Former
US Senator Inhofe, defense hawk and climate change skeptic, dies at
89
date: 2024-07-09, from: VOA News USA
OKLAHOMA CITY, oklahoma — Former Senator Jim Inhofe, a conservative
known for his strong support of defense spending and his denial that
human activity is responsible for the bulk of climate change, has died.
He was 89.
Inhofe, a powerful fixture in Oklahoma politics for more than six
decades, died Tuesday morning after suffering a stroke during the July
Fourth holiday, his family said in a statement.
Inhofe, a Republican who underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery in
2013 before being elected to a fourth term, was elected to a fifth
Senate term in 2020, before stepping down in early 2023.
‘The greatest hoax’
Inhofe frequently criticized the mainstream science that human
activity contributed to changes in the Earth’s climate, once calling it
“the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”
In February 2015, with temperatures in the nation’s capital below
freezing, Inhofe brought a snowball on to the Senate floor. He tossed it
before claiming that environmentalists focus attention on global warming
as it kept getting cold.
As Oklahoma’s senior U.S. senator, Inhofe was a staunch supporter of
the state’s five military installations and a vocal fan of congressional
earmarks. The Army veteran and licensed pilot, who would fly himself to
and from Washington, secured the federal money to fund local road and
bridge projects, and criticized House Republicans who wanted a one-year
moratorium on such pet projects in 2010.
“Defeating an earmark doesn’t save a nickel,” Inhofe told the
Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce that August. “It merely means that
within the budget process, it goes right back to the bureaucracy.”
He was a strong backer of President Donald Trump, who praised him for
his “incredible support of our #MAGA agenda” while endorsing the
senator’s 2020 reelection bid. During the Trump administration, Inhofe
served as chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee following the
death of Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona.
Closer to home, Inhofe helped secure millions of dollars to clean up
a former mining hub in northeast Oklahoma that spent decades on the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list. In a massive buyout
program, the federal government purchased homes and businesses within
the 104-square-kilometer region of Tar Creek, where children
consistently tested for dangerous levels of lead in their blood.
Republican U.S. Representative Frank Lucas, the senior member of the
Oklahoma congressional delegation, called Inhofe a true public
servant.
“His long career in the United States House and Senate serves as a
testament to his strong moral compass and innate desire to better his
home state,” Lucas said in a statement
In 2021, Inhofe defied some in his party by voting to certify
Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, saying that
to do otherwise would be a violation of his oath of office to support
and defend the Constitution. He voted against convicting Trump at both
of his impeachment trials.
Worked in business, public service
Born James Mountain Inhofe on Nov. 17, 1934, in Des Moines, Iowa,
Inhofe grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and received a bachelor’s degree in
economics from the University of Tulsa in 1959. He served in the Army
between 1956 and 1958 and was a businessman for three decades.
He was elected to the state House in 1966 and two years later to the
state Senate, where he remained during unsuccessful runs for governor in
1974 and for the U.S. House in 1976. He then won three terms as Tulsa
mayor starting in 1978.
Inhofe went on to win two terms in the U.S. House in the 1980s,
before throwing his hat into a bitter U.S. Senate race when longtime
Senator David Boren resigned in 1994 to become president of the
University of Oklahoma. Inhofe beat then-U.S. Representive Dave McCurdy
in a special election to serve the final two years of Boren’s term and
was reelected five times.
Boren, a Democrat, said he and Inhofe worked together in a bipartisan
manner when both were in the state Legislature. He later defeated Inhofe
in a race for governor.
“While we ran against each other for governor, we were opponents but
never enemies and remained friends,” Boren said in a statement. “I hope
we can rebuild that spirit in American politics.”
Frequent flyer
Inhofe was a commercial-rated pilot and flight instructor with more
than 50 years of flying experience.
He made an emergency landing in Claremore in 1999, after his plane
lost a propeller, an incident later blamed on an installation error. In
2006, his plane spun out of control upon landing in Tulsa; he and an
aide escaped injury, though the plane was badly damaged.
In 2010, Inhofe landed his small plane on a closed runway at a rural
South Texas airport while flying himself and others to South Padre
Island. Runway workers scrambled, and Inhofe agreed to complete a
remedial training program rather than face possible legal action.
He later sponsored legislation that expanded the rights of pilots
when dealing with Federal Aviation Administration disciplinary
proceedings.
Inhofe is survived by his wife, Kay, three children and several
grandchildren. A son, Dr. Perry Dyson Inhofe II, died in November 2013,
at the age of 51, when the twin-engine aircraft he was flying crashed a
few miles north of Tulsa International Airport.
United
Airlines plane loses wheel during takeoff from LAX, lands safely in
Denver
date: 2024-07-09, from: The Signal
By Aldgra Fredly Contributing Writer A United Airlines Boeing 757-200
plane lost a wheel from its landing gear while taking off from Los
Angeles International Airport on Monday but managed to […]
Body of
American recovered 22 years after avalanche in Peru
date: 2024-07-09, from: San Jose Mercury News
Police in the Ancash region told The Associated Press they found the
body of William Stampfl on Friday near a camp 5,200 meters (17,060 feet)
above sea level. The 58-year-old Stampfl had been trying to climb the
6,768-meter Mount Huascaran.
Tim Hardwick: According to Apple, research shows that motion sickness
is commonly caused by a sensory conflict between what a person sees and
what they feel, which can prevent some users from comfortably using
iPhone or iPad while riding in a moving vehicle. Vehicle Motion Cues are
designed to avoid this sensory conflict with the […]
Casper Kessels (April 2024, via Hacker News): The first version of
CarPlay has been available since 2016 and has been a major success. For
car industry standards, it was adopted quickly and by almost every
carmaker. But since then, the car industry has been changing while the
design and functionality of CarPlay have mostly stayed […]
Jérôme Segura (via Ric Ford): On June 24, we observed a new campaign
distributing a stealer targeting Mac users via malicious Google ads for
the Arc browser. This is the second time in the past couple of months
where we see Arc being used as a lure, certainly a sign of its
popularity. It was […]
Lawrence Abrams (via Hacker News): Cybercriminals are abusing Stack
Overflow in an interesting approach to spreading malware—answering
users’ questions by promoting a malicious PyPi package that installs
Windows information-stealing malware.[…]This PyPi package is named
‘pytoileur’ and was uploaded by threat actors to the PyPi repository
over the weekend, claiming it was an API management tool. […]
Prince
Harry and ESPN getting desired ‘eyeballs’ with Pat Tillman award
controversy
date: 2024-07-09, from: San Jose Mercury News
While critics accuse Harry of desperately needing ‘attention,’
executives at ESPN and Disney reportedly hope that the prince’s Pat
Tillman Award controversy will draw ‘insane’ ratings for Thursday
night’s ESPYS.
The Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation has
announced that Jey Wagner has stepped down from his role as President
and CEO effective Monday, July
Hurricane Beryl, ahem, barreled into America’s Gulf Coast as a
Category 1 storm, and whenever something like that happens the entire
global energy industry holds its breath. The Gulf of Mexico is not just
a frequent target and breeding ground for massive storms, it is also one
of America’s — and the world’s — most important energy hubs. Texas and
Louisiana contains giant oil and gas fields, and the region is home to
about
half
of the United States’ refining capacity.
At least so far, the oil and refining industry appears to have largely
dodged Beryl’s worst effects. The storm made landfall in Matagorda, a
coastal town between Galveston and Corpus Christi, both of which are
major centers for the refinery industry. Only one refinery, the Phillips
66 facility in Sweeny, Texas, was in the storm’s cone,
according
to TACenergy, a petroleum products distributor. Phillips 66 did
not respond to a request to comment,
but
Reuters reported that the Sweeny facility as well as
its refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana were powered and operating.
Crude oil prices have seen next to no obvious volatility, rising to
$83.88 a barrel on July 3 and since settling around $82.84.
Electricity consumers, however, were not so lucky. As
many as
2.7
million Texanslost
power, and some 2.3 million are currently experiencing outages
according to
PowerOutage.us. In
Arkansas and Louisiana, about 35,000 electric customers are without
power. ERCOT, the energy market for about 90% of Texas, described the
current outages as “local in nature and not an ERCOT grid reliability
issue,” indicating that the problem is with distribution and
transmission, not
supply
and demand.
The heavily industrialized Gulf Coast would seem to be a perfect spot to
build out offshore wind infrastructure, but the regular hurricane-force
winds in the region are
holding
it back. The Department of the Interior has successfully
auctioned off
just
one lease for wind development off of Lake Charles, Louisiana near
the Texas border. The next auction will include sites along the Texas
coast closer to Houston and Bay City, Texas, and thus
closer
to where Beryl made landfall.
Beryl is now a tropical depression, working its way
up
the Great Plains and the Midwest, bringing along with it heavy
rains and strong winds. Power generators may be off the hook in Texas,
but the situation there does not bode well for our ability to get
electricity to households and businesses reliably in a world of
stronger
storms.
“For a Category 1 hurricane to result in over a million customer outages
in its immediate aftermath demonstrates that there is plenty of need for
the resiliency hardening investments,” Wei Du, a consultant at PA
Consulting Group and former Con Edison analyst, told me.
As
bird flu spreads on dairy farms, an ‘abysmal’ few workers are
tested
date: 2024-07-09, from: San Jose Mercury News
The CDC and USDA have advised dairy farms to monitor for the virus in
cattle and humans, but testing remains voluntary, except for herds
moving across state lines.
Hopkins
researchers launch writing contest to learn about how the brain
processes stories
date: 2024-07-09, from: San Jose Mercury News
A Johns Hopkins University research team is asking for the public’s
help in mapping the specific areas of the brain that kick into high gear
when we read a novel or buy movie tickets.
While America has been distracted by its suddenly-very-real upcoming
election, two other important political stories have been unfolding
across the pond. The results of last week’s parliamentary votes in
France and the United Kingdom have the power to sway global climate
policy — and they might even contain lessons for the U.S. about the rise
(or fall) of the far-right.
What happened in France?
In June, French President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections, and the
far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen was widely expected
to achieve a majority in the country’s 577-seat National Assembly.
Instead, the New Popular Front, a hastily-formed alliance between the
hard left, Greens, and Socialists, came out on top in a runoff, followed
by the centrist Ensemble (which includes Macron’s Renaissance party) and
the National Rally in a distant third. Because no party won the 289
seats needed to gain control of the chamber, the left and center now
have to form a coalition government, which means ideological compromise
— something that’s distinctly un-French. “We’re not the Germans, we’re
not the Spanish, we’re not the Italians — we don’t do coalitions,” one
French political commentator
toldSky News.
What did the National Rally want for climate?
Climate change wasn’t a big theme, but the National Rally’s proposals
certainly had experts nervous. The party tapped into
simmering
discontent among some demographics —
farmers,
in particular — who feel unfairly burdened by new regulations in
service of the European Union’s ambitious agenda, known as the
Green
Deal, including a goal to cut the bloc’s net greenhouse gas
emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. If it had
won, the party planned to dismantle France’s energy efficiency rules,
roll back a 2035 ban on new gas-powered cars, block new wind farms, do
away with low-emission zones, and transform electricity trade. France is
already the EU’s third biggest emitter, and the EU as a whole is
responsible for
about
9% of global CO2 emissions, although
emissions
have been falling, especially in the energy sector.
So is European climate policy safe?
As the dust settles in France, the biggest danger to climate policy now
is stalemate. The lackluster results for the far right are no doubt a
relief to the climate conscious. “We have avoided a catastrophe,” Alain
Fischer, president of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris,
toldNature. The winning NFP, for its part, backs the Green
Deal’s emissions targets and wants France to become “the European leader
in renewable energies” through offshore wind power and the development
of hydroelectric power. It also calls for the “creation of an
international court for climate and environmental justice.” But the next
several months are likely to be chaotic as the parties tussle over what
the government should look like, and there is no deadline for these
decisions to be made. The leadership limbo could bring political
paralysis at a time when the EU is just
getting
its bearings following bloc-wide parliamentary elections —
which, by the way, saw the Greens lose seats in lots of places. In
response, the non-profit Climate Group put out a
statement
calling for the French government to “commit to safeguarding the EU
Green Deal and ensuring a sustainable future for the continent.” The
good news is that a
large
majority of EU voters want to see more climate action.
What about in the U.K.?
The Labour Party won the general election in a landslide, bringing an
end to 14 years of Conservative Party rule. During his tenure, former
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
watered
down key net-zero strategies, delayed a ban on new combustion
engine vehicles, scrapped energy efficiency standards, and approved a
large new oil field in the North Sea. His party also pulled
low-emission
zones into the culture wars in a desperate attempt to win over
voters. None of this played to his advantage.
According
to Desmog, two-thirds of the Conservative members of Parliament
who were anti-net zero lost their seats, including the former energy
secretary. “With a clear mandate for climate action,”
wrote
climate change think tank E3G, “all eyes are now on Labour to deliver.”
What does Labour want to do on climate?
New Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to turn the U.K. into a
“clean energy superpower” by doubling onshore wind, tripling solar
power, and quadrupling offshore wind by 2030. He also plans to upgrade
the grid to speed the rollout of clean energy projects, while at the
same time denying new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North
Sea. He wants to establish a publicly owned clean energy firm and
decarbonize the power sector by 2030. And he plans to reinstate the 2030
ban on new gas cars. The goals are lofty, and meeting them will
“extensive change across every sector of the economy,”
wrote
Carbon Brief. But Labour seems to be wasting little time. Days after
taking power, the new government scrapped a ban on onshore wind farms
that had been in place since 2015 and which the new Chancellor of the
Exchequer Rachel Reeves called “absurd.”
Can the U.K. be a global climate leader?
The U.K. accounts for about
1%
of global greenhouse gas emissions. That might be paltry
compared to, say, the U.S.
(13.5%)
or China
(32%),
but it has a chance now to use its global influence and proximity to
Europe to keep the needle moving in the right direction. That goes
especially if it is nudged by the Green party, which surprised everyone
by quadrupling its number of seats in Parliament (albeit to just four).
As The New York Timesnoted,
Britain is where the industrial revolution began, so “the speed and
scale of Britain’s energy transition is likely to be closely watched by
other industrialized countries and emerging economies alike.”
Are there lessons in either of these elections for the U.S.?
What’s clear from both of these cases is that people really care about
climate policy and are willing to vote with that in mind. That can swing
either way, though, depending on the particular set of policies and how
they affect the electorate. As extreme weather intensifies, however, it
may become more difficult for far-right parties to minimize the
significance of climate change. “We need to recognize that extreme
weather is politicizing people against this climate denial,”
said
Paul Dickinson, founder of CDP, an emissions disclosure platform, and
co-host of the podcast Outrage + Optimism. “It is the
Achilles heel of the extreme right that they’re opposed to the realities
of extreme weather. That’s how I think if we’re organized and
disciplined, we will defeat them.”
<p>The sound of wind blowing through the trees and the wild grass has to be one of the most relaxing sounds existing in nature.</p>
Add to that a great view of the mountains and a lovely summer sunset and
you have the best possible set for an evening walk.
<hr>
<p>Thank you for keeping RSS alive. You're awesome.</p>
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Marylebone Cricket Club, one of cricket’s august organizations,
recently organized World Cricket Connects, a symposium about the future
of a sport that — like so many things — finds itself caught between
tradition and tomorrow. Test cricket, the traditional form of the game,
is giving way to an onslaught of franchises offering up T20 cricket,
…
NASA
Invites Media to 65th Birthday Celebration for Iconic Logo
date: 2024-07-09, from: NASA breaking news
NASA’s logo turns 65 on Monday, July 15, and media are invited to its
birthday celebration in Cleveland, the city where the iconic symbol was
designed. To mark the logo’s birthday, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in
Cleveland will host a series of activities celebrating the city’s
connection to one of the most recognized logos in […]
New
York City targets hundreds of illegal marijuana stores
date: 2024-07-09, from: VOA News USA
New York City officials are contending with a surge of illegal
marijuana shops that have appeared on nearly every corner of the Big
Apple due to cannabis legalization. Aron Ranen reports.
Green
Santa Clarita Issues Plastic Free July Challenge
date: 2024-07-09, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Green Santa Clarita urges residents to take the Plastic Free July
Challenge. Plastic Free July is a global movement that encourages
millions of people to be part of the solution to plastic pollution.
Reducing the use of single-use plastics means reducing litter that
pollutes the land and waterways and also reducing waste that ultimately
ends up in the landfill.
