News gathered 2024-08-19
(date: 2024-08-19 15:39:58)
MenuetOS gets basic X server
date: 2024-08-19, from: OS News
There’s been a few new releases since the last time we talked about MenuetOS, back in March of this year when version 1.50.00 was released, so I figured it was time to take a look at what the project’s been up to. And just in case you don’t remember – MenuetOS is 64 bit operating system written in assembly that fits on a single 1.44 MB floppy disk. There’s also a 32 bit version that’s no longer being developed – I think. Weirdly enough, the 1.50.00 released is no longer listed, but recent changes include Mplayer being part of the disk image, further updates to the included X-Window Server, the usual bugfixes, and a few more things. The X server is quite cool – with it, you can run, say, Firefox on your Linux installation, but have the MenuetOS X server render the UI. In addition, thanks to MenuetOS now including a basic POSIX layer, it’s possible to create basic applications that run unmodified on both MenuetOS and a Linux distribution like Ubuntu. Neat.
https://www.osnews.com/story/140534/menuetos-gets-basic-x-server/
Masq(p)arade! Seeks Performers for ‘Pianos on Street’ Grand Finale on October 18
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Whimsical performance applications remain open through September 8.
The post Masq(p)arade! Seeks Performers for ‘Pianos on Street’ Grand Finale on October 18 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Floods from thunderstorms lead to dramatic rescues and 2 deaths in Connecticut
date: 2024-08-19, from: VOA News USA
oxford, connecticut — Torrential rains turned streets into raging rivers in parts of Connecticut and New York’s Long Island, trapping people in cars and a restaurant, covering vehicles in mud, and sweeping two women to their deaths, authorities said.
Dramatic rescues unfolded as a foot (30 centimeters) of rain fell on some parts of western Connecticut late Sunday and early Monday, coming down so fast that it caught drivers unaware. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said more than 100 people were evacuated by search and rescue teams Sunday evening.
The bodies of two women who had been in separate cars were recovered Monday in Oxford, a town of 13,000 about 35 miles southwest of Hartford, officials said. Both were Oxford residents.
Firefighters were trying to get the first woman to safety when the flooded Little River swept her away, Oxford Fire Chief Scott Pelletier said at a news conference with other Connecticut officials. The second woman got out of her car and tried to cling to a sign, but “the racing water was too much” and swept her away, too, he said.
“This is a tragic and devastating day for Oxford,” the town’s first selectman, George Temple, said.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal added, “Who would have thought the Little River would turn into a gushing torrent of destruction, which is what happened.”
In nearby Southbury, Lucas Barber used wilderness first responder techniques he learned as a backpacker and rock climber to wade through chest-high water to save Patrick Jennings, who has a prosthetic leg, and Jennings’ dog from a car outside the Southbury Plaza mall.
Barber, 30, said he drove to higher ground and grabbed rope he keeps in his car for emergencies. Jennings’ car, he said, looked like it was “turning in the tide and seemed to be sinking.”
Barber said he first tried to throw his rope to Jennings but changed his approach when he was told Jennings had a prosthetic leg. Barber waded and swam to the car, which was filling with water, he said.
He saw Jennings’ golden retriever, Stanley, in the back, scared, and Jennings worried about leaving him behind.
“‘Your dog is coming with us, but also I need to get you out right now,’” Barber said he told Jennings.
Jennings took off his prosthetic leg, and Barber wrapped his rope around the man’s waist and chest. Barber tried tying the rope around the dog’s collar, but it came undone. Once he got Jennings to safety and others could tend to him, he went back for Stanley. Halfway back, Barber said, the dog got excited to see Jennings and swam the rest of the way to his owner.
Barber said he went back a third time to fetch Jennings’ prosthetic leg, which was bobbing next to his car.
In Oxford, rushing waters surrounded the Brookside Inn, trapping 18 people. Firefighters had to stretch a ladder across the floodwaters to reach them as cars and other large debris carried by the torrent smashed into the building, said Jeremy Rodorigo, a firefighter from neighboring Beacon Falls.
The storm system that hit Connecticut and then moved on to Long Island was separate from Hurricane Ernesto, which on Monday was over the open Atlantic Ocean but still expected to cause powerful swells, dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast.
William Syrett, a professor of meteorology and atmospheric science at Penn State University, referred to the Connecticut-New York system as “training thunderstorms.”
“It’s like each thunderstorm is a car on a train track, and so they just keep going over the same place,” he said. He cited “perfect conditions” for the storms, thanks to the amount of moisture in the air and a slow weather system.
The unusual part was the amount of rain that fell over several hours, Syrett said, not the thunderstorms themselves.
Ed Romaine, the executive of Long Island’s Suffolk County, said that hundreds of homes were affected by flooding and that mudslides covered the roofs of cars in some areas.
