ocean temperatures, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, wind shear, barometric pressure, atmospheric moisture, the shape of the continental shelf, emergency preparedness measures, and pure luck all affect how destructive a given storm might be — when or if it makes landfall. Climate change can put a thumb on the scale, but it is far from a lone actor.
Hurricanes — the strongest manifestation of a tropical cyclone — essentially work by transferring heat from the ocean into wind energy. Because the ocean absorbs excess heat from the warming atmosphere, scientists expect to see more “major” hurricanes of Category 3 or above in the coming years.
The storms aren’t just getting more powerful, though. Because of the interaction between ocean heat and energy in a hurricane, the storms also intensify more rapidly and are “more than twice as likely to strengthen from a weak Category 1 hurricane to a major Category 3 or stronger hurricane in a 24-hour period than they were between 1970 and 1990,” according to new research published last year.
WWA says it cannot attribute the intensification of any individual storm to climate change due to relatively limited modeling so far, so the organization instead looks at how climate change may have amplified associated rainfall and storm surges. Rainfall and flooding are, in fact, more deadly than high wind speeds in hurricanes, and both are understood to be increasing because of climate change. Put simply, a warmer atmosphere can hold more water, which means worse deluges. Researchers linked extreme rainfall during Hurricanes Katrina, Maria, and Irma to climate change; Hurricane Harvey, which flooded up to 50% of the properties in Harris County, Texas, when it made landfall in 2017, had a rainfall total 15% to 38% greater than it would have been in a pre-industrial world, researchers found. Additionally, rising sea levels caused by climate change will worsen coastal flooding during such events.
However, “trends indicate no significant change in the frequency of tropical cyclones globally,” according to the IPCC. That is, there aren’t more hurricanes; the ones that form are just more likely to become major hurricanes. Scientists understand far less about what climate change means for the smaller Category 1 or 2 storms, or if it will impact the diameter of the storms that do form.
Did climate change do it? The greenhouse effect is making the atmosphere warmer, and in a warmer climate, we’d expect to see more major hurricanes of Category 3 and above. Evidence also points to hurricanes intensifying much more rapidly in today’s climate than in the past. Climate does not seem to play a role in the overall number of storms, though, and other critical factors like the path of a storm and the emergency preparedness of a given community have a significant impact on the potential loss of life but aren’t linked to a warmer atmosphere. Hurricanes are complicated events and there is still much more research to be done in understanding how exactly they’re impacted by climate change.
Extreme rain, floods, and landslides
In the winter, your skin might feel dry, and your lips might chap; in the summer, many parts of the country feel sticky and swampy. This is simple, observable physics: Cold air holds less moisture, and warm air holds more. The “Clausius-Clapeyron” relation, as it is known, tells us that in 1 degree C warmer air, there is 7% more moisture. All that moisture has to go somewhere, so quite literally, when it rains, it pours. (That is, when and where it rains: WWA notes that “an attribution study in northern Europe found that human influence has so far had little effect on the atmospheric circulation that caused a severe rainfall event.”)
Like heat, the relationship between warm air and rainfall is well understood, which is why the IPCC is highly confident in the attributable influence of climate change on extreme rain. While it may seem confusing that both droughts and intense rainfall are symptoms of climate change, the warming atmosphere seems to increase precipitation variability, making events on the extreme margins more likely and more frequent.
Increased precipitation can have counterintuitive results, though. Rain occurring over fewer overall days due to bursts of extreme rainfall, for example, can actually worsen droughts. And while it might seem like more water in the atmosphere would mean snowier winters, that’s only true in certain places. Because it’s also warmer, snowfall is declining globally while winters are getting wetter — and as a result, probably more miserable.
But what does “more rain” really mean? Rain on its own isn’t necessarily bad, but when it overwhelms urban infrastructure or threatens roads and houses, it can quickly become deadly. Flooding, of course, is often the result of extreme rain, but “the signal in the rainfall is not necessarily correlated to the magnitude of the floods because there are other factors that turn rain into a flood,” Barnes, the research associate with WWA, told me, citing variables such as land use, water management, urban drainage, and other physical elements of a landscape.
Landslides, likewise, are caused by everything from volcanic eruptions to human construction, but rain is often a factor (climate-linked phenomena like wildfires and thawing permafrost also contribute to landslides). The IPCC writes with “high confidence” that landslides, along with floods and water availability, “have the potential to lead to severe consequences for people, infrastructure, and the economy in most mountain regions.”
Did climate change do it? More extreme rainfall is consistent with our understanding of climate change’s effects. Many other local, physical factors can compound or mitigate disasters like floods and mudslides, however.
The Oddballs
Drought
When I spoke with Barnes, of WWA, she told me, “It’s really easy to define a heat wave. You just go, ‘It was hot.’” Droughts, not so much. For one thing, you have to define the time span you’re looking at. There are also different kinds of drought: meteorological, when there hasn’t been enough rain; hydrological, when rivers are low possibly because something else is diverting water from the natural cycle; and agricultural, when there is not enough water specifically for crops. Like flooding, many different infrastructural and physical factors go into exacerbating or even creating various kinds of droughts.
Drought as we mean it here, though, is a question of soil moisture, Barnes told me. “That’s really hard to get data on,” she said, “and we don’t necessarily understand the feedback mechanisms affecting that as well as we understand heat waves.” As recently as 2013, the IPCC had only low confidence that trends in drought could be attributed to climate change.
We have a better understanding of how drought and climate change interact now, including how higher temperatures drive evaporation and cut into snowpack, leading to less meltwater in rivers. The IPCC’s most recent report concluded that “even relatively small incremental increases in global warming (+0.5C) cause a worsening of droughts in some regions.” The IPCC also has high confidence that “more regions are affected by increases in agricultural and ecological droughts with increasing global warming.”
WWA’s attribution studies have, however, found examples of droughts that have no connection to climate change. The organization flags that it has the highest confidence in the climate affecting droughts in the Mediterranean, southern Africa, central and eastern Asia, southern Australia, and western North America and lower confidence in central and west Africa, western and central Europe, northeast South America, and New Zealand.
Did climate change do it? Maybe. Some droughts have a strong climate signal — California’s, for example. Still, researchers remain cautious about attribution for these complicated events due in part to their significant regional variability.
Tornadoes
Tornadoes are extremely difficult to study. Compared to droughts, which can last years, tornadoes occupy a teeny tiny area and last for just a blip in time. They “wouldn’t even register” on the models WWA uses for its attribution studies, Barnes said. “It would probably look like a slightly raised average wind speed.” The IPCC, for its part, has only “low confidence” in a connection between climate change and “severe convective storms” like tornadoes, in part due to the “short length of high-quality data records.”
But we are learning more every day. This spring, researchers posited that Tornado Alley is moving east and “away from the warm season, especially the summer, and toward the cold season.” Though it’s not entirely clear why this is happening, one theory is that it relates to how climate change is affecting regional seasonality: winters and nights are becoming warmer in certain areas, and thus more conducive to tornado formation, while others are becoming too hot for storms to form during the normal season.
Did climate change do it? Researchers aren’t entirely sure but there doesn’t appear to be a correlation between tornado formation and climate change. Still, warmer temperatures potentially make certain areas more or less prone to tornadoes than they were in the past.
Thunderstorms and hail
We say “it was a dark and stormy night” because “it was a severe convective storm” doesn’t have the same ring. But an SCS — which forms when warm, moist air rises into colder air — is the most common and most damaging weather phenomenon in the United States. You probably just call it a thunderstorm.
Severe convective storms cause many localized events that we think of as “weather,” including heavy rainfall, high winds, tornadoes, hail, thunder, and lightning. Because heat and moisture are necessary ingredients for these kinds of storms, and because the atmosphere is getting both warmer and wetter, climate models “consistently” and confidently predict an “increase in the frequency of severe thunderstorms,” the IPCC notes — but, “there is low confidence in the details of the projected increase.” Trends remain poorly studied and highly regionally dependent; in the United States, for example, there is still no evidence of a “significant increase in convective storms, and hail and severe thunderstorms.” Still, other research suggests that for every 1.8 degree F of warming, the conditions favorable to severe convective storms will increase in frequency by up to 20%.
Hail forms during severe convective storms when the hot, moist air rises to a region of the atmosphere where it is cold enough to freeze. Like thunderstorms more generally, data is fairly limited on hail, making it difficult to study long-term trends (most climate models also do not look directly at hail, studying convective storms more broadly instead). However, it’s been hypothesized that climate change could create larger and more destructive hail in the future; if thunderstorm updrafts grow stronger, as projected, then they could hold hail at freezing high altitudes for longer, allowing individual hailstones to grow larger before falling back to Earth. One study even suggested that with continued warming, there could be a 145% increase in “significant severe hail” measuring at least 2 inches in diameter — that is, a little smaller than a tennis ball.
Did climate change do it?
Everything we know about thunderstorms
suggests that a warmer, wetter atmosphere will mean severe convection
storms become both more frequent and more intense. But there is still
very little available data to track the long-term trends attributing any
one storm to climate change would be nearly
impossible.
Snowstorms and extreme cold
Just as virtually all heat waves worldwide are worsened by climate change, “nearly every instance of extreme cold across the world has decreased in likelihood,” according to the WWA. While the organization has run attribution studies on “a few” heavy snowfall events, it has either found no link to climate change or has been unable to state a conclusion confidently. On the other hand, the loss of snow cover, permafrost, Arctic sea ice, and glaciers has a high-confidence link to human-caused climate change in the IPCC report.
Just because climate change makes extreme cold and snowstorms less likely does not mean they won’t happen. Research published in Nature earlier this year suggests climate change could bring more snow to certain places, as extremely cold parts of the world warm to snow-friendly temperatures, and increased precipitation from a warmer atmosphere results in more flurries. Parts of Siberia and the northern Great Plains are even experiencing a deepening snowpack.
Did climate change do it? Probably not — though there are notable exceptions.
Earthquakes
An earthquake is usually caused by the release of energy when two tectonic plates suddenly slip past each other (though they can also be caused by fossil fuel extraction). But before you dismiss earthquakes as having no connection to climate change, there is one place where there could be a link: water.
As Emily Pontecorvo wrote for Heatmap this spring, “Changes in surface water, whether because of heavy rain, snow, or drought, could either increase or relieve stress on geologic faults, causing them to shift.” Admittedly, even if there is a relationship between climate change, water, and earthquakes, it appears to be small — so small that humans probably can’t feel any resulting quakes.
Did climate change do it? It’s highly unlikely.
Airplane turbulence
Earlier this year, extreme turbulence on a Singapore-bound flight from London killed one person and injured at least 20 others. While such events remain rare — the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board recorded just 101 serious injuries caused by turbulence on millions of flights between 2013 and 2022 — extreme turbulence appears to be increasing, potentially because of climate change.
According to one study, severe turbulence is up 55% between 1979 and 2020, seemingly due to an increase in wind shear at high altitudes caused by the temperature contrast between the equator and the North Pole. (This relationship is a little bit complicated, but essentially, at higher altitudes, the temperature over the pole has been declining due to rapid Arctic temperature changes even as it’s increased at the equator; lower in the troposphere, the opposite is happening). Other studies have similarly shown that doubling the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could increase moderate-to-severe turbulence by as much as 127%.
Data, however, is limited and fairly subjective, leading to some skepticism in the scientific community and inaccurate dismissals by climate-change deniers. As with many complex weather phenomena, our understanding of how climate change interacts with turbulence will likely grow in the coming years as the field of research develops.
Did climate change do it? Potentially in some cases, but there is still much to learn about the connection between the two.
Dust and sand storms
Desertification differs from drought in that it describes a decline in soil fertility, water, and plant life to the point of total “land degradation.” (In contrast, land can become productive again after a drought.) Like other compound disasters, desertification results from natural processes, climatic conditions, and land management practices such as grazing and deforestation.
According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, land degradation is “almost always” the result of these “multiple interacting causes,” and the warming climate certainly isn’t helping. Heat stress can kill off vegetation, making landscapes more prone to desertification, as well as drive aridification.
In the resulting drylands — which comprise about 46% of global land area — you can expect dust storms (also known as haboobs), and sand storms resulting from the wind kicking up loose soils. While there have always been sand storms, one study suggests that climate change is one of the critical drivers of global annual dust emissions increasing by 25% between the late 19th century and today.
However, “climate change impacts on dust and sand storm activity remain a critical gap,” writes the IPCC, and more research is desperately needed to address this. By the UN’s estimate, dust storms were associated with the deaths of 402,000 people in 2005. As many as 951 million people, mainly in South Asia, Central Asia, West Africa, and East Asia, could be vulnerable to the impacts of desertification if climate change continues.
Did climate change do it? It was potentially a factor, but we have lots more to learn.
Locust swarms
Are locust swarms technically “weather”? Not really. But so long as we’re on the topic of weather events of Biblical proportions, locust swarms might as well be addressed, too.
And the answer may surprise you: Climate appears to be a driver of locust swarms, which threaten food security and exacerbate famines throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Locusts prefer “arid areas punched by extreme rainfall,” according to one study that looked at the connection between swarms and climate change, and while much of that pattern is fixed in the natural El Niño–Southern Oscillation cycle, a warming climate will also “lead to widespread increases in locust outbreaks with emerging hotspots in west central Asia.” In particular, the research found that in a low-emissions scenario, locust habitat could increase by 5%, while in a high-emissions scenario, it could increase by 13% to 25% between 2065 and 2100.
Did climate change do it? It’d likely be tricky to attribute any one locust swarm to climate change, but as with many other natural phenomena, climate likely plays a compounding factor.
https://heatmap.news/guides/is-extreme-weather-climate-change
Amazon U.K. staff vote on union representation
date: 2024-06-19, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: Amazon could be forced to recognize a trade union for the first time in the United Kingdom, as staff at its warehouse in Coventry, England, begin consulting with the GMB general trade union union ahead of a July vote. Also: An Afrobeats track has become the first of the genre to break one billion streams. We’ll explore the genre’s rapid growth.
Cooler temps and rain could help corral blazes that forced thousands to flee New Mexico village
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
ROSWELL, N.M. — Cooler weather — and the chance of rain — could bring some relief this week to firefighters battling blazes in southern New Mexico that killed one person, damaged hundreds of structures and forced thousands to evacuate.
Strong wind pushed the larger of two wildfires into the mountain village of Ruidoso, forcing residents to flee immediately with little notice. Weather patterns are expected to shift by Wednesday morning with moisture from a tropical wave in the Gulf of Mexico, said Joshua Schroeder of the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.
“Today was really our last dry day,” he said late Tuesday. “Rains will then peak into Thursday and diminish by the weekend.”
On the downside, he said, some shifts in wind were possible later Wednesday, and rain could lead to flash flooding in newly burned areas.
Ruidoso and much of the Southwest has been exceedingly dry and hot this spring. Those conditions, along with strong wind, whipped flames out of control Monday and Tuesday, rapidly advancing the South Fork Fire into the village. Along with homes and businesses, a regional medical center and the Ruidoso Downs horse track were evacuated.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office confirmed one fatality as a result of the fire but said it had no further details.
More than 500 structures have been destroyed or damaged, but it’s unclear how many were homes. A flyover to provide more accurate mapping and a better assessment of damage was planned overnight Tuesday, Lujan Grisham said.
Ardis Holder left Ruidoso with her two young daughters, her gas tank nearly on empty and praying that they’d make it out safe. She was sure the house she rented in the village she grew up in is gone, based on the maps she’s seen so far.
“We were already seeing where all the fire hit, it’s everywhere,” she said late Tuesday from a shelter in nearby Roswell. “If there’s something standing, that’s awesome. But, if not, we were prepared for the worst.”
Lujan Grisham declared a county-wide state of emergency that extended to the neighboring Mescalero Apache Reservation where both fires started and deployed National Guard troops. The declaration unlocks additional funding and resources to manage the crisis.
Nationwide, wildfires have scorched more than 3,280 square miles (8,495 square kilometers) this year — a figure higher than the 10-year averages, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 20 wildfires currently burning are considered large and uncontained, including blazes in California and Washington state.
Lujan Grisham said the two southern New Mexico wildfires together have consumed more than 31 square miles (80 square kilometers). The exact causes of the blazes hasn’t been determined, but the Southwest Coordination Center listed them as human-caused.
“We are deploying every available resource to control these fires.” she said.
While many older residents call Ruidoso home year-round, the population of around 7,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the warmer months, when New Mexicans and Texans from hotter climates seek the cool of the leafy aspen trees, hiking trails and a chance to go fishing.
Nestled within the Lincoln National Forest, Ruidoso boasts nearby amenities including a casino, golf course and ski resort operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. Horse races at the Ruidoso Downs also draw crowds as home to one of the sport’s richest quarter-horse competitions.
Ruidoso residents fled Monday through traffic-clogged downtown streets some described as apocalyptic, with smoke darkening the evening sky, embers raining down and 100-foot (30-meter) flames in the distance climbing over a ridgeline.
The evacuation order came so quickly that she Christy Hood and her husband Richard only had time to grab their two children and two dogs. Heavy traffic on the way out turned what should have been a 15-minute drive into a harrowing two-hour ordeal.
“As we were leaving, there were flames in front of me and to the side of me,” said Hood, a real estate agent in Ruidoso. “And all the animals were just running — charging — trying to get out.”
On social media posts, Ruidoso officials didn’t mince words: “GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately.”
As Jacquie and Ernie Escajeda left church Monday in Ruidoso, they saw smoke rise above a mountain behind their house.
They kept a close eye on their cellphones and turned on the radio for updates. There was no “get ready,” nor “get set” — it was just “go,” Ernie Escajeda said. They grabbed legal documents and other belongings and left.
On Tuesday, the couple got a call from friends who are on vacation in Utah but have a home in Ruidoso that they’ve been told was destroyed, Jacquie Escajeda said.
“They lost their home,” she said. “There’s only one home standing in their whole little division that they live in, so there are a lot of structures lost. We have no idea if we’re going to have a home to go to.”
Public Service Company of New Mexico shut off power to part of the village due to the fire.
Lujan Grisham said cellphone service had been affected in some communities near the fire, and mobile cell towers were being set up to restore communications.
Amid highway closures, many evacuees had little choice but to flee eastward and to the city of Roswell, 75 miles (121 kilometers) away, where hotels and shelters quickly filled. A rural gas station along the evacuation route was overrun with people and cars.