NASA’s Glenn Research Center staff traveled to Michigan for the
Selfridge Air National Guard Base air show, open house, and STEAM Expo,
June 8 and 9. NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow, a 53-foot traveling exhibit,
was a popular feature that showcased exploration in air and space.
Additionally, experts from NASA’s Fission Surface Power project shared
information on […]
The International and Space Law Practice Group (ISLPG) is responsible
for providing legal advice and counsel regarding international matters
at Headquarters and all NASA Centers. Some of the legal issues for which
ISLPG is responsible include: international law, including space law;
domestic law which may impact NASA’s international cooperation; issues
involving the United Nations or […]
Rainbow
Alliance Advisory Group Showcases NASA at Pride Event in Downtown
Cleveland
date: 2024-07-09, from: NASA breaking news
For the second year in a row, NASA Glenn Research Center’s Rainbow
Alliance Advisory Group (RAAG), with support from additional Glenn
employees, marched in Cleveland’s “Pride in the CLE” festival on June
1. This year, they widened their presence by staffing an exhibit booth,
which showcased NASA and inclusion in the workplace. Throughout the
day, […]
NASA Glenn Research Center’s Office of STEM Engagement provided a
multi-faceted orientation—including a welcome from Center Director
Dr. Jimmy Kenyon—for 151 student interns (on-site and virtually) last
month. This summer, student interns from across the United States and
U.S. territories will gain practical experience while working with
scientists, engineers, and individuals from many other professions.
[…]
The
Ticketmaster Hack Is Becoming a Logistical Nightmare for Fans and
Brokers
date: 2024-07-09, from: 404 Media Group
The latest dump includes ticket data, which means fans’ tickets can
be stolen if Ticketmaster doesn’t reissue them. “This is really really
really really bad,” one broker told 404 Media.
Microsoft
ad subsidiary Xandr accused of violating GDPR
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Access, deletion requests go ignored, and consumer profiles contradict
themselves, complaint alleges
Microsoft’s advertising subsidiary is the target of a complaint from EU
privacy advocates accusing it of “highly intrusive data processing” as
well as breaking several General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
rules.…
The headline news: there is now an inexpensive (but quite acceptably
produced) paperback of Introducing Category Theory. Amazon-only to
minimize cost, ISBN 978-1916906396: US $14.99, UK £10.99, DE €14.82, IT
€14.40, etc. I’m very sure this could be improved in all kinds of ways.
As I say at the end of the Preface, the current […]
Celebrate
the Heliophysics Big Year with Free Heliophysics and Math Webinars from
NASA HEAT
date: 2024-07-09, from: NASA breaking news
The Heliophysics Big Year (HBY) is a global celebration of the Sun’s
influence on Earth and the entire solar system. It began with the
Annular Solar Eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, continued through the Total
Solar Eclipse on Apr. 8, 2024, and will conclude with Parker Solar
Probe’s closest approach to the Sun in December […]
Spectral
Energies developed a NASA SBIR/STTR-Funded Tech that Could Change the
Way We Fly
date: 2024-07-09, from: NASA breaking news
Editor Note: Article written by Nicholas Mercurio With $20 million in
commercial sales and $15 million in sales to government agencies,
minority-owned small business Spectral Energies, based in Beavercreek,
Ohio, has found a customer base for its pulse-burst laser systems. NASA
has played a significant role in developing the technology through the
Small Business Innovation […]
ePic is a single SD card combining both the official RISC OS Pi release plus a
huge bundle of
commercial applications (previously called NutPi) totalling almost £600,
had they each been bought individually.
Backscatter
brainwave could make IoT comms even more energy efficient
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
How does sub-0.6 mW sound?
Boffins in South Korea claim to have developed an energy-efficient
system for low-power Internet of Things (IoT) applications that uses
“backscattering” to harvest energy from a wireless signal for its
communications.…
@Miguel de
Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-07-09, from: Miguel de Icaza
Mastondon feed)
This video shows:
The new Xcode-inspired debugger pad - organizationally, I like it
more - Bits of Codea-inspired keyboard assistant - The old
text editor (shown here as a tool to assist the port) - The new
text editor - The game running side-by-side on a separate iOS Scene
(hopefully we can run in a dedicated monitor) - the new iOS
provided emulation controls that are mapped to regular controller input.
And as you can see, still a lot of polish needed before this can be
shipped
John and Craig welcome Aline Brosh McKenna to look at what writers
mean by a “voice,” and how it develops. Some screenwriters’ voice
develops long before their craft, leading people to label them as
“promising” even though the scripts themselves are a mess. Other writers
get all the technical stuff right from the start, but […] The post
How
screenwriters find their voice (Encore) first appeared on
John August.
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: RAND blog
At this week’s summit, NATO celebrates 75 years of the most effective
defensive alliance in modern history. The summit will have a complex
Russian agenda. The alliance is challenged to come up with new
approaches to deal with Moscow’s rogue behavior and an international
order that is becoming more complex and less stable.
On
Sudan and the Interminable Catastrophe: A Conversation with Bedour
Alagraa
date: 2024-07-09, from: Care
<p>Bedour Alagraa in conversation with J Khadijah Abdurahman about the history, present, and future of Sudan and its diaspora in the wake of the one year anniversary of the war.</p>
My availability has opened up for a handful of consulting engagements in
addition to my regular work as Senior Director of Technology at
ProPublica.
I’ve founded two startups (both
based on open-source technology communities that I also founded). I’ve
been a CTO, led product, and invested in early-stage startup ventures.
I’ve also taught venture and product design to teams that include
startups, top-tier educational institutions, and local newsrooms. My
products have been used by social movements and Fortune 500 companies.
I would love to help you to move faster and make stronger
technology decisions.
Here are some ways I might be helpful to you:
A Sounding Board
I can be your technology and product sounding board for your products
and how your product or engineering team is run. I offer regular
check-ins, or I can be available on an ad hoc, as-needed basis.
I’ll help you solve problems and coach you through getting to enduring
solutions and productive work cultures. In the process, you’ll avoid
common pitfalls, take advantage of a new but experienced set of eyes on
your problems, and have someone in your corner when you need.
Accelerated Technology Product Sprints
Do you need to quickly evaluate a product idea or a way to solve
problems for a customer you’ve identified? Do you need to identify that
customer or market?
I can lead you through a short design sprint, either remotely or in
person. At the end of it, you’ll have a stronger idea of your user and
customer, learned tools for quickly running experiments and making
progress, and identified and evaluated the core hypotheses that your
product rests upon.
You’ll iterate and get to market faster, increase your product’s
chance of success, and build practices in your team to help you move
faster long after we’ve finished working together.
Technical Evaluation and Advice
Are you wondering how a technology (perhaps AI or the fediverse) might
be used in your business? Do you have an idea in mind that needs to be
feasibility-tested?
I’ll learn about your product and business and report on how you can
leverage available technology with the time, team, and resources you
have.
You’ll more quickly understand what you can build, what’s
technically possible, and where the technology opportunities are for
your existing business.
Deck Review
Are you presenting a strategy to your board or managers? Are you a
startup going out to raise money?
I can give you actionable feedback to help you build your deck and tell
a more robust story that has a better chance of getting you to the
outcome you’re looking for.
You’ll tell a stronger story, make a deeper emotional impact on
your audience, and learn how to tell compelling stories in the
future.
Courses
Any of the above can be provided as workshops for your larger course.
They are available both in-person and remotely.
After last month’s Supreme Court ruling, a judge weighs whether to allow
new lawsuits against the Sackler family. Plus, waiting on word from
Jerome Powell and the Fed, and what happens when an online DNA test
kicks up complicated history.
Federal
Reserve’s Powell says US making ‘modest’ progress on inflation
date: 2024-07-09, from: VOA News USA
Washington — The U.S. Federal Reserve is making “modest” progress in
its inflation fight, the head of the U.S. central bank told lawmakers
Tuesday, on the first of two days of testimony in Congress.
When prices surged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fed
responded by hiking interest rates to a two-decade high as it attempts
to cool down the U.S. economy and return inflation to its long-term
target of two percent.
Inflation has eased significantly since it peaked in 2022, but
progress stalled in the first quarter of this year, effectively putting
the Fed’s fight on pause.
The data in the second quarter has been more encouraging, prompting
some cautious optimism from some policymakers in recent weeks.
Speaking in Washington on Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told
lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee that the most recent readings
“have shown some modest further progress” since the first quarter of the
year.
“More good data would strengthen our confidence that inflation is
moving sustainably toward two percent,” he added, according to prepared
remarks.
The Fed is widely expected to hold interest rates again when it meets
to set interest rates later this month, but could begin cutting rates in
September.
Futures traders have assigned a probability of more than 75% that the
Fed will make its first rate cut by September.
HP
to discontinue online-only e-series LaserJet amid user gripes
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Printers were locked into HP+ cloud service, which is also getting the
chop
HP is discontinuing its e-series LaserJet printers due to customer
complaints, along with the HP+ and the “Instant Ink” toner subscription
services tied to the hardware.…
Evolve
Bank & Trust confirms LockBit stole 7.6 million people’s data
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Making cyberattack among the largest ever recorded in finance industry
Evolve Bank & Trust says the data of more than 7.6 million customers
was stolen during the LockBit break-in in late May, per a fresh filing
with Maine’s attorney general.…
From
Polar Peaks to Celestial Heights: Christy Hansen’s Unique Path to
Leading NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program
date: 2024-07-09, from: NASA breaking news
Christy Hansen’s journey with NASA spans more than two decades and is
marked by roles that have shaped her into a leader in space exploration.
Now serving on a six-month rotation as the deputy manager for NASA’s
CLDP (Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program) at Johnson Space
Center in Houston, she brings 25 years of […]
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has bought access to
netflow data. The tool covers more than 90 percent of the world’s
internet data and can trace activity through virtual private
networks.
Jonathan
Kraut | Misconceptions on the Nine Commandments
date: 2024-07-09, from: The Signal
The Louisiana Republican Legislature recently passed a bill, signed by
their governor, ordering a poster of the “Ten Commandments” to be placed
in every K-12 classroom in that state. If […]
In a revealing article from June 19, The Signal highlighted a concerning
statistic: nearly one-fifth of College of the Canyons employees feel
unwelcome at their institution. This story, titled “Survey: […]
Tesla
parental controls keep teenage lead feet in check
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Because trusting your kid with 300 horsepower should come with a curfew
If you owned a Tesla, would you let your kid drive it? The electric
vehicle marque seems to think you might with the addition of “Parental
Controls” in a July update.…
Dan
Walters | Highway Opposition Qualifies as Ridiculous
date: 2024-07-09, from: The Signal
Some things are just so ridiculous that they demand critical attention.
One of them is the opposition from environmental groups to widening
Interstate 80 between Sacramento and Davis. For years, […]
Transformation
chief leaves Asda amid Walmart divorce IT projects
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
After 28 years’ service, Mark Simpson departs ‘by mutual agreement’
The UK’s third-largest supermarket chain, Asda, has parted company with
its digital transformation chief amid delays in separating IT systems
from former owner Walmart, the US retail giant.…
After
latest homeless count, officials cheered progress. But for many unhoused
Latinos little has changed
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The LAist
The results of the recent homeless count showed fewer unhoused people
sleeping outdoors in L.A. But for unhoused Latinos, the region’s largest
unhoused population, finding solutions remains a challenge.
Military spending and aid for Ukraine are high on the agenda at this
week’s NATO summit; Americans added more than $11 billion to consumer
debt in May; and a practical look at newly-implemented guidelines from
the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Current conditions: Some Greek islands are
resorting to desalinating sea water for tourists this summer as
reservoirs run dry • Tokyo residents have been warned to avoid physical
activity due to a risk of heatstroke • It will be 98 degrees Fahrenheit
today in Washington, D.C., where Biden is hosting a NATO summit.
THE TOP FIVE
Oil giant invests big in internal combustion engines
The world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, recently invested €740
million (about $800 million) in taking a 10% stake in a company that
makes internal combustion engines (ICEs), the Financial Timesreported,
signalling that the oil giant believes these engines aren’t going
anywhere anytime soon. The investment in Horse Powertrain is based on a
calculation that “as the industry stops designing and developing its own
combustion engines, it will start buying them from third parties,” the
FT wrote. Aramco’s executive vice president, Yasser
Mufti, told the paper he thinks ICEs will see “significant improvements”
over the coming years that will make them more sustainable, but didn’t
specify what those improvements might be. ICEs, of course, run on fossil
fuels and spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Saudi Aramco last
year bought lubricant brand Valvoline, which will supply all Horse
engines with products. As the FT noted, “the venture’s
success will depend on whether other carmakers are willing to put their
trust in a company born out of their rivals.”
Weakened Beryl spawns tornadoes as it moves north
At least
seven
people are dead and
more
than 2 million remain without power in Texas after Hurricane Beryl
made landfall on the state’s Gulf Coast yesterday. Officials are
assessing the economic damage, but large parts of Houston are flooded,
with water levels
exceeding
10 inches. The streets are littered with branches and downed power
lines, and first responders have been dispatched to help stranded
residents. Temperatures are climbing in the area, posing even more risk
to people without power.
A
stranded vehicle on a flooded road in Houston.
Brandon
Bell/Getty Images
The storm system has been downgraded to a tropical depression but is
expected to
bring
heavy rain and tornado conditions to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri,
and parts of southern Illinois and Indiana as it tracks northeast this
week. Already more than 110 tornado warnings were issued overnight
across in eastern Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, which is “the most
tornado warnings issued in the U.S. in a single July day since records
began in 1986,”
according
to weather analyst Colin McCarthy.
NYC bridge temporarily closed because of extreme heat
The Third Avenue Bridge in New York City was
temporarily
closed yesterday after sweltering temperatures caused its steel to
expand. The 126-year-old bridge, which serves as an artery between the
Bronx and Manhattan, swings opened to accommodate water traffic in the
Harlem River. Temperatures reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit in the city
yesterday, and after the bridge opened, it wouldn’t close. Authorities
tried to cool the structure by spraying water on it. Eventually the
bridge reopened a few hours later. Yesterday was the hottest day of the
year so far in NYC, and the heat wave will last through the week.
House tees up votes on efficiency standards for household appliances
House Republicans are
expected
to vote today on two bills aimed at curbing the Department of
Energy’s authority to set efficiency standards for home appliances. H.R.
7637, known as the “Refrigerator Freedom Act,” and H.R. 7700, aka the
“Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act,” would “prohibit the
Secretary of Energy from prescribing or enforcing energy conservation
standards” that “are not cost-effective or technologically feasible.”
The DOE
finalized
efficiency standards for several appliances over the last few
months, aiming to improve their performance, cut greenhouse gas
emissions, and save consumers money. It estimated the standards will
save Americans $33 billion on utility bills over 30 years. Republican
lawmakers claim the new rules will increase the costs of appliances, but
others say the savings on utility bills would more than make up for any
short-term increase in sticker prices.
Most
of the energy consumed by homes and commercial buildings goes toward
powering appliances.
Get Heatmap AM directly in your inbox every morning:
Colombia sees deforestation drop
Deforestation in Colombia dropped by 36% last year to a
23-year low,
according
to the nation’s environment ministry. The government credits its
program of paying farmers to conserve nature, as well as peace talks
with guerilla groups. But those peace talks have reached a stalemate,
and deforestation has increased in 2024. “It’s really good news … but we
definitely cannot say that the battle is won,” Environment Minister
Susana Muhamad
said.
THE KICKER
“Each push alert marks the distance we’re closing between the
previous range of normal activity and the future that scientists warned
us of.”
–Zoë
Schlanger writing in The Atlantic about how we’ll
watch the climate crisis unfold through emergency push alerts on our
phones.
Users
rage as Microsoft announces retirement of Office 365 connectors within
Teams
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Expletives fly as admins deal with recommendation to move to Power
Automate workflows
Microsoft has thrown some enterprises into a spin after confirming that,
with only a few months’ notice, Office 365 connectors within Teams will
be cut.…
Facilitating
Good Decision Making: Context, Scope, and Timeframe
date: 2024-07-09, from: Accidentally in Code
Someone asked me about my management philosophy recently, and after I
stopped panicking (I wrote a book, I should have a philosphy… how do you
summarize 400 pages and 2 years of your life in one sentence) I came up
with: “My job is to make it easier for people to make good decisions.”