The storms canceled more than 450 flights at Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports, officials said.
Parents rage against new fee to keep their smart bassinets smart
date: 2024-08-19, from: OS News
But last month, that hand-me-down network was dealt a blow when Happiest Baby, the company that makes Snoo, began charging for access to some of the bassinet’s premium features — features that used to be available to Snoo users indefinitely, at no extra cost. Now, access to the app needed to lock in the bassinet’s rocking level, to track the baby’s sleep and to use the so-called weaning mode, among other features, will cost parents $20 a month. The change has angered secondhand users and original buyers alike. On Reddit, the new subscription model has prompted review bombs, group brainstorms for collective action and detailed instructions for outraged parents seeking recourse. Some have taken to filing complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau and state-run consumer protection offices. ↫ Sandra E. Garcia and Rachel Sherman at The New York Times My wife had our first baby a little over three years ago, and our second one a little over a year ago, and let me tell you – the amount of “smart” and “connected” stuff they sell targeted at babies and young parents is insane. The only “smart” thing we got was a camera that pipes sound to my phone and detects movement, and sends a notification to our phone so we can take a peek and see if everything’s alright. Our oldest has outgrown it, and our youngest doesn’t really need it, so it’s just being useless at the moment, fitted to the wall. It definitely improved our nights, though, since it made sure we would never have to get up for no reason. Other than that, we are very analog. I had heard of “smart” bassinets, but we didn’t think we needed one. That’s just our decision, though, and you can rightfully argue that using a camera and open microphone is not that different. All of these new “smart” tools are just that, tools, and can be useful and make your life just a little bit easier, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Being a parent of a newborn is hard enough as it is without outsiders judging you and pressuring you into doing things you don’t think are right, especially since you know your own newborn – and yourself – better than some random outsiders do. The Snoo is one of the more popular smart bassinets, apparently, and at an entry price of 1700 dollars it’s bonkers expensive. The thing is, though, as a new parent you know a lot of the stuff you buy has a relatively limited shelf life – they grow so fast – so you kind of take into account that you’ll be selling some of the more expensive stuff down the line to recoup some of the costs. We have an insanely expensive stroller from a Norwegian brand, because it needed to be able to handle the Arctic climate and its endless snow, including specialised wheels and tires for trudging through the snow. The resale value of these is quite decent, so we know we’ll get a decent part of the initial cost back, especially since we take extremely good care of it. And this is where the company that makes the Snoo, Happiest Baby, decided to screw over its customers. The company clearly realised the theoretical loss of revenue from the used market, and came up with this subscription model to lock in some of that theoretical revenue. However, since Happiest Baby always promised all of its features would work perpetually, this came as a huge shock to both buyers of used Snoo bassinets, as well as to parents intending to sell their Snoo, who now see their resale value plummet. The reasoning behind the sudden subscription model given by the company is absolutely wild. Harvey Karp, the founder and chief executive of Happiest Baby, defended the move as a business necessity. “We don’t have any dollar from the government, we don’t have a dollar from a university,” said Dr. Karp, a former pediatrician who created the Snoo after becoming frustrated with the lack of progress in reducing rates of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. “We have to sell products and bring in revenue to be able to get to this goal.” That goal, according to Dr. Karp, is “that everyone will have access to this, and it will be paid for not by your friend, but it will be paid for by your corporation, the government or your insurance company,” the way breast pumps are often covered. He also pointed to Happiest Baby’s efforts to make the Snoo available “in the inner city and in rural areas.” For many parents, however, paying into that ideal is of little comfort to their bottom line. ↫ Sandra E. Garcia and Rachel Sherman at The New York Times He’s basically stating that because he doesn’t get free money from the government, universities, customers’ employers, or insurance companies, he can’t make any profit off the Snoo products. He’s arguing that a $1700 bassinet with some sensors and chips is not a profitable product, which sounds absolutely like a flat-out lie to me. If he really can’t make a profit with such a price for such a product, there’s clearly something else wrong with the way the company is spending its money. Anyone who has ever watched Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver knows just how many healthcare-related markets and businesses in the United States rely almost exclusively on government money through programs like Medicare and Medicaid, leading to an insane amount of scams and wasted money because there aren’t even remotely enough inspectors and related personnel to ensure such money is effectively spent, made worse by the fact such tasks are delegated to the states. This whole Snoo thing almost make me think Karp intended to profit off these often nebulous government money streams, but somehow failed to do so. I feel for the parents, though. They bought a product that didn’t include a hint of a subscription or paywalled features, and now they have
2024-08-19 Something new: intrigue
date: 2024-08-19, from: Alex Schroeder’s Blog
2024-08-19 Something new: intrigue
A while ago, @enfors said he wanted his sandbox generator supplement to have something special. I wasn’t exactly sure what he was thinking of, but I started thinking about the things that I feel are under-explored.