Self-driving cars safer in sunlight, twilight another story
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
YMMV
Data from more than 2,000 self-driving vehicles has contributed to a study concluding they may be safer than humans in some conditions, and potentially more dangerous in others.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/autonomous_driving_dim_conditions/
Gary Horton | On Planning Our Common Future Demise
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
One thing for certain. Whether we’re MAGA or WOKE or blissfully politically agnostic, no one gets off this planet alive. Possible exception: Elon Musk, who just got a $47-billion bonus […]
The post Gary Horton | On Planning Our Common Future Demise appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/gary-horton-on-planning-our-common-future-demise/
Rick Barker | We Lost a Great One
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
Sadly, we lost a great lady recently: Barbara “Bobby” Stone a 102-year-old United States Marine Corps World War II veteran, passed away peacefully in her sleep last week, only a […]
The post Rick Barker | We Lost a Great One appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/rick-barker-we-lost-a-great-one/
Gwladys Axelrod | Kissing the Ring
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
Re: commentaries and letters by Michael Reagan and Stephen Maseda. Instead of bashing Barack Obama and Joe Biden, why don’t you take a good hard look at Donald Trump’s character […]
The post Gwladys Axelrod | Kissing the Ring appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/gwladys-axelrod-kissing-the-ring/
Dr. Gene Dorio | A Jury of Lie Detectors
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
A trial by a jury of your peers does not mean they will reach the correct conclusion of innocence or guilt. When serving on a jury, you are asked to […]
The post Dr. Gene Dorio | A Jury of Lie Detectors appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/dr-gene-dorio-a-jury-of-lie-detectors/
Lois Eisenberg | On D-Day and the Fourth
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
D-Day, which is a very important date in American history, has been referred to by historians as the “beginning of the end of World War II.” D-Day commemorates June 6, […]
The post Lois Eisenberg | On D-Day and the Fourth appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/lois-eisenberg-on-d-day-and-the-fourth/
50 launches, 1 knighthood – Rocket Lab CEO talks heavy-lift rockets, Venus, and Musk
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Sir Peter Beck on bringing balance to the market and more
Interview Rocket Lab will hit the 50th launch milestone for its Electron rockets this week but will miss a hoped-for late 2024 date for its first Neutron launch.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/rocket_lab_peter_beck_interview/
First crew of Boeing Starliner to remain at ISS until late June
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
How China’s EV Industry Got So Big
date: 2024-06-19, from: Heatmap News
China’s electric vehicle industry has driven itself to the center of the global conversation. Its automakers produce dozens of affordable, technologically advanced electric vehicles that rival — and often beat — anything coming out of Europe or North America. The United States and the European Union have each levied tariffs on its car exports in the past few months, hoping to avoid a “China shock” to their domestic car industries.
Ilaria Mazzocco has watched China’s EV industry grow from a small regional experiment into a planet-reshaping juggernaut. She is now a senior fellow with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
On this week’s episode of Shift Key, Rob and Jesse talk with Ilaria about how the industry got so big, what it means for the world, and how to think about its environmental and national security impacts. Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University.
Subscribe to “Shift Key” and find this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also add the show’s RSS feed to your podcast app to follow us directly.
Here is an excerpt from our conversation:
Jesse Jenkins: I want to ask you a question that I’ve actually gotten from a couple of friends and colleagues — you know, normies, folks that don’t think about energy all the time. This is a question they’ve asked me over the last couple of weeks: Do we actually need 100% tariffs to compete? Is that where we’re at now?
So I’m curious, I mean, is this just politics? Is this just the Biden administration kind of responding to Trump’s chest-beating and anti-China rhetoric as we run up to the election here? Or is it, are we really at the point where we dug ourselves such a hole that we need not just a 25% tariff, which was the level before this — already quite substantial — but a 100% tariff in order to compete? Or to protect the opportunity for the U.S. automakers to get to those economies of scale and have time to grow?
Ilaria Mazzocco: I think that’s a good question because — look, I testified in front of the USCC last year. And you know, I brought the data, and I was like, look, theoretically, these companies have a cost advantage. They could come to the U.S. You know, a 25% tariff isn’t going to stop them.
And I made that argument, but — first of all, I didn’t think that was going to be something that was going to be a problem in nine months, but you know, that’s a different issue. But the argument, though, that was just a cost thing, right? Then there’s a whole argument of, like, what does the American consumer want? What does the Chinese producer want to do, right? What is their strategy? American consumers are very different from Chinese consumers, right? Chinese consumers are much more similar to European consumers in terms of commuting time, preference for smaller vehicles, right? Americans like pickup trucks, which — you know, I just went to China in May. I saw a lot of EVs of all kinds. I did not see any pickup trucks, right? That’s like a pretty American kind of thing. It’s not clear that Chinese automakers would be able to compete on that, right?
So I think it’s quite possible that there would be a very interested part of the American market in these Chinese EVs, especially maybe the lower cost ones — maybe urban households that want a cheaper second vehicle, or something of the sort.But is that going to take over a huge portion of the American market? Is that really going to be competition for GM, or for the F-150? Like, I don’t know, actually. I think there’s an open question there, but clearly the Biden administration didn’t want to take any chances on that.
So I think there’s also this element where we also have preconceptions of what the American consumer wants, and clearly we’re not going to put that to the test, right? We’re not going to have these lower cost EVs come into the market and maybe reshape how people approach this. And as I said before, I just don’t think it’s realistic. A world in which an American government allows, the Detroit Three to fail is just not particularly realistic. But I do worry — and I mean, I’ve said this before, that it is a game, right? It is a balance that you need to get when you’re playing with tariffs. Because when you protect an industry, you give them time, but you also need to give them incentives. And the IRA does that. But you need to give them some pressure, right?
And so I think, where’s the pressure going to come from? Is it going to come from emissions standards? Or is it going to come from competition? Clearly it’s not going to come from competition from China. Is it going to come from competition with Korean automakers or Japanese automakers? Question mark, right? We don’t know.
This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by…
Watershed’s climate data engine helps companies measure and reduce their emissions, turning the data they already have into an audit-ready carbon footprint backed by the latest climate science. Get the sustainability data you need in weeks, not months. Learn more at watershed.com.
As a global leader in PV and ESS solutions, Sungrow invests heavily in research and development, constantly pushing the boundaries of solar and battery inverter technology. Discover why Sungrow is the essential component of the clean energy transition by visiting sungrowpower.com.
Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.
https://heatmap.news/podcast/shift-key-episode-20-ilaria-mazzocco
The Savvy Senior | Dreading a Colonoscopy? There Are Alternatives
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
Dear Savvy Senior, Are there any easier alternatives to a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer? I just turned 60 and my wife keeps nagging me to get tested, […]
The post The Savvy Senior | Dreading a Colonoscopy? There Are Alternatives appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/the-savvy-senior-dreading-a-colonoscopy-there-are-alternatives/
Supermicro plans to flood market with liquid-cooled datacenter tech
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Three new Silicon Valley campuses in pipeline to meet demand
Supermicro is planning additional facilities to meet increasing demand for liquid-cooled datacenter infrastructure, and will focus on delivering entire plug-and-play installations to customers.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/supermicro_liquid_cooled_facilities/
The Unknown Toll Of The AI Takeover
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Lever News
As artificial intelligence guzzles water supplies and jacks up consumers’ electricity rates, why isn’t anyone tracking the resources being consumed?
https://www.levernews.com/the-unknown-toll-of-the-ai-takeover/
Classifieds – June 19, 2024
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The Daily Trojan features Classified advertising in each day’s edition. Here you can read, search, and even print out each day’s edition of the Classifieds.
The post Classifieds – June 19, 2024 appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/classifieds-june-19-2024/
That PowerShell ‘fix’ for your root cert ‘problem’ is a malware loader in disguise
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Control-C, Control-V, Enter … Hell
Crafty criminals are targeting thousands of orgs around the world in social-engineering attacks that use phony error messages to trick users into running malicious PowerShell scripts. …
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/powershell_fix_malware/
Today in SCV History (June 19)
date: 2024-06-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1960 – SCV switches to Direct Dial, All-Number Calling. [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-june-19/
Student Health discusses heat-related illness, health reminders
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Students are recommended to know the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
The post Student Health discusses heat-related illness, health reminders appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/student-health-discusses-heat-related-illness-health-reminders/
USC Jewish Voice for Peace meets with congressmembers
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Students met with officials to demand offensive arms embargoes against Israel.
The post USC Jewish Voice for Peace meets with congressmembers appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/usc-jewish-voice-for-peace-meets-with-congressmembers/
College to pros: Trojans take on the WNBA
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Two former Trojans carve out huge roles for new teams while another plays overseas.
The post College to pros: Trojans take on the WNBA appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/211669/
From the Holy Land to the land of the free
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Deni Avdija inspires Jewish kids on the court while supporting Israel and denouncing the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks off the court.
The post From the Holy Land to the land of the free appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/211678/
USC team wins 2024 Student Corporate Engagement Challenge
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The team won the national challenge for the first time since its founding in 2020.
The post USC team wins 2024 Student Corporate Engagement Challenge appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/usc-team-wins-2024-student-corporate-engagement-challenge/
Adrianne Lenker charms folk fans at the United Theater
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The beloved singer-songwriter gave a dazzling performance Downtown.
The post Adrianne Lenker charms folk fans at the United Theater appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/adrianne-lenker-charms-folk-fans-at-the-united-theater/
Why we’re voting yes for our union
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
USC postdoctoral scholars urge you to research prior to June 20-21 union voting.
The post Why we’re voting yes for our union appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/why-were-voting-yes-on-our-union/
Students petition to keep Living Learning Communities
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
USC Residential Education cited “waning interest” as the reason for cancelation.
The post Students petition to keep Living Learning Communities appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/students-petition-to-keep-living-learning-communities/
‘Inside Out 2’ is a worthwhile sequel
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Pixar’s latest production introduces new emotions that might get stuck in your head.
The post ‘Inside Out 2’ is a worthwhile sequel appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/inside-out-2-is-a-worthwhile-sequel/
Chappell Roan brings empowerment to LGBTQIA+ youth
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The artist’s music allows us to redefine the modern queer dating experience.
The post Chappell Roan brings empowerment to LGBTQIA+ youth appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/chappell-roan-brings-empowerment-to-lgbtqia-youth/
USC Jewish Voice for Peace meets with congressmembers
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Students met with officials to demand offensive arms embargoes against Israel.
The post USC Jewish Voice for Peace meets with congressmembers appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/usc-jewish-voice-for-peace-meets-with-congressmembers-2/
Men’s basketball has new faces all around
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
First-year USC Head Coach Eric Musselman has fully retooled the Trojan roster.
The post Men’s basketball has new faces all around appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/211674/
Trojans celebrate Father’s Day
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
Students and alumni shared how their fathers inspired them throughout their lives.
The post Trojans celebrate Father’s Day appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/trojans-celebrate-fathers-day/
Vampire Weekend brings life to the Hollywood Bowl
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The classic indie band gave a ska-filled performance for the L.A. stop of its tour.
The post Vampire Weekend brings life to the Hollywood Bowl appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/19/vampire-weekend-brings-life-to-the-hollywood-bowl/
US acknowledges Northwest dams have devastated the region’s Native tribes
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
SEATTLE — The U.S. government on Tuesday acknowledged, for the first time, the harmful role it has played over the past century in building and operating dams in the Pacific Northwest — dams that devastated Native American tribes by inundating their villages and decimating salmon runs while bringing electricity, irrigation and jobs to nearby communities.
In a new report, the Biden administration said those cultural, spiritual and economic detriments continue to pain the tribes, which consider salmon part of their cultural and spiritual identity, as well as a crucial food source.
The government downplayed or accepted the well-known risk to the fish in its drive for industrial development, converting the wealth of the tribes into the wealth of non-Native people, according to the report.
“The government afforded little, if any, consideration to the devastation the dams would bring to Tribal communities, including to their cultures, sacred sites, economies, and homes,” the report said.
It added: “Despite decades of efforts and an enormous amount of funding attempting to mitigate these impacts, salmon stocks remain threatened or endangered and continued operation of the dams perpetuates the myriad adverse effects.”
The Interior Department’s report comes amid a $1 billion effort announced earlier this year to restore the region’s salmon runs before more become extinct — and to better partner with the tribes on the actions necessary to make that happen.
That includes increasing the production and storage of renewable energy to replace hydropower generation that would be lost if four dams on the lower Snake River are ever breached. Tribes, conservationists and even federal scientists say that would be the best hope for recovering the salmon, providing the fish with access to hundreds of miles of pristine habitat and spawning grounds in Idaho.
“President Biden recognizes that to confront injustice, we must be honest about history – even when doing so is difficult,” said a statement from White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary. “In the Pacific Northwest, an open and candid conversation about the history and legacy of the federal government’s management of the Columbia River is long overdue.”
Northwest Republicans in Congress and some business and utility groups oppose breaching the dams, saying it would jeopardize an important shipping route for farmers and throw off clean-energy goals. GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who represents eastern Washington, called Tuesday’s report a “sham.”
“This bad faith report is just the latest in a long list of examples that prove the Biden administration’s goal has always been dam breaching,” she said in a written statement.
The document was a requirement of an agreement last year to halt decades of legal fights over the operation of the dams. It lays out how government and private interests in the early 20th century began walling off the tributaries of the Columbia River, the largest in the Northwest, to provide water for irrigation or flood control, compounding the damage that was already being caused to water quality and salmon runs by mining, logging and rapacious non-tribal salmon cannery operations.
The report was accompanied by the announcement of a new task force to coordinate salmon recovery efforts across federal agencies.
Tribal representatives said they were gratified with the administration’s formal, if long-belated, acknowledgment of how the U.S. government ignored their treaty-based fishing rights and their concerns about how the dams would affect their people.
“The salmon themselves have been suffering the consequences since the dams first were put in,” said Shannon Wheeler, chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe. “The lack of salmon eventually starts affecting us, but they’re the ones who have been suffering the longest. … It feels like there’s an opportunity to end the suffering.”
Salmon are born in rivers and migrate far downstream to the ocean, where they spend their adult lives before returning to their natal rivers to spawn and die. Dams can disrupt that by cutting off access to upstream habitat and by slowing and warming water to the point that fish die.
The Columbia River Basin, an area roughly the size of Texas, was once the world’s greatest salmon-producing river system, with as many as 16 million salmon and steelhead returning every year to spawn.
Now, scientists say, about 2 million salmon and steelhead return to the Columbia and its tributaries each year, about two-thirds of them hatchery raised. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribe in southeastern Idaho said it once harvested enough salmon for each tribal member to have 700 pounds of fish in a year. Today, the average harvest yields barely 1 pound per tribal member.
Of the 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead that once populated the river system, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Another iconic but endangered Northwest species, a population of killer whales, also depend on the salmon.
There has been growing recognition across the U.S. that the harms some dams cause to fish outweigh their usefulness. Dams on the Elwha River in Washington state and the Klamath River along the Oregon-California border have been or are being removed.
The construction of the first dams on the main Columbia River, including the Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams in the 1930s, provided jobs to a country grappling with the Great Depression, as well as hydropower and navigation.
As early as the late 1930s, tribes were warning that the salmon runs could disappear, with the fish no longer able to access spawning grounds upstream. The tribes — the Yakama Nation, Spokane Tribe, confederated tribes of the Colville and Umatilla reservations, Nez Perce, and others — continued to fight the construction and operation of the dams for generations.
Tom Iverson, regional coordinator for Yakama Nation Fisheries, said that while the report was gratifying, it remains “hopes and promises” until funding for salmon restoration and renewable power projects comes through Congress.
“With these agreements, there is hope,” Iverson said. “We feel like this is a moment in time. If it doesn’t happen now, it will be too late.”
Foresters Extend Their Winning Streak to Four Games With 12-5 Victory Over Conejo Oaks
date: 2024-06-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Ty Zahradnik pitched three scoreless innings in relief.
The post Foresters Extend Their Winning Streak to Four Games With 12-5 Victory Over Conejo Oaks appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Hong Kong authorities halt alleged smuggler shifting 596 ‘high-end’ CPUs to China
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Images suggest they could be recent Intel Xeons – perhaps even the sort of kit subject to sanctions
Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department on Monday revealed it intercepted 596 CPUs that an alleged smuggler was trying to ship into China.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/hong_kong_cpu_smuggler_busted/
US marks third national observance of Juneteenth holiday
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/u-s-marks-third-national-observance-of-juneteenth-holiday/7661670.html
Japan’s industrial SciTech Institute plans two quantum computers and an Nvidia injection
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
10,000 qubits reportedly on the cards for one of them, with help from IBM
Japan’s Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is set to work on a pair of quantum computers, and inject Nvidia’s latest accelerators into one of its existing supercomputers.…
Santa Barbara County’s Cannabis Tax Reform Fizzles Out
date: 2024-06-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
“For the moment, this is on pause,” a county supervisor says.
The post Santa Barbara County’s Cannabis Tax Reform Fizzles Out appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/06/18/santa-barbara-countys-cannabis-tax-reform-fizzles-out/
After 13 years, Atlassian delivers custom domain names for Jira
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Customers aren’t thrilled at double subdomain or need for Premium license
Atlassian will soon close its infamous CLOUD-6999 feature request ticket – opened in 2011 in response to customers seeking custom domains for its cloudy products – as it claims the feature has been delivered. Customers, however, aren’t entirely happy.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/atlassian_cloud_custom_domains/
US soldier sentenced to nearly 4 years in Russia’s penal colony, Russian agencies report
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
US approves $360 million arms sale to Taiwan for missiles, drones
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
TAIPEI, Taiwan — The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale to Taiwan of drones and missiles for an estimated $360 million, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
The United States is bound by law to provide Chinese-claimed Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, to the constant anger of Beijing.
China has been stepping up military pressure against Taiwan, including staging war games around the island last month after the inauguration of Lai Ching-te as president.
The sale “will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,” the Pentagon agency said in separate statements on Tuesday in the U.S.
The sale includes Switchblade 300 anti-personnel and anti-armor loitering munitions and related equipment for an estimated cost of $60.2 million, and ALTIUS 600M-V drones and related equipment for an estimated cost of $300 million, the agency added. Loitering munitions are small guided missiles that can fly around a target area until they are directed to attack.
Taiwan’s defense ministry expressed its thanks, especially for U.S. efforts to increase arms sales to the island. Taiwan has repeatedly complained of delayed deliveries.
“In the face of the Chinese communists’ frequent military operations around Taiwan, these US-agreed-to arms sales items will have the ability to detect and strike in real time, and can respond quickly to enemy threats,” it said in a statement.
Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait require goodwill from China, the ministry added.
“It is hoped that the People’s Liberation Army will stop its oppressive military operations around Taiwan and jointly contribute to regional stability.”
Baseball legend Willie Mays - the ‘Say Hey Kid’ - dies at 93
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/willie-mays-giants-electrifying-say-hey-kid-has-died-at-93-/7661598.html
Biden extends protections to undocumented spouses of citizens
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
The White House — For Javier Quiroz Castro, entering America’s most famous home was an impossible dream – his parents brought him to the U.S. from Mexico at age 3, without legal immigration status.
But on Tuesday, in a blue suit with an American flag pinned to his lapel, Quiroz Castro – now a registered nurse – spoke these words at the White House.
“Growing up undocumented, it was not easy,” said the Houston resident, who used the 12-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to change his status. “Like thousands of other immigrants, my parents endured hard labor in order to provide for the family. They are a symbol of the American dream.”
Beside him stood President Joe Biden, who used the 12-year anniversary of that landmark immigration policy to announce a move to offer protections to undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens. The new move could affect approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens, plus 50,000 noncitizen children who have a parent married to a U.S. citizen.