What […]
From the BBC World Service: India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, is in
Russia to “deepen ties” between the two countries on Mr. Modi’s first
trip to Russia since the beginning of its war Ukraine. China’s biggest
electric carmaker — and Tesla’s big rival — BYD has reached a deal to
build a $1 billion manufacturing plant in Turkey. And Sweden marks 50
years of paid parental leave for couples to share.
Houthi
rebels are operating their own GuardZoo spyware
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Fairly ‘low budget’, unsophisticated malware, say researchers, but it
can collect the same data as Pegasus
Interview When it comes to surveillance malware,
sophisticated spyware with complex capabilities tends to hog the
limelight – for example NSO Group’s Pegasus, which is sold to
established governments. But it’s actually less polished kit that you’ve
never heard of, like GuardZoo – developed and used by Houthi rebels in
Yemen – that dominates the space.…
Raspberry
Pi OS airs out some fresh options for the summer
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Why go outside in the sunshine when you could play with tiny computers
in a darkened room?
Perhaps hoping to mark independence from x86 PCs, there’s a new July 4th
release of the official Raspberry Pi OS, although it remains coy of
giving a version number.…
If Donald Trump moves back to Washington, D.C., in January 2025, he
won’t arrive alone. Though Trump’s first term was marked by
a
messy transition and bouts of
political
incompetence, Republican operatives have spent the past four
years
putting
together a plan to hit the ground running if or when he returns
— as well as a list of
friendly
names for plum positions in the would-be Trump administration.
Many additional Republicans have quietly (and, often,
not so quietly) spent the past few years auditioning
for these top roles, typically by signaling their willingness to
continue
dismantling
the regulatory and administrative states.
While
nearly
all positions in a Trump cabinet have at least some ability to
limit or eliminate climate progress, here are some names circulating for
the most influential departments.
The Department of Energy
The past is prologue when it comes to a future Trump administration,
making Dan Brouillette an easy guess to head of the
Department of Energy: His reappointment would mark a return to the post
he left during the presidential transition in 2021.
But Secretary of Energy is nothing if not a competitive position, and
Brouillette isn’t treating it like he’s a shoo-in, either. Since 2023,
he’s served as the president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, a
trade association for electric utilities that has taken
a
more tepid stance on climate policies during his tenure. He’s
also spent plenty of time going on TV and
speaking
to the press against Biden’s (since overturned)
pause
in approving new export facilities for liquified natural gas — an
industry
he
has history with but that falls well outside his purview EEI.
The effect is more a performance for Trump than it is any sort of
service for his organization’s members. Brouillette has also repeatedly
insisted
that the Trump administration won’t gut the Inflation Reduction Act, an
oddly blasé attitude about legislation that has significantly
benefited
the utilities EEI represents.
Bernard McNamee, the author of the Department of Energy
section of Project 2025, is another top choice for the DOE. One of the
“most
overtly political” people to ever be appointed to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, in the words of E&E
News, McNamee has
said
that fossil fuels are “key to our prosperity” and that the renewable
push amounts to “tyranny.” His chapter of Project 2025 calls for — among
other things — closing the renewable energy offices at the DOE,
eliminating energy efficiency standards for appliances, and refocusing
the three National Labs run by DOE on “national security issues.”
If Trump doesn’t pick Doug Burgum for vice president,
there is a strong chance there could be a home for him at the DOE
instead. Many see the governor of North Dakota as a
frontrunner
for Energy Secretary, suspicions Burgum has reinforced by cozying up to
Trump as a political surrogate, even
warming
up crowds at the candidate’s political rallies. While Burgum
“at
times [could] seem environmentally conscious” during his
gubernatorial tenure, he’s recently shifted to more familiar Republican
talking points on the oil and gas industry and reportedly helped connect
Trump to would-be donors in the fossil fuel sectors, according to
reporting by The New York Times. He has also
informally advised the Trump campaign on energy policy.
There might also be a high-ranking position in the DOE for Texas oil and
fracking magnate Harold Hamm, who was
reportedly
a finalist for the position back in 2016. Hamm, a conservative
megadonor,
briefly
broke with Trump during the Republican primary but has since
returned to
fundraise
for his campaign. Trump prizes loyalty, however, which is why
Secretary Hamm might be more of a longshot; Hamm may return to being an
informal advisor for the administration instead.
The Department of the Interior
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem seems
pretty
solidly off the VP shortlist after making national headlines for
admitting in her memoir that she killed a puppy, but she may yet fill a
role in the administration that is less in the public spotlight.
Interior wouldn’t be so far-fetched: Noem played an active part in
slashing environmental protections in her state — something that
ought
to endear her to Trump — and she worked closely with Trump’s
Secretary of the Interior to explore returning controversial
firework
shows to Mount Rushmore. In South Dakota, Noem also
rolled
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources into the Department
of Agriculture and has been
actively
hostile to the build-out of renewable energy, going so far as to
refuse
to apply for IRA grant money — an action that signals her
uncompromising commitment to the party’s political message to anyone
watching.
If not Noem, it’s possible David Bernhardt could return
to the position he held under the first Trump administration. He’s used
his time out of national politics to promote
better
swamp management (that’s the metaphorical swamp, not literal
swamps, such as the critical
beachfront-adjacent
wetlands he limited protections for while in office) and
to
push Trump’s plan to reinstate Schedule F — which will make it
easier to fire employees that aren’t deemed loyal enough to the
administration — declaring that his own agency had been
“overwhelmingly
liberal” during his tenure. Bernhardt has adopted
skepticism
of career civil servants as something of a pet cause,
publishing a 2023 book called You Report to Me: Accountability
for the Failing Administrative State and
filing
an amicus brief to the Supreme Court earlier this year that
argued, “One would be naïve not to understand how policy drives the
‘science’ at an agency.”
Those familiar with Bernhardt’s thinking, though, see the former
secretary as angling for a more ambitious post in a future Trump
administration, such as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
An OMB appointment would potentially put Bernhardt on a collision course
with
Russ
Vought, another Schedule F proponent, which means that if the
former Interior secretary’s apparent angling for a new office doesn’t
pan out, he may end up back in a more familiar role.
Trump’s former ambassador to Portugal, George Glass,
has also been floated in the Interior conversation. An Oregon
businessman, Glass fits the bill as a Westerner — since 1949, just one
Interior secretary has not been a resident or native of a state west of
the Mississippi. He also sees eye-to-eye with Trump
as
a China hawk, and while he doesn’t have much of a climate
record, he has been a steady donor whose loyalty could be rewarded again
with a plum administrative position.
The Department of Agriculture
While the Department of Agriculture doesn’t have the same levers to pull
as Interior or Energy, the USDA nevertheless
oversees
one of the most
significant
sources of planet-warming emissions in the United States. While
the Biden administration’s USDA has explicitly pursued an “equitable and
climate-smart food and agriculture economy,” the Heritage Foundation
instead wants the agency to “play a limited role” that doesn’t “hinder
food production or otherwise undermine efforts to meet consumer demand.”
J. D. Vance has emerged as one candidate to get that
job done. The Hillbilly Elegy
author-turned-Ohio-senator previously invested in an
agriculture
startup and has taken a particular interest in
the
farm bill, while at the same time boasts a
0%
lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters. Vance’s
name has also been
in
the hat for VP, and he’s certainly
done
his best to remain in Trump’s good graces, which could land him
a secretary post if he doesn’t ultimately make the cut as a running
mate.
There might be a better case, though, that this department ends up in
the hands of Sid Miller. Currently serving as the Texas
Agriculture Commissioner, Miller was
reportedly
on the shortlist for the position back in 2016. He has blamed
weather-related power outages in his state on renewable intermittency,
at one time
writing,
“to heck with green energy or climate change.” Miller is something of a
firebrand,
however, alienating even some within his own party, and he could
struggle to garner the bipartisan support that will likely be necessary
to win confirmation.
The Environmental Protection Agency
Though Trump initially avoided answering a question about the climate
during the first presidential debate, he had
talking
points ready thanks to Andrew Wheeler, his
former head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Trump seemingly
referred
to Wheeler as one of “my top environmental people,” suggesting that in
addition to being an informal adviser to the campaign, Wheeler and his
work at the EPA remain in high regard with Trump himself. While in the
previous administration, Wheeler notably
helped
to roll back over 100 clean air, water, and environmental
regulations.
Wheeler himself
has
been cagey about whether he’s auditioning for another Trump
position, though — this spring, he joined the Holland & Hart law
firm as a partner focused on federal affairs. If Wheeler decides to stay
in the private sector, Trump might turn instead to Mandy
Gunasekara, one of the
primary
architects of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on
climate change and the author of the especially concerning Project 2025
chapter on the EPA.
Gunasekara has bolstered the case for herself by describing how she
would curtail the EPA’s powers, eliminate its enforcement office, and
“update the 2009 endangerment finding” that greenhouse gases
are
a threat to public health and the environment — science that has
been used as the backbone for the EPA’s climate change regulations for
years. Gunasekara has also
said
that while she believes in human-caused climate change, planetary
warming is “overstated” and
erroneously
claimed that scientific data shows “a mild and manageable climate change
in the future.” That rhetoric puts her right
in
sync with her potential future boss.
<p>I know, I know. You’re tired of hearing me ranting about The Browser Company and their Arc “browser”. I’m also tired of reading about them but I keep stumbling on news about this silly company and I can’t help myself from yelling at the screen. They aired a commercial on TV the other day, clearly a reasonable thing to do when you have a product with no revenues and no business model. And not happy with that, they released a YouTube video with the CEO explaining the ideas “hidden” in the commercial and that tells you how good at marketing these people are. If you need to release an almost 5-minute video to explain the meaning of a stupid 1-minute ad you probably need a better marketing department.</p>
Anyway, leaving aside the pointlessness of this whole thing what
prompted me to write this post were some of the things the CEO said in
the video explainer which are so profoundly stupid that I find them
offensive. If you are an ARC user you should be offended too because he
must think you’re all a bunch of idiots.
He said in the video that there were three questions he wanted to ask:
What is this internet we want to live within?
What if the web were truly made for you?
What are we here for?
What is this internet we want to live within? What do we want to create
for ourselves?
Just to make it clear, what this company is allegedly making is a
browser. It’s in their fucking name: The Browser Company. They’re not
making a new internet. They’re not creating anything. As I wrote before,
they’re not even making an actual browser like the awesome people at
Ladybird. They’re building a wrapper
around Chrome. This makes the CEO rant about browser monoculture even
more hilarious since by doing that they’re part of the problem.
In the video, he tries to argue that Silicon Valley companies are driven
by efficiency, you type something in Google and he gives you an answer
but there are times when you don’t want an answer, you want to get
access to the best set of results because you’re after experiences and
serendipity and a bunch of other complete nonsense. He asked, “Do we
even believe in a single answer?“. The answer is no Josh. No, we don’t.
This is why all search engines have a SERP. No search engine gives you
one answer.
A lot of other times something just seems really interesting to you and
you want to go wide and deep and be surprised there are a lot of other
things we might want to optimise for when we’re designing this new
internet
Designing this new internet? You’re not designing a new internet. You’re
using some algorithm to decide for me which 6 or 8 results I should be
seeing. In doing that you’re worse than Google.
The second thing is what would it look like if truly the web was made
for you?
I’m gonna ask you a question Josh: how can you make a web for me without
profiling me? I’ll wait for an answer the same way I’m still waiting to
hear back from your support team on that ticket I opened months ago
where I was asking how to prevent your stupid ARC Search from accessing
my sites.
You asked “What does the personal web, the personal internet look like”
and there are various ways to tackle this question but it certainly
doesn’t look like a generated ARC Search result page that is the same
for everyone. You said the web doesn’t feel personal because we all see
the same stuff and yet you showed a screenshot of your stupid ARC Search
pulling in results from Reddit and Trip Advisor. Again, if you’re
reading this and you’re an ARC user, they must think you’re a complete
idiot to believe all this stuff.
As for the final question, what are we here for and why am I looking at
this video, well Josh, I work in tech. I code websites, I care about the
web. Especially the independent, personal one. The one you’re ranting
about but probably don’t care about at all. I also have to care about
your stupid browser because even though it’s Chrome sometimes it has
bugs that aren’t present on Chrome and so I have to test on it. I’d love
to not care about your browser and your stupid ARC Search but I have to
because this is the world I live in. My email is public if you want to
get in touch. You probably won’t because why would you, you have nothing
to gain from a private exchange after all.
<hr>
<p>Thank you for keeping RSS alive. You're awesome.</p>
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Eldorado
ransomware-as-a-service gang targets Linux, Windows systems
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
US orgs bear the brunt of attacks by probably-Russian crew
A ransomware-as-a-service operation dubbed “Eldorado” that encrypts
files on both Linux and Windows machines has infected at least 16
organizations – primarily in the US – as of June.…
Founder
of Indian ride-share biz Ola calls for 70-hour work week
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
‘A generation will have to do penance’ says Bhavish Aggarwal
Indian tech entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal – founder of Ola Cabs, Ole
Electric and AI unicorn Ola Krutrim – doubled down on support for
70-hour work weeks during an interview posted last Sunday.…
Victim
phones in gunshot near Canyon Country liquor store
date: 2024-07-09, from: The Signal
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies are investigating a
report of a gunshot victim who called in his own injury, according to
station officials. “The initial call was (8:41 p.m.),” […]
@Miguel de
Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-07-09, from: Miguel de Icaza
Mastondon feed)
Also, heavily borrowing the style from FinalCut Pro for their inspector.
My original attempt on the left, the one where I start to use fonts,
spacing and bubbles from FinalCutPro styled on the right - still a work
in progress, but it already feels better:
@Miguel de
Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-07-09, from: Miguel de Icaza
Mastondon feed)
I loved the FinalCut Pro UI elements for entering rotation data. One
neat feature is that in addition to the swipe to choose an angle, if you
long-press the dial goes into high-precision input mode.
China’s
APT40 gang is ready to attack vulns within hours or days of public
release
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Lax patching and vulnerable small biz kit make life easy for Beijing’s
secret-stealers
Law enforcement agencies from eight nations, led by Australia, have
issued an advisory that details the tradecraft used by China-aligned
threat actor APT40 – aka Kryptonite Panda, GINGHAM TYPHOON, Leviathan
and Bronze Mohawk – and found it prioritizes developing exploits for
newly found vulnerabilities and can target them within hours.…
NATO
alliance meets under cloud over President Biden’s future
date: 2024-07-09, from: VOA News USA
President Joe Biden welcomes members of the newly enlarged NATO
alliance this week for a summit aimed at planning for Ukraine’s future
defense — and, some observers say, “Trump-proofing” it if Biden loses
the November poll amid growing doubts over his future. VOA White House
correspondent Anita Powell reports from the White House.
Playoffs and the Western Conference title were well in hand, but that
didn’t deter the Blue Heat from bringing the intensity in Sunday’s home
win over Los Angeles Soccer Club. […]
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials are hoping some
attention on a man who’s been victimizing a shop owner for months will
help them identify and arrest the suspect who’s […]
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials arrested a man Sunday
night after a brief pursuit in Newhall, officials said Monday. Deputies
observed a man driving his car recklessly, weaving in […]
Castaic
school district’s stance on landfill to be discussed
date: 2024-07-09, from: The Signal
The Castaic Union School District on Thursday could officially take a
stance against the Chiquita Canyon Landfill after more than a year of
residents complaining about the odors emanating from […]
Academic scholarships, big plays and bragging rights were all up for
grabs on Saturday at the fourth annual Tyler Skaggs Foundation All-Star
baseball game. Eight local stars took the field […]
Van Hook’s
evaluation at COC to span a fourth meeting
date: 2024-07-09, from: The Signal
Another Santa Clarita Community College District board of trustees
meeting will begin with a closed session regarding the board’s
evaluation of Chancellor Dianne Van Hook’s performance. The board,
which oversees […]
China’s
Moore Threads adds support for 10K GPU clusters
date: 2024-07-09, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Chinese slinger’s kit still no match for Nvidia’s sanction-evading cards
Chinese GPU vendor Moore Threads says its datacenter-focused AI systems
can now support clusters of up to 10,000 accelerators – a tenfold
increase from tech it offered last year.…
American
mountaineer found mummified in Peru 22 years after vanishing
date: 2024-07-09, from: VOA News USA
LIMA, Peru — The preserved body of an American mountaineer — who
disappeared 22 years ago while scaling a snowy peak in Peru — has been
found after being exposed by climate change-induced ice melt, police
said Monday.