A while ago, for example, I wondered: What would be the simplest game that emphasises how many friends you make, that rewards the size of the community you build? Back in 2016 I wrote a game called Best Friends that I never used. It was still an adventure game. Basically, replace your “level” with the number of friends you have. Something like that.
But that still doesn’t get into really new territory. Something I would like to see is a system for how to run an intrigue as a party – including everybody at the table, for all the classes and skill profiles. I feel that A Song of Ice and Fire attempted to do this but the result wasn’t great, at least at my table.
Quoting my past self:
I’m also not too happy with A Song of Ice and Fire. We’ve only played three times, so I’m willing to give it more time. When I ran one of the sessions I basically split the party to the max since since all characters are so diverse. There is no D&D like party and that also requires me to rethink my adventure design. – 2010-04-08 Spring
I can always switch into a movie director stance, go around the table, point at players, “now you!” and after a bit when the exchange happened and a die was maybe cast, “as we wait for that, we cut to…” and soon enough “in the mean time…” – and I do this aggressively, in small time slots. This results in a somewhat military style of pointing at people to let them know that now is their turn, while simultaneously waving at others to hold their thoughts, or maybe cutting talkative players off when they’re running too long. It’s weird, but when there’s a lot of players, or when there’s no party play to return to, it works well enough. We’ve made these kinds of mistakes in games where there are characters that are well suited for fighting and others that are not, with their players trying to solve problems by fighting, and players do not. This happened to me when I ran a one-shot of A Song of Ice and Fire. It worked for a session, but it was exhausting and I don’t want to claim that it’s a good solution. It was simply a short term solution that worked, for me. Next time, however, make sure players create characters that will adventure together. – 2021-02-27 Cohesion
Perhaps the split into combat and intrigue that the game introduced wasn’t good game design because it made sense from the perspective of emulating the books but it didn’t make sense from the perspective of some people wanting to play a game together. Or maybe it just didn’t fit my expectations of what it means to play together. Or maybe we just missed the implied recommendation to focus on either combat or intrigue and everybody having two characters, one for each domain. Or maybe just run either a combat campaign or an intrigue campaign.
So what I’m looking for is for a way to get intrigue results, using procedures like we do for combat or exploration, for dungeons or the wilderness. The goal is to bring about a change in leadership of a town, a gang, a castle, an army unit, or to succeed in an act of sabotage, to incite a rebellion – things that are either hand-waved or the party is hired for the dirty work while the non-player characters are the politicians and rabble-rousers. I know this can work. It’s OK for the party to do the dirty work, to assassinate a tyrant and the non-player characters then taking the throne and similar things, but I want to go further. I want to involve all the players at the table. I want the players to think about the logistics of war, the organising and preparations of revolutions, the intricacies of marriage politics.
What if B/X D&D went levels 1–3 is for dungeons, 4–6 is for the wilderness and 7–9 is for politics. Doesn’t that sound fantastic? What sort of rules would you find in that third book? You would not get to name level by being a colonizer and clearing the land but by taking over an existing position of power – through intrigue. Oust the abbot, kick out the bishop, marry into the baron’s family, take over the guild. With the help of your friends. Without resorting to combat, but with dice rolling.
Not something like Burning Wheel’s Duel of Wits but something like social combat for Fate games, like the social combat system in Diaspora, for example.
I still feel this space is not well served.
2024-08-19. @bradjmurray’s most recent take on those rules: social combat in diaspora.
2024-08-20. I find that urban adventures suffer from the same problem. If it’s just two or three buildings and those act like dungeons, my games work. If it’s just social encounters that can be resolved with reaction rolls, my games work. But everything else in an urban environment seems to be politics, to me. And I have no good procedures to resolve those. So if anybody reading this is thinking about writing a blog post on the topic, I’d love to read it.
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2024-08-19-rpg-intrigue
Blinken warns Israel, Hamas of ‘last opportunity’ to end Gaza War
date: 2024-08-19, from: The Signal
By Jack Phillips Contributing Writer U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday warned that the current push for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal is likely the final chance to […]
The post Blinken warns Israel, Hamas of ‘last opportunity’ to end Gaza War appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/blinken-warns-israel-hamas-of-last-opportunity-to-end-gaza-war/
Lilbits: Apple’s first consumer robot, Qualcomm’s first smartphone chip with Oryon CPU cores, and MNT Pocket Reform (modular mini-laptop)
date: 2024-08-19, from: Liliputing
The MNT Pocket Reform is a modular, open source mini-laptop that went up for pre-order last year through a crowdfunding campaign and began shipping this summer. Thanks to its modular design, the system was always made with customization in mind: the brains of the system are on a removable system-on-a-module (SoM) with a processor, memory, […]
The post Lilbits: Apple’s first consumer robot, Qualcomm’s first smartphone chip with Oryon CPU cores, and MNT Pocket Reform (modular mini-laptop) appeared first on Liliputing.