“These couples have been raising families, sending their kids to church and school, paying taxes, contributing to our country for 10 years or more,” Biden said. “And as a matter of a fact, the average time they’ve spent here is 23 years, the people that are affected today. They’ve been living in the United States all this time, in fear and uncertainty. We can fix that. And that’s what I’m going to do today.”
But, as the White House laid out in its fact sheet on the announcement, it is a bit more complicated.
To be eligible, a person must have lived in the U.S. for 10-plus years and be legally married to a citizen. It is retroactive – only those married before June 17, 2024, qualify.
Those who meet those two criteria – and whose application is approved by the Department of Homeland Security – then have three years to apply for permanent residency. They will be allowed to remain in the U.S., with their families, and be eligible for work authorization during this time.
Also included in Tuesday’s announcement is a plan to accelerate the process of obtaining work visas for certain DACA recipients who have a U.S. degree and an employment offer relating to their field.
Both Biden and his main challenger have repeatedly brought up immigration on the stump, and Biden has made several recent moves on immigration, including a recent executive order that will temporarily restrict asylum eligibility at the U.S.-Mexico border whenever the number of migrants crossing unlawfully or without authorization reaches a daily average of 2,500. Those who cross the border illegally won’t be eligible for asylum unless there are extraordinary reasons why they should be allowed to stay.
For many American voters in a tight election year, immigration is a more cleanly divisive topic that falls neatly along party lines. The divide was reflected in the wildly divergent reactions from two representatives from the border state of Texas.
“I applaud the Biden-Harris administration for heeding the call of so many of us to use its executive authority to keep American families together, support our Dreamers in the workforce, and boost our economy,” Democratic congresswoman Sylvia Garcia said in a statement.
Whereas Ted Cruz, the Canada-born junior Republican senator from Texas, said: “While our border is being overrun by ISIS terrorists and cartel criminals, Joe Biden’s top priority is to give amnesty to illegal aliens. He has utterly abandoned the American people. This amnesty program allows illegal aliens to get citizenship and vote in future elections. Make no mistake: Joe Biden views every illegal alien as a future Democrat voter.”
And Republican candidate Donald Trump has gone further. He blames both Biden’s policies and immigrants in general – often without clear evidence, and sometimes in the face of facts – for a number of ills, including crime, inflation, and even disease and terrorism.
“This is a Biden migrant invasion,” Trump said at a recent campaign event. “An estimated 50% of inflation has been caused by the soaring cost of housing which is skyrocketing due to Joe Biden’s tidal wave of illegal immigration and high interest rates.”
On Tuesday, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt accused Biden of using this sensitive issue to gain votes.
“Biden only cares about one thing — power — and that’s why he is giving mass amnesty and citizenship to hundreds of thousands of illegals who he knows will ultimately vote for him and the Open Border Democrat Party,” she said, echoing some of Trump’s concerns about the economy. “Biden has created another invitation for illegal immigration through his mass amnesty order.”
Immigration advocates disagree, saying research shows that those who benefit from this policy contribute about $13 billion in spending power to the U.S. economy each year.
“We estimate that if they were to be U.S. citizens years down the line, they could actually increase that amount by about $5 billion each year,” Phillip Connor, a senior demographer at bipartisan immigration-advocacy group FWD.us, told VOA.
“These individuals are already working in industries that already have labor shortages with some kind of legal status that will be permitted through this policy that will allow them to go into careers that are barred from them right now, and to be more productive into our economy, which will be beneficial for their families, but also beneficial for our society as a whole,” Connor said.
And families affected by these policies say they can’t put a price on it.
Rebecca Shi’s mother was undocumented for nearly two decades – gaining legal status changed her life.
“She was a doctor in China, but for 19 years, undocumented here, so she worked in Chinese restaurants, she worked in nursing homes, caring for the elderly and emptying bedpans and wasn’t able to practice her profession,” Shi, who is executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, told VOA.
“And so when she was able to get parole in place and get her Green Card, she went back to the medical field and it’s been thrilling and deeply humanizing for her and just showing that when you legalize people who are here for decades already contributing, you unleash their economic potential, and that’s good for every American,” Shi said.
Quiroz Castro echoed that thought, telling the friendly crowd of congressional Democrats, immigration advocates and immigrants how he worked to return the warm embrace he got from the country he calls home.
“Being a nurse has allowed me to give back to my community while supporting my family especially during the pandemic, I helped take care of patients in our COVID-19 critical care unit,” he said. “Saving American lives was only possible because of DACA. It allowed me to live and work and build a family in the only country I have ever known and loved.”
Kim Lewis contributed from Washington.
https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-extends-protections-to-undocumented-spouses-of-citizens/7660323.html
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-06-19, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Cute, on iOS 18, the notes app also does simple math for you.
When I added the = sign, this happened:
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112640821223134925
HPE intros virtualization solution it says is totally not targeting grumpy VMware customers
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
It’s complementary to Virtzilla, and will eschew controverial aspects of Broadcom’s licensing changes
HPE Discover AI may be the focus of most of the announcements at HPE’s Discover gabfest this year – because it’s 2024 – but the Silicon Valley veteran has also taken the opportunity to challenge VMware by Broadcom with a virtualization offering of its own.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/hpe_announces_virtualization_stack/
Nearly a third still get no early warning of disaster, poll finds
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Baseball great Willie Mays dies at 93.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp99w0wme02o
Apply to be a 2024-25 DRC Graduate Fellow!
date: 2024-06-19, from: Digital Rhetoric Collaberative
Digital Rhetoric Collaborative (DRC) Graduate Fellows are graduate students currently working in some area of digital rhetoric who want practical experience collaborating with emerging and established scholars in online publishing with a major university press and website that serves the computers and writing community. Fellows will be selected by the DRC co-directors and board and […]@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Giants legend Willie Mays dies at 93.
https://sports.yahoo.com/giants-legend-willie-mays-dies-at-93-005517007.html
Biden extends protections to undocumented spouses of citizens
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that his administration would offer protections to some undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens. He also marked the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides protection for young undocumented immigrants to the U.S. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-extends-protections-to-undocumented-spouses-of-citizens/7661556.html
Anti-War Actions
date: 2024-06-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Stop voting for 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs to turn Gaza into a graveyard for children.
The post Anti-War Actions appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/06/18/anti-war-actions/
World’s top AI chatbots have no problem parroting Russian disinformation
date: 2024-06-19, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Study finds they’re taking Putin pushers’ point of view 30% of the time
Media analyst house NewsGuard tested chatbots from ten top AI developers, and found they all were willing to emit Russian disinformation to varying degrees.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/19/ai_chatbots_disinformation/
Short-Term Rentals Are Here to Stay
date: 2024-06-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Sheri Cecil’s op-ed about short-term rentals was right on.
The post Short-Term Rentals Are Here to Stay appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/06/18/short-term-rentals-are-here-to-stay/
SCV student traveling to Latvia to participate in State Department language initiative
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
News release Alexander Black, of Santa Clarita, will study Russian this summer in Latvia on a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship. NSLI‑Y, a program of the U.S. […]
The post SCV student traveling to Latvia to participate in State Department language initiative appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
Free tire collection event scheduled Saturday
date: 2024-06-19, from: The Signal
News release The city of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County Department of Public Works have partnered to offer a free option for residents to dispose of their used tires. […]
The post Free tire collection event scheduled Saturday appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/free-tire-collection-event-scheduled-saturday/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love (Official Music Video).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XcATvu5f9vE
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Addicted To Love, senior version.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O2GTHFeN4LM&pp=ygUQYWRkaWN0ZWQgdG8gbG92ZQ==
Boeing CEO apologies to relatives of 737 Max crash victims
date: 2024-06-19, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/boeing-ceo-apologies-to-relatives-of-737-max-crash-victims-/7661206.html
Santa Barbara County to Receive $22.2M Settlement for Nearly 1,000 Opioid ODs
date: 2024-06-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
County supervisors receive a detailed report on what the money will be used for.
The post Santa Barbara County to Receive $22.2M Settlement for Nearly 1,000 Opioid ODs appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Postgres Ibiza 2024
date: 2024-06-19, from: PostgreSQL News
Postgres Ibiza 2024 is happening again in September. A three-day event split into:
-
Conference: 2 days, September 9th and 10th.
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Unconference: 1 day, September 11th, following the spirit of the best open spaces.
Postgres Ibiza 2024 builds on the success of the last editions (2023 and 2019, before the pandemic) and brings a refreshing, open and diverse Postgres conference. Where all ideas can be shared, the future of Postgres discussed and stronger connections can be made in a truly unique environment. With an open minded view on topics, people and ideas, it’s the conference with the elevated hallway track. An ideal gathering for networking, partnerships and discussing the future of Postgres.
Additional information:
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Call for Papers is open until June 23rd.
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Call for Sponsors is also open. See prospectus for more details.
The event will be held in the same conference venue as the last editions, the spectacular Palacio de Congresos de Ibiza which happens to be a few steps away from many hotels… and the beach!
Postgres Ibiza is a Community Postgres event, organized by the non-profit Fundación PostgreSQL.
https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/postgres-ibiza-2024-2878/
Rogue uni IT director pleads guilty after fraudulently buying $2.1M of tech
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Two decades in the clink would be quite an education
A now-former IT director has pleaded guilty to defrauding the university at which he was employed – and a computer equipment supplier – for $2.1 million over five years.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/rogue_it_director_pleads_guilty/
US lawmakers meet with Tibetan Parliament and Dalai Lama
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-lawmakers-meet-with-tibetan-parliament-and-dalai-lama/7661190.html
Nuclear Energy Is the One Thing Congress Can Agree On
date: 2024-06-18, from: Heatmap News
While climate change policy is typically heavily polarized along party lines, nuclear energy policy is not. The ADVANCE Act, which would reform the nuclear regulatory policy to encourage the development of advanced nuclear reactors, passed the Senate today, by a vote of 88-2, preparing it for an almost certain presidential signature.
The bill has been floating around Congress for about a year and is the product of bipartisanship within the relevant committees, a notable departure from increasingly top-down legislating in Washington. The House of Representatives has its own nuclear regulatory bill, the Atomic Energy Advancement Act, which the House overwhelmingly voted for in February.
The resulting bill — a.k.a. the one that just passed — is a compromise between the House bill and the ADVANCE Act originally introduced in 2023, has been stapled to the “Fire Grants and Safety Act,” a bipartisan bill that reauthorizes a gaggle of federal firefighting programs that has already passed the House.
The nuclear piece of it is designed to align the Nuclear Regulatory Commission around so-called “advanced” nuclear reactors, a catch-all term that covers a number of designs and concepts that are typically smaller than the existing light water reactor fleet and would, ideally, be largely factory-built to reduce costs. So far, the NRC has only approved one advanced reactor design, put forward by the nuclear startup NuScale, but plans to actually build it fell through due to escalating costs. Another advanced nuclear project, Bill-Gates-backed TerraPower, has started construction ahead of receiving approval from the NRC.
The ADVANCE Act would eliminate some fees for applicants going through the NRC approval process; instruct the NRC to develop specific rules for “microreactors,” which might only have 20 or so megawatts of capacity and could be used for single sites or rural areas; establish prizes for advanced reactors; and “streamline” the NRC process for advanced nuclear reactors. That last bit would involve beefing up the Commission with additional staffing, change its mission statement to be more supportive of nuclear energy’s benefits (as opposed to merely its risks), and come up with a way to make it easier to develop nuclear reactors on brownfield sites such as decommissioned coal plants.
The Nuclear Energy Institute said in a statement in April that the bill would “improve our ability to get more nuclear reactors approved and on the grid more quickly.” That is exactly what some environmental groups are unhappy about, however. “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s apparent embrace of new nuclear energy development represents a stark betrayal of the clean, safe renewable energy options like wind and solar that he claims to champion,” Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, said in a statement last week.
The ADVANCE Act is just one of a flurry of legislative and executive actions to support the nuclear energy industry. Nuclear power qualifies for a number of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits and the beefed up Loan Programs Office has committed up to $1.5 billion for the re-opening of the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan.
https://heatmap.news/sparks/advance-act-nuclear
Sipeed Lichee Book 4A is a cheap RISC-V laptop with an upgradeable processor module
date: 2024-06-18, from: Liliputing
Sipeed’s LM4A compute module is a small board with a T-Head TH1520 RISC-V processor, an NPU with up to 4 TOPS of AI performance, and support for up to 16GB of LPDDR4X memory and 128GB of eMMC storage. But what really makes this computer-on-a-module interesting is that Sipeed has designed an ecosystem of products that […]
The post Sipeed Lichee Book 4A is a cheap RISC-V laptop with an upgradeable processor module appeared first on Liliputing.
Dark-web kingpin puts ‘stolen’ internal AMD databases, source code up for sale
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Chip designer really gonna need to channel some Zen right now
AMD’s IT team is no doubt going through its logs today after cyber-crooks put up for sale what is claimed to be internal data stolen from the US microprocessor designer.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/amd_intelbroker_breachforums/
Aug 1: ARTree Botanical Drawing Workshop
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The ARTree Community Arts Center will host a Botanical Drawing Workshop 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 1 at the center’s Studio 2, 22508 6th St., Santa Clarita, CA 91321.
https://scvnews.com/aug-1-artree-botanical-drawing-workshop/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Virginia Exonerates Man After 45 Years in Prison.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/18/us/marvin-grimm-virginia-exoneration.html
EU attempt to sneak through new encryption-eroding law slammed by Signal, politicians
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
If you call ‘client-side scanning’ something like ‘upload moderation,’ it still undermines privacy, security
On Thursday, the EU Council is scheduled to vote on a legislative proposal that would attempt to protect children online by disallowing confidential communication.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/signal_eu_upload_moderation/
Book Review | ‘Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia’ by Christina Thompson
date: 2024-06-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
A centuries-long zigzagging journey to the present, in the hands of a deft guide.
The post Book Review | ‘Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia’ by Christina Thompson appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
ARTree Summer Superhero Art Camp
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Create a superhero identity at the ARTree Summer Superhero Art Camp from July 22- July 26 at ARTree Community Arts Center, ARTree Studio 1 22508 6th St., Santa Clarita, CA 91321.
https://scvnews.com/artree-summer-superhero-art-camp/
June 24: Needham Ranch Parkway Grand Opening
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Join the city of Santa Clarita for a special ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the grand opening of Needham Ranch Parkway on Monday, June 24, at 9:30 a.m.
https://scvnews.com/june-24-needham-ranch-parkway-grand-opening/
DeepComputing announces third-party RISC-V mainboard for the Framework 13 laptop
date: 2024-06-18, from: OS News
Framework, the company making modular, upgradeable, and repairable laptops, and DeepComputing, the same company that’s making the DC ROMA II RISC-V laptop we talked about last week, have announced something incredibly cool: a brand new RISC-V mainboard that fits right into existing Framework 13 laptops. Sporting a RISC-V StarFive JH7110 SoC, this groundbreaking Mainboard was independently designed and developed by DeepComputing. It’s the main component of the very first RISC-V laptop to run Canonical’s Ubuntu Desktop and Server, and the Fedora Desktop OS and represents the first independently developed Mainboard for a Framework Laptop. ↫ The DeepComputing website For a company that was predicted to fail by a popular Apple spokesperson, it seems Framework is doing remarkably well. This new mainboard is the first one not made by Framework itself, and is the clearest validation yet of the concept put into the market by the Framework team. I can’t recall the last time you could buy a laptop powered by one architecture, and then upgrade to an entirely different architecture down the line, just by replacing the mainboard. The news of this RISC-V mainboard has made me dream of other possibilities – like someone crazy enough to design, I don’t know, a POWER10 or POWER11 mainboard? Entirely impossible and unlikely due to heat constraints, but one may dream, right?
El Proyecto Vision Zero del paso inferior de State Street cambia la construcción al lado oeste de State Street
date: 2024-06-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
SANTA BARBARA, CA – 18 de junio de 2024 La construcción en el lado oeste del proyecto Vision Zero del
The post El Proyecto Vision Zero del paso inferior de State Street cambia la construcción al lado oeste de State Street appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Vision Zero State Street Undercrossing Project Shifts Construction to West Side of State Street
date: 2024-06-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
SANTA BARBARA, CA – June 18, 2024 Construction on the west side of the Vision Zero State Street Undercrossing Project
The post Vision Zero State Street Undercrossing Project Shifts Construction to West Side of State Street appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Bump Stock Court Decision Surprises Santa Barbara Victim
date: 2024-06-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Still illegal in California, but worries increase.
The post Bump Stock Court Decision Surprises Santa Barbara Victim appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/06/18/bump-stock-court-decision-surprises-santa-barbara-victim/
The Marshall Star for June 18, 2024
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
California Teams Win $1.5 Million in NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge By Savannah Bullard After two days of live competitions, two teams from southern California are heading home with a combined $1.5 million from NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. Since 2020, competitors from around the world have competed in this challenge with the […]
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/the-marshall-star-for-june-18-2024/
Update on Newton, the Wayland-native accessibility project
date: 2024-06-18, from: OS News
There’s incredibly good news for people who use accessibility tools on Linux, but who were facing serious, gamebreaking problems when trying to use Wayland. Matt Campbell, of the GNOME accessibility team, has been hard at work on an entirely new accessibility architecture for modern free desktops, and he’s got some impressive results to show for it already. I’ve now implemented enough of the new architecture that Orca is basically usable on Wayland with some real GTK 4 apps, including Nautilus, Text Editor, Podcasts, and the Fractal client for Matrix. Orca keyboard commands and keyboard learn mode work, with either Caps Lock or Insert as the Orca modifier. Mouse review also works more or less. Flat review is also working. The Orca command to left-click the current flat review item works for standard GTK 4 widgets. ↫ Matt Campbell One of the major goals of the project was to enable such accessibility support for Flatpak applications without having to pass an exception for the AT-SPI bus. what this means is that the new accessibility architecture can run as part of a Flatpak application without having to break out of their sandbox, which is obviously a hugely important feature to implement. There’s still a lot of work to be done, though. Something like the GNOME shell doesn’t yet support Newton, of course, so that’s still using the older, much slower AT-SPI bus. Wayland also doesn’t support mouse synthesizing yet, things like font, size, style, and colour aren’t exposed yet, and there’s a many more limitations due to this being such a new project. The project also isn’t trying to be GNOME-specific; Campbell wants to work with the other desktops to eventually end up with an accessibility architecture that is truly cross-desktop. The blog post further goes into great detail about implementation details, current and possible future shortcomings, and a lot more.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139996/update-on-newton-the-wayland-native-accessibility-project/
US: Gaza cease-fire can bring Israel-Hezbollah conflicts to an end
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — A cease-fire in Gaza can bring the conflicts along the Israel-Lebanon border to an end, senior U.S. officials said amid worries of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah fighters based in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the United States is continuing to review one shipment of bombs for Israel over concerns about their use in the densely populated area of Rafah.
Diplomatic solution
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that officials are seeking a diplomatic way to end the battles along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon so civilians can safely return to their homes.
“Hezbollah has tied the actions that it’s committing against Israel to Gaza,” Blinken told reporters during a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “If we get that cease-fire [in Gaza], I think that will make it more likely that we can find a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in the north.”