William Stampfl was reported missing in June 2002, aged 59, when an
avalanche buried his climbing party on the mountain Huascaran, which
stands more than 6,700 meters (22,000 feet) high. Search and rescue
efforts were fruitless.
Peruvian police said his remains were finally exposed by ice melt on
the Cordillera Blanca range of the Andes.
Stampfl’s body, as well as his clothes, harness and boots had been
well-preserved by the cold, according to images distributed by the
police.
His passport was found among his possessions in good condition,
allowing police to identify the body.
The mountains of northeastern Peru, home to snowy peaks such as
Huascaran and Cashan, are a favorite with mountaineers from around the
world.
In May, the body of an Israeli hiker was found there nearly a month
after he disappeared.
And last month, an experienced Italian mountaineer was found dead
after he fell while trying to scale another Andean peak.
Searing
heat grips parts of US, causes deaths in the West
date: 2024-07-09, from: VOA News USA
death valley, california — A searing heat wave gripped large parts of
the United States on Monday, with record daily high temperatures in
Oregon suspected to have caused four deaths in the Portland area
following a motorcyclist’s death in dangerous heat over the weekend in
Death Valley, California.
More than 146 million people around the U.S. were under heat alerts
Monday, especially in the Western states. California, Nevada, Arizona,
Oregon, Washington and Idaho on Monday were under an excessive heat
warning, the National Weather Service’s highest alert, while parts of
the East Coast as well as Alabama and Mississippi were under heat
advisories.
The early U.S. heat wave came as the global temperature in June
reached record warmth for the 13th straight month and marked the 12th
straight month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees
Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate
service Copernicus said.
Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke
previous heat records over the weekend and are expected to keep doing so
into the week.
In Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, the medical examiner
is investigating four suspected heat-related deaths recorded Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, officials said. Three of the deaths involved county
residents who were 64, 75 and 84 years old, county officials said in an
email. Heat also was suspected in the death of a 33-year-old man
transported to a Portland hospital from outside the county.
Portland broke daily record temperatures Friday, Saturday and Sunday
and was on track to do so again on Monday with a forecast high of 102
degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 Celsius), National Weather Service
meteorologist Hannah Chandler-Cooley said. High temperatures were
expected in Portland through Tuesday evening.
“We are looking at the potential for breaking more records,” she
said.
The temperatures aren’t expected to reach as high as they did during
a similar heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in 2021, which killed an
estimated 600 people across Oregon, Washington and western Canada. But
the duration could be problematic because many homes in the region lack
air conditioning. Round-the-clock hot weather keeps people from cooling
off sufficiently at night, and the issue is compounded in urban areas
where concrete and pavement store heat.
Heat illness and injury are cumulative and can build over the course
of a day or days, officials warn. In San Jose, California, a homeless
man died last week from apparent heat-related causes, Mayor Matt Mahan
reported on the social platform X, calling it “an avoidable tragedy.”
San Jose police said the man’s body had no obvious signs of foul
play.
In eastern California’s sizzling desert, a high temperature of 128 F
(53.3 C) was recorded Saturday and Sunday at Death Valley National Park,
where a visitor, who was not identified, died Saturday from heat
exposure. Another person was hospitalized, officials said.
They were among six motorcyclists riding through the Badwater Basin
area in scorching weather, the park said in a statement. The other four
were treated at the scene. Emergency medical helicopters were unable to
respond because the aircraft cannot generally fly safely over 120 F
(48.8 C), officials said.
More extreme highs are in the near-term forecast, with a high of
around 127 F (52.7 C) expected in Death Valley on Monday, and possibly
130 F (54.4 C) around midweek.
The largest national park outside Alaska, Death Valley is considered
one of the most extreme environments in the world and is among the
hottest during the summer. The hottest temperature ever officially
recorded on Earth was 134 F (56.67 C) in July 1913 in Death Valley,
though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was
130 F (54.4 C), recorded there in July 2021.
“While this is a very exciting time to experience potential
world-record-setting temperatures in Death Valley, we encourage visitors
to choose their activities carefully, avoiding prolonged periods of time
outside an air-conditioned vehicle or building when temperatures are
this high,” park Superintendent Mike Reynolds said.
Across the desert in Nevada, Las Vegas set a record high of 120 F
(48.8 C) Sunday and was forecast to hit a record high of 115 F (46.1 C)
Monday. The National Weather Service forecast a high of 117 F (47.2 C)
in Phoenix.
People flocked Monday to the beaches around Lake Tahoe, especially
Sand Harbor State Park, where the record high of 92 (33.3) set Sunday
smashed the old record of 88 (31.1 ) set in 2014. For the fifth
consecutive day, Sand Harbor closed its gates within 90 minutes of
opening at 8 a.m. because it had reached capacity.
“It’s definitely hotter than we are used to,” Nevada State Parks
spokesperson Tyler Kerver said.
Last year, The Master’s University alum Emily Curtis (’09) published
a book titled “Hope in the Mourning: A Hope-Filled Guide Through Grief,”
which contains both first-hand testimonies of suffering and biblical
wisdom for navigating such trials
Ocean
Water Warning Continues for L.A. County Beaches
date: 2024-07-09, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cautions residents
who are planning to visit the following Los Angeles County beaches to
avoid swimming, surfing and playing in ocean waters due to bacterial
levels exceeding health standards when last tested
US
not expecting policy change from Iran under new president
date: 2024-07-09, from: VOA News USA
washington — The United States said Monday that it did not expect
policy changes from Iran after voters elected reformist candidate Masoud
Pezeshkian, and downplayed chances to resume dialogue.
“We have no expectation that this election will lead to a fundamental
change in Iran’s direction or its policies,” State Department
spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
Miller said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was expected to
call the shots in Iran, an adversary of the United States since the 1979
Islamic revolution.
“Obviously, if the new president had the authority to make steps to
curtail Iran’s nuclear program, to stop funding terrorism, to stop
destabilizing activities in the region, those would be steps that we
would welcome,” Miller said.
“But needless to say, we don’t have any expectation that that’s
what’s likely to ensue.”
Asked if the United States was at least willing to reopen diplomacy
with Iran after Pezeshkian’s election, Miller said: “We have always said
that diplomacy is the most effective way to achieve an effective,
sustainable solution with regard to Iran’s nuclear program.”
But at the White House, National Security Council spokesperson John
Kirby, asked if the United States was ready to resume nuclear talks with
Iran, said emphatically, “No.”
“We’ll see what this guy wants to get done, but we are not expecting
any changes in Iranian behavior,” Kirby said.
President Joe Biden took office in 2021 with hopes of returning to a
2015 nuclear deal with Iran that was negotiated under former President
Barack Obama and ended by his successor, Donald Trump, who imposed
sweeping sanctions on Iran.
But talks, negotiated through the European Union, broke down in part
over a dispute about the extent to which the United States would remove
sanctions on Iran.
Relations have deteriorated further since the October 7 attack on
U.S. ally Israel by Hamas, which receives support from Iran.
L.A.
County Releases $14.5M for Parkland Acquisitions
date: 2024-07-08, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space
District announced Monday the Measure A Acquisition-Only Competitive
Grant Program, releasing $14.5 million in funding opportunities for
parkland acquisitions throughout Los Angeles County
Register
Now for Child & Family Center’s Purple Palooza
date: 2024-07-08, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Child & Family Center is the only organization in Santa
Clarita that provides domestic violence services for individuals and
their children who are in abusive relationships
Coders’
Copilot code-copying copyright claims crumble against GitHub,
Microsoft
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
A few devs versus the powerful forces of Redmond – who did you think was
going to win?
Claims by developers that GitHub Copilot was unlawfully copying their
code have largely been dismissed, leaving the engineers for now with
just two allegations remaining in their lawsuit against the code
warehouse.…
Paramount,
Skydance merge, ending Redstone family reign
date: 2024-07-08, from: VOA News USA
NEW YORK — The entertainment giant Paramount will merge with
Skydance, closing out a decades-long run by the Redstone family in
Hollywood and injecting desperately needed cash into a legacy studio
that has struggled to adapt to a shifting entertainment landscape.
It also signals the rise of a new power player, David Ellison, the
founder of Skydance and son of billionaire Larry Ellison, the founder of
the software company Oracle.
Shari Redstone’s National Amusements has owned more than
three-quarters of Paramount’s Class A voting shares through the estate
of her late father, Sumner Redstone. She had battled to maintain control
of the company that owns CBS, which is behind blockbuster films such as
“Top Gun” and “The Godfather.”
Just weeks after turning down a similar agreement with Skydance,
however, Redstone agreed to a deal on terms that had not changed
much.
“Given the changes in the industry, we want to fortify Paramount for
the future while ensuring that content remains king,” said Redstone, who
is chair of Paramount Global.
The new combined company is valued at around $28 billion. In
connection with the proposed transaction, which is expected to close in
September 2025 pending regulatory approval, a consortium led by the
Ellison family and RedBird Capital will be investing $8 billion.
Skydance, based in Santa Monica, California, has helped produce some
major
Paramount hits in recent years, including Tom Cruise films like “Top
Gun: Maverick” and installments of the “Mission Impossible” series.
Skydance was founded in 2010 by David Ellison and it quickly formed a
production partnership with Paramount that same year. If the deal is
approved, Ellison will become chairman and chief executive officer of
what’s being called New Paramount.
Ellison outlined the vision for New Paramount on a conference call
about the transaction Monday. In addition to doubling down on core
competencies, notably with a “creative first” approach, he stressed that
the company needs to transition into a “tech hybrid” to stay competitive
in today’s evolving media landscape.
“You’ve watched some incredibly powerful technology companies move
into the … media space and do so very successfully,” Ellison said. He
added that it was “essential” for New Paramount to chart a similar
course going forward.
That includes plans to “rebuild” the Paramount+ streaming service,
Ellison noted — pointing to wider goals to expand direct-to-consumer
business, such as increasing engagement time on the platform and
reducing user churn. He also said that the company aims to transition to
more cloud-based production and continue the use of generative
artificial intelligence to boost efficiency.
Executives also outlined further restructuring plans for New
Paramount on Monday’s conference call, with chairman of RedBird Sports
and Media Jeff Shell noting that they had identified some $2 billion in
cost efficiencies and synergies that they’ll “attempt to deliver pretty
rapidly.”
Shell and others addressed the declining growth of linear TV.
Flagship linear brands will continue to represent a big chunk of the
company’s operations, but learning how to run this portion of business
differently will be key, he said.
Paramount’s struggles
The on-again, off-again merger arrives at a tumultuous time for
Paramount, which has struggled to find its footing for years and its
cable business has been hemorrhaging. In an annual shareholder meeting
in early June, the company also laid out a restructuring plan that
included major cost cuts.
Leadership at Paramount was also volatile earlier this year after its
CEO Bob Bakish, following several disputes with Redstone, was replaced
with an “office of the C.E.O,” run by three executives. Four company
directors were also replaced.
Paramount is one of Hollywood’s oldest studios, dating back its
founding in 1914 as a distributor. Throughout its rich history,
Paramount has had a hand in releasing films — from “Sunset Boulevard”
and “The Godfather,” to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Titanic.”
The studio also distributed several early Marvel Cinematic Universe
films, including “Iron Man” and “Thor,” before the Disney acquisition.
In addition to “Mission: Impossible” and “Top Gun,” Paramount’s current
franchises include “Transformers,” “Star Trek” and “Jackass.”
While Paramount has not topped the annual domestic box office charts
for over a decade, the wild box office success of “Top Gun: Maverick” in
2022 (nearly $1.5 billion worldwide) was an important boon to both movie
theaters and the industry’s pandemic recovery.
Still, its theatrical output has declined somewhat in recent years.
Last year it released only eight new movies and came in fifth place for
overall box office at around $2 billion — behind Universal (24 films),
Disney (17 films), Warner Bros. and Sony.
Movie plans
This year the release calendar is similarly modest, especially with
the absence of “Mission: Impossible 8,” which was pushed to 2025 amid
the strikes. The studio has had some successes, with “Bob Marley: One
Love” and “A Quiet Place: Day One,” and still to come is Ridley Scott’s
“Gladiator” sequel.
The National Association of Theatre Owners, a trade organization that
represents over 35,000 screens in the U.S., said in a statement Monday
that it plans to look closely at the details of the merger with an eye
toward whether it will produce more or less theatrical releases.
“We are encouraged by the commitment that David Ellison and the
Skydance Media team have shown to theatrical exhibition in the past,”
said Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of
Theatre Owners. “A merger that results in fewer movies being produced
will not only hurt consumers and result in less revenue, but negatively
impact people who work in all sectors of this great industry — creative,
distribution and exhibition.”
NASA
Moon Rocket Stage for Artemis II Moved, Prepped for Shipment
date: 2024-07-08, from: NASA breaking news
NASA is preparing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage
that will help power the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis campaign
for shipment. On July 6, NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead
contractor, moved the Artemis II rocket stage to another part of the
agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The […]
U.S. President Joe Biden says he is staying in the race for
reelection against former President Donald Trump after Biden struggled
in their first debate. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns looks at what
U.S. voters think about the president’s continuing candidacy.
Housing
Authority of the City of Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Trust for
Historic Preservation Celebrate Successful Conclusion of CASA Summer
Camp Program
date: 2024-07-08, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Santa Barbara, CA, July 8, 2024 – The Housing Authority of the City of
Santa Barbara (HACSB), in collaboration with the Santa Barbara Trust
Despite the seemingly universal outrage about tech companies scraping
the open Web to train their models, Adam Engst finds himself largely
unperturbed.
NASA,
Boeing Provide Next Update on Space Station Crew Flight Test
date: 2024-07-08, from: NASA breaking news
Leadership from NASA and Boeing will participate in a media briefing
at 12:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 10, to discuss the agency’s Crew
Flight Test at the International Space Station. Audio of the media
teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv Participants include: Media interested in
participating must contact the newsroom at NASA’s […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden will hold his first
face-to-face talks with Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the
White House on Wednesday, the White House said Monday.
Biden also will host an event Thursday with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit, which is taking place this week
in Washington, national security adviser John Kirby told reporters.
Biden plans to “underscore the importance of continuing to strengthen
the special relationship between the United States and the United
Kingdom” in his meeting with Starmer, White House spokesperson Karine
Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
She said the two leaders would have the opportunity to discuss
U.S.-U.K. cooperation across a range of issues from Ukraine to the
Israel-Hamas war, and ensuring that Iran does not obtain nuclear
weapons, as well as confronting Iranian-backed Houthi threats to
commercial shipping.
The leaders also will discuss furthering cooperation in areas such as
protecting advanced technologies and developing climate and clean energy
solutions.
Park
benches and grandmothers: Zimbabwe’s novel mental health therapy spreads
overseas
date: 2024-07-08, from: VOA News USA
Harare, Zimbabwe — After her son, the family’s shining light and only
breadwinner, was arrested last year, Tambudzai Tembo went into meltdown.
In Zimbabwe, where clinical mental health services are scarce, her
chances of getting professional help were next to zero. She contemplated
suicide.
“I didn’t want to live anymore. People who saw me would think
everything was OK. But inside, my head was spinning,” the 57-year-old
said. “I was on my own.”
A wooden bench and an empathetic grandmother saved her.
Older people are at the center of a homegrown form of mental health
therapy in Zimbabwe that is now being adopted in places like the United
States.
The approach involves setting up benches in quiet, discreet corners
of community clinics and in some churches, poor neighborhoods and at a
university. An older woman with basic training in problem-solving
therapy patiently sits there, ready to listen and engage in a one-on-one
conversation.
The therapy is inspired by traditional practice in Zimbabwe in which
grandmothers were the go-to people for wisdom in rough times. It had
been abandoned with urbanization, the breakdown of tight-knit extended
families and modern technology. Now it is proving useful again as mental
health needs grow.
“Grandmothers are the custodians of local culture and wisdom. They
are rooted in their communities,” said Dixon Chibanda, a psychiatry
professor and founder of the initiative.
“They don’t leave, and in addition, they have an amazing ability to
use what we call ‘expressed empathy’… to make people feel respected and
understood.”
Last year, Chibanda was named the winner of a $150,000 prize by the
U.S.-based McNulty Foundation for revolutionizing mental healthcare.
Chibanda said the concept has taken root in parts of Vietnam, Botswana,
Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania and is in “preliminary formative work” in
London.