One805!Live Returns With a Star Studded Lineup for a Night of Rock ‘N’ Roll
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Final performing roster announced for fundraiser for Santa Barbara County First Responders.
The post One805!Live Returns With a Star Studded Lineup for a Night of Rock ‘N’ Roll appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Television host Phil Donahue dies at 88
date: 2024-08-19, from: The Signal
By Zachary Stieber Contributing Writer Longtime television host Phil Donahue has died, according to his family. Donahue was 88 when he died on Sunday, relatives told news outlets in a statement. […]
The post Television host Phil Donahue dies at 88 appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/television-host-phil-donahue-dies-at-88/
Lady Mustangs Volleyball Win Season Opener Against La Sierra
date: 2024-08-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Master’s University women’s volleyball team traveled to Riverside, Calif. for their 2024 season opener, coming away with a 3-set win over the La Sierra Golden Eagles Friday. The Lady Mustangs (1-0) hit .435 in the 25-20, 25-8, 25-10 road win. The team had a combined 43 kills and just four attack errors. By contrast, the…
Investigation: Local officer shot Trump rally shooter first
date: 2024-08-19, from: The Signal
By Zachary Stieber Contributing Writer The first shot to strike the man who fired at former President Donald Trump was from a local law enforcement officer, according to a preliminary report […]
The post Investigation: Local officer shot Trump rally shooter first appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/investigation-local-officer-shot-trump-rally-shooter-first/
Nvidia’s latest AI climate model takes aim at severe weather
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
That tornado warning couldn’t possibly be a hallucination… could it?
While enterprises struggle to quantify the return on investment of AI, the technology continues to show promise in bolstering weather forecasting and climate models.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/nvidia_ai_weather/
Winners of the 2024 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/winners-of-the-2024-bulwer-lytton-fiction-contest
For parenting students at community college, it takes a village. It also takes a grant
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The LAist
The Pasadena City College’s family resource center was created two years ago, following a federal earmark to try out a more supportive form of child care.
https://laist.com/news/education/pasadena-city-college-family-resource-center
Roblox: the Biggest Game in the World
date: 2024-08-19, from: Michael Tsai
Matthew Ball (via Hacker News): During the average day, more than 80MM people log onto Roblox. As a historical point of contrast, this means that more people log onto Roblox every 10 or so minutes than used Second Life in a month at its peak. On a monthly basis, Roblox now counts more than 380MM […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/08/19/roblox-the-biggest-game-in-the-world/
VPN Apps in Brazilian App Store
date: 2024-08-19, from: Michael Tsai
Proton (via Hacker News): We have received multiple reports today from users in Brazil having difficulties installing the Proton VPN app on iOS devices via the Apple App Store. We can confirm that the issue is not on our side, but likely with the App Store itself, which is controlled by Apple. What makes this […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/08/19/vpn-apps-in-brazilian-app-store/
Brazil vs. Twitter
date: 2024-08-19, from: Michael Tsai
Luana Maria Benedito (via Hacker News): Media platform X said on Saturday it would close its operations in Brazil “effective immediately” due to what it called “censorship orders” by Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes. X Global Government Affairs: Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/08/19/brazil-vs-twitter/
Digital Services Act and Thierry Breton vs. Twitter
date: 2024-08-19, from: Michael Tsai
European Commission: X designs and operates its interface for the “verified accounts” with the “Blue checkmark” in a way that does not correspond to industry practice and deceives users. […] Second, X does not comply with the required transparency on advertising, as it does not provide a searchable and reliable advertisement repository, but instead put […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/08/19/digital-services-act-and-thierry-breton-vs-twitter/
Super Blue Moons: Your Questions Answered
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
The Moon of August 30-31, 2023, is a full moon, a supermoon, and a blue moon. Here’s what it all means.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/super-blue-moons-your-questions-answered/
California hits milestones toward 100% clean energy — but has a long way to go
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The LAist
Fossil fuels are still a large source of electricity, but California has made progress with renewables while keeping the lights on.
NextSTEP R: Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
Solicitation Number: NNH16ZCQ001K-Appendix-R August 16, 2024 – Draft Solicitation Released Solicitation Overview The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) intends to release a solicitation under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (Next STEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to seek industry-led concept definition and maturation studies that address lunar surface logistics and uncrewed surface mobility […]
https://www.nasa.gov/general/nextstep-r-lunar-logistics-and-mobility-studies/
What Climate World Wants From a Harris-Walz Administration
date: 2024-08-19, from: Heatmap News
If Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president in November — as is looking increasingly likely — her term will last until the beginning of 2029. At that point, we’ll have a much better idea whether the planet is on track to hit the 1.5 degrees Celsius climate threshold that some expect it to cross that year; we’ll also know whether the United States is likely to meet the first goal of the Inflation Reduction Act: to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2030.