In Beirut, U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein urged a de-escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hochstein said earlier on Tuesday that a cease-fire in Gaza “could also bring the conflict across the Blue Line to an end.” He was referring to the demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel.
Last week, Iran-backed Hezbollah escalated hostilities on Lebanon’s southern border by launching rockets and weaponized drones at nine Israeli military sites. This was the largest attack by Hezbollah since October, when the group began exchanging fire with Israel in parallel with the Gaza war.
U.S. weapons shipments to Israel
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Blinken has “assured” him that the Biden administration is “working day and night to remove these bottlenecks” on U.S. supplies of weapons and ammunition to Israel.
The U.S. paused military shipments to Israel in May, including 1,800 907-kilogram (2,000-pound) bombs and 1,700 226-kilogram (500-pound) bombs, because of concerns over Israel’s plan to expand a military operation in Rafah, a densely populated city in southern Gaza, which the United States does not support.
Blinken told reporters the U.S. is still pausing a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel.
At the State Department, Blinken said the U.S. continues to “review one shipment that President Biden has talked about with regard to 2,000-pound bombs” due to concerns about their use in Rafah.
“But everything else is moving as it normally would move” to make sure Israel “has what it needs to defend itself against this multiplicity of challenges,” noted Blinken.
Meanwhile, Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer are in Washington this week for discussions following the visit of U.S. special envoy Hochstein to Israel and Beirut.
Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters on Tuesday that a temporary pier built to deliver aid into the Gaza Strip is expected to be operational again this week. The U.S. military had disconnected the floating pier last week and moved it to the port of Ashdod in Israel because of bad weather.
VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this story.
MNT Reform 1.0 beta hand assembly
date: 2024-06-18, from: Tilde.news
https://mntmn.com/media/videos/reform-beta-hand-assembly.mp4
Nvidia eclipses Microsoft as world’s most valuable company
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/nvidia-eclipses-microsoft-as-world-s-most-valuable-company-/7661109.html
Post Fire: Red Flag Conditions Continue to Hamper Efforts
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) reports that the fast moving Post Fire that broke out in Gorman on Saturday, June 15 around 1:47 p.m. has reached 15,690 acres and is now 24% contained. This latest update was issued at 4 p.m
https://scvnews.com/post-fire-red-flag-conditions-continue-to-hamper-efforts/
Heat wave in central, northeastern US states sets record temperatures
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
TSMC chip plant construction halted by discovery of archaeological ruins
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Ancient ruined architecture? What’s Intel’s Itanium doing in Taiwan?
Construction of TSMC’s advanced chip packaging facility in Chiayi County, Taiwan, has hit a roadblock after “archaeological ruins” were discovered at the site.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/tsmc_cowos_delayed/
High-Speed Market Studies
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
Owing to NASA’s Quesst mission and Commercial Supersonic Technology project, there is growing industry interest in commercial aircraft that fly faster than the speed of sound. In 2020, NASA funded two independent studies to investigate the economic viability of this potential market for high-speed commercial flight. Since then, NASA has funded additional studies to investigate […]
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/armd/aavp/ht/high-speed-studies/
NASA Releases Hubble Image Taken in New Pointing Mode
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken its first new images since changing to an alternate operating mode that uses one gyro. The spacecraft returned to science operations June 14 after being offline for several weeks due to an issue with one of its gyroscopes (gyros), which help control and orient the telescope. This new image […]
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasa-releases-hubble-image-taken-in-new-pointing-mode/
Extreme Heat and Wildfire Smoke Should Be Considered ‘Major Disasters’ by FEMA Amid Climate Crisis, Advocates Say
date: 2024-06-18, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Despite killing more people in the U.S. each year than hurricanes, floods or tornadoes, heat waves aren’t currently eligible for emergency funding from the disaster relief agency
Needham Ranch Parkway to Officially Open in Newhall
date: 2024-06-18, from: City of Santa Clarita
Join the City of Santa Clarita for a special ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the grand opening of Needham Ranch Parkway on Monday, June 24, at 9:30 a.m. Constructed as part of the award-winning 1.7 million-square-foot industrial park that spans over 250 acres in Newhall, this project was completed in partnership with Trammel Crow Company, providing motorists […]
The post Needham Ranch Parkway to Officially Open in Newhall appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.
https://santaclarita.gov/blog/2024/06/18/needham-ranch-parkway-to-officially-open-in-newhall/
Artemis, Architecture, and Lunar Science: SMD and ESDMD Associate Administrators visits Tokyo
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
June 18, 2024 At NASA we always say that exploration enables science, and science enables exploration. During a recent, quick trip to Tokyo, Japan with our Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD), Cathy Koerner, I had an opportunity to share this message with our partners at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency […]
Report raises 2024 federal budget deficit projection by $400 billion
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
washington — The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that it projects this year’s federal budget deficit to be $400 billion higher, a 27% increase compared with its original estimate released in February.
The major drivers of the change are higher costs from the supplemental spending package signed in April that provides military aid to Ukraine and Israel; higher than estimated costs of reducing student loan borrower balances; increased Medicaid spending; and higher spending on FDIC insurance because the agency has not yet recovered payments it made after the banking crises of 2023 and 2024.
The report also projects that the nation’s publicly held debt is set to increase from 99% of gross domestic product at the end of 2024 to 122% of GDP — the highest level ever recorded — by the end of 2034. “Then it continues to rise,” the report states.
Social security costs growing
Deficits are a problem for lawmakers in the years to come because of the burden of servicing the total debt load, an aging population that pushes up the total cost of Social Security and Medicare, and rising health care expenses.
The report cuts into President Joe Biden’s claim that he has lowered deficits, as borrowing increased in 2023 and is slated to climb again this year.
The White House budget proposal released in March claims to reduce the deficit by roughly $3 trillion over the next 10 years and would raise tax revenues by a total of $4.9 trillion in the same period.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said after the report’s release that “the president is going to work to do everything he can when it comes to lowering the deficit,” adding that former president Trump “didn’t sign a single law to reduce the deficit.”
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates blamed tax cuts passed into law during the Trump administration for the deficit, which he says “continue to come at the expense of the American people by driving up deficits.”
Former President Donald Trump, as a candidate for president in 2024, recently told a group of CEOs that he would further cut the corporate tax rate he lowered while in office, among other things. The Committee for a Responsible Federal budget estimates that the 10-year cost of the legislation and executive actions President Trump signed into law was about $8.4 trillion, with interest.
‘Definition of unsustainable’
Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, said the CBO projections show that the outlook for America’s critical national debt challenge is worsening.
“The harmful effects of higher interest rates fueling higher interest costs on a huge existing debt load are continuing and leading to additional borrowing. It’s the definition of unsustainable,” Peterson said.
“The leaders we elect this fall will face a series of highly consequential fiscal deadlines next year, including the reinstatement of the debt limit, the expiration of the 2017 tax cuts and key decisions on health care subsidies, discretionary spending caps and more.”
KDE Plasma 6.1 released
date: 2024-06-18, from: OS News
After the very successful release of KDE Plasma 6.0, which moved the entire desktop environment and most of its applications over to Qt 6, fixed a whole slow of bugs, and streamlined the entire KDE desktop and its applications, it’s now time for KDE Plasma 6.1, where we’re going to see a much stronger focus on new features. While it’s merely a point release, it’s still a big one. The tentpole new feature of Plasma 6.1 is access to remote Plasma desktops. You can go into Settings and log into any Plasma desktop, which is built entirely and directly into KDE’s own Wayland compositor, avoiding the use of third party applications of hacky extensions to X.org. Having such remote access built right into the desktop environment and its compositor itself is a much cleaner implementation than in the before time with X. Another feature that worked just fine under X but was still missing from KDE Plasma on Wayland is something they now call “persistent applications” – basically, KDE will now remember which windows you had open when you closed KDE or shut down your computer, and open them back up right where you left off when you log back in. It’s one of those things that got lost in the transition to Wayland, and having it back is really, really welcome. Speaking of Wayland, KDE Plasma 6.1 also introduces two major new rendering features. Explicit sync removes flickering and glitches most commonly seen on NVIDIA hardware, while triple buffering provides smoother animations and screen rendering. There’s more here, too, such as a completely reworked edit desktop view, support for controlling keyboard LED backlighting traditionally found in gaming laptops, and more. KDE Plasma 6.1 will find its way to your distribution of choice soon enough, but of course, you can compile and install it yourself, too.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139993/kde-plasma-6-1-released/
Graffiti Beautification Workday Volunteers Sought
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Graffiti Beautification Workday city of Santa Clarita: Volunteer Engagement Program is seeking volunteers for Wednesday July 24 and Wednesday, July 31, 8-11 a.m.
https://scvnews.com/graffiti-beautification-workday-volunteers-sought/
NASA Awards Logistic Services, Management Contract
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
NASA has awarded the Goddard Logistics Services Contract to TRAX International Corporation of Las Vegas to provide logistics services and management for NASA missions. The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract includes a base period and up to five options with a potential contract value of approximately $265 million if all options are exercised. The basic period of performance […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-logistic-services-management-contract/
Amazon Labor Union votes overwhelmingly to join forces with Teamsters in NYC
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Hey Andy, how do you like them Big Apples?
The Amazon Labor Union, which represents the internet giant’s workers at its JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island, New York, voted overwhelmingly to ally with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Tuesday.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/amazon_union_teamsters/
The MAIN presents ‘Constellations’ by Nick Payne
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Nick Payne’s “Constellations” will run June 27-30, at The MAIN, 24266 Main St., Old Town Newhall, CA
https://scvnews.com/the-main-presents-constellations-by-nick-payne/
Oldest Wine Ever Found in Liquid Form Unearthed in 2,000-Year-Old Tomb
date: 2024-06-18, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Researchers have concluded that the fluid preserved inside an ancient funerary urn is a white sherry-like wine
NASA Selects Lockheed Martin to Build Next-Gen Spacecraft for NOAA
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected Lockheed Martin Corp. of Littleton, Colorado, to build the spacecraft for NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite program. This cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at approximately $2.27 billion. It includes the development of three spacecraft as well as four options for additional spacecraft. […]
Google DeepMind’s latest model promises realistic audio for your AI-generated vids
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Launch comes as Runway, Pika, Kling push the boundaries of machine-imagined video
Video Mainstream adoption of generative AI technologies has, in large part, centered around the creation of text and images. But, as it turns out, the statistical probabilities on which these models are based are just as good at generating all manner of other media.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/google_deepmind_video/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
How my 4 favorite AI tools help me get more done at work.
NASA Sets Launch Coverage for NOAA Weather Satellite
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission. The two-hour launch window opens at 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, for the satellite’s launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-launch-coverage-for-noaa-weather-satellite/
Surgeon General Calls for Placing Warning Labels on Social Media Platforms
date: 2024-06-18, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Vivek H. Murthy views social media as a contributor the mental health crisis in young people, and he suggests tobacco-style warnings on the apps
June 19: Last Chance to Enter SCV Fourth of July Parade Without Late Fee
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Valley Fourth of July Parade Committee has extended the deadline to enter the parade without a late fee to Wednesday, June 19. The committee is seeking entries from the commumity for the 92nd Annual Santa Clarita Valley Fourth of July Parade.
https://scvnews.com/june-19-last-chance-to-enter-scv-fourth-of-july-parade-without-late-fee/
What’s up with Mozilla buying ad firm Anonym? It’s all about ‘privacy-centric advertising’
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Is such a thing possible for an industry that never respected people’s wishes?
Analysis Mozilla this week said it has acquired ad metrics firm Anonym, touting the deal as a way to help the online advertising industry support user privacy while delivering effective adverts.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/mozilla_buys_anonym_betting_privacy/
USC student arrested in fatal stabbing of carjacking suspect
date: 2024-06-18, from: The Daily Trojan (USC Student Paper)
The 19-year-old was arrested for stabbing a man who was attempting to break into a car in front of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house on Monday evening.
The post USC student arrested in fatal stabbing of carjacking suspect appeared first on Daily Trojan.
https://dailytrojan.com/2024/06/18/breaking-usc-student-arrested-for-fatal-stabbing-at-greek-row/
Meet Kevin, the World’s Tallest Dog
date: 2024-06-18, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The Great Dane measures over three feet tall—about the same size as an average 3-year-old child
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/meet-kevin-the-worlds-tallest-dog-180984556/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Jon Stewart Debunks GOP’s City Crime Narrative.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WGLZQ7Xrd6o
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Etched into Collier Trophy, Aerospace History
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has been immortalized at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington as the latest awardee of the Robert J. Collier Trophy. Bestowed annually by the National Aeronautic Association, the trophy recognizes groundbreaking aerospace achievements. OSIRIS-REx, formally the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer, was honored “for […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasas-osiris-rex-etched-into-collier-trophy-aerospace-history/
California Fines Amazon $6 Million for 59,017 Separate Warehouse Violations
date: 2024-06-18, from: 404 Media Group
The citations allege that Amazon did not provide workers with written performance quotas.
https://www.404media.co/california-fines-amazon-6-million-for-59-017-separate-warehouse-violations/
The history of DR-DOS
date: 2024-06-18, from: OS News
I’ve always found the world of DOS versions and variants to be confusing, since most of it took place when I was very young (I’m from 1984) so I wasn’t paying much attention to computing quite yet, other than playing DOS games. One of the variants of DOS I never quite understood where it was from until much, much later, was DR-DOS. To this day, I pronounce this as “Doctor DOS”. If you’re also a little unclear on what, exactly, DR-DOS was, Bradford Morgan White has an excellent article detailing the origins and history of DR-DOS, making it very easy to get up to speed and expand your knowledge on DOS, which is surely a very marketable skill in the days of Electron and Electron for Developers. DR DOS was a great product. It was superior to other DOS versions in many ways, and it is certainly possible that it could have been more successful were it not for Microsoft Windows having been so wildly successful. Starting with Windows 95, the majority of computer users simply didn’t much care about which DOS loaded Windows so long as it worked. There’s quite a bit of lore regarding legal battles and copyrights surrounding CP/M and DOS involving Microsoft and Digital Research. This has been covered in previous articles to some extent, but I am not really certain how much would have changed had Microsoft and Digital Research got on. Gates and Kildall had been quite friendly at one point, and we know that the two mutually chose not to work together due to differences in business practices and beliefs. Kildall chose to be quite a bit more friendly and less competitive while Gates very much chose to be competitive and at times a bit ruthless. Additionally, Kildall sold DRI rather than continue the fight, and DRI had never really attempted to combine DR DOS with GEM as a cohesive product to fight Windows before Windows became the ultimate ruler of the OS market following Windows 3.1’s release. Still, it was an absolutely brilliant product and part of me will always feel that it ought to have won. ↫ Bradford Morgan White I can definitely imagine an alternative timeline in which Digital Research managed to combine DR-DOS with GEM in a more attractive way, stealing Microsoft’s thunder before Gates’ balls got rolling properly with Windows 3.x. It’s one of the many, many what-ifs in this sector, but not one you often hear or read about.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139991/the-history-of-dr-dos/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
The great thing about outlining is that you can reorganize. That's why people invented index cards. But they are one-level outlines. Not nearly as useful as the multi-level reorganizable outlines on a computer.
http://scripting.com/stories/2012/05/19/outliningAndMyFather.html
Police Performance Must Be Measured with Purpose
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: RAND blog
The challenges and tensions surrounding police performance measurement underscore the need for a unified and purpose-driven approach. By aligning goals and clearly defining responsibilities, law enforcement agencies can overcome misalignments and foster meaningful organizational learning.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/06/police-performance-must-be-measured-with-purpose.html
iDOS 3 Rejected From the App Store
date: 2024-06-18, from: Michael Tsai
Litchie (Reddit): Initially they rejected the submission because it was same as iDOS 2, but after I explained to them that I can not continue under iDOS2 [because Apple had blocklisted it], then they rejected again as “Design spam” on the basis that there has been many submissions lately with the exact same design.I don’t […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/06/18/idos-3-rejected-from-the-app-store/
Former Head of NSA Joins OpenAI Board
date: 2024-06-18, from: Michael Tsai
Jay Peters: OpenAI has appointed Paul M. Nakasone, a retired general of the US Army and a former head of the National Security Agency (NSA), to its board of directors, the company announced on Thursday. Nakasone, who was nominated to lead the NSA by former President Donald Trump, directed the agency from 2018 until February […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/06/18/former-head-of-nsa-joins-openai-board/
Adobe’s hidden cancellation fee is unlawful, FTC suit says
date: 2024-06-18, from: OS News
To lock subscribers into recurring monthly payments, Adobe would typically pre-select by default its most popular “annual paid monthly” plan, the FTC alleged. That subscription option locked users into an annual plan despite paying month to month. If they canceled after a two-week period, they’d owe Adobe an early termination fee (ETF) that costs 50 percent of their remaining annual subscription. The “material terms” of this fee are hidden during enrollment, the FTC claimed, only appearing in “disclosures that are designed to go unnoticed and that most consumers never see.” ↫ Ashley Belanger at Ars Technica There’s a sucker for every corporation, but I highly doubt there’s anyone out there who would consider this a fair business practice. This is so obviously designed to hide costs during sign-up, and then unveil them when the user considers quitting. If this is deemed legal or allowed, you can expect everyone to jump on this bandwagon to scam users out of their money. It goes further than this, though. According to the FTC, Adobe knew this practice was shady, but continued it anyway because altering it would negatively affect the bottom line. The FTC is actually targeting two Adobe executives directly, which is always nice to hear – it’s usually management that pushes such illegal practices through, leaving the lower ranks little choice but to comply or lose their job. Stuff like this is exactly why confidence in the major technology companies is at an all-time low.
https://www.osnews.com/story/139989/adobes-hidden-cancellation-fee-is-unlawful-ftc-suit-says/
Version control in the age of distributed computing (2023)
date: 2024-06-18, from: Tilde.news
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTbJ9ss4WBc
July 13: ‘Select the Perfect Plants’ Workshop
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency will host a free gardening workshop on Saturday, July 13 9-11 a.m. “Selecting the Perfect Plants for SCV Landscapes” workshop will elevate your landscaping game.
https://scvnews.com/july-13-select-the-perfect-plants-workshop/
Hiropon: Takashi Murakami’s Early Digital Works [nsfw]
date: 2024-06-18, from: Tilde.news
https://cdrom.ca/art/2024/06/16/hiropon.html
US calls for ‘urgent’ de-escalation of Israel-Hezbollah clashes
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-calls-for-urgent-de-escalation-of-israel-hezbollah-clashes/7660870.html
June 20: Summer Solstice Senses Block Party
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Celebrate the longest day of the year at the Summer Solstice SENSE Block Party, Thursday, June 20, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. on Main Street in Old Town Newhall.
https://scvnews.com/june-20-summer-solstice-senses-block-party/
Celebrating Juneteenth
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
The crew aboard the International Space Station captured this image of Galveston, Texas, the birthplace of Juneteenth, as the station orbited 224 miles above on Nov. 23, 2011. In the early 1800s, slavers periodically used Galveston Island as an outpost for operations. By 1860, about one-third of Galveston’s population lived under the oppression of chattel slavery. Even […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/celebrating-juneteenth/
Happy Birthday, Redshift Wrangler!