In New York, the city’s new mental health plan launched last year
says it is “drawing inspiration” from what it calls the Friendship Bench
to help address risk factors such as social isolation. The orange
benches are now in areas including Harlem, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
In Washington, the organization HelpAge USA is piloting the concept
under the DC Grandparents for Mental Health initiative, which started in
2022 as a COVID-19 support group of people 60 and above.
So far, 20 grandmothers have been trained by a team from Friendship
Bench Zimbabwe to listen, empathize and empower others to solve their
problems, said Cindy Cox-Roman, the president and chief executive of
HelpAge USA.
Benches will be set up at places of worship, schools and wellness
centers in Washington’s low-income communities with people who “have
been historically marginalized and more likely to experience mental
health problems,” she said.
Cox-Roman cited fear and distrust in the medical system, lack of
social support and stigma as some of the factors limiting access to
treatment.
“People are hurting, and a grandmother can always make you feel
better,” she said.
More than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness,
according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
“The mental health crisis is real. Where it’s a real crisis after the
pandemic is that many clinicians have dropped out of the workforce,”
said Dr. Jehan El-Mayoumi, who works as an expert with HelpAge USA and
is a founding director of the health equity Rodham Institute at
Georgetown University. She has struggled to get psychiatrists for
acutely suicidal patients.
El-Mayoumi said the Zimbabwean concept provides people with “someone
you can trust, open up your heart to, that you can tell your deepest
secrets [and] that requires trust, so that’s what’s so wonderful about
the Friendship Bench.”
The idea was born out of tragedy. Chibanda was a young psychiatrist,
and one of just over 10 in Zimbabwe in 2005. One of his patients
desperately wanted to see him, but she could not afford the $15 bus
fare. Chibanda later learned that she had killed herself.
“I realized that I needed to have a stronger presence in the
community,” Chibanda said. “I realized that actually one of the most
valuable resources are these grandmothers, the custodians of local
culture.”
He recruited 14 grandmothers in the neighborhood near the hospital
where he worked in the capital, Harare, and trained them. In Zimbabwe,
they get $25 a month to help with transport and phone bills.
The network, which now partners with the health ministry and the
World Health Organization, has grown to over 2,000 grandmothers across
the country. Over 200,000 Zimbabweans sat on a bench to get therapy from
a trained grandmother in 2023, according to the network.
Siridzayi Dzukwa, the grandmother who talked Tembo out of suicide,
made a home follow-up visit on a recent day. Using a written
questionnaire, she checked on Tembo’s progress. She listened as Tembo
talked about how she has found a new lease on life and now sells
vegetables to make ends meet.
Dzukwa has become a recognizable figure in the area. People stop to
greet and thank her for helping them. Some ask for a home visit or take
down her number.
“People are no longer ashamed or afraid of openly stopping us on the
streets and ask us to talk,” she said. “Mental health is no longer
something to be ashamed of.”
New
parents in Baltimore could get $1,000 ‘baby bonus’ under new
initiative
date: 2024-07-08, from: VOA News USA
BALTIMORE — New parents in Baltimore could receive a $1,000 “baby
bonus” if voters approve a proposal that aims to help reduce childhood
poverty from birth with a modest one-time cash payment.
A group of Baltimore teachers is behind the effort. Organizers
recently secured the necessary 10,000 signatures to bring the question
to voters as a ballot initiative in November. Their campaign relied on
extensive canvassing efforts and a cute logo: a flying cartoon stork
with a bag of money in its beak.
The proposal is loosely modeled on a program implemented this year in
Flint, Michigan, where women receive $1,500 during mid-pregnancy and
$500 per month for the first year after giving birth. Officials said the
Flint program was the first of its kind in the U.S.
Countries in Europe and Asia have experimented with larger cash
payments, but those programs are meant to encourage more people to have
more kids, not address child poverty. Italy, which has one of the
world’s lowest birth rates, provides baby bonus checks and other
benefits aimed at increasing the population.
Organizers behind the Baltimore campaign say more systemic change is
needed on a national level to help lift families out of poverty, but
giving new parents a modest financial boost could prove an important
first step.
“If we’re going to spend a limited amount of money, where do you get
the most bang for your buck? Research says at birth,” said Nate Golden,
a high school math teacher who helped found the Maryland Child Alliance,
which is pushing for the ballot initiative. “This could literally have a
lifelong impact on a kid.”
Golden said he also hopes the program will demonstrate to elected
leaders in Baltimore and beyond that there’s a real appetite among
voters for implementing policies that help vulnerable children
succeed.
The issue is particularly urgent in Baltimore, where an estimated 31%
of school-aged children are experiencing poverty, according to census
data. Nationally, childhood poverty fell during the pandemic thanks to
federal relief programs, but it has since climbed again to about 12% in
2022.
It’s incredibly hard for the poor to move up the economic ladder,
especially among communities of color. Research shows that most American
children born into the lowest income bracket will remain at roughly the
same socioeconomic status for the rest of their lives.
Golden said he sees similar scenarios playing out in his classroom
every school year — with students who are experiencing homelessness,
food insecurity, gun violence and countless other challenges.
“When you see what they’re going through outside school, I’m still
going to demand their best in the classroom but it’s just not enough,”
he said. “We have to take care of these underlying needs before we can
get kids to focus on learning.”
If the ballot initiative is approved, all new parents in Baltimore
will receive a one-time payment of at least $1,000.
An estimated 7,000 children are born in Baltimore each year, so the
program would cost about $7 million annually, which is roughly 0.16% of
the city’s annual operating budget, according to supporters. The
initiative won’t result in higher taxes, but it will be up to
Baltimore’s City Council to allocate funds if it passes.
Advocates say taking a blanket approach to distributing the funds
ensures that no one falls through the cracks. It also means some of the
money goes to affluent parents who don’t need assistance, but Golden
said it’s worth including them to avoid leaving out the poorest
families.
Considering the payments are relatively small, the universal approach
makes sense because researching and developing a qualification system
could add significant costs and delay implementing the program, said
Christina DePasquale, associate professor of economics at the Johns
Hopkins Carey Business School.
Above all, DePasquale said, the initiative will raise awareness about
childhood poverty
and could lead to more comprehensive changes down the road.
“It’s worthwhile in the sense that it gets people thinking about it,”
she said. “It’s something to build off of. Even if you don’t have
something perfect, the less perfect version of it is better than not
having it at all.”
While no one contends that $1,000 is a life-changing amount of money,
it could help cover some of the many costs that come with having a baby,
including paying for diapers, formula, strollers, cribs and more. And
for new parents living on society’s margins, that could make a real
difference, said Nadya Dutchin, executive director of the
Baltimore-based organization ShareBaby, which distributes free diapers
and other baby essentials.
“I don’t think people really pay enough attention to the material
insecurities that contribute to parental stress,” she said. “If you
don’t have enough money to purchase diapers to keep your child dry, safe
and healthy, you’re going to be stressed and your baby is going to be
stressed.”
She said requests for supplies increased a huge amount last year amid
rising inflation and stagnant wages.
The largest federal program aimed at addressing childhood poverty is
the child tax credit, which was temporarily expanded during the
pandemic. Although shown to be effective, advocates say it leaves out
some families because of necessary paperwork and qualification
requirements.
NASA
to Cover Northrop Grumman’s 20th Cargo Space Station Departure
date: 2024-07-08, from: NASA breaking news
Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to depart
the International Space Station on Friday, July 12, five and a half
months after delivering more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific
investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the
orbiting laboratory for NASA and its international partners. This
mission was the company’s 20th commercial […]
Windows
Notepad gets spell check. Only took 41 years
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Purists needn’t worry – you can turn it off
As text editors go, Microsoft’s Notepad has never been big on creature
comforts. But after more than 41 years, Redmond has finally seen fit to
bestow its humblest of utilities with spell check and auto-correct.…
It’s raining again in China. Reservoirs are filling, and the country’s
massive hydropower complex is generating power at closer to normal
capacity after years of drought. This could mean that China’s emissions
of greenhouse gases — the largest in the world — may be peaking, or even
already
have peaked. And as goes China’s emissions, so go the world’s.
Hydro generation has grown 16% through May of this year compared to
January through May of last year, according to a Reuters
analysis of Chinese government statistics. “Hydro storage is about as
good as it’s ever been” in China, Alex Turnbull, an investor and energy
researcher based in Singapore, told me.
China produces almost 30% of the world’s hydropower, but output in the
country has fallen in recent years due to declines in rainfall. China
produced some 1,226 terawatt hours of hydro power in 2023, according to
the
2024
Statistical Review of World Energy, down about 5% from 1,298 in
2022 and down substantially from the recent maximum output of 1,322 in
2020. From 2013 to 2023, Chinese hydro output grew by about a third, a 3
percent annual growth rate, during that same period,
wind
output has grown by over 500%. Solar output, meanwhile,
increased by nearly a
factor
of 70.
Even in spite of this phenomenal growth in wind and solar capacity,
hydropower is still China’s largest source of clean energy, according to
the clean energy think tank Ember, responsible for 13% of its
electricity generation. Almost two-third comes from fossil fuels,
largely coal.
The country’s 2022 drought
wreaked
havoc on China’s economy, with factories going idle for want of
power and cities shutting off lights in order to conserve. Globally,
hydropower output hit a five-year low in 2023, according to Ember,
largely on the back of China’s slump. This meant increased global coal
usage, driving up overall power sector emissions by 1% and preventing
what would have otherwise been a fall in global power
emissions.
“The expectation with more hydro coming back on line is much less coal
generation,” Jeremy Wallace, a professor of China studies at Johns
Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Heatmap
contributor, told me.
China accounts for about 26% of global emissions, so if its emissions
have indeed peaked, that would be very good news for the rest of the
world. “China’s economy is growing and it’s using more electricity,”
Wallace told me, “but almost all of that electricity growth has
been from clean sources.”
China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell slightly in March of this year
after rising steadily following the end of its zero-Covid policy in
2022, according to an
analysis
for
CarbonBrief
by Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute
and lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
That is due in part to the government’s investments in non-emitting
energy — 423 terawatt hours per year installed in 2023 alone, “equal to
the total electricity consumption of France,” per Myllyvirta’s analysis
— and in other part to a transformation in its industrial balance.
Over the past few years, China’s economic engine has shifted from urban
construction, dependent on emissions-heavy steel and cement, towards
relatively less carbon-intensive manufacturing, Wallace said.
Turnbull shared a similar take. “All the sectors which comprised all the
ferocious power demand growth” are “going down” or are “flat to
down-ish,” he said, referring to industrial sectors like steel.
Meanwhile, “the demand side doesn’t look like it’s growing anywhere near
like it is before.”
“I think this is it,” Turnbull said. “This is the peak.”
New
Approaches to Measuring Cognitive Changes in Parkinson’s Disease and
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: RAND blog
Doctors and researchers are optimistic about the potential of future
treatments for Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. But
available measures to test the efficacy of such treatments on cognition
are lacking.
The Los Angeles County Health Officer has issued an excessive heat
warning in the Santa Clarita Valley Tuesday through Thursday as high
temperatures have been forecast
The space shuttle Columbia launches from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center in Florida on July 8, 1994. This was the second flight of
International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2), carrying more than twice
the number of experiments and facilities as IML-1. The crew split into
two teams to perform around-the-clock research. More than 80
experiments, […]
NASA’s
Neurodiversity Network Interns Speak at National Space Development
Conference
date: 2024-07-08, from: NASA breaking news
Two high school interns funded by NASA’s Neurodiversity Network (N3)
presented their work from Summer 2023 at the recent National Space
Society (NSS) International Space Development Conference (ISDC-2024),
held in Los Angeles, CA (May 23-26, 2024). Both interns were mentored by
Dr. Pascal Lee, Planetary Scientist at the SETI Institute and Chair of
the Mars […]
Peloton
faces lawsuit over claims it pedaled past privacy
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Chat widget allegedly fed data to third party, which used it to train AI
without telling customers
Peloton is pedaling toward a court date after a California judge denied
its bid to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the pandemic darling violated
the US state’s privacy laws – by allowing a third party to intercept and
record chat records between Peloton reps and customers without their
consent.…
US
seeks to boost scrutiny on property deals near military facilities
date: 2024-07-08, from: VOA News USA
Washington — The United States plans to broaden oversight of
foreigners’ real estate transactions on properties close to military
installations, the Treasury Department said Monday, as concerns
involving Chinese land purchases grow.
“President [Joe] Biden and I remain committed to using our strong
investment screening tool to defend America’s national security,
including actions that protect military installations from external
threats,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
Under a proposed rule, more than 50 facilities will be added to a
list of sites where surrounding property transactions may be reviewed by
the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) —
taking the total figure to 227.
CFIUS’s jurisdiction covers land purchases as well.
The concern is that a foreigner’s purchase or lease of certain
properties could allow them to collect intelligence or “expose national
security activities” to foreign surveillance risks, the Treasury
noted.
A senior Treasury official said CFIUS’s jurisdiction was
“country-agnostic” and did not specify if the latest rule was aimed at
quelling concerns directed at specific countries like China or
Russia.
In May, U.S. authorities announced that a Chinese-owned crypto firm
was barred from using land near a strategic U.S. nuclear missile base,
over national security concerns.
MineOne Partners Limited was ordered to divest from land it bought in
2022, which sat less than a mile from Wyoming’s Francis E. Warren Air
Force Base — home to Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic
missiles.
CFIUS had also raised concerns about the installation of
“specialized” crypto mining equipment on the land which is “potentially
capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities.”
Lessons
from Afghanistan for NATO’s New Ukraine Command
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: RAND blog
One of the clear lessons from Afghanistan is that NATO is unable to
execute operations without U.S. leadership. Ultimately, the level of
Western support for Ukraine—and its effectiveness—will rise and fall
based on U.S. policy and commitment, just as it did in Afghanistan.
William Gallagher: While many Apple Intelligence features will roll
out with iOS 18 during the remainder of 2024, its much-awaited revamp of
Siri will wait until iOS 18.4 in 2025.[…]Before then, there will be a
new design to Siri. That will presumably include how Apple has shown
that invoking Siri will bring a flare around […]
Niléane: Now, in the app’s redesigned Hashtags tab, you can create a
list that contains up to four hashtags, and you can even exclude
specific hashtags if you’re looking to fine-tune the resulting timeline.
[…] The other big improvement in Ivory 2.0 is its redesigned share sheet
extension for creating posts. It is now fully-featured, […]
Signal: Storing messages outside of your active Signal device is not
supported. Messages are only stored locally. An iTunes or iCloud backup
does not contain any of your Signal message history. This makes it
private on iOS because other apps can’t access the message database. But
the same design doesn’t work so well with the […]
Epic Games: Apple has informed us that our previously rejected Epic
Games Store notarization submission has now been accepted. Eric Slivka
(Hacker News): Apple today said it has approved the third-party Epic
Games Store in the European Union, allowing the Fortnite developer to
launch its alternative app marketplace in those countries, reports
Reuters. Is running […]
The city of Santa Clarita’s Film Office has released the list of six
productions currently filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week
of Monday, July 8 - Sunday, July
View From
the Nuba Mountains: An Interview with Kuna
date: 2024-07-08, from: Care
<p>An interview with Kuna (a pseudonym for her protection), a Nuba diaspora returnee currently displaced within Sudan due to the ongoing war between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces.</p>
Ken
Striplin | Conservative Budget Practices Paying Off
date: 2024-07-08, from: SCV New (TV Station)
I am pleased to say that during our last City Council meeting in
June, our City Council adopted yet another on-time, balanced budget for
the 2024/25 Fiscal Year
Happy
Birthday, Meatball! NASA’s Iconic Logo Turns 65
date: 2024-07-08, from: NASA breaking news
On July 15, 2024, NASA’s logo is turning 65. The iconic symbol, known
affectionately as “the meatball,” was developed at NASA’s Lewis Research
Center in Cleveland (now called NASA Glenn). Employee James Modarelli,
who started his career at the center as an artist and technical
illustrator, was its chief designer. The red, white, and blue […]
NASA
Mission to Study Mysteries in the Origin of Solar Radio Waves
date: 2024-07-08, from: NASA breaking news
NASA’s CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment, or CURIE, is
scheduled to launch July 9, 2024, to investigate the unresolved origins
of radio waves coming from the Sun. Scientists first noticed these radio
waves decades ago, and over the years they’ve determined the radio waves
come from solar flares and giant eruptions on the Sun called coronal
[…]
EU
Competition Commissioner hints at Nvidia GPU probe, refers to ‘huge
bottleneck’
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
CUDA, woulda, shoulda be first port of call for AI slingers, but does it
respect its own dominance?