There is a lot riding on the outcome of the 2024 election, then. But even more to the point, there is a lot riding on how, and how aggressively, Harris extends President Biden’s climate policies. Last week, I spoke to nine different climate policy experts about what’s on their wishlists for a potential Harris-Walz administration and encountered resounding excitement about the opportunities ahead. I also encountered nine different opinions on how, exactly, Harris should capitalize on those opportunities, should she wind up in the White House come January.
That said, the ideas I heard largely coalesced into three main avenues of approach: The first would see Harris use her position to shore up the country’s existing climate policies, doubling down on spending and addressing loopholes in the IRA. A second path would involve aggressively expanding on Biden’s legacy, mainly through major new investments. The final and most ambitious path would involve Harris approaching climate change and the energy transition with an original and bold vision for the years ahead (though your priorities may vary).
The policy proposals that fall under these loosely organized paths aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, and, as you’ll see, some of the advocate’s proposals fall into multiple categories. But it’s also true that by making everything a priority, nothing is. With that in mind, here are three approaches climate insiders say Harris could take if she wins the White House in November.
Harris should finish the job Biden started
- Continue building on what has already been accomplished
- Ensure permitting reform gets across the line
- Address existing regulatory uncertainties
- Make sure policies like the Justice 40 Initiative are working the way they’re supposed to
Before jumping headlong into expanding the country’s climate policies, the Harris administration could start by shoring up existing legislation — mainly, the loopholes and oversights in the Inflation Reduction Act. “The IRA was the biggest climate investment in history and fundamentally changed the emissions trajectory of the U.S — but the work is not done,” Adrian Deveny, founder of the decarbonization strategy group Climate Vision who previously worked on the IRA as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s director of energy and environmental policy, told me.
As things stand, the policies in the IRA alone won’t be enough to meet President Biden’s goal of halving the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030; to do that, the U.S. would “need to pass another IRA-sized bill,” Deveny said. Until that happens, filling the IRA’s emissions gaps will take a lot of work “in every sector of the economy,” he added.
Lena Moffitt, the executive director of Evergreen Action — which has already released a comprehensive 2025 climate roadmap for a Harris administration — told me that the task of “doubling down on Biden’s climate legacy as a job creator” will run through rebuilding and expanding the grid and revitalizing industry and rural economies, two projects that started in the IRA but remain incomplete. “We’d love to see a day one executive order from the White House outlining a plan to create American jobs and seize the mantle of leadership by building clean energy and clean tech in the United States,” she told me.
Permitting reform is part of that — and could be another piece of yet-unfinished business Harris will need to wrap up. “If that doesn’t get done this year, that is what we have to look to as soon as possible during a future Harris administration,” Harry Godfrey, who leads Advanced Energy United’s Federal Investment and Manufacturing Working Group, told me.
That’s not the only regulatory matter still up in the air. Austin Whitman, the CEO of The Climate Change Project, a non-profit that offers climate certification labeling and helps businesses reduce their emissions, told me that the Federal Trade Commission, for example, still hasn’t updated its green guides — “a loose collection of recommendations to companies on how to behave to not violate the FTC Act” — since 2012. “We just need a clear timeline and a sense of direction of where that whole process is going,” Whitman told me. Additionally, he said that the government has a substantial and outstanding role to play in standardizing and streamlining emissions reporting practices for businesses — which, while perhaps not “very sexy,” are necessary to “relieve the administrative burden so companies can focus on decarbonization.”
The last piece: Make sure everything that’s already in place is actually working. “We’re seeing that states and local governments need additional capacity to manage [the IRA] money well,” Jillian Blanchard, the director of Lawyers For Good Government’s climate change program, told me. Harris could help by enacting “more tangible policies like granting federal funding to hire community engagement specialists or liaisons or paying for the time of community leaders to provide local governments with key information on where the communities are that need to be benefited, and what they need.” She also floated the idea of a Community Change Grant extension to help get federal funding to localities more directly.
Harris should go bigger — on everything
- Make investments in high-impact sectors
- Fund more Climate Pollution Reduction Grants
- Funnel additional resources into the states
- Reinstate the U.S. as a global leader on climate
“One of the criticisms of the Inflation Reduction Act is that it didn’t do ‘X’ — whatever ‘X’ is,” Costa Samaras, the director of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon and a former senior White House energy official, told me. “And in reality, it probably did. It just didn’t do it big enough.”
As opposed to those who thought Harris should take a quieter, dare I say conservative approach to advancing the U.S. climate agenda, Samaras told me he wanted to see Harris pump up the volume. The current climate moment requires “attacking the places where we need to immediately make big emissions cuts and big resilience investments. This is the industrial sector, the cultural sector, heavy transportation, as well as making sure that our cities and communities are built for people.”