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
About one year ago the Redshift Wrangler project first asked you to help examine “spectra” of distant galaxies. These spectra are diagrams that show how much light we receive from them as a function of wavelength. “Since launching on May 30, 2023, we have reached almost 2,000 volunteers joining our project.” said Coffin. “Together we have made […]
https://science.nasa.gov/get-involved/citizen-science/happy-birthday-redshift-wrangler/
Journalist finally recognized for work combating Russian disinformation
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
Washington — The U.S. Embassy in Finland this month presented journalist Jessikka Aro with the Ambassador Hickey Woman of Courage Award.
The honor — tailored specifically for Aro — comes five years after the U.S. State Department rescinded its courage award because of critical comments the Finnish journalist made about then-President Donald Trump.
The embassy presented its award in recognition of Aro’s commitment to exposing and combating Russian disinformation campaigns at great personal cost. For a decade, she has been at the forefront of investigating Russian information warfare and pro-Kremlin troll farms.
“I still can’t believe that I actually got [the award],” Aro told VOA from Finland’s capital, Helsinki. “I felt utterly supported. I felt utterly appreciated. I felt really honored.”
In 2019, U.S. officials informed Aro that she would receive that year’s International Women of Courage Award. A few weeks later, she was told there had been a mistake and she would not receive the prestigious honor. Back then, Aro reported for Finland’s public service broadcaster YLE.
At the time, officials publicly denied that Aro’s social media posts about Trump were the reason. But a 2020 report by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General found that officials revoked the award over Aro’s comments.
The report cited a post on Twitter, now X, in which Aro wrote that “Trump constantly labels journalists as ‘enemy’ and ‘fake news.’” She then cited an article about a Trump supporter who threatened to shoot reporters for The Boston Globe for being what Trump described as “enemies of the people” and “fake news.”
Throughout his presidency, Trump regularly referred to the media as the “enemy” of the American people. The Trump presidential campaign did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.
In 2020, the Washington-based International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) awarded Aro its own Courage in Journalism Award. The organization also advocated for an investigation into why the State Department backtracked on its award.
The new award from the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki comes at a meaningful time for Aro. This year marks a decade since she began facing severe online harassment — including death threats — over her coverage of Russian information warfare. The harassment, which mainly comes from Russian and Finnish actors, is ongoing, she said.
“My work is being attacked, myself smeared. Some of my sources are smeared,” said Aro, who is now the communications director for the Finnish trade union Tehy. “They are spreading these seeds of mistrust against my person and my work.”
Trolls also attacked her after the State Department rescinded its award, sparking “a massive wave” of harassment, she said.
Such attacks are consistent with the broader trend of disproportionate online harassment against female journalists, according to Elisa Lees Munoz, executive director of the IWMF. Online attacks against female journalists are often sexualized and can include rape threats and insults about the reporter’s appearance, Munoz said.
“It leads to symptoms that are very similar to PTSD, and that even though these attacks are happening virtually, they have very serious, real-life impacts,” she said.
In a 2022 survey by the International Center for Journalists and UNESCO, nearly three-quarters of respondents identifying as women said they had experienced online violence.
When Aro first began to face online harassment in 2014, “it actually fueled my will to investigate Russian trolls,” she said. “Even nowadays, on a daily basis, I think of it as proof that I’m doing a great job.”
Aro admits the harassment has also taken a toll. But she says she’ll never let it get in the way of her work.
“Investigating Russian information hybrid warfare is a true calling for me,” she said.
Although it’s five years late, Aro says she feels vindicated. The investigative journalist is currently working on her third book about Russian information warfare, which she expects to be published in 2026.
LAUSD Will Ban Cellphones From School Day Beginning In 2025
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The LAist
California’s largest school district wants to restrict cellphone and social media use during the school day over concerns about their impact on student mental health.
https://laist.com/news/education/lausd-los-angeles-unified-cellphone-ban-use-on-campus
Framework introduces a RISC-V mainboard for its modular laptops
date: 2024-06-18, from: Liliputing
Framework’s laptops feature mainboards that are designed to removed and replaced, making repairs and upgrades easy. But that design also makes it possible to take a laptop that originally shipped with an Intel chip, for example, and swap out the motherboard for one with an AMD processor. Soon you’ll also be able to add a RISC-V […]
The post Framework introduces a RISC-V mainboard for its modular laptops appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/framework-introduces-a-risc-v-mainboard-for-its-modular-laptops/
‘You Will Lose Access To Pornhub:’ Kentucky and Indiana Face a Porn Countdown
date: 2024-06-18, from: 404 Media Group
With age verification laws looming, visitors to Pornhub and all sites under the Aylo umbrella now see a popup stating how many days are left before the site blocks itself from access in their states.
https://www.404media.co/you-will-lose-access-to-pornhub-kentucky-and-indiana-age-verification-laws/
Overprescribing Is Still Driving Overdose Deaths. One Fix Starts with Nudging Surgeons
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: RAND blog
If surgeons prescribed only the number of pills patients needed after an operation, this could greatly reduce the number of excess pills available for diversion and misuse. This, in turn, could reduce addiction and overdoses.
Snapdragon X Elite-powered PCs arrive today, and so do (somewhat mixed) reviews
date: 2024-06-18, from: Liliputing
Qualcomm and Microsoft have made big claims for the new Snapdragon X Elite processors that power some of the first Copilot+ PCs that are available starting today. Now that the first reviews are starting to arrive, do they live up to the promise? In some ways yes. In others? No. Or at least not yet. […]
The post Snapdragon X Elite-powered PCs arrive today, and so do (somewhat mixed) reviews appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/snapdragon-x-elite-powered-pcs-arrive-today-and-so-do-somewhat-mixed-reviews/
HPE, Nvidia team up to offer ‘turnkey’ private cloud racks for keeping AI loads local
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Everyone wants to be best buddies with Jensen Huang’s GPU juggernaut
HPE Discover This year HPE Discover 2024 is all about AI hardware developed through an expanded partnership with chip heavyweight Nvidia.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/hpe_nvidia_private_ai/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Trump has unveiled an agenda of his own. He just doesn’t mention it much.
T-Mobile US drags New Jersey borough to court over school cell tower permit denial
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Comms outfit says ‘think of the children’ isn’t a legal reason to reject application
T-Mobile US is taking the borough of Wanaque in New Jersey to court for refusing to approve the company’s plans to build a cell tower.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/tmobile_lawsuit_rf/
Records about the Civilian Conservation Corps in the National Register of Historic Places
date: 2024-06-18, from: National Archives, Text Message blog
When the United States was mired in the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps, to help improve America’s public lands, forests, and parks. There are just under one thousand properties in the National Register of Historic Places associated with the CCC, including the Stowe CCC Side Camp (National Archives Identifier 84285461), … Continue reading Records about the Civilian Conservation Corps in the National Register of Historic Places
Lindroid is an Android app that lets you run Linux in a container, with support for hardware-acceleration
date: 2024-06-18, from: Liliputing
Lindroid is a new open source app that lets you install a GNU/Linux distro on an Android device and run Linux applications with full support for your phone’s hardware. It does this by putting Linux into a container and using technologies like Halium to enable support for hardware-accelerated graphics and other hardware on Android devices. […]
The post Lindroid is an Android app that lets you run Linux in a container, with support for hardware-acceleration appeared first on Liliputing.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
You may not like Facebook the company, but they do great APIs and docs and example code. I haven't started reviewing this yet, but it looks like they've done an excellent job of laying down a crumb trail for developers to follow.
https://github.com/fbsamples/threads_api
Crafting Your Ending
date: 2024-06-18, from: John August blog
In this compendium episode, John and Craig fast-forward to the third act to talk about endings. How do they work? What makes them great? And how do you fix them when they’re not working? They look at how to connect your ending to your characters, crafting a twist that surprises (but doesn’t confuse), the function […] The post Crafting Your Ending first appeared on John August.
https://johnaugust.com/2024/crafting-your-ending
Archaeologists Recover 900 Artifacts From Ming Dynasty Shipwrecks in South China Sea
date: 2024-06-18, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The trove of objects—including pottery, porcelain, shells and coins—was found roughly a mile below the surface
TikTok Introduces AI Avatars for Ads as FTC Warns Companies Not to Do That
date: 2024-06-18, from: 404 Media Group
One week after the FTC said companies should not use AI to form personal attachments with consumers, TikTok says its AI avatars can help brands build “real and native connections.”
https://www.404media.co/tiktok-introduces-ai-avatars-for-ads-as-ftc-warns-companies-not-to-do-that/
Find My Cat: Raspberry Pi GPS tracker for pets
date: 2024-06-18, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
Creative engineer Sahas Chitlange built a GPS tracking device using a Raspberry Pi so he always knows where his cat is.
The post Find My Cat: Raspberry Pi GPS tracker for pets appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/find-my-cat-raspberry-pi-gps-tracker-for-pets/
RISC-V laptops: $299 MUSE Book and $399 DC ROMA II with SpacemiT processors are now available
date: 2024-06-18, from: Liliputing
Two laptops with RISC-V processors developed by Chinese company SpacemiT are now available. The MUSE BOOK was first unveiled in April and is now available from ARACE for $299 and up, while the DC-ROMA II was introduced just last week, and is now available from Deep Computing for $399 and up. Both are 14 inch laptops […]
The post RISC-V laptops: $299 MUSE Book and $399 DC ROMA II with SpacemiT processors are now available appeared first on Liliputing.
CHERI Alliance formed to promote memory security tech … but where’s Arm?
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Academic-industry project takes next step as key promoter chip designer licks its wounds
Updated A group of technology organizations has formed the CHERI Alliance CIC (Community Interest Company) to promote industry adoption of the security technology focused on memory access.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/cheri_alliance_formed_to_promote/
Social-Media Influencers Aren’t Getting Rich—They’re Barely Getting By
date: 2024-06-18, from: Ben Werdmuller’s blog
<div class="known-bookmark">
<div class="e-content">[Sarah E. Needleman and Ann-Marie Alcántara at the Wall Street Journal]
“Earning a decent, reliable income as a social-media creator is a slog—and it’s getting harder. Platforms are doling out less money for popular posts and brands are being pickier about what they want out of sponsorship deals.”
For many kids, becoming an influencer has become the new becoming a sports star: in enormous numbers, it’s what they want to be. More broadly, if you dare to say that it’s not a real job, you’re likely to be drowned out by complaints and contradictions.
But it isn’t, and this article makes it clear:
“Last year, 48% of creator-earners made $15,000 or less, according to NeoReach, an influencer marketing agency. Only 13% made more than $100,000.”
Of course, some people really did shoot to fame and have been doing really well. But there aren’t many Mr Beasts or Carli D’Amelios of this world, and the lure of being famous has trapped less lucky would-be influencers in cycles of debt and mental illness.
This is despite having sometimes enormous followings: hundreds of thousands to millions of people, with hundreds of millions of views a month. The economics of the platforms are such that even at those numbers, you can barely scrape by.
I like the advice that, instead, you should cultivate a genuine expertise and use social media to promote offsite services you provide around that. It might be that a following can land you a better job, or help you build up a consultancy. Trying to make money from ads and brand sponsorships is a losing game - and thousands of people are losing big.
<p>[<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/social-media-influencers-arent-getting-richtheyre-barely-getting-by-71e0aad3?st=snqhy92nimb59t6">Link</a>]</p>
</div>
</div>https://werd.io/2024/social-media-influencers-arent-getting-richtheyre-barely-getting-by
Russia’s Fulbright scholars risk severe repercussions if they return home
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
In March 2024, the Russian government branded the Institute of International Education, which grants Fulbright scholarships, as an “undesirable” organization, banning it from operating in the country and making association with it potentially illegal. Now, Russian Fulbright scholars who are currently abroad could face repercussions when they return home. Maxim Adams has the story.
Saratoga residents concerned about hillside builder’s remedy application
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
Development would include 25 housing units on narrow Pierce Road.
Summer in Saratoga means outdoor concerts, movies
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
Downtown is the site of 13th annual car show July 28.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/18/summer-in-saratoga-means-outdoor-concerts-movies/
California has 6 of 10 ‘most vulnerable’ housing markets in US
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
California’s high-risk counties are less-populated regions to the north.
How the Guardian uses Deno to audit accessibility and performance across their 2.7 million articles
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: Deno blog
The Guardian receives over 350 million unique page views. Learn how Deno helps the Guardian maximize web performance and adhere to accessibility standards to retain and grow their readership.
https://deno.com/blog/guardian
A teacher’s guide to teaching Experience AI lessons
date: 2024-06-18, from: Raspberry Pi (.org)
Today, Laura James, Head of Computing and ICT at King Edward’s School in Bath, UK, shares how Experience AI has transformed how she teaches her students about artificial intelligence. This article will also appear in issue 24 of Hello World magazine, which will be available for free from 1 July and focuses on the impact…
The post A teacher’s guide to teaching Experience AI lessons appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/a-teachers-guide-to-teaching-experience-ai-lessons/
People reportedly throwing urine-filled balloons in Los Gatos
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
They were also throwing rocks.
Researchers find Meta’s withdrawal of misinformation tool hard to swallow
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
If the new system is so good, why not onboard everyone who accessed the old system?
Feature While Meta faces formal proceedings from the European Commission, academics and other researchers have criticized its provision for monitoring misinformation on its social media platforms.…
Big Oakland office complex flops into loan foreclosure and is seized
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
A big Oakland office complex has been seized through a foreclosure that slashed the building’s value to one-third of its prior price.
Across a Continent, Trees Sync Their Fruiting to the Sun
date: 2024-06-18, from: Quanta Magazine
European beech trees more than 1,500 kilometers apart all drop their fruit at the same time in a grand synchronization event now linked to the summer solstice.The post Across a Continent, Trees Sync Their Fruiting to the Sun first appeared on Quanta Magazine
https://www.quantamagazine.org/across-a-continent-trees-sync-their-fruiting-to-the-sun-20240618/
‘Sounds of Summer’ can be heard all over Los Gatos
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
Concerts feature bluegrass bands, jazz quartet, wind symphony.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/18/sounds-of-summer-can-be-heard-all-over-los-gatos/
Man brandishes sharpened pencil at Campbell employees
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
Kicks an officer during arrest.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/18/man-brandishes-sharpened-pencil-at-campbell-employees/
Another bad day for Boeing
date: 2024-06-18, from: Marketplace Morning Report
Yet another Boeing whistleblower is set to testify at a Senate hearing this afternoon, citing a failure to properly track defective parts in the company’s factories. Plus, the tragedy of errors and shortcuts that led to last year’s Titan submersible implosion.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/another-bad-day-for-boeing
Immigrant gay couple finds acceptance in US LGBTQ+ community
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the United States. In Los Angeles, celebrations include a festival and parade that are among the world’s largest LGBTQ+ events. VOA’s Genia Dulot talked to an immigrant couple about their lives in the United States and their struggle for acceptance back home.
https://www.voanews.com/a/immigrant-gay-couple-finds-acceptance-in-us-lgbtq-community/7660454.html
Justin Timberlake charged with DWI in the Hamptons after ‘partying’ at hotel: reports
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
The singer was arraigned Tuesday and released without bail.
Oakland A’s fans have a lot in common with Kansas City cousins when it comes to watching their team leave
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
The A’s franchise moved from Kansas City to Oakland in 1968 under similar circumstances to the ones driving them from the East Bay now.
Will this celebrated local music festival ever return to Oakland?
date: 2024-06-18, from: San Jose Mercury News
Oakland’s budget crisis could lead to a significant cultural squeeze.
Uncle Sam ends financial support to orgs hurt by Change Healthcare attack
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Billions of dollars made available but worst appears to be over
The US government is winding down its financial support for healthcare providers originally introduced following the ransomware attack at Change Healthcare in February.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/support_ends_change_healthcare/
Users ‘Jailbreak’ AI Video Generator to Make Porn
date: 2024-06-18, from: 404 Media Group
Luma Labs’ Dream Machine, an AI video generator that’s on the market before OpenAI’s Sora, can be tricked to generate explicit videos.
https://www.404media.co/users-jailbreak-ai-video-generator-to-make-porn/
Ocean-Based Carbon Removal Is About to Take a Big Step Forward
date: 2024-06-18, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Texas and Mexico • Parts of southwestern France were hit with large hail stones • The temperature trend for June is making climate scientists awfully nervous.
THE TOP FIVE
- Lengthy heat wave threatens nearly 80 million Americans
About 77 million people are under some kind of heat advisory as a heat wave works its way across the Midwest and Northeast. In most of New England, the heat index is expected to reach or exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. What makes this heat wave especially dangerous is its “striking duration,” Jake Petr, the lead forecaster with National Weather Service Chicago, told The New York Times. Temperatures are projected to stay exceptionally high for several days before beginning to taper off only slightly over the weekend. According to The Washington Post, temperatures could be up to 25 degrees higher than normal for this time of year. And forecasters expect it to be unseasonably hot across the country for at least the next three weeks. Below is a look at the NWS HeatRisk projections today (top) and Thursday (bottom). The darker the color, the warmer the temperature and the higher the health risks.
Tuesday
HeatRisk
forecastNWS
HeatRisk
Thursday
HeatRisk
forecastNWS
HeatRisk
Meanwhile, about 30 groups (including health organizations, climate movements, and labor unions) have filed a petition urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to add extreme heat and wildfire smoke to the list of emergencies that are considered “major disasters.” Such a declaration could allow communities access to federal funds to prepare for heat and fire emergencies. It could also help pressure employers to provide better protections for workers who toil away in dangerously warm conditions.
- Crux is getting some powerful new backers
Crux, the New York-based startup that helps companies trade clean energy tax credits made transferable by the Inflation Reduction Act, announced this morning that it has secured strategic investments from some of the largest energy developers, including Clearway Energy, Intersect Power, Pattern Energy, and Électricité de France. “We had an opportunity to bring in some of the leading developers who collectively represent a pipeline of more than 100 gigawatts of power,” Alfred Johnson, Crux’s CEO, told Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer.
Let’s back up a bit. As Meyer explains, companies can claim money on their taxes by building zero-carbon electricity generation, new factories, buying electric vehicles, and more. But energy developers and utilities rarely need to use all the tax credits they generate from their projects. The IRA created a market for those tax credits, and Crux forecasts that $7 to $9 billion of these new “transferrable tax credits” will be sold in that new market this year (with huge potential for growth through 2030). Its product is a platform that lets developers, utilities, and manufacturing companies describe and sell their tax credits to buyers, with the goal being to make these transactions “efficient and standardized.” Crux has now raised more than $27 million in capital since its founding early last year.