The European Union’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager reckons
there is a “huge bottleneck” in the supply of Nvidia’s GPUs - but her
department has yet to make any decision on whether it needs to take
regulatory action over this.…
The only goal that really matters is building a stable, informed,
democratic, inclusive, equitable, peaceful society where everyone has
the opportunity to live a good life. One where we care for our
environment, where we champion democracy, science, education, and art,
where equality for all is seen as a virtue, where truth is spoken to
power, and where nobody can fall through the cracks.
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: RAND blog
It is commonly believed that stronger Japan-NATO cooperation benefits
both sides. But this begs an important question: Why? What are the
practical areas of cooperation for Japan-NATO ties?
Internet
Archive blames ‘environmental factors’ for overnight outages
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Power failure rather than lawyers to blame for Wayback Machine wandering
off
The Internet Archive took a tumble overnight after “environmental
factors” downed the Wayback Machine, leaving archive.org wobbling in a
way that might bring a smile to the faces of certain publishers wishing
for its demise.…
How hard is it to build big clean-energy infrastructure in America?
Look at
SunZia.
When completed, the more-than-500-mile power line is meant to ferry
electricity from a massive new wind farm in New Mexico to the booming
power markets of Arizona and California. When finally built, SunZia will
be the largest renewable project in the United States, if not the
Western Hemisphere.
But as I detail in
a recent
investigation for Heatmap, it has taken too long — much too long
— to build. Nearly two decades have elapsed since a project developer
first asked the federal government for permission to build SunZia.
Since it was first proposed, SunZia has endured seemingly endless
environmental studies and lawsuits. It has been bought, sold, and
bargained over. The end result is that a project first conceived in 2006
— which was expected to operate in 2013 — is now due to open in 2026.
That is a massive problem, because confronting climate change will
require the country to build dozens of new long-distance power lines
like SunZia. If the United States wants to meet its Paris Agreement goal
by 2050, then it will have to triple the size of its power grid in just
26 years, according to
Princeton’s
Net Zero America study. (That research was led by Jesse Jenkins,
who co-hosts Heatmap’s
“Shift
Key” podcast with me.)
The country is not on track to meet that goal.
My
story on SunZia set out to determine why.
Here are three major takeaways from my investigation:
Transmission projects face more obstacles than fossil fuel projects
— even in the eyes of self-described environmentalists.
At a fundamental level, a power line and a natural gas pipeline aren’t
so different: Both move a large amount of energy over a long distance.
Yet it is much easier to build a natural gas pipeline than a
transmission line, and they face very different regulatory hurdles in
America. When a company proposes a new transmission line, it must get
permission from every state whose borders it plans to cross. This can
result in an arduous, years-long process of application, study, and
approval.
That same obstacle does not hinder gas developers. When a company
proposes a new natural gas pipeline, it can get many of its permits
handled by a single federal agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission. FERC is a one-stop shop for gas pipeline developers,
organizing and granting state-level permits through a streamlined
process.
(To be sure, natural gas pipelines sometimes need permits from other
federal agencies — such as the Bureau of Land Management — before they
can begin construction. But transmission developers need to getpermits from those other federal agencies, too.)
But not all of the obstacles are regulatory. Transmission and renewable
projects simply look different than pipelines, which
can make environmentalists and the public more skeptical of them. Even
though pipelines can leak or spill, they can be buried or built closer
to the ground than power lines, and therefore pose less of a visual
disturbance to the landscape.
In recent years, much of the controversy around SunZia has focused on
the San Pedro Valley, a gorgeous desert landscape northeast of Tucson,
Arizona. SunZia must pass through the valley to connect to a power
station near Phoenix.
Two Native American tribes — the Tohono O’odham Nation and the San
Carlos Apache Tribe — sued to block SunZia last year. They argue that
the valley has cultural value and must be preserved intact and
undiminished.
But the valley is already home to a large natural gas pipeline, mostly —
but not entirely — buried underground. (The pipeline is on pylons near
Redington, Arizona, where it crosses the San Pedro River.)
In an interview, a leader at the Center for Biological Diversity, an
environmentalist group that joined the tribes’ lawsuit, said that
SunZia’s proposed power line is problematic in part because it will be
so tall.
“There are no 200-foot large power lines going through the San Pedro
Valley,” Robin Silver, the leader, told me. “The gas pipeline doesn’t
have 200 foot towers.”
If environmentalists focus on a project’s visual prominence, then
pipelines will virtually always win out over transmission lines.
A federal judge dismissed the tribes’ lawsuit last month. A
representative of the Tohono O’odham Nation did not respond to multiple
requests for comment.
A better relationship between conservationists and clean energy
developers is possible.
In permitting debates, conservationists and clean energy developers can
often become enemies. Traditional conservationists seek to slow down the
permitting process as much as possible and move a project away from a
treasured or sensitive area, while developers and climate hawks want to
build clean energy infrastructure quickly and efficiently.
These fights often play out as costly lawsuits over the National
Environmental Policy Act, a 1970 law that requires the government to
study the environmental impact of every decision that it makes.
Advocates and opponents wind up battling in court over whether or not a
project’s environmental impact has been sufficiently studied.
That’s not what happened with SunZia. Some environmentalists and
traditional conservation groups, such as the Audubon Society, now praise
SunZia’s process.
It wasn’t always that way. During the early 2010s, SunZia’s proposal to
cross the Rio Grande in New Mexico was just as controversial as its San
Pedro Valley route. The project’s developer wanted to build power lines
near a site where tens of thousands of migratory birds, including
sandhill
cranes, spend the winter.
That changed after the Defense Department forced a major rethink of the
line in 2018. Soon after that, Pattern Energy, a San Francisco-based
energy developer, took over the project.
Pattern took a different approach than its predecessor and partnered
with environmental groups to learn how it could build the power line in
the least intrusive way.
It conducted original research on how sandhill cranes fly, and — based
on that research — moved the power line to the place where it would
interfere with birds the least. It also purchased and donated an old
farm property and the accompanying water rights so a wildlife refuge
could rebuild habitat for the birds.
Pattern also agreed to illuminate the transmission line with an
experimental infrared system to make it more visible to birds.
These changes, which also allowed Pattern to avoid a Defense Department
site, were so extensive that it had to apply for a new federal permit.
“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,” Jon Hayes, a wildlife
biologist and the executive director of Audubon Southwest, told me.
But someone has to facilitate it.
This collaborative relationship was possible in part because it was
facilitated by Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat who represents New
Mexico.
Heinrich, a climate hawk and the son of a utility worker, had long
championed the SunZia project. So when the project ran into obstacles,
he pushed the developer, environmentalists, and the Pentagon to
negotiate over a better solution. His office remained deeply involved in
the process throughout the 2010s, ultimately helping to broker an
agreement over the Rio Grande that all parties supported.
“I firmly believe that when we work together, we can build big things in
this country,” Heinrich told me in a statement.
Silver, the Center for Biological Diversity leader, told me that
Heinrich’s involvement is the principal reason why SunZia has been
praised in New Mexico but criticized in Arizona.
The Grand Canyon State doesn’t have elected officials who were willing
to get involved in SunZia and push for a mutually beneficial solution,
he said. (For much of the 2010s, Republicans held both of the state’s
Senate seats.)
But a project’s ultimate success cannot rest on the quality or curiosity
of its senators. Martin Heinrich, as a climate solution, doesn’t scale,
and not every clean energy project will have a federal chaperone.
What’s more, America’s existing permitting system — which is channeled
through its adversarial legal system — practically discourages
cooperation. It pushes developers and their opponents to pursue
aggressive and expensive legal campaigns against each other. These
campaigns burn huge amounts of time and millions of dollars in legal
fees — money that could be spent on decarbonizing the economy.
In order to meet America’s climate goals, developers must build dozens
of projects like SunZia, all around the country, in the years to come.
That will not happen under today’s permitting system. The country needs
something better.
Vape
Shop Owners Face Federal Charges for Selling Boner Pills as ‘Amazing
Honey’
date: 2024-07-08, from: 404 Media Group
Z Smoke Shop in Florida was allegedly selling mislabeled Viagra and
Cialis, as well as candy and snack that violated major brands’
trademarks, a federal indictment says.
NextSTEP
Q: CIS Capability Studies III – Lunar User Terminals & Network
Orchestration and Management System
date: 2024-07-08, from: NASA breaking news
Solicitation Number: NNH16ZCQ001K-1_Appendix-Q July 8, 2024 –
Solicitation Released Solicitation Overview NASA’s long-term vision to
provide for a resilient space and ground communications and navigation
infrastructure in which space mission users can seamlessly “roam”
between an array of space-based and ground-based networks has been
bolstered by innovative studies delivered by industry through the Next
Space […]
@Dave Winer’s
linkblog (date: 2024-07-08, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
The problem isn't that Biden might die, the problem is that even if
he were to win, we'll be right back here in another four years, and at
that time we will have to grapple with an even more dire situation.
NASA’s
Begoña Vila Awarded 2024 Galician Excellence Award
date: 2024-07-08, from: NASA breaking news
Begoña Vila, an instrument systems engineer from KBR who worked on
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has been selected to receive the 2024
Galician Excellence Title in the Sciences and Medicine Category for her
career and work on Webb. This award comes from the Spanish Association
of Galician Entrepreneurs of Catalonia (AEGA-CAT), a civic and social
[…]
You may have gotten the unsolicited texts, LinkedIn messages or other
offers from scammers posing as recruiters. The may even have a
legitimate-looking listing on a job hiring site. You have a virtual
interview, then the recruiter starts asking for personal information
like your Social Security number to fill out “employment paperwork” —
but actually they’re stealing your identity. Plus, examining the Sahm
Rule and use of the U.S. dollar in Lebanon.
Despite being live since 1997, OSNews has had fairly few redesigns in
the grand scheme of things. If my memory serves me correctly, we’ve had
a grand total of 6 designs, and we’re currently on version 6, introduced
about 5 years ago because of unpleasant reasons. It’s now 2024, and for
a variety of reasons, we’re looking to work towards version 7 of our
almost 30 year old website, and we need help. I have a very clear idea
of what I want OSNews 7 to be like – including mockups. The general
goals are making the site visually simpler, reducing our dependency on
WordPress extensions, and reducing the complexity of our theme and
website elements to make it a bit easier for someone like me to change
small things without breaking anything. Oh and a dark mode that works.
Note that we’re not looking to change backends or anything like that –
WordPress will stay. If you have the WordPress, design, and developer
skills to make something like this a reality, and in the process shape
the visual identity of one of the oldest continuously running technology
news websites in the world, send me an email.
Will
two San Jose scaredy cats ever overcome their fears?
date: 2024-07-08, from: San Jose Mercury News
Two kittens adopted from an animal rescue continue to be frightened
of loud noises and sudden appearances. Can their owner do anything to
help calm them?
Biden
tells lawmakers he’s running and to end talk of a swap
date: 2024-07-08, from: San Jose Mercury News
President Joe Biden pledged to fellow Democrats he will remain in the
2024 presidential race, seeking to quell an intraparty revolt against
his campaign.
US-China
chip wars ‘mainly ideological’ says ex-ASML boss
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
And it’ll be decades before things settle down again
Former ASML boss Peter Wennink says the US-China “chip wars” are mainly
ideological in nature, and is warning it will likely take decades for
the dispute to play out.…
Travel
Troubleshooter: I tried to cancel my ticket to Argentina. Can you find
my refund?
date: 2024-07-08, from: San Jose Mercury News
When Aerolineas Argentinas changes Christina Skinner’s flight
schedule by nine hours, she asks the carrier to cancel her ticket and
issue a refund. Its response: silence. What should she do?
TasteFood:
Top this easy grilled pizza with summer corn, poblano chiles
date: 2024-07-08, from: San Jose Mercury News
This pizza is inspired by Mexican street corn. It’s prepared on the
grill, which not only keeps the heat outdoors, but lends crucial charred
flavor to the crust. Grill the corn ears first to develop their flavor
and start the charring process. When fresh corn is in season, the
kernels are crisp, juicy and milky-sweet. […]
“You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an
animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world
simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine!
Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch
stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also
be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and
I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the
world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You
are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”
I tend to read whatever the opposite of cozy science fiction is: angry
and worried about the world, building tension from speculative
extrapolations of what could go wrong. This, on the other hand, is
science fiction that encourages you to just chill for a minute.
I don’t know if I could read a lot of this, because I am angry
and worried about the world, and reading other peoples’ words along the
same lines is cathartic. But the message here — that you don’t need to
justify yourself, that you can just be — is soothing, and was
necessary for me. And it’s all done with wit and care. What a delightful
novella.
Avast
secretly gave DoNex ransomware decryptors to victims before crims
vanished
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Good riddance to another pesky tribe of miscreants
Updated Researchers at Avast have provided decryptors
to DoNex ransomware victims on the down-low since March after
discovering a flaw in the crims’ cryptography, the company confirmed
today.…
Current conditions: Nearly 12 inches of rain fell
over six hours in Mumbai this morning • Extreme storms on the South
African coast are causing shipping delays • July 4 fireworks sparked a
forest fire in New Jersey that burned thousands of acres.
THE TOP FIVE
June marked another month of record-breaking heat
Last month was both the
hottest
June ever recorded, and the 12th month in a row in which average
global temperatures broke the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, the Earth’s temperature was 1.64
degrees Celsius (or about 3 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the
pre-industrial average. Global sea surface temperatures were also
remarkably warm, averaging 20.85 degrees Celsius, or 69.53 degrees
Fahrenheit.
C3S
“This is more than a statistical oddity and it highlights a large and
continuing shift in our climate,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the
Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which produced the data. “Even
if this specific streak of extremes ends at some point, we are bound to
see new records being broken as the climate continues to warm. This is
inevitable, unless we stop adding greenhouse gases into the atmosphere
and the oceans.”
Meanwhile, 10% of the country’s population remains under excessive heat
warnings as an extreme heat wave grips states up and down the west
coast. “Dozens of daily record high temperatures are forecast to be tied
or broken into the work week,” the National Weather Service
said.
In Phoenix, Arizona, heat-related deaths have nearly
doubled
this year compared to last.
Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in Texas
Hurricane Beryl made
landfall
on the Texas Gulf Coast this morning as a category 1 storm with top
sustained winds of 80 miles per hour. Up to 15 inches of rain could fall
on the region, and flooding and dangerous storm surge are expected. More
than 100,000 customers are already without power. The storm is also
affecting oil and gas operations: The state’s largest ports – including
Corpus Christi, the top crude oil export hub in the country –
halted
all cargo operations and some natural gas storage facilities also
closed in preparation for the storm. Beryl killed at least 11 people in
the Caribbean over the last week and left islands in ruins. It became
the earliest category 5 storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean.
Researchers published a report on Friday
concluding
that human driven climate change likely made Beryl stronger and wetter.
ESG lawsuit could be an ‘early harbinger’ of post-Chevron litigation
A lawsuit playing out this week in a New Orleans appeals court could be
the first test of how courts will treat regulations set by federal
agencies after the Supreme Court overturned a 40-year-old precedent,
known as the Chevron deference, that deferred to agencies’
interpretations of their own mandates. In
this
particular case, 25 Republican-led states are challenging a rule
from the U.S. Department of Labor that says employee retirement plans
can consider ESG factors when deciding where to invest. Conservatives
have argued this amounts to politicizing investment decisions. A Texas
judge refused to block the rule in 2022, citing Chevron, but now the
landscape looks very different. “The trial court expressly relying on
Chevron in upholding the ESG regulation … puts this case on track to be
an early harbinger of how courts will address pending cases,” said Julie
Stapel, a lawyer with the firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius. The court
will begin to hear arguments tomorrow. The fall of Chevron is expected
to make it harder for federal agencies to regulate environmental hazards
like air and water pollution.
Britain’s brand-new government greenlights onshore wind
The U.K. has
scrapped
its ban on onshore wind farms just days after a new Labour government
came into power. The ban came into effect in 2015, and was part of a
planning policy that required onshore wind projects to prove local
communities did not object to new turbines. The new chancellor, Rachel
Reeves, called the rule “absurd.” The Labour Party has pledged to double
onshore wind energy by 2030 and decarbonize the power sector completely
on that same time frame.