There are plenty of existing programs that could take some supersizing. Godfrey of Advanced Energy United brought up the home energy rebate programs, arguing that as things stand, those resources are only serving “a fraction of the eligible population.” Blanchard of Lawyers For Good Government also pointed out that the Environmental Protection Agency had almost 300 Climate Pollution Reduction Grant applications totaling more than $30 billion in requests — but only $4.3 billion to hand out. “There are local governments, state governments, tribal nations, and territories hungry for this money to implement clean energy projects,” she said. “There are plans that are ready to go if there are additional federal award dollars in the future.”
Another place Harris could expand on Biden’s legacy would be by reinstating the U.S. as a climate leader on the world stage. “We need to say, ‘climate is back on the table,’” Whitman of The Climate Change Project told me. “It’s a main course, and we’re going to talk about it” — something that would give us “a more credible seat at the negotiating table at the COPs.”
Perhaps most importantly, though, Harris needs to use her term to start looking toward the future. As Deveny of Climate Vision told me, “We designed the IRA to think about meeting our 2030 target. And now we have to think about 2035.” Looking ahead isn’t “just about extending policies,” in other words, but about anticipating new technologies and opportunities that could arise in the next decade — and Harris, if elected, should step up to the challenge.
Harris needs a bold, original vision
- Start an “industrial renaissance”
- Make polluters pay
- Invest trillions into transforming every part of the economy
Some believe Harris shouldn’t limit herself to the framework of the IRA as it exists now — that she needs to dream bigger and better than anything seen under the Biden administration. “The question is: Are we going to just ride the coattails of the IRA as if this problem is mostly solved? Or are we going to put forward a whole new, bold vision of how we can take things on?” Saul Levin, the political director of the Green New Deal Network, wondered to me.
According to Deveny of Climate Vision, that means continuing to build on “our industrial renaissance.”
“We have really awakened a sleeping giant of clean industrial manufacturing in this country to make solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries,” he explained. “We can also lead the world in clean industrial manufacturing for steel, cement, and other heavy industry projects.” Samaras of Carnegie Mellon, too, shared this vision. “By the end of a potential Harris Administration first term, the path to zero emissions should be visible everywhere,” he told me. Also on his wishlist were “abundant energy-efficient and affordable housing, accessible clean mobility infrastructure everywhere, schools and post offices as community clean energy and resilience hubs, and climate-smart agriculture and nature-based solutions across the country,” plus greater investment in adaptation.
“The fact is that both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act are the largest investments in resilience we’ve ever done,” he said. But “we have to think about it the same way we have to think about mitigation,” he went on. “It’s the largest thing we’ve ever done — comma, so far.”
One of the biggest openings for Harris to distinguish herself from Biden, though, would be by taking a tougher tone with big polluters. Biden had shown less of an appetite for going after businesses, several times kicking the can down the road on a decision to what would have been his second term. Harris, by contrast, is well positioned with her background as a prosecutor and already went as far as to call for a “climate pollution fee” and the creation of an independent Office of Climate and Environmental Justice and Accountability during her 2019-2020 campaign.
“We love seeing her already reference from the stump that there is a lot that she can do with Congress or through the executive branch to hold polluters accountable for the toll that they have taken on families and our climate,” Moffitt of Evergreen Action told me. “That could look like a host of things, from repealing subsidies to using the Department of Justice to hold polluters accountable.” Maria Langholz, the senior director of Arc Initiatives, a strategy group that works with climate-related organizations, told me in an email that her team would also like to see the Harris administration revoke the presidential permit for Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline as high, in addition to developing a public interest determination “that fully addresses the social, environmental, and economic impacts of LNG.”
But Levin, more than anyone else, wanted to see Harris pursue a “moonshot campaign from day one,” he said. “Hoping that tweaking the IRA is an appropriate solution to climate change is totally out of step with mainstream scientific consensus. It’s absolutely ridiculous. At the end of the day, we need to fundamentally transform our economy so that all people can survive climate change.” To have a prayer of meeting the IRA’s climate goals — let alone putting a meaningful dent in America’s contribution to global emissions — the U.S. must “invest trillions of dollars in transforming our transportation system, our building sector, our food and agriculture sector, and every part of the economy so that we can create a livable, sustainable world forever that works for everyone.”
https://heatmap.news/politics/climate-policy-harris-walz
Banana Pi BPI-WiFi6 Mini is a cheap, tiny router board with WiFi 6, Gigabit Ethernet, and optional 4G or 5G support
date: 2024-08-19, from: Liliputing
The Banana Pi BPI-WiFi6 Mini is a tiny computer board designed for use as a DIY wireless router with support for open source software. It features the same processor and wireless chip found in the larger BPI-WiFi6 router that launched earlier this year. But, as the name suggests, the new “mini” model packs those components into […]
The post Banana Pi BPI-WiFi6 Mini is a cheap, tiny router board with WiFi 6, Gigabit Ethernet, and optional 4G or 5G support appeared first on Liliputing.