3. Equatic to build first commercial-scale ocean carbon removal plant
Plans are underway to build North America’s first commercial-scale ocean-based carbon removal plant and have it up and running by 2027. The facility will be built in Quebec, Canada, by carbon removal startup Equatic in partnership with Deep Sky, a Canadian-based developer of carbon removal projects. Equatic uses electrolysis on seawater to trap carbon both in the ocean and in the air. The process also creates clean hydrogen, which the company plans to sell, and use to power its own technology. Equatic already has two pilot plants – one in Los Angeles and another in Singapore. It says that in its first year, the commercial-scale plant will remove 109,500 metric tons of CO2 and produce 3,600 metric tons of green hydrogen, and help bring the cost of carbon dioxide removal down below the key benchmark of $100 per metric ton by 2030.
- Report warns Paris heat could put Olympians at risk
A group of Olympians have teamed up with academics to put out a new report warning that the Paris Olympics could be dangerously hot for athletes. The 2024 Games run from July 26 through August 11, the hottest part of the year in Europe. The 2024 “Rings of Fire” report found that July in Paris is 5.58 degrees Fahrenheit warmer now than it was in 1924 when the city last hosted the sporting event. Last year more than 5,000 people died in France due to excessive heat. The report has several recommendations, including scheduling events for cooler times of the day, but also includes suggestions from the athletes themselves, such as eliminating the stigma that may come with speaking out about heat risk, and weeding out fossil-fuel sponsorship in sports.
- Vermont clean energy mandate becomes law
Vermont’s House and Senate yesterday pushed through a law that will significantly shift the state’s utilities to renewable electricity within the next decade. The legislature voted to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of H.289, a bill that will require all electric utilities to get to 100% renewable energy by 2035 – a shift from the existing law that says utilities must hit 75% renewables by 2032.
THE KICKER
More than 800 coal plants in developing nations have the potential to be profitably decomissioned and transitioned to large-scale solar and storage systems, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify Equatic’s
carbon removal process.
https://heatmap.news/technology/equatic-commercial-cdr-canada
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-06-18, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Current status
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112637660961444855
CentOS 7 holdouts thrown a support lifeline by SUSE
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Liberty Linux Lite to keep the updates coming for a few more years … for a fee
SUSE has unveiled a Liberty Linux Lite solution aimed at enticing CentOS 7 administrators facing the impending June 30 end-of-support deadline.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/centos_7_suse_support/
Half a million immigrants could get US citizenship under new plan from Biden
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
Crux Is Getting Some Powerful New Backers
date: 2024-06-18, from: Heatmap News
One of the least-noticed changes in the Inflation Reduction Act may be one of the most important.
For years, the government has encouraged developers, power utilities, and other companies to build clean energy by offering tax credits. But those tax credits were difficult to transfer to other companies, meaning that complicated financial instruments had to be created to allow them to share in the wealth.
The IRA continues to employ tax credits. But for the first time, it allows companies to buy and sell tax credits to each other.
A new crop of startups have appeared to help companies trade these new “transferable” tax credits. One of the largest is Crux, a New York-based startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Lowercarbon Capital.
On Tuesday, Crux announced that it has now brought some of the country’s largest energy developers into its fold. Clearway Energy, Intersect Power, Pattern Energy, and Électricité de France (commonly known as EDF) have all made strategic investments in Crux, the company announced. It had not previously disclosed their involvement in January’s $18.2 million Series A round.
“We had an opportunity to bring in some of the leading developers who collectively represent a pipeline of more than 100 gigawatts of power,” Alfred Johnson, Crux’s CEO, told me.
Crux has now raised more than $27 million in capital since its founding early last year. The offshore wind developer Orsted, as well as the energy developers LS Power and Hartree, have previously joined as strategic investors.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, as in the past, companies can claim
money on their taxes by building zero-carbon electricity generation, new
factories, buying electric vehicles, and more.
But energy developers and utilities rarely need to use all the tax credits that they generate from their projects. A $30 million solar farm might generate as much as $10 million of tax credits, for instance — far too much for most companies to use in a reasonable amount of time.
That meant that developers had to bring in a third-party firm — usually a bank or another financial institution — that could pay for the privilege of using those tax credits. Before the IRA passed, many clean energy projects were therefore structured as complicated “tax equity” deals, where the bank or tax credit “buyer” owned part of the project so that it could claim its tax credits. About $20 billion in tax equity deals happened last year, according to research from the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.
The IRA aimed to make that process easier by, in essence, creating a market for tax credits.
Crux estimates that $7 to $9 billion of these new “transferrable tax credits” were sold in that new market last year. It believes that the opportunity will grow rapidly. The advisory firm Evercore has projected that the transferrable tax credit market could exceed $100 billion by 2030.
Crux is not the only company that hopes to capitalize on that burgeoning market, potentially speeding the energy transition at the same time. Basis Climate, another New York-based startup, is also trying to serve as a key platform in the space.
Ilmi Granoff is an expert on climate finance, a senior fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Law, and an advisor to Basis Climate. “The market is going to be diverse and large enough to support a number of pure play platforms that are specialists in this — and you’re going to have the banks moving in, consultancies, the tax advisors, and more,” Granoff told me. “For those looking for an environmental commodities market that really drives climate change, you can stop looking at the voluntary carbon market and just monetize the tax credit market for carbon solutions. It is going to be a very reliable market, backed by the government.”
Johnson, the Crux chief executive, also pointed to the scale of
climate-related investment on the horizon. “We just have to build so
much in the next 10 years. The level of infrastructure investments that
have happened up to this point — and the scale of what will be built —
is really, really dramatic,” Johnson said.
Crux’s product is a standardized platform where developers, utilities, and manufacturing companies can describe and sell their tax credits to buyers.
When a buyer first uses Crux, all tax credits available on the service are presented anonymously. They can then anonymously contact a specific seller. The buyer and seller can gradually reveal information to each other throughout the ensuing negotiation, culminating in a Crux-hosted “data room” where each teams’ accountants and lawyers can trade and view documents relevant to the sale.
“This is not a point and click transaction,” Johnson told me. “These are still complicated transactions with lots of moving pieces, with many underlying documents and lots of stakeholders at the table.” The goal of Crux, he said, is to make these transactions “efficient and standardized.”
The company says it’s already having some success speeding up the average sale. It recently facilitated a deal between an electricity utility, which was selling tax credits, and a Fortune 100 company, which was buying them, in just 22 days, Johnson told me. By contrast, a traditional tax equity deal would take six to nine months to structure and close, he said.
Many of the company’s leaders once helped shape high-level Democratic policy. Johnson, a former White House aide under President Barack Obama, was deputy chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen until 2022. He and Crux’s cofounder, Allen Kramer, previously cofounded the startup Mobilize, which helped organizations manage and recruit volunteers.
William Daley, a former Obama White House chief of staff and Commerce Secretary under President Bill Clinton, joined Crux as a senior advisor last week.
In an interview, Daley told me that — with the defense industry excepted — he could not remember the government investing in a strategic industry the way it is now investing in clean energy. “These are economic decisions that investors are making — they’re not just going out there and doing things that may or may not be financially rewarding,” he told me. “For every dollar the government puts forward in a subsidy or credit, the private sector is investing $5.”
https://heatmap.news/economy/crux-clearway-pattern-energy
From Hotel Rooms To Art Deco Icon: How City Hall Evolved Into That Big Downtown Tower
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The LAist
Plus, why L.A. actually has four city halls.
https://laist.com/news/politics/la-city-hall-los-angeles-history-san-pedro-van-nuys-westside
Closing a $50 billion tax loophole for the wealthy
date: 2024-06-18, from: Marketplace Morning Report
The Treasury and IRS announced a new initiative Monday to close a tax loophole for wealthy people that could raise more than $50 billion in revenue over the next decade. Plus, the evolving economics of “gayborhoods” in U.S. cities.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
DW's Podcast0 feed: My second podcast on Apple Podcasts. For some reason I'm kind of proud to conform to Apple's podcast rules. But of course the feed is available without help from Apple, as always.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-second-podcast/id1752527298?i=1000659386865
NHS boss says Scottish trust wouldn’t give cyberattackers what they wanted
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
CEO of Dumfries and Galloway admits circa 150K people should assume their details leaked
The chief exec at NHS Dumfries and Galloway will write to thousands of folks in the Scottish region whose data was stolen by criminals, admitting the lot of it was published after the trust did not give in to the miscreants’ demands.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/nhs_dumfries_and_galloway_letter/
Putin heads to Pyongyang
date: 2024-06-18, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: Russia’s Vladimir Putin is visiting North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un for the first time in 24 years, as the pair look to deepen their relationship in the face of international isolation. And: Wildfires forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the Greek island of Rhodes last year – now there’s a focus on how to make tourism more sustainable.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/putin-heads-to-pyongyang
India, US to strengthen high technology cooperation
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
New Delhi — Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his third term in office, India and the United States agreed to strengthen cooperation in high technology areas during a visit by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan to New Delhi.
Sullivan met Modi, the Indian foreign minister and his Indian counterpart during the visit that reaffirmed both countries will pursue closer ties.
“India is committed to further strengthen the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership for global good,” Modi wrote on X after meeting Sullivan on Monday.
The main focus of Sullivan’s visit was to hold discussion with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on a landmark initiative launched by the two countries in January last year to collaborate more closely in high-technology areas including defense, semiconductors, 5G wireless networks and artificial intelligence.
The initiative, launched with an eye to countering China, marks a significant push in tightening the strategic partnership between the two countries.
“The visit by Sullivan in the early days of Modi’s new administration signals that the U.S. wants to maintain the momentum in the high technology partnership between the two countries,” according to Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
A joint fact sheet by the two countries following Sullivan’s meeting with Doval said that they launched a new strategic semiconductor partnership between U.S. and Indian companies for precision-guided ammunition and other national security-focused electronics platforms.
They also agreed to co-invest in a lithium resource project in South America and a rare earths deposit in Africa “to diversify critical mineral supply chains” and discussed possible co-production of land warfare systems, according to the fact sheet.
Growing the domestic defense manufacturing sector remains a top focus for the Modi administration as it looks to lower its dependence on imported arms. Although India has diversified its imports of military equipment, it is still heavily reliant on Russia.
For India, the technology initiative is a top priority as it looks to strengthen the country’s security and build its capabilities in high technology areas.
“India wants to become one of the leading countries in cutting edge technologies and it is of great benefit for New Delhi to partner the U.S. which is the leader in these areas,” said Joshi. “The idea is to get into co-production, co-development, innovation and attract American companies to set up bases here.”
Sullivan also met Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar, who has been retained as the external affairs minister in Modi’s new administration, signaling a continuation in the country’s foreign policy. “Confident that India-US strategic partnership will continue to advance strongly in our new term,” Jaishankar wrote on X.
In Washington, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters Monday that India and the U.S. “share a unique bond of friendship and Mr. Sullivan’s trip to India will further deepen the already strong U.S.-India partnership to create a safer and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.”
New Delhi’s ties with Washington have expanded in recent years amid mutual concerns in both countries about an assertive China – India’s military standoff with Beijing along their disputed Himalayan borders remains unresolved four years after a clash between their troops.
As Sullivan visited India, an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, charged with trying to hire a hitman to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in the U.S., appeared in court in New York Monday following his extradition from the Czech Republic. The alleged plan was foiled.
Allegations by U.S. prosecutors of the involvement of an Indian government official in the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, have raised concerns about a strain in bilateral ties.
The U.S. allegations followed accusations leveled by Canada in September of involvement of Indian nationals in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader.
India, which views Sikh separatist groups overseas as security threats, has denied its involvement in both the killing in Canada and the alleged plot in the U.S. But it said it has set up an inquiry committee to examine the information provided by Washington.
Analysts in New Delhi say ties are unlikely to be adversely impacted by the alleged murder plot. “The U.S. is quite pragmatic on these matters. They are continuing to stress that ties with India are important, so I don’t think a failed conspiracy will derail ties,” Joshi said.
https://www.voanews.com/a/india-and-us-to-strengthen-high-technology-cooperation-/7660222.html
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Threads API docs.
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/threads
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
The Threads API is finally here.
https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2024/06/18/the-threads-api-is-finally-here/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Threads finally launches its API for developers.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/18/threads-finally-launches-its-api-for-developers/
BT speaks out against Vodafone and Three’s mobile marriage plans
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Fears ‘MergeCo’ will snaffle disproportionate spectrum
Britain’s competition watchdog has published responses to its investigation of the proposed merger of the Vodafone and Three mobile networks, varying from welcoming the move as something that will boost competition, to fears it will have the opposite effect.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/cma_vodafone_three_responses/
Apple’s Macintosh 128K on a Pi Pico gets thumbs-up from Upton
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Just because you could definitely means you should
The Raspberry Pi has long been popular with retrocomputing enthusiasts, and its microcontroller – the RP2040 – can also be used for various emulation purposes, now including the original Apple Macintosh 128K.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/apples_macintosh_128k_on_a_pico/
The Long, Strange Success Story of America’s Biggest Clean Energy Project
date: 2024-06-18, from: Heatmap News
Two years ago, John Podesta met with Jennifer Granholm, the U.S. Secretary of Energy. Podesta, a longtime Democratic aide, had just started a new role in the Biden administration, overseeing the Inflation Reduction Act’s implementation, and he was going to meet with Granholm about high-priority clean electricity infrastructure.
First on the agenda was a list of transmission projects to ferry electricity from wind and solar farms to cities and suburbs where it would actually be used.
“Up pops the list,” Podesta told me later. The first project was a line called SunZia.
“My jaw dropped,” he said. “I thought we solved that in 2014!”
No, no, Granholm said. There had been twists and turns. But now it was back.
If you want to understand why the United States can’t build infrastructure, look at SunZia.
Envisioned as a roughly 550-mile high-voltage transmission line connecting a sprawling 900-turbine wind farm in central New Mexico to the growing cities of Arizona and California, SunZia is — according to its developer — one of the largest electricity projects in American history. When it’s finished, the line will deliver 4,500 megawatts of electricity to consumers. Only two power plants nationwide produce more: the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington, and the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia.
“It’s the largest clean energy project in America, and I think the largest clean energy project in the Americas,” Podesta told me. “It’s huge.”
For nearly two decades, SunZia has bounced through successive stages of regulatory review, financial restructuring, and litigation. It has been fought over, bought, sold, and at one point, forcibly relocated by the Department of Defense. Today, 18 years after it was first conceived, it is finally under construction. At least one outstanding lawsuit is contesting its right of way. If all goes according to the current plan, SunZia will begin to deliver power to consumers in 2026.
SunZia’s timeline would present an inconvenience — arguably an embarrassment — in any context. In this particular context, it could even invoke despair. “It’s a classic example of how we’ve gotten excellent at stopping things in America, and if we’re going to take the climate crisis seriously, we have to get excellent at building things in America,” Podesta said.
The stakes are far larger than electricity bills. The United States has pledged to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Reaching that target will require tripling the size of America’s power grid in the next 26 years, according to Princeton University’s Net Zero America study. If America were to power its grid entirely with renewable energy — a feat that many experts doubt is possible — then it would need a grid five times as large as what it has now.
Even if that study (led by my podcast co-host, Jesse Jenkins) overstates the need for new transmission, the mechanics of renewables dictate that the country must hook up its existing grid to the places where the sun shines brightest and the wind blows hardest. The Desert Southwest — and New Mexico specifically — features some of America’s richest solar and wind resources. To decarbonize America, that energy must be harvested and transported from these largely unpopulated areas to the dense urban centers where people actually live.
That is easier said than done. Although transmission projects are unusually important for climate change, they are also unusually difficult to build, especially compared to fossil fuel infrastructure. Or, well, not difficult to build, exactly — it’s just a big power line, and we know how to put those up — but difficult to get permission to build. Ultimately, that permission is in the hands of the government. But when it comes to long, linear infrastructure projects like power lines, there isn’t really a single “government” to talk about it with in the first place.
To build a transmission line, a developer has to secure permission from every state, county, city, and property owner along the route. If any of them denies the project, poison-pills it with endless requirements, or even sits on an application, then the entire project stalls. (Building a natural gas pipeline, by contrast, requires getting permission only from a single federal agency.) Electricity utilities don’t usually like transmission lines because they erode their local monopoly over power generation and distribution. Those utilities have such great influence at the state and local level — through outright lobbying and by funding local Little League teams, churches, and more — that they can often convince politicians and regulators to slow down or block a line.
For these reasons and more, America’s rate of new transmission construction has plummeted over the past few decades. In this history of stasis, though, SunZia presents a special case. SunZia is such a high-profile project that its enormous delays have terrified the rest of its small industry. If SunZia was defeated nearly 20 years after it was first proposed, then it could render the field un-investable, one investor confided to me.
Yet for all the hand wringing, SunZia is a success story. It has now fought off its most credible lawsuits, meaning that it is likely to get built. Within two years, huge amounts of climate-friendly electricity could be coursing through the American desert.
Earlier this year, I went to Arizona to examine more closely why SunZia has been so difficult to build and what finally allowed it to move forward. I spoke to the SunZia’s developer and the environmentalists who support the project — as well as those who oppose it. The question I was trying to answer: What did it get right? If America is going to reach its climate goals, learning those lessons — and learning them well — is going to be crucial. When SunZia is completed and running at full blast, it will generate roughly 1% of the country’s electricity needs. After that, to fully decarbonize the electricity sector, we will need to run it all back 99 more times.
The saga of SunZia begins in the summer of 2006, when representatives from utilities, developers, and government agencies from across the Southwest gathered to discuss expanding the region’s power grid. After looking at energy and economic data, the group decided that Arizona and New Mexico needed a powerful new transmission line to connect the swelling populations in the west with New Mexico’s abundant wind and solar potential.
The Southwest Power Group, a Phoenix-based energy company that had attended the conference, soon put together an ownership team of four utilities and stepped in to lead the project. They christened the line “SunZia,” after the setting sun on Arizona’s flag and the sign of the Zia people on New Mexico’s flag.
In June 2008, Southwest Power Group applied to the Bureau of Land Management, or the BLM, the national agency tasked with managing federal lands, for the right to build a major new transmission line across the two states. “Local, state, and federal permitting efforts will begin immediately,” the coalition announced in an optimistic press release.
The first phase of SunZia was expected to initiate commercial operation by 2013, the developers added.
Back then, when a developer tried to build a transmission line, they had a strong but not definitive sense of the route — in part because the federal government could ask them to change it if needed. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the government must study how infrastructure projects — or, really, any federal action — affect the environment, inviting input from local governments, environmental groups, and nearby Native American nations. (That law does not require the government to protect the environment in any substantive way; it simply requires that it consult everyone and study a project’s impact.)
Heatmap
Illustration/Pattern Energy
Southwest Power Group knew that SunZia would begin in central New
Mexico, southeast of Albuquerque, and that it would eventually connect
to a large-scale renewable project there. (At the time, the vast wind
farm hadn’t yet been planned.) Then it would proceed due west, passing
below Albuquerque, before veering southwest and passing north of the
White Sands Missile Range. After that, SunZia would turn west again,
eventually crossing into Arizona. It would pass near Tucson, Arizona —
the exact route was uncertain — before finally turning north again and
terminating in a substation in Phoenix’s southeastern suburbs. From
there, the existing grid could ferry electricity into Phoenix or further
toward California.
This route presented many difficulties, but two river crossings dominated concerns over the project.