How and when Britain goes green matters on a global scale. “Britain is
one of history’s major climate polluters,” as The New York
Timesexplained.
“It’s where the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century, giving
rise to a global economy driven by coal, oil and gas and with it, the
emissions of planet-heating greenhouse gases. So the speed and scale of
Britain’s energy transition is likely to be closely watched by other
industrialized countries and emerging economies alike.”
NASCAR unveils its first electric racecar
NASCAR
showed
off its first electric racecar in Chicago over the weekend. The ABB
NASCAR EV Prototype was developed as part of a partnership between
NASCAR, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, and electrification company ABB. It
hasn’t been driven much yet, and there’s no plan to get rid of
gas-powered racers any time soon (in fact NASCAR says it is “committed
to the historic role of the combustion engine in racing”), but the
prototype is intended to “gauge fan interest in electric racing,”
according
toThe Associated Press. “As more and more
customers are buying all-electric vehicles, there will be, we believe, a
growing number of people that want to watch full electric racing,” said
Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports.
NASCAR
THE KICKER
There are now
more
than 800 carbon removal startups.
Getting
the most out of TWM, X11’s default window manager
date: 2024-07-08, from: OS News
Graham’s TWM page has been around for like two decades or so and
still isn’t even remotely as old as TWM itself, and in 2021 they
published an updated version with even more information, tips, and
tricks for TWM. The Tab Window Manager finds its origins in the lat
1980s, and has been the default window manager for the X Windowing
System for a long time, now, too. Yet, few people know it exists – how
many people even know X has a default window manager? – and even fewer
people know you can actually style it, too. OK, so TWM is fairly easy to
configure but alot of people, upon seeing the default config, scream
‘Ugh, thats awful!’ and head off to the ports tree or their distro
sources in search of the latest and greatest uber desktop environment.
There are some hardcore TWM fans and mimimalists however who stick
around and get to liking the basic feel of TWM. Then they start to mod
it and create their own custom dekstop. All part of the fun in Unix :).
↫ Graham’s TWM page I’ll admit I have never used TWM properly, and
didn’t know it could be themed at all. I feel very compelled to spend
some time with it now, because I’ve always liked the by-now classic
design where the right-click desktop menu serves as the central location
for all your interactions with the system. There are quite a few more
advanced, up-to-date forks of TWM as well, but the idea of sticking to
the actual default X window manager has a certain charm. I almost am too
afraid to ask, because the answer on OSNews to these sorts of questions
is almost always “yes” – do we have any TWM users in the audience? I’m
extremely curious to find out if TWM actually has a reason to exist at
this point, or if, in 2024, it’s just junk code in the X.org source
repository, because I’m looking at some of these screenshots and I feel
a very strong urge to give it a serious go.
Brit
council gives Oracle another £10M for professional services amid ERP
fallout
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Birmingham struggles to get current version of Fusion fit for purpose
Troubled Birmingham City Council, which was declared effectively
bankrupt last year owing in part to a disastrous Oracle implementation,
has awarded the tech giant £10 million ($12.8 million) for additional
professional services.…
A
brief summary of click-to-raise and drag-and-drop interaction on X11
and Wayland
date: 2024-07-08, from: OS News
The goal is to be able to drag an icon from a background window
without immediately raising that window and obscuring the drop target
window when using the click-to-focus mode. This is a barebones
description of what needs to happen. It assumes familiarity with code,
protocols, etc. as needed. ↫ Quod Video The articles describes how to
get there using both X and Wayland, and it’s clear there’s still quite a
bit of work to do. At least on my KDE Wayland setups, the way it works
now is that when I click to drag an icon from a lower Dolphin window to
a higher one, it brings the lower window forward, but then, when I hover
for a bit over the other window, it brings it back up. Of course, this
only works if the destination window remains at least partially visible,
which might not always be the case. For usability’s sake, there needs to
be an option to start a drag operation from one window to the next
without altering the Z-order.
Paramount Global, which owns Paramount Studios, CBS and more, has agreed
to merge with Skydance Media, the source of some of Paramount’s biggest
films. The deal will cost Skydance and its founder David Ellison $8
billion and would cement Ellison’s position as a Hollywood mogul. We’ll
unpack. Plus, more Americans are traveling abroad thanks to a strong
U.S. dollar. And there’s more people looking for work, but it’s taking
them longer to find jobs.
Fraud
guilty plea flies from Boeing to swerve courtroom over 737 Max
crashes
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Attorney for families of victims files objection
Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to criminal fraud charges related to
deadly 737 Max crashes, according to a Sunday night court filing from
the US Department of Justice (DoJ).…
Review
of prescribed fires finds gaps in key areas as US Forest Service looks
to improve safety
date: 2024-07-08, from: VOA News USA
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two years after the U.S. Forest Service sparked
what would become the largest and most destructive wildfire in New
Mexico’s recorded history, independent investigators say there are gaps
that need to be addressed if the agency is to be successful at using
prescribed fire as a tool to reduce risk amid climate change.
The investigation by the Government Accountability Office was
requested by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández after communities in her
district were ravaged in 2022 by the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon
Fire.
The congresswoman wanted to know what factors the Forest Service had
identified as contributing to the escape of prescribed fires over the
last decade and whether the agency was following through with reforms
promised after a pause and review of its prescribed burn program.
The report made public Monday notes there were 43 escapes documented
between 2012 and 2021 out of 50,000 prescribed fire projects. That
included blazes in national forests in more than a dozen states, from
the California-Nevada border to Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, North Carolina
and Arkansas.
With the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies
tapping into federal infrastructure and inflation reduction funding to
boost the number of prescribed burn operations over the next 10 years,
Leger Fernández said it’s more important than ever to ensure they are
doing it safely.
The congresswoman was visiting northern New Mexico over recent days,
appreciating how things have greened up with summer rains. But the
forests are still tinder boxes, she said.
“We need to address our forest, but we need to do it in a responsible
way,” she told The Associated Press. “When you play with fire, there is
no margin for error.”
The Forest Service ignites about 4,500 prescribed fires each year,
reducing fuels on about 1.3 million acres. It’s part of a multi-billion
dollar cleanup of forests choked with dead trees and undergrowth.
There have been mixed results as federal land managers have fallen
behind on some projects and skipped over some highly at-risk communities
to work in less threatened ones, according to a 2023 AP review of data,
public records and congressional testimony.
However, the Forest Service said in a response to the GAO that it is
making progress and generally agrees with the findings made public
Monday. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore wrote that his agency will
create and implement a corrective action plan to address the gaps.
Moore also noted 2023 marked a record year for treatments of
hazardous fuels on forest lands and his agency was on track to offer
more training to build up crews who can specialize in prescribed burn
operations.
“The agency is using every tool available to reduce wildfire risk at
a pace and scale which will make a difference within our current means,”
Moore wrote.
The GAO reviewed volumes of documents over several months,
interviewed forest officials and made site visits over many months. The
investigation found the Forest Service has taken steps toward
implementing several immediate recommended changes following the
Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon Fire. That included developing a national
strategy for mobilizing resources for prescribed fire projects.
There were dozens of other actions the agency identified as part of
its 2022 review, but the GAO found “important gaps remain” as the Forest
Service hasn’t determined the extent to which it will implement the
remaining actions, including how or when.
The GAO is recommending the Forest Service develop a plan for
implementing the reforms, set goals, establish a way to measure progress
and ensure it has enough resources dedicated to day-to-day management of
the reform effort. It also pointed out that the Forest Service in agency
documents recognized the reforms will require major changes to practices
and culture.
Leger Fernández said she hopes change will come quickly because
wildfires are becoming more expensive and more dangerous.
“They are killer fires now. They move very fast, and people cannot
get out of the way fast enough,” she said. “And I think that kind of
massive emergency that they are will lead to faster change than you
might normally see in a large federal bureaucracy.”
From the BBC World Service: France is facing political gridlock
after a left-wing alliance emerged as the surprise winner of France’s
snap election. The coalition secured the most seats but no outright
majority. Also on the program: Trust in Lebanon’s financial system is at
an all-time low, after a banking collapse and hyperinflation. Plus,
Samsung is experiencing its first-ever strike in South Korea the over
pay and holidays.
Third
time was the charm for SingleStore in the cloud, CEO says
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Apache Iceberg support makes it a good option for a transactional layer
over data lakes, he tells The Register
SingleStore, the database that promises analytics and transactions on a
single system, took three attempts to get its technology working in the
cloud, CEO Raj Verma admitted to The Register.…
Build
Clean Energy on Dirty Land, These Researchers Say
date: 2024-07-08, from: Heatmap News
There are some things money can’t buy, and it seems a clean power grid
is one of them. Despite authorizing billions of dollars to subsidize
renewable energy development through the Inflation Reduction Act and the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden administration remains off
track to reach its target of
100%
clean electricity by 2035. Even after a banner year in which
domestic investment hit
$303
billion and the US added
32.3
gigawatts of new clean electricity capacity, the country is
still building renewable energy at only
half
the rate that is needed.
Among the barriers holding up clean energy deployment, local opposition
looms large. As developers seek out new sites on which to build wind and
solar, they are repeatedly
finding
themselves at odds with neighbors who object to their projects
on aesthetic, economic, or political grounds. Whether through
formal
laws or protracted permitting processes, these objections have
begun to have a noticeable effect on the pace of renewable energy
adoption. In a
recent
survey by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, wind and
solar developers reported seeing roughly a third of their siting
applications canceled over the five years prior, with two of the most
common reasons being “community opposition” and “local ordinances or
zoning.”
But what if the solution to this impasse has been hiding in plain sight
— or more accurately, behind a chain link fence?
The U.S. has around
270
million acres of so-called “marginal land,” a designation that
includes retired mines, closed landfills, former industrial facilities,
brownfield sites, and depleted or unproductive farmland. That’s around
twice the land area that would be required for a
renewables-and-nuclear-only power grid, the most land-intensive net-zero
scenario
modeled
by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. These neglected
properties are more than just an eyesore for neighbors — they also
represent wasted prospects for economic development, and in many cases
pose a contamination risk to the local environment. To law professors
Alexandra
Klass and
Hannah
Wiseman, however, they are an opportunity in disguise.
In their
new
paper, forthcoming in the Minnesota Law
Review, Klass and Wiseman (of the University of Michigan and
Penn State, respectively) propose directing the bulk of new clean energy
development to these marginal lands. It’s a concept they call
“repurposed energy,” and it offers a way to, in one fell swoop, avert
local objections, reclaim unproductive land, and create new
opportunities for economically dislocated communities.
It’s not a new concept — since 2008, the Environmental Protection
Agency’s
RE-Powering
America’s Land Initiative has offered funding to developers
looking to build renewable energy on potentially contaminated land.
What the new paper proposes, however, is a greater convergence of public
benefits on this specific subset of projects, which Klass views as a
down payment on societal acceptance. “If you can come up with a project
that’s going to have community support, that means you can actually
build it,” she told me. “And that’s worth paying a little extra money up
front.”
Consider some of the most common objections to renewable energy siting:
that it
ruins
the view,
disrupts
habitats, or
occupies
valuable farmland. Each would seem to carry less weight when
applied to, say, an abandoned mine instead of a pristine coastline.
Throw in low purchase prices, pre-existing transmission lines at retired
coal or gas power plants, and the chance to direct jobs and revenue to
low-income communities (where contaminated properties are
disproportionately
located), and you’ve got, in theory, an attractive site for a
solar or wind farm.
In spite of these upsides, practical examples of repurposed energy
remain few and far between. Only 0.7% of the renewable energy capacity
installed in the United States since 1997 has been on reclaimed land,
according
to EPA data. That’s because, faced with the possibility of
extravagant cleanup costs and liability for prior contamination, most
developers prefer to take their chances with a greenfield.
Klass and Wiseman propose a set of policy changes that could, they hope,
spur a renewable energy renaissance on marginal lands. First, there are
some existing incentives for repurposed energy they propose expanding.
Certain state funding programs – like Massachusetts’ SMART Program – and
streamlined permitting processes – like New York’s Build-Ready Program –
could offer a template for other states seeking to accelerate
redevelopment of their own brownfields. Layering more such benefits on
top of federal funding opportunities like the IRA’s Energy
Infrastructure and Reinvestment Program, they contend, could help
stimulate broader interest from developers.
Second, they offer a set of new, more ambitious reforms to entice clean
energy companies onto marginal lands. Among them:
Giving the Department of Energy direct permitting authority over
repurposed energy would require an act of Congress, but could accelerate
approvals. Klass and Wiseman point out that many sites containing
hazardous chemicals may already be in the federal regulatory sphere.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could direct regional
transmission organizations to grant repurposed energy projects priority
in interconnection queues, bypassing a lengthy part of the development
timeline.
State offices that oversee brownfield cleanup and development could
establish separate divisions for repurposed energy, better equipping
them to deal with and resolve clean energy developers’ unique needs.
Klass sees the paper as a timely contribution at a critical juncture for
the renewable energy industry. “We’re at an important moment in time
where there’s a lot of federal funding available,” she told me. “But we
are not on track to build the amount of clean energy we need to meet our
targets.” By focusing support on repurposed energy, she thinks
policymakers may be able to erode some of the sociopolitical barriers
holding back the industry.
There is evidence to support this belief. A
2021
study found that objections to wind farms tended to fade when
the infrastructure was sited in areas with fewer lakes, hills, or other
features of aesthetic or recreational value, suggesting that plants
sited on already-disturbed land might indeed arouse less opposition.
“You start with these types of projects that we hope will engender less
community opposition and provide more community benefits,” Klass said.
“Maybe you scale it up later, maybe you don’t. But it allows a pathway
through some of this local opposition.”
It’s a view that resonates in the industry, although that doesn’t make
this kind of development easy. Jonathan Mancini is the senior vice
president of solar project development at
Ameresco,
which has built solar on around 20 landfills across the United States.
He told me that sites with soil contamination are capped with an
impermeable barrier to prevent the hazardous material from spreading,
and building a solar farm on top requires using bespoke racking systems
that won’t penetrate that cap. On top of that, would-be developers have
to employ third-party engineers to monitor the cap’s integrity and
undergo additional reviews by state regulators to ensure that the weight
of the solar system will not damage it. “Currently, the permitting
timeline for such projects takes up to three years to complete,” he told
me.
Dedicated state support in places like Massachusetts, Illinois, and
Maryland has helped Ameresco alleviate some of the costs. “Utility
programs or state administered programs do incentivize the use of these
types of projects,” Mancini said. But he noted that more support would
be helpful to overcome the barriers repurposed energy projects face.
“Additional policy measures at the local and/or state level would make
these projects move faster through permitting and approval.”
Michael Gerrard, the founder of Columbia University’s Sabin Center for
Climate Change Law and one of the country’s foremost environmental
lawyers, thinks the idea could accelerate clean energy deployment.
“Local opposition is one of the most important impediments [to renewable
energy],” he pointed out to me. By undercutting aesthetic and land use
concerns, repurposed energy could “have a very positive impact finding
ways to reduce that,” he said.
Gerrard also noted, however, that local opposition is not the only
barrier to renewable energy development. In addition to more stringent
permitting requirements, “transmission, interest rates, supply chains,
local content restrictions, workforce shortages — all of those are
impediments,” he said. Repurposed energy is no magic bullet, he added,
but it doesn’t have to be. “We need a lot of magic buckshot,” he said,
“and this article proposes quite a few pellets.”
Fear
of commodity chip flood sparks EU probe into China’s silicon
ambitions
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
They’re cranking ’em out like there’s no tomorrow
The European Commission is said to be sounding out chipmakers in the
region about China’s expanding production of commodity silicon, which
has sparked concerns that it could flood the global market.…
Outback
shocker left Aussie techie with a secret not worth sharing
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
That’s not an outage … that’s an outage
Who, Me? G’day readers, and welcome once again to
The Register’s reader-submitted column of cold comfort that we
call Who, Me? where you find out that everyone – even clever clogs like
you – makes mistakes.…
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: RAND blog
What will define the next 75 years of the NATO? We asked 30 RAND
researchers about the major challenges facing the alliance today—and
what opportunities NATO could seize to help secure its future. Here’s
what they said.
NATO
chief: Quickest way to end Ukraine war is to lose it; but won’t bring
peace
date: 2024-07-08, from: VOA News USA
WASHINGTON — As NATO prepares to convene on Tuesday a three-day
summit in Washington to celebrate its 75th birthday, the alliance is
reinforcing its support for Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia.