OpenAI kills Iranian accounts using ChatGPT to write US election disinfo
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
12 on X and one on Instagram caught in the crackdown
OpenAI has banned ChatGPT accounts linked to an Iranian crew suspected of spreading fake news on social media sites about the upcoming US presidential campaign.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/openai_iranian_accounts/
Elon bought the airport
date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News
Elon Musk bought the biggest airport on the social web. A major world hub like Atlanta, London or Dubai.
Bluesky is a regional airport in a cool place, maybe Austin.
Mastodon is a small network of airports, like the ones served by Ryanair in Europe.
Threads is potentially one of the big airports like the one Musk bought, but it’s not as much of a hub yet. Orlando? Frankfurt?
There are lots of scheduled flights in and out of X because it’s where most of the traffic already goes. It’s quite possibly not running that smoothly, like perhaps JFK in NYC, always a mess, under construction, huge traffic, broken systems.
But it does actually work pretty reliably most of the time.
When I was first getting started in tech, when we got the initial angel funding for LVT, I asked the lead investor, Bill Jordan, if Apple was going to go out of business. At the time, 1983, a lot of people said it would. He asked what their sales were. $1 billion, I said. He said they’re not going away. Companies that large don’t disappear. After 40 years of experience in tech since then, Bill was right. Companies that lead markets very rarely disappear. It does happen. But not often. More likely is Musk will right the ship, and it will grow to dominate the market. Threads will possibly be Pepsi. Mastodon will be Home Depot. Bluesky will be Laurel Canyon. Or who knows?
But there’s a high probability that Musk’s company will exist in some form, and make us feel sick, every day, about what could have been. 😀
http://scripting.com/2024/08/19/200828.html?title=elonBoughtTheAirport
As Banksy’s Animal Art Series Ends, Caretakers Grapple With How to Preserve His Murals
date: 2024-08-19, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The street artist unveiled nine new pieces in London this month, and many have already been taken down or defaced
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
The Wikipedia page for Living Videotext begins with one of our slogans. It was a joke, and meant to keep us humble, so we listen to users. It was one of many such slogans. LVT made some important contributions to the networks we use today. Wikipedia should talk about that first, show some respect, for crying out loud. Otherwise, except for that snipe up front, the account is actually pretty accurate.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/19.html#a200025
NASA CubeSats Launch as Commercial Rideshares
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
A pair of CubeSats from NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator, or PTD, series lifted off on SpaceX’s Transporter-11 rideshare mission at 11:56 a.m. PDT Friday, August 16, from Vandenburg Space Force Base in California. The two small satellites, PTD-4 and PTD-R, will help advance NASA’s efforts to validate novel technologies and increase small spacecraft capabilities in […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-cubesats-launch-as-commercial-rideshares/
Who Bought St. Anthony’s for $16.7 Million and What Are They Going to Do with It?
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Will the 11-acre property in the heart of the Mission District be developed as a hotel, a school, a retirement village, or just another mansion?
The post Who Bought St. Anthony’s for $16.7 Million and What Are They Going to Do with It? appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Apple debuts a web app for Podcasts, letting users log in to listen to podcasts, view the Up Next queue and library, and browse new shows, at podcasts.apple.com.
https://www.techmeme.com/240819/p13#a240819p13
Never not gobsmacked by how the massive waves at Teahupo’o create an…
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/0045148-never-not-gobsmacked-by-h
Hart school district set to dissolve Measure SA committee
date: 2024-08-19, from: The Signal
A new high school, two new auditoriums and the first two-story building for the district’s oldest school. Those are some of the things that Measure SA funds helped to produce […]
The post Hart school district set to dissolve Measure SA committee appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/hart-school-district-set-to-dissolve-measure-sa-committee/
Water board races set for November ballot
date: 2024-08-19, from: The Signal
The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency will have six races for the nine-person board on the Nov. 5 ballot, and with the filing deadline passed, the races are set. The […]
The post Water board races set for November ballot appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/water-board-races-set-for-november-ballot/
Modern Manners in the House
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
“In the Making: Contemporary Art at SBMA” showcases seven decades of art of the modern sort in the museum’s permanent collection.