First, SunZia had to cross the Rio Grande. Although that river is best-known back East for forming the U.S.-Mexico border, it begins in the Colorado Rockies and flows in a southerly direction through New Mexico, bisecting the state. In other words, you cannot cross New Mexico without crossing the river.
The Rio Grande creates an environment in New Mexico unlike anywhere else in the United States: a high-desert wetlands, where hundreds of thousands of birds from across North America spend the winter. The BLM and the Southwest Power Group decided that SunZia would shoot through a small gap between two wildlife refuges — the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge to the north, and the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge to the south — that had been formed to protect these birds.
Second, SunZia would have to pass near Tucson, Arizona by one of three routes, each of which required some kind of sacrifice. The first option involved running the line alongside an existing 345 kilovolt transmission line that passed to the city’s south and west. But the city and county opposed that route, and it required securing a permit to cross the Tohono O’odham Nation’s land, which the tribe refused to allow.
That left two remaining routes. One option ran near the center of Tucson, passing very close to overwhelmingly poor and Latino neighborhoods. This route raised “environmental justice” concerns, the BLM said, in that it forced poor people of color who already live alongside energy infrastructure to bear even greater environmental costs for it. The other choice was to run SunZia east of Tucson and through the beautiful San Pedro Valley, one of the most pristine desert ecosystems remaining in Arizona. Although vast swaths of that valley are privately owned, Native American relics and cultural sites dot its landscape.
Forced to choose between harming civil rights or damaging the environment, the BLM reluctantly chose the latter. But to blunt some of the damage to the valley, the bureau directed the developers to follow existing pipelines or transmission lines for more than 40% of its mileage. It also ordered SunZia to commission studies of archeological sites along the route’s path so they could be mitigated or avoided entirely. (SunZia would later adjust its route to avoid some of the most archaeologically sensitive sites.)
Studying these options took much longer than the Southwest Power Group had ever imagined. The Bureau of Land Management published its final environmental study on SunZia in June 2013 — the same year SunZia was once due to begin operation. Southwest Power Group was finally ready to start construction. Then the Pentagon stepped in.
Scarcely a month after SunZia’s course was finalized through New Mexico, the Pentagon filed a formal protest. The approved route passed way too close to the White Sands Missile Range, the complaint said, and the BLM had “not adequately analyzed the significant risks to national security” that would result from building it.
The White Sands Missile Range is the country’s largest military installation and is vital to New Mexico’s economy. By suggesting that SunZia might imperil the base’s activities, the Pentagon was at risk of killing the project. But something about that claim didn’t sit right with Senator Martin Heinrich, a first-term Democrat and former Albuquerque city councilman. Heinrich was an engineer by training, and his father had been a utility lineman, giving him at least some familiarity with how the power grid worked. Why did a big power line threaten the military base miles away? He asked MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory to investigate whether the line would damage the base as much as the Pentagon said.
Six months later, in March 2014, the study was completed. According to news stories at the time, the classified study found that SunZia would impair the base’s activities, but that its effects could be mitigated. After months of intense negotiations with the White House, the Pentagon, the Department of the Interior, and Senator Heinrich’s office, Southwest Power Group agreed to bury five miles of the power line — an expensive solution, but one that would allow the project to move forward.
By that point, however, SunZia had captured the public’s attention and polarized New Mexicans. The state’s Republicans gleefully undermined the project in the press. As the Obama administration prepared to approve the line, a Republican congressman and former oil company CEO intoned that SunZia would “permanently damage” national security.
“Greenlighting the completion of SunZia along the chosen route is a reckless rush to judgment without thorough examination,” the congressman, Steve Pearce, said. (The federal government had, by this point, been studying SunZia for seven years.) He worried too that the line would “potentially destroy ancient Pueblo sites.”
In 2015, the Obama administration finally approved SunZia’s route. After nearly a decade, Southwest Power Group had the federal government’s permission to build SunZia.
But that was only the first step: Now, the company had to secure state and local permits. That would prove even more confounding.
The truth is that New Mexico’s environmentalists had never been comfortable with what SunZia would mean for the state’s wildlife. They hated the Rio Grande crossing. They were particularly stressed about what the structure might mean for sandhill cranes, a regal and crimson-headed bird that migrates to New Mexico from as far away as Alaska and Siberia. Few sights are more treasured by the region’s birders than the vast flocks of cranes that form in the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge each winter.
Birders imagined that SunZia’s towers and low-hanging wires could maim or kill the elegant cranes. If SunZia could bury the line to help White Sands Missile Range, people asked, why couldn’t they also bury it below the Rio Grande and save some birds? They whispered, too, that the line would transmit not wind-generated electricity as promised, but rather gas-fired electricity from a power plant owned by Southwest Power Group.
When Southwest Power Group applied for a state permit to cross the Rio Grande, the birders’ moment came. The developers were still finalizing construction details and didn’t seem to have a strong sense of where exactly the line would go. In 2018, New Mexico’s utility commission rejected the permit and asked the Southwest Power Group to come back with more information.
SunZia was flailing. Building the line had taken much longer than Southwest Power Group had ever envisioned. Burying the line, even for a few miles, had made it a much more costly project. Now environmentalists doubted that it would help fight climate change at all and were making increasingly expensive demands.
Then a new company came into the picture: Pattern Energy, a San Francisco-based energy developer partially owned by Canadian pension funds. Pattern promised to build a vast wind farm — comprising more than 900 turbines — at SunZia’s eastern end. It became the line’s “anchor tenant,” in the jargon of energy developers, and, more importantly, the project’s public face.
“They came in, and they were quite honestly pretty frustrated with the way that [the SunZia project] had approached community engagement and talking with environmental groups,” Jon Hayes, a wildlife biologist and the executive director of Audubon Southwest, told me. Up to that point, SunZia had been the story of an “industry just trying to push their lowest-cost alternative through sensitive areas,” he said.
But Pattern behaved differently. “Why it was a success is that Pattern acted and negotiated it in good faith with us,” Hayes said.
Pattern hired researchers to study how and where the cranes fly. It agreed to install infrared lights on SunZia’s towers as an “avian avoidance system” that will be visible to cranes and make the lines shimmer in the dark. It bought a nearby farm to create a sandhill crane reservation (the cranes also eat corn from the fields) and donated the water rights to local conservation organizations. When a coalition of environmentalists, including Audubon, asked it to study the benefits of burying SunZia, Pattern warned that doing so could permanently alter the project’s economics — but they studied it anyway. Burying the line would ultimately have been more disruptive than building lines, Hayes said.
Heinrich’s office continued its involvement in the negotiation and also helped move the process along. Environmental groups that had initially opposed the project switched their allegiance, Audubon Southwest included.
Pattern’s research led it to conclude that the line should be moved into Serivetta National Wildlife Refuge so it could be co-located with another transmission line. (Moving it inside the refuge would also, counterintuitively, avoid the largest bird populations.) When Pattern brought the new route to local environmentalists and the Audubon Society, the conservationists agreed. Pattern then took the extraordinary step of applying to the BLM for a new route through New Mexico. By adopting the new route, SunZia could also avoid the White Sands Missile Range entirely, avoiding the costly need to bury the line.
Cary Kottler, Pattern’s chief development officer, told me that the project’s pre-existing climate credentials incentivized it to find ways to make SunZia more environmentally sound. “I think we did figure out a way for environmental groups to support infrastructure, which has not always been the case in the past,” he said.
“Pattern being a company that was willing to have discussions with us in good faith — and that conversation happening before the re-permitting process — was, I think, really important,” Hayes agreed.
Heinrich echoed that thought in a statement. “I am especially proud of our work to engage local communities, conservation organizations, and other stakeholders to find pathways forward while securing strong economic and conservation benefits for New Mexico,” he told me. He also thanked the BLM, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pattern Energy, for their “hard work and collaborative approach.”
“I firmly believe that when we work together, we can build big things in this country,” the senator said. “SunZia will have a massive economic impact in New Mexico while bringing us one major step closer to meeting our climate goals and conserving wildlife habitat.”
In 2020, Pattern entered into a deal with New Mexico’s Renewable Electricity Transmission Authority, a state agency meant to encourage long-distance power lines. The deal allowed New Mexico to reap some of the benefits of owning SunZia, and it spared SunZia from some scrutiny under state permitting law. It had taken 14 years, but SunZia was finally ready to build in New Mexico. It still had to tackle Arizona.
Pattern Energy bought SunZia outright from Southwest Power Group in 2021, and outside fundraising began to pile in. Last year, Pattern Energy announced that it had secured $11.5 billion in financing for the line, making SunZia the largest clean infrastructure project in dollar terms in American history.
But the line’s journey through Arizona — and specifically the San Pedro Valley — has remained controversial.
The
San Pedro
Valley.Robinson
Meyer
Throughout last year, a coalition of environmental groups, local property owners, and two tribes — the Tohono O’odham Nation and the San Carlos Apache Tribe — pushed for the project to avoid the San Pedro Valley, alleging that the BLM had failed to study how SunZia would affect the landscape’s cultural value to Native Americans. In November, the BLM ordered Pattern Energy to pause construction on SunZia so that it could consult with the tribes again; the groups held a series of meetings in the fall.
But the tribes deemed that effort insufficient. In January, the Tohono O’odham and San Carlos Apache Tribe, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and Archaeology Southwest, sued BLM, alleging that it had not studied how SunZia would erode the valley’s cultural value.
Their argument turned on the interplay of two federal laws: NEPA, the law that governs the federal permitting process; and the National Historic Preservation Act, which says that the government must evaluate how its actions will affect archeological sites and Native American cultural sites.
If an infrastructure project will destroy an archeological or cultural site, the National Historic Preservation Act says that the government must mitigate that harm, mapping the relics and preserving what it can from them. Pattern and the BLM say that they have followed this law. After mapping and mitigating archaeological sites along its route, they agreed to move the line to avoid some of the most sensitive areas.
But the tribes argue that the entire San Pedro Valley is a sensitive cultural area. The Tohono O’odham Nation has argued in court and in the press that SunZia abuses its cultural property not by destroying any one cultural site, but rather by entering the San Pedro Valley in the first place. In essence, the tribe is claiming that the entire valley is a cultural site unto itself.
They say that the BLM must do what’s called a “cultural landscape” study, investigating not only discrete archeological sites along the route but the cultural value of the San Pedro Valley as a whole. “The tribes have been trying to say that this [valley] has central cultural and religious importance,” Robin Silver, an Arizona resident and the cofounder of the Center for Biological Diversity, told me.
Their argument was legally daring. The federal government approved SunZia’s route through the San Pedro Valley under NEPA in 2015, meaning that the six-year statute of limitations for that decision had already expired. But the National Historic Preservation Act process only wrapped up last year. The tribes and the environmental groups argue that if that law’s process had been correctly followed, then the BLM would have been forced to change SunZia’s route — even though doing so would essentially re-open the NEPA process.
“Pattern Energy and the Bureau of Land Management, all they do is hire consultants that confuse hard archaeology with anthropology. So they go out and dig in front of the bulldozers and say everything’s fine,” Silver said. “The fact of the landforms having significant cultural and religious importance has been here as long as the tribes have been here. It’s just that when Manifest Destiny became the rule of law, tribal concerns were blown off, and they’re still being blown off.”
The coalition’s argument also raised the specter of old trade-offs — trade-offs that the tribe, by focusing on procedural and cultural matters, did not address in its lawsuit. The San Pedro Valley is incredibly beautiful, for instance, but it is not completely pristine: It is already home to a large natural gas pipeline and a few smaller transmission lines. When I asked Silver why the pipeline did not destroy the valley, but the transmission line did, he said in essence that the pipeline did not have the same visual impact as SunZia.
“There are no 200-foot large power lines going through the San Pedro Valley,” he said. “The gas pipeline doesn’t have 200 foot towers.”
I pointed out that this suggested fossil fuel projects would never face the same scrutiny as transmission lines. “We need to figure out a way to connect the sources of our new energy to the users, and our grid is woefully archaic. No argument,” he added. “But we don’t need to go up every single valley, we don’t need to sacrifice everything else, because of this mantra of climate change.”
Yet there is no way to upgrade the grid without building large transmission towers somewhere. Silver suggested that the line could be shifted back toward Tucson, but that would seemingly place it back into the low-income, majority-Latino neighborhoods that BLM had hoped to avoid in the first place. The other available route would be to run SunZia west of Tucson, but that would force the line onto Tohono O’odham Nation land. When I asked a tribal spokesperson if the tribe had lifted its decade-old ban on SunZia crossing its land, he didn’t respond.
In fact, the Tohono O’odham Nation has not responded to multiple emails and calls requesting comment beginning in March.
Two weeks ago, a district court judge in Arizona tossed the tribe’s lawsuit. She said that the statute of limitations had expired and SunZia’s route could no longer be altered. While BLM had once suggested that it would do a cultural landscape study on the San Pedro Valley, it did not do so in a way that would change its obligation to the tribes, she ruled. Silver told me that the coalition will appeal.
SunZia hasn’t made it out of the desert yet. It still has to clear at least one remaining legal challenge, a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and its allies in Arizona state court. But with the federal lawsuit against it dismissed last month, SunZia now seems more likely than ever to become complete, making it a key piece of American zero-carbon infrastructure.
Which raises the inevitable question: Could SunZia have succeeded more quickly? SunZia required no fundamental technological leaps or engineering miracles; we have known how to build a power line of its size and length for years. Yet just the permitting has taken nearly two decades. If we finally get SunZia in 2026, that means that we could have had it in 2016. And that means that we could have burned less natural gas to meet the country’s electricity needs, or at least enjoyed more energy, for lower prices, with less pollution. America’s ponderous approach to building infrastructure is often described as an economic problem. But climate change transforms that regulatory torpor into an environmental challenge. What can we learn from SunZia such that we never have to go through this again?
You can see SunZia — as many in New Mexico now do — as a lesson in different approaches to building big new infrastructure projects. Many interests across the Southwest were unhappy with SunZia’s initial route in 2013. But in New Mexico, the Pentagon’s formal protest to that route led — quite happily — to Pattern Energy, Audubon Southwest, and environmental advocates working out a better plan for everyone involved. In Arizona, meanwhile, the old plans never changed, the same contentiousness remained, and they ultimately gave rise to a lawsuit.
You could also see it as a lesson in political power. Silver, the Center for Biological Diversity cofounder, told me SunZia succeeded in New Mexico for one reason: “Martin Heinrich.” Speaking with a mix of resentment and respect, Silver said that Heinrich pushed for negotiations between environmentalists, clean energy advocates, tribes, and the Defense Department, eventually nudging those groups to arrive at a mutually agreeable outcome. In Arizona, Silver said, national and state-level leaders have not taken the same hands-on approach, so the process has been much more acrimonious.
There’s some truth to each of these views. To get large-scale infrastructure projects done, it clearly helps to have a federal chaperone — someone who can spur cities, states, tribes, and conservation groups toward a final and constructive conclusion. The Biden administration is playing that role now for some projects, although it lacks local credibility, and Congress has helped to standardize the process by creating a “Fast 41” process where the government can prod along stalled infrastructure efforts.
But there is also something substantively different in New Mexico — you could call it high trust, good will, or a solutions-oriented approach to problem solving. It certainly helped that Pattern Energy was willing to work in good faith with local environmental groups. But that only works if all the other key stakeholders, including environmentalists themselves, respond in kind. The current tangle of state, local, and federal laws that dictate infrastructure permitting do not encourage this kind of constructive engagement, pushing opponents instead toward prolonged and costly legal battles. These laws also fail to substantively protect the environment, guaranteeing only that a process gets followed — not that the environment gets protected.
For decades, developers and conservationists have attacked each other over every project and prepared to fight bitter court battles over every detail. Developers assumed that conservation groups were out to block them at every turn and shut down, even when members of the public asked worthy questions. Environmentalists, meanwhile, suspected that any developers would destroy the land if given the opportunity, whether they were putting in oil pipelines or transmission lines, and would accept no protest to the contrary.
SunZia’s story repeats this old, messy tradition, while also laying the model for a new one — one in which clean energy builders and environmental protectors work together to find the best solution for the environment and the climate. We will need many more success stories like it if America is to meet its climate goals — 99 more, to be exact.
https://heatmap.news/economy/sunzia
A depressing catalogue
date: 2024-06-18, from: Enlightenment Economics
The depressing UK election campaign (albeit far less depressing than some others around the world) sent me back to a book whose subtitle is ‘Half a century of British economic decline’. It’s Russell Jones’s excellent and sobering The Tyranny of … Continue reading
http://www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.php/2024/06/a-depressing-catalogue/
Ada and Zangemann: Fancy reading your kids a book about FOSS?
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
It’s not every tech conference that has story-reading sessions… but maybe they should
Devconf.cz Free Software Foundation Europe president Matthias Kirshner’s picture book Ada and Zangemann explains the concepts of FOSS to school kids… and managers, marketing people, and victims of Windows-induced Stockholm Syndrome.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/ada_and_zangemann/
DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO THINK
date: 2024-06-18, from: Howard Jacobson blog
First the lunatics took over the asylum, now the children have taken over the playground. After the campus glamping and the race to see who knows least about Middle East politics – the Americans are still winning but Oxford’s coming up fast on the outside – we move on to the summer game of holier-than-thou in which celebrities with clout join activists with heart-on-sleeve consciences in pressuring the country’s leading literary festivals to shoot themselves in the foot.
https://jacobsonh.substack.com/p/dont-tell-me-what-to-think
Tiny solid-state battery promises to pack a punch in pocket gadgets
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
TDK tech envisioned as successor to button cells – if it works as promised
Japan’s TDK Corporation claims its new solid-state battery design has a hundred times the energy density of its previous products.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/tdk_solid_state_battery/
Today in SCV History (June 18)
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1945 – PFC Johnny Cordova of Castaic killed in action on Okinawa. [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-june-18/
IMF suggests tax on AI’s CO2 emissions, but not AI itself
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Be afraid … be very afraid: AI could also revolutionize tax itself, money boffins argue
The International Monetary Fund has suggested one way to ameliorate the impact of AI: A tax on the carbon dioxide emissions created in generating masses of energy to power the computers that many hope will do some thinking for us.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/imf_ai_fiscal_policy_suggestions/
VMware by Broadcom warns of two critical vCenter flaws, plus a nasty sudo bug
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Specially crafted network packet could allow remote code execution and access to VM fleets
VMware by Broadcom has revealed a pair of critical-rated flaws in vCenter Server – the tool used to manage virtual machines and hosts in its flagship Cloud Foundation and vSphere suites.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/vmware_criticial_vcenter_flaws/
Tencent ponders banning infomercials hosted by ‘virtual humans’ on its flagship video service
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Beijing’s interest in generative AI has its limits
Chinese web giant Tencent has floated the idea of banning AI-generated videos on its Weixin Channel service, in the grounds that they are low–quality content.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/wechat_avatar_ban_policy_proposal/
BREAKING NEWS: LASD Responds to Shooting Death on Lyons Avenue
date: 2024-06-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide investigators are responding to a shooting death investigation on the 22900 block of Lyons Avenue, near the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Newhall. The incident was reported on Monday, June 17, at approximately 7:35 p.m
https://scvnews.com/breaking-news-lasd-responds-to-shooting-death-on-lyons-avenue/
Boston Celtics win 2023-24 National Basketball Association championship
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
NTT uses scattered monitors to trick your brain into seeing 3D images
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Because not everyone’s walking around wearing augmented reality goggles yet
Japan’s IT services and telecoms giant NTT Corporation says it has devised a way of making 3D images visible in augmented reality applications without requiring special equipment or even direct observation.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/ntt_3d_images_display_illusion/
Update: One person killed in shooting near DMV
date: 2024-06-18, from: The Signal
A man was shot and killed near the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Newhall on Monday evening, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. “We’ve got one victim down […]
The post Update: One person killed in shooting near DMV appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/deputies-investigating-shooting-near-dmv/
Biden hosts NATO chief ahead of Ukraine-focused summit of security alliance
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
The White House — President Joe Biden hosted NATO’s chief at the White House on Monday, less than a month before the newly enlarged security alliance convenes in Washington to tackle how allies will continue to support Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion.