During a news conference with a handful of reporters Sunday
previewing the summit, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said all
NATO members want peace, and that can be achieved if Russian President
Vladimir Putin understands he cannot win on the battlefield.
“The quickest way to end this war is to lose the war,” he said. “But
that that will not bring peace. That will bring occupation.”
Stoltenberg outlined key measures NATO would take, including the
establishment of a dedicated command in Germany, enhanced financial and
military aid, and bilateral security agreements.
Stoltenberg emphasized these initiatives while addressing the
complexities of Ukraine’s potential NATO membership and the alliance’s
united front against Russian aggression.
The precise language of the final agreement of the summit regarding
Ukraine’s NATO membership is still under negotiation, he said.
In April, Stoltenberg said the alliance did not expect to offer
Ukraine NATO membership during the summit, but rather a “bridge” to
membership.
At the summit, that “bridge” will encompass five essential
components:
Security assistance command: NATO is setting up a new command in
Germany, with logistical hubs in Eastern Europe, to coordinate
international security assistance for Ukraine. This will involve 700
personnel led by a three-star NATO general, according to
Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg said there have been differences among allies about “the
approach or types of weapons Ukraine should be delivered.” Those
differences create bureaucratic delays, and the goal is to make delivery
faster and easier.
“This new command will have a very robust mandate, so there will be
no need for consensus on each and every delivery,” he said.
Financial pledge: Since February 2022, NATO allies have provided
around $43 billion annually in military support to Ukraine. The upcoming
summit is expected to extend this commitment for another year, laying a
foundation for future support.
Immediate weapon deliveries: Announcements on delivering more weapons
and ammunition, particularly air defense systems, are anticipated at the
summit to bolster Ukraine’s defense.
While the secretary-general did not offer specifics, a senior U.S.
official indicated that announcements can be expected from NATO allies
this week regarding the provision of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine.
Bilateral security agreements: Twenty NATO allies will have signed
bilateral security agreements with Ukraine by the start of the summit,
offering additional security guarantees and reinforcing collaborative
defense efforts.
Interoperability: Efforts are underway to align Ukrainian armed
forces with NATO standards, including a joint training center in Poland
and programs on military acquisitions and procurement.
Hungary won’t participate or obstruct
Stoltenberg addressed concerns about Hungary’s stance on Russia’s war
in Ukraine and its potential to block NATO decisions.
He recounted a recent visit to Budapest, where he secured an
agreement with Prime Minister Viktor Orban ensuring that Hungary will
not obstruct the proposed support measures for Ukraine.
Budapest will not participate in the new NATO security assistance
command for Ukraine but will fulfill its other NATO obligations and
contribute to the common budget, Stoltenberg said.
The secretary general highlighted NATO’s diverse engagements with
Moscow even after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He noted a recent conversation between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd
Austin and the Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, underscoring
the routine nature of such contacts.
Stoltenberg said NATO must function cohesively in developing new
defense strategies, emphasizing unity despite differing perspectives,
such as those represented by leaders like Orban.
Future relationship with the US
Stoltenberg is confident that the United States would continue to be
a staunch NATO ally regardless of future election outcomes, attributing
past criticisms by former president Donald Trump primarily to defense
spending issues rather than NATO itself.
He emphasized that any secretary-general must be able to work with
all leaders within the alliance, comparing NATO to a big family that
every now and then has arguments and disagreements.
Stoltenberg recounted his experience working with presidents Barak
Obama, Trump, and Joe Biden, noting that despite differing political
leadership, the U.S. has remained a steadfast and committed NATO
ally.
Copilot+
PCs software compatibility issues left to you to sort out, with help
from crowdsourcers
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Samsung warned users, but the PC industry’s big players hardly mention
the possibility of problems
Buyers worried a Copilot+ PC based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X SoCs might
not run software that matters to them are being directed to two
community-run sites that crowdsource lists of incompatible code.…
Selfie-based
authentication raises eyebrows among infosec experts
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Vietnam now requires it for some purchases. It may be a fraud risk in
Singapore. Or ML could be making it safe
The use of selfies to verify identity online is an emerging trend in
some parts of the world since the pandemic forced more business to go
digital. Some banks – and even governments – have begun requiring live
images over Zoom or similar in order to participate in the modern
economy. The question must be asked, though: is it cyber smart?…
Not-so-OpenAI
allegedly never bothered to report 2023 data breach
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-08, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Also: F1 authority breached; Prudential victim count skyrockets; a new
ransomware actor appears; and more
security in brief It’s been a week of bad cyber
security revelations for OpenAI, after news emerged that the startup
failed to report a 2023 breach of its systems to anybody outside the
organization, and that its ChatGPT app for macOS was coded without any
regard for user privacy.…
Niamey, Niger — U.S. troops have completed a withdrawal from their
base in Niger’s capital of Niamey and will fully depart from Agadez in
the north before a Sept. 15 deadline set by the country’s military
rulers, both countries said Sunday.
Niger’s military leaders scrapped a military cooperation deal with
Washington in March, after seizing power in a July 2023 coup.
The United States had around 650 soldiers in Niger as part of
anti-jihadist missions in several Sahel nations of West Africa,
including a major drone base near Agadez.
“The defense ministry of Niger and the U.S. Defense Department
announce that the withdrawal of American forces and equipment from the
Niamey base 101 is now completed,” the two countries said in a
statement.
A final flight carrying U.S. troops was due to leave Niamey late
Sunday.
The U.S. presence had stood at around 950 troops, and 766 soldiers
have left Niger since the military ordered their departure, AFP learned
at a ceremony at the base attended by Niger’s army chief of staff Maman
Sani Kiaou and US General Kenneth Ekman.
“American forces are now going to focus on quitting airbase 201 in
Agadez,” the statement said, insisting that the withdrawal would be
completed by September 15 as planned.
Niger had already ordered the withdrawal of troops from France, the
former colonial power and traditional security ally, and has
strengthened ties with Russia which has provided instructors and
equipment.
On Saturday, Germany’s defense ministry also said it would end
operations at its airbase in Niger by August 31 following the breakdown
of talks with military leaders.
A similar shift has taken place in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso,
which are also ruled by military leaders and faced with violence from
jihadist groups.
Epistemic
calibration and searching the space of truth
date: 2024-07-08, from: The Sephist blog
I’ve long been enamored by DALL-E 2’s specific flavor of visual
creativity. Especially given the text-to-image AI system’s age, it seems
to have an incredible command over color, light and dark, the abstract
and the concrete, and the emotional resonance that their careful
combination can conjure.
I picked these twelve images out of a much larger batch I generated
with DALL-E 2 automatically by combining some randomly generated
subjects with one of a few pre-written styles suffixes like “watercolor
on canvas.”
Notice the use of shadows behind the body in the first image and the
impressionistic use of color in the third image in the first row. I also
love the softness of the silhouette in the top right, and the cyclops
figure that seems to emerge beyond the horizon in the second row. Even
in the most abstract images in this grid, the choice of color and
composition result in something I would personally find not at all out
of place in a gallery. There is surprising variety, creativity, and
depth to these images, especially considering most of the prompts are as
simple as giving form to metaphor, watercolor on canvas or
a cozy bedroom, still life composition.
When I try to create similar kinds of images with what I believe to be
the state-of-the-art text-to-image system today, Midjourney v6, here’s
what I get with similar prompts.
These images are beautiful in their own right, and in their detail and
realism they are impressive. I’m regularly stunned by the quality and
realism in images generated by Midjourney. This isn’t meant to be
another “AI-generated images aren’t artistic” post.
However, there is a very obvious difference in the styles of
these two systems. After having generated a few hundred images from both
systems, I find DALL-E 2 to be regularly:
surprising and creative with its use of color and contrast;
usually focused on a single subject, with one or few things going on in
the frame;
quite inventive in how it interprets ambiguous or open-ended prompts,
often bringing in varied appropriate subjects on its own.
By contrast, Midjourney’s images are biased towards:
a lot of detail all the time, almost as if the system really wants to
put every single pixel to use;
pretty uniform, flat use of color compared to DALL-E 2’s;
literal interpretations of the prompt, with a tendency to have the image
always be “about” something concrete with little room for ambiguity.
Though Midjourney v6 is the most capable system like this in my
experience, I encounter these same stylistic biases when using any
modern model from the last couple of years, like Stable Diffusion XL and
its derivatives, Google’s Imagen models, or even the current version of
DALL-E (DALL-E 3). This is a shame, because I really like the variety
and creativity of outputs from DALL-E 2, and it seems no modern systems
are capable of reproducing similar results.
I’ve also done some head-to-head comparisons, including giving
Midjourney examples of images from which it could transfer the style.
Though Midjourney v6 successfully copies the original image’s style, it
still has the hallmark richness in detail, as well as a clear tendency
towards concrete subjects like realistic human silhouettes:
Though none of this is a scientifically rigorous study, I’ve heard
similar sentiments from other users of these systems, and observed
similar “un-creative” behavior from modern language models like ChatGPT.
In particular, I found this
study of distribution of outputs before and after preference tuning on
Llama 2 models interesting, because I think they successfully
quantify the bland “ChatGPT voice” and show some concrete ways that
reinforcement learning has produced
accidentalattractors in the
model’s output space.
Why does this happen?
There are a few major differences between DALL-E 2 and other systems
that we could hypothetically point to:
They’re trained on very different datasets.
DALL-E 2 never underwent any preference tuning, where the other models
have.
DALL-E 2 is the only pixel-space image diffusion model still in wide
use. All other models perform diffusion in a compressed latent space,
which may hamper things like the diversity of color palette.
After thinking about it a bit and playing with some open source models,
I think there are two big things going on here.
The first is that humans simply prefer brighter, more colorful,
more detailed images when asked to pick a “better” visual in a
side-by-side comparison, even though they would not necessarily prefer a
world in which every single image was so hyper-detailed and
hyper-colorful. So when models are tuned to human preferences, they
naturally produce these hyper-detailed, hyper-colorful sugar-pop images.
The second is that when a model is trained using a method with feedback
loops like reinforcement learning, it tends towards “attractors”, or
preferred modes in the output space, and stops being an accurate model
of reality in which every concept is proportionately represented in its
output space. Preference tuning tunes models away from being
accurate reflections of reality into being greedy
reward-seekers happy to output a boring response if it expects the
boring output to be rated highly.
Let’s investigate these ideas in more detail.
Are we comparing outputs, or comparing worlds?
If you’ve ever walked into an electronics store and looked at a wall
full of TVs or listened to headphones on display, you’ll notice they’re
all tuned to the brightest, loudest, most vibrant settings. Sometimes,
the colors are so vibrant they make pictures look a bit unrealistic,
with perfectly turquoise oceans and perfectly tan skin.
In general, when asked to compare images or music, people with untrained
eyes and ears will pick the brightest images and the loudest music.
Bright images create the illusion of vibrant colors and greater detail,
and make other images that are less bright seem dull. Loud music has a
similar effect, giving rise to a
“loudness war”
on public radio where tracks compete to catch listeners’ attention by
being louder than other tracks before or after it.
Now, we are also in a loudness war of synthetic media.
Another way to think about this phenomenon is as a failure to align
what we are asking human labelers to compare with what we
actually want to compare.
When we build a preference dataset, what we should actually be asking
is, “Is a world with a model trained on this dataset preferable to a
world with a model trained on that dataset?” Of course, this is an
intractable question to ask, because doing so would require somehow
collecting human labels on every possible arrangement of a training
dataset, leading to a combinatorial explosion of options. Instead, we
approximate this by collecting human preference signals on each
individual data point. But there’s a mismatch: just because humans
prefer a more detailed image in one instance doesn’t mean that we’d
prefer a world where every single image was maximally detailed.
Building attractors out of world models
Preference tuning methods like RLHF and DPO are fundamentally different
from the kind of supervised training that goes on during model
pretraining or a “basic” fine-tuning run with labelled data, because
methods like RL and DPO involve feeding the model’s output back into
itself, creating a feedback loop.
Whenever there are feedback loops in a system, we can study its
dynamics — over time, as we iterate towards infinity, does the
system settle into some state of stability? Does it settle into a loop?
Does it diverge, accelerating towards some limit?
In the case of systems like ChatGPT and Midjourney, these models appear
to converge under feedback loops into a few
attractors, parts
of the output space that the model has deemed reliably preferred, “safe”
options. One attractor, for example, is a hyper-realistic detailed style
of illustration. Another seems to be a fondness for geometric lines and
transhumanist imagery when asked to generate anything abstract and
vaguely positive.
I think recognizing this difference between base models and
feedback-tuned models is important, because this kind of a preference
tuning step changes what the model is doing at a fundamental level. A
pretrained base model is an epistemically calibrated world
model. It’s epistemically calibrated, meaning
its output probabilities exactly mirror frequency of concepts and styles
present in its training dataset. If 2% of all photos of waterfalls also
have rainbows, exactly 2% of photos of waterfalls the model generates
will have rainbows. It’s also a world model, in the
sense that what results from pretraining is a probabilistic model of
observations of the world (its training dataset). Anything we can find
in the training dataset, we can also expect to find in the model’s
output space.
Once we subject the model to preference tuning, however, the model
transforms into something very different, a function that greedily and
cleverly finds a way to interpret every input into a version of the
request that includes elements it knows is most likely to result in a
positive rating from a reviewer. Within the constraints of a given
input, a model that’s undergone RLHF is no longer an accurate world
model, but a function whose sole job is to find a way to render a
version of the output that’s super detailed, very colorful, extremely
polite, or whatever else the model has learned will please the recipient
of its output. These reliably-rewarded concepts become attractors in the
model’s output space. See also the apocryphal story about OpenAI’s model
optimized for positive outputs, resulting in
inescapable
wedding parties.
Today’s most effective tools for producing useful, obedient models
irreversibly take away something quite valuable that base models have by
construction: its epistemic calibration to the world it was trained on.
Interpretable models enable useful AI without mode collapse
Though I find any individual output from ChatGPT or Midjourney useful
and sometimes even beautiful, I can’t really say the same about the
possibility space of outputs from these models at large. In tuning these
models to our pointwise preferences, it feels like we lost the variety
and creativity that enable these models to yield surprising and tasteful
outputs.
Maybe there’s a way to build useful AI systems without the downsides of
mode collapse.
Preference tuning is necessary today because of the way we currently
interact with these AI systems, as black boxes which take human input
and produce some output. To bend these black boxes to our will, we must
reprogram their internals to want to yield output we prefer.
But there’s another growing paradigm for interacting with AI systems,
one where we directly
manipulate concepts within a model’s internal feature space to
elicit outputs we desire. Using these methods, we no longer have to
subject the model to a damaging preference tuning process. We can search
the model’s concept space directly for the kinds of outputs we desire
and sample them directly from a base model. Want a sonnet about the
future of quantum computing that’s written from the perspective of a
cat? Locate those concepts within the model, activate them
mechanistically, and sample the model outputs. No instructions
necessary.
Mechanistic steering like this is still early in research, and for now
we have to make do with simpler tasks like changing the topic and
writing style of short sentences. But I find this approach very
promising because it could give us a way to make pretrained models
useful without turning them into overeager human-pleasers that fall
towards an attractor at the first chance they get.
Furthermore, sampling directly from a model’s concept space allows us to
rigorously quantify qualities like diversity of output that we
can’t control well in currently deployed models. Want variety in your
outputs? Simply expand the radius around which you’re searching in the
model’s latent space.
This world — directly interacting with epistemically calibrated models
— isn’t incompatible with Midjourney-style hyper-realistic
hyper-detailed images either. Perhaps when we have in our hands a
well-understood, capable model of the world’s images we’ll find not only
all the abstract images from DALL-E 2 and all the intricate
illustrations from Midjourney, but an uncountable number of styles and
preferences in between, as many as we have time to enumerate as we
explore its vast space of knowledge.
A
decade after collapsing, crypto exchange Mt Gox repays some
investors
date: 2024-07-08, updated: 2024-07-09, from: The Register (UK I.T.
News)
Plus: Samsung strike; India likely upping chip subsidies; Asian nations
link payment schemes
Asia In Brief Mt Gox, the Japanese crypto exchange
that dominated trading for a brief time in the early 2010s before
collapsing amid the disappearance of nearly half a billion dollars worth
of the digicash, likely as a result of its own shoddy software, has said
it will start to repay some investors – in Bitcoin.…
A
stranded vehicle on a flooded road in Houston.
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Bell/Getty Images
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