The aim at the July summit, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, is to “ensure predictable support to Ukraine for the long haul.”
But how to make that a solid and durable reality – amid the political baggage and diverse laws and systems of governance of all 32 NATO members – is likely to be a complex feat. Ukraine badly wants the one thing it most certainly won’t get at this three-day convening: to join.
Among the arguments against Ukraine’s NATO membership are that its fragile and developing institutions need more time to mature, and the fact that the nation is being currently invaded. The alliance’s most important tenet – Article 5 – says that an armed attack against one member is an attack on all. This has been invoked only once before, when members rushed to the U.S.’s defense after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Earlier Monday, VOA asked Stoltenberg how soon Ukraine would get its wish.
“It is difficult, of course, to invite Ukraine when there is a war going on,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s also hard to say that there is no way to do that as long as there is a conflict with Russia, because that (gives) Russia incentive to continue the conflict.
“So what we say is that we are going to move Ukraine closer by helping them to meet all NATO standards to be more and more interoperable with NATO by removing the requirements for Membership Action Plan, and also by deepening political cooperation in the NATO Ukraine Council, and then we will make a decision when the time is right,” Stoltenberg added.
And when pressed for when that time might be, he replied: “I don’t expect any dates. At the end of the day, this has to be negotiated among NATO allies and we are working on that language now. So that will be agreed when we meet in Washington in a few week’s time,” he said. “I expect that we will find an agreement on some language which sends a clear message about Ukraine’s membership perspectives and that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance.”
Biden, in welcoming Stoltenberg, hailed the 75th anniversary and touted what he cast as a victory: a “record number” of members, he said, are meeting NATO’s commitment to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense.
“I think the lessons we’ve learned then, and about standing together to defend and deter aggression, have been consequential,” he said, seated beside Stoltenberg in the Oval Office. “And we’ve made NATO under your leadership larger, stronger and more united than it has ever been.”
Earlier Monday, Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian prime minister, said NATO allies have given “unprecedented” support to Ukraine. He estimates this will cost the alliance at least $45 billion per year going forward.
“At the (upcoming NATO) summit, I expect other leaders to agree for NATO to lead the coordination and provision of security assistance and training for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said, speaking at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank. “It is also why I proposed a long-term financial pledge with fresh funding every year. The more credible our long-term support, the quicker Moscow would realize it cannot wait us out and the sooner this war can end. It may seem like a paradox, but the path to peace is, therefore, more weapons for Ukraine.”
Analysts say these discussions set the stage for the major questions of the upcoming summit.
“The main issues, still, are what does the alliance say to Ukraine after pledges of support over the last few weeks? What is the nature of the NATO-Ukraine relationship going forward?” said Dan Hamilton, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “NATO is taking over from the United States the military assistance and coordination of military training for Ukraine. That’s a major step that’s happening right now.”
Last week, Ukraine’s president praised a 10-year security agreement with the U.S., saying he believes it lays a path to NATO membership.
“The issue of NATO is covered through the text of the agreement,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “It states that America supports Ukraine’s future membership in NATO and recognizes that our security agreement is a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.”
Biden hosts NATO chief ahead of Ukraine-focused security alliance summit
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
U.S. President Joe Biden hosted NATO’s chief on Monday, less than a month before the newly enlarged security alliance converges in Washington for its annual summit. At the White House, the two leaders spoke of how they will “ensure predictable support to Ukraine for the long haul.” VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-06-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
I didn't understand why Ghost was interested in ActivityPub until now. Not sure if it's going to work as well as they hope, but at least now I understand why.
https://www.augment.ink/ghost-substack-discoverability/
Vietnam’s internet again in trouble as three of five submarine cables go down
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Outages came a day after nation launched giveaway of .VN domains in pursuit of improved digital sovereignty
Internet connectivity between Vietnam and the rest of the globe has degraded yet again after three of the five submarine internet cables failed around June 15 and remain down.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/vietnam_internet_cables/
US cricket team’s historic run at T20 World Cup continues
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-cricket-team-s-historic-run-at-t20-world-cup-continues/7660084.html
Realtors Host FUNdraiser for Hugs For Cubs
date: 2024-06-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
On Thursday afternoon May 30th, the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors hosted a FUNdraiser for their 2024 charity recipient, the
The post Realtors Host FUNdraiser for Hugs For Cubs appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/06/17/realtors-host-fundraiser-for-hugs-for-cubs/
Arm security defense shattered by speculative execution 95% of the time
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
‘TikTag’ security folks find anti-exploit mechanism rather fragile
In 2018, chip designer Arm introduced a hardware security feature called Memory Tagging Extensions (MTE) as a defense against memory safety bugs. But it may not be as effective as first hoped.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/06/18/arm_memory_tag_extensions_leak/
Post Fire up to 15,611 acres, 20% containment; Castaic still under evacuation warning
date: 2024-06-18, from: The Signal
The Post Fire that started in Gorman on Saturday has grown to 15,611 acres with 20% containment as of Monday evening, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Evacuation […]
The post Post Fire up to 15,611 acres, 20% containment; Castaic still under evacuation warning appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
A year after the Titan’s tragic dive, deep-sea explorers vow to pursue ocean’s mysteries
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
PORTLAND, Maine — The deadly implosion of an experimental submersible en route to the deep-sea grave of the Titanic last June has not dulled the desire for further ocean exploration, despite lingering questions about the disaster.
Tuesday marks one year since the Titan vanished on its way to the historic wreckage site in the North Atlantic Ocean. After a five-day search that captured attention around the world, authorities said the vessel had been destroyed and all five people on board had died.
Concerns have been raised about whether the Titan was destined for disaster because of its unconventional design and its creator’s refusal to submit to independent checks that are standard in the industry. The U.S. Coast Guard quickly convened a high-level investigation into what happened, but officials said the inquiry is taking longer than the initial 12-month time frame, and a planned public hearing to discuss their findings won’t happen for at least another two months.
Meanwhile, deep-sea exploration continues. The Georgia-based company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic plans to visit the sunken ocean liner in July using remotely operated vehicles, and a real estate billionaire from Ohio has said he plans a voyage to the shipwreck in a two-person submersible in 2026.
The Titan dove southeast of Newfoundland. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Monday that there are other submersibles operating within Canadian waters, some of which are not registered with the country or any other.
Numerous ocean explorers told The Associated Press they are confident undersea exploration can continue safely in a post-Titan world.
“It’s been a desire of the scientific community to get down into the ocean,” said Greg Stone, a veteran ocean explorer and friend of Titan operator Stockton Rush, who died in the implosion. “I have not noticed any difference in the desire to go into the ocean, exploring.”
OceanGate, a company co-founded by Rush that owned the submersible, suspended operations in early July following the implosion. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
David Concannon, a former adviser to OceanGate, said he will mark the anniversary privately with a group of people who were involved with the company or the submersible’s expeditions over the years, including scientists, volunteers and mission specialists. Many of them, including those who were on the Titan support ship Polar Prince, have not been interviewed by the Coast Guard, he said.
“The fact is, they are isolated and in a liminal space,” he said in an email last week. “Stockton Rush has been vilified and so has everyone associated with OceanGate. I wasn’t even there and I have gotten death threats. We support each other and just wait to be interviewed. The world has moved on … but the families and those most affected are still living with this tragedy every day.”
The Titan had been chronicling the Titanic’s decay and the underwater ecosystem around the sunken ocean liner in yearly voyages since 2021.
The craft made its last dive on June 18, 2023, a Sunday morning, and lost contact with its support vessel about two hours later. When it was reported overdue that afternoon, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to the area, about 700 kilometers south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The U.S. Navy notified the Coast Guard that day of an anomaly in its acoustic data that was “consistent with an implosion or explosion” at the time communications between the Polar Prince and the Titan were lost, a senior Navy official later told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive technology.
Any sliver of hope that remained for finding the crew alive was wiped away on June 22, when the Coast Guard announced that debris had been found near the Titanic on the ocean floor. Authorities have since recovered the submersible’s intact endcap, debris and presumed human remains from the site.
In addition to Rush, the implosion killed two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Harding and Nargeolet were members of The Explorers Club, a professional society dedicated to research, exploration and resource conservation.
“Then, as now, it hit us on a personal level very deeply,” the group’s president, Richard Garriott, said in an interview last week. “We knew not only all the people involved, but even all the previous divers, support teams, people working on all these vessels — those were all either members of this club or well within our network.”
Garriott believes even if the Titan hadn’t imploded, the correct rescue equipment didn’t get to the site fast enough. The tragedy caught everyone from the Coast Guard to the ships on-site off guard, underscoring the importance of developing detailed search and rescue plans ahead of any expedition, he said. His organization has since created a task force to help others do just that.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to really correct, to make sure that we know exactly who to call and exactly what materials need to be mustered,” he said.
SCV NAACP celebrates Juneteenth
date: 2024-06-18, from: The Signal
The Santa Clarita Valley NAACP chapter held a weekend of fun, games and entertainment in celebration of the federal recognized holiday, Juneteenth, aimed to educate the community about its historical […]
The post SCV NAACP celebrates Juneteenth appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/scv-naacp-celebrates-juneteenth/
Community invited to chamber Business Expo
date: 2024-06-18, from: The Signal
News release The Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce is inviting the community to the chamber’s annual Business Expo, scheduled 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 27 at the Hyatt Regency […]
The post Community invited to chamber Business Expo appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/community-invited-to-chamber-business-expo/
Wiley, Bouquet canyon projects to be discussed
date: 2024-06-18, from: The Signal
The Planning Commission is expected to discuss the Wiley Canyon Project and the appeal of a project being eyed for Bouquet Canyon Road, next to a Cinema Drive business park. […]
The post Wiley, Bouquet canyon projects to be discussed appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/06/wiley-bouquet-canyon-projects-to-be-discussed/
Sols 4216-4218: Another ‘Mammoth’ Plan!
date: 2024-06-18, from: NASA breaking news
Earth planning date: Friday, June 14, 2024 At the start of this week, we did a preload test on the target “Mammoth Lakes,” the rightmost bright ellipse (DRT ellipse, so less dusty) on the workspace image above. The preload test shows the stability of the rock, making sure it doesn’t move and that it doesn’t […]
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/sols-4216-4218-another-mammoth-plan/
Washington, Seoul sound alarm over Putin’s visit to Pyongyang
date: 2024-06-18, from: VOA News USA
washington — Washington and Seoul have expressed alarm about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to Pyongyang, while Beijing says it has no intention of interfering with the cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
Putin will pay a state visit to North Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday, the North’s official KCNA news agency announced on Monday. His trip to Pyongyang will be followed by a two-day state visit to Vietnam, where discussions will touch on trade and economic cooperation, the Kremlin said Monday.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said it opposes Moscow and Pyongyang deepening their military cooperation through Putin’s trip to the country.
“All cooperation and exchanges between Russia and North Korea will need to abide by relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and contribute toward the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula,” a spokesperson told VOA’s Korean Service on Monday.
Putin’s visit to the country, the first in 24 years, comes amid increased military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.
North Korea has transferred approximately 10,000 containers that could hold nearly 5 million artillery shells to Russia to fight against Ukraine, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday.
All arms exports and imports by North Korea are sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council.
Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied any arms dealings between them.
Putin’s trip to Pyongyang is expected to increase military cooperation that officially kicked off when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia in September 2023. Kim invited Putin to Pyongyang during his visit to Russia.
“We discourage any government from receiving President Putin,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA’s Korean Service on June 12.
“If he is able to travel freely, it could normalize Russia’s blatant violations of international law and inadvertently send the message that atrocities can be committed in Ukraine and elsewhere with impunity,” the spokesperson said.
Deepening cooperation between Russia and North Korea poses concern for the Korean Peninsula as well as for Ukraine as it defends its “freedom and independence against Russia’s brutal war,” the spokesperson added.
After the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 for Russia’s alleged war crimes in Ukraine since its unprovoked invasion of the country in February 2022, Putin is limited in his international travels to allied countries.
Since his new presidential term began in May, Putin has visited Belarus, China and Uzbekistan.
In the meantime, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA on Thursday that “China has no intention [of] interfer[ing] with the exchange and cooperation between two sovereign countries.”
He said, “Both DPRK and Russia are China’s friendly neighbors.” North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
China and Russia, both veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, have supported North Korea at council meetings held in the past several years by opposing new U.S.-led resolutions condemning North Korea’s ballistic missile launches banned by the U.N.
In March, Moscow vetoed a resolution granting the annual extension of a U.N. panel of experts that monitors sanctions on North Korea while Beijing abstained.
Michael Kimmage, who served on the U.S. State Department’s Policy Planning staff on Russia and Ukraine from 2014 to 2016, said, “Putin wishes to forge a long-term relationship with North Korea, and this would be reflected” in his visit to Pyongyang.
“Not only does North Korea supply Russia with weaponry to use in its war against Ukraine, but a more radical North Korea will pin the resources of Russia’s archenemy, the United States, in East Asia, helping to create a third zone of difficulty for Washington, in addition to Europe and the Middle East,” Kimmage said.
Kimmage, currently the chair at Catholic University of America’s history department, added that Russia’s other partner, China, may not want Pyongyang to be more provocative and may not be pleased with deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Earlier this month, Putin threatened to arm the West’s adversaries with long-range missiles that could target the West in response to NATO members, including the U.S., allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to target inside Russia.
Evans Revere, a former U.S. State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, said Putin’s meeting with Kim in Pyongyang “could reveal the details of Russian support for North Korea.”
“Pyongyang is reportedly interested in missile guidance, engine and fuel technologies, avionics upgrades for its aircraft and assistance with its nuclear program,” he said.
Revere added, “Russia has a significant strategic and tactical interest in complicating the security calculus of the United States and its allies in Northeast Asia. Putin’s visit will soon demonstrate how far Moscow is prepared to go in pursuing that interest.”
VOA’s Soyoung Ahn contributed to this report.
https://www.voanews.com/a/washington-seoul-sound-alarm-over-putin-s-visit-to-pyongyang/7660049.html
45 Projects Receiving New NGI Zero Grants
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: nlnet feed
https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20240618-Call-announcement.html
Get Kubernetes Ingress like Magic
date: 2024-06-18, updated: 2024-06-18, from: Inlets.dev, cloud tunneling
Learn how to expose Ingress from your Kubernetes cluster like magic without having to setup any additional infrastructure.
https://inlets.dev/blog/2024/06/18/magic-kubernetes-ingress.html
One year of solo dev, wrapping up the grant-funded work
date: 2024-06-18, from: Marginallia log
A year ago I walked out of the office for the last time. I handed in my corpo laptop, said some good-byes, and since then I have been my own boss. This first year has been funded by an NLnet grant, which I’m in the midst of wrapping up. As of now, the work is all done, the final request for payment has been sent. There’s a similar last-day-of-school levity to both these events.
https://www.marginalia.nu/log/a_107_nlnext/
PremiumSoft Introduces Navicat 17 for PostgreSQL: Revolutionizing Database Management and Development
date: 2024-06-18, from: PostgreSQL News
Navicat, a leading provider of powerful database management and development software, is proud to unveil Navicat 17 for PostgreSQL, an innovative release that sets a new standard in the realm of database management and development. Navicat 17 introduces a wide array of cutting-edge features and enhancements that revolutionize the way users interact with their databases, empowering them to achieve unmatched efficiency and productivity. With support for PostgreSQL, Navicat 17 enhanced productivity, streamline workflows, and deliver an exceptional user experience.
Key features of Navicat™ 17 for PostgreSQL include:
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All-New Model Workspace: Navicat 17 presents an enhanced diagram design, a more powerful synchronization tool, support for data dictionaries, and other features that elevate the database modeling experience to new heights.
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Data Profiling: The Data Viewer in Navicat 17 integrates a Data Profiling tool, providing users with a visual and comprehensive view of their data. This feature enables users to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions based on data analysis.
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Data Dictionary: Navicat 17 introduces a Data Dictionary that offers documentation and descriptions for each data element within databases across various server platforms. This feature enhances data understanding and facilitates efficient collaboration among team members.
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Query Pinned Result: Users can now retain a specific set of query results for reference, allowing for easy comparison and analysis.
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Visual Query Explain: Navicat 17 introduces a powerful graphical presentation feature that provides users with valuable insights into query implementation for MySQL, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL databases.
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Table Profile: Navicat 17 allows users to save different combinations of filters, sort orders, and column displays for tables. This feature streamlines data exploration and analysis.
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Navicat URI: With Navicat URI, users can effortlessly share and locate server objects, streamlining collaboration and enhancing productivity.
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Manage Connection: Navicat 17 introduces enhanced connection management capabilities, enabling users to organize connections using stars, colors, and groups, or even hide.
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Business Intelligence (BI) Features:
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Chart Interaction: All charts on a dashboard can now be interconnected, allowing for dynamic and interactive data exploration.
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Calculated Field: Users can transform data using specific formulas or expressions, empowering them to derive meaningful insights and perform advanced data analysis.
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Expanded Platform Support: The BI features in Navicat 17 now extend support to MongoDB and Snowflake databases.
- and more.
Navicat 17 for PostgreSQL is now available for download and purchase on the PremiumSoft website at https://navicat.com/en/products/navicat-for-postgresql. Users can also take advantage of a 14-day fully functional free trial to experience the power and capabilities of Navicat 17 firsthand.
About Navicat
Navicat develops the leading database management and development software. One of its top-rated products, Navicat Premium, allows you to simultaneously connect to MySQL, Redis, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MariaDB, SQLite, and MongoDB databases from a single application. Compatible with cloud databases like Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, Amazon Redshift, Amazon ElastiCache, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, Google Cloud, MongoDB Atlas and Redis Enterprise Cloud. Additionally, Navicat Premium is compatible with GaussDB and OceanBase databases. You can quickly and easily build, manage and maintain your databases.
About PremiumSoft
PremiumSoft CyberTech Ltd. is a multinational corporation headquartered in Hong Kong, the company was founded in 1999 and has developed numerous award-winning products over the years.
For all media enquiries, please contact:
Media Relations
media@navicat.com
www.navicat.com