The post Modern Manners in the House appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/19/modern-manners-in-the-house/
Local Artist Felicia Tausig Presenting Solo Exhibition ‘Free Fall’
date: 2024-08-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Felicia Tausig, an award-winning photographer and artist, is set to present her inaugural solo show, “Free Fall,” at the Vernon Gallery, located within the Canyon Theatre Guild in downtown Newhall
https://scvnews.com/local-artist-felicia-tausig-presenting-solo-exhibition-free-fall/
Talking Totally Toad with Dean Dinning
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Toad the Wet Sprocket springs into action at Santa Barbara’s Lobero on August 29.
The post Talking Totally Toad with Dean Dinning appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/19/talking-totally-toad-with-dean-dinning/
High School Football Preview
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
It’s Friday night lights time for Bishop Diego, Dos Pueblos, Santa Barbara, and San Marcos, with Carpinteria a week later.
The post High School Football Preview appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/19/high-school-football-preview-2/
NASA Awards $1.25 Million to Three Teams at Deep Space Food Finale
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
NASA has awarded a total of $1.25 million to three U.S. teams in the third and final round of the agency’s Deep Space Food Challenge. The teams delivered novel food production technologies that could provide long-duration human space exploration missions with safe, nutritious, and tasty food. The competitors’ technologies address NASA’s need for sustainable food […]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-1-25-million-to-three-teams-at-deep-space-food-finale/
Multiple flaws in Microsoft macOS apps unpatched despite potential risks
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Windows giant tells Cisco Talos it isn’t fixing them
Cisco Talos says eight vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s macOS apps could be abused by nefarious types to record video and sound from a user’s device, access sensitive data, log user input, and escalate privileges.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/cisco_talos_microsoft_macos/
NASA Celebrates Ames’s Legacy of Research on National Aviation Day
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
NASA works every day to improve air travel – and has been doing so since its creation decades ago. On National Aviation Day, NASA and all fans of aviation get the chance to celebrate the innovative research and development the agency has produced to improve capability and safety in flight. NASA’s Ames Research Center in […]
A Soil Fungus That Can Kill Is on the Rise in California: What to Know About Valley Fever
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
About 80 Californians die every year after contracting Valley fever, a fungal disease that typically affects the lungs. A recent outbreak was traced to a music festival in Kern County.
The post A Soil Fungus That Can Kill Is on the Rise in California: What to Know About Valley Fever appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Rare Fossils Give Clues to How Tardigrades Survived Mass Extinctions by Hitting the Snooze Button
date: 2024-08-19, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Scientists have only four known tardigrade fossils, which preserve insights into how the hardy critters evolved their hibernation-like superpower of cryptobiosis
What Should an Electric Car Sound Like?
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/what-should-an-electric-car-sound-like
Five Productions Filming in Santa Clarita
date: 2024-08-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The city of Santa Clarita’s Film Office has released the list of five productions currently filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week of Monday, Aug. 19 to Sunday, Aug.
https://scvnews.com/five-productions-filming-in-santa-clarita-4/
Revisiting OSIRIS-REx
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
An OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule training model parachutes down in this image from Aug. 30, 2023. This drop test was part of NASA’s preparations for the return of samples from the asteroid Bennu on Sept. 24, 2023. OSIRIS-REx was the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid. This photo was chosen by […]
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/revisiting-osiris-rex/
The Home Page | Celebrity News and Vibrant Views
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Dorothy, Marilyn, and a trio of visit-worthy open houses.
The post The Home Page | Celebrity News and Vibrant Views appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/19/the-home-page-celebrity-news-and-vibrant-views/
Station Science Top News: August 16, 2024
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
Locations designed as a maintenance work area and an exercise area on the International Space Station are commonly used by crew members for stowage and body maintenance activities, respectively. These differences between intended and actual use demonstrate that systematic observation of material culture can help researchers identify how astronauts adapt to life in microgravity and support better […]
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/station-science-top-news-august-16-2024/
Daily Deals (8-19-2024)
date: 2024-08-19, from: Liliputing
When the FIREBAT A8 mini PC debuted earlier this year for $550 and up, it was one of the most affordable PCs available to feature an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS “Hawk Point” processor, dual 2.5 GbE LAN ports, and support for up to four 4K displays. Now it’s even cheaper: Amazon is running a Lightning […]
The post Daily Deals (8-19-2024) appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/daily-deals-8-19-2024/
ON Culture | Headless Households, Fab Fundraisers and Musical
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Entertainment up the wazoo.
The post ON Culture | Headless Households, Fab Fundraisers and Musical appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/19/on-culture-headless-households-fab-fundraisers-and-musical/
Scientists are puzzled by the presence of “little red dots” found by…
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/0045140-scientists-are-puzzled-by
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Conservative Legal Scholar Endorses Kamala Harris.
https://politicalwire.com/2024/08/19/conservative-legal-scholar-endorses-kamala-harris/
GM axes 1,000+ jobs in software and service division, majority in US
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Automaker claims it has to ‘make bold choices’
General Motors (GM) is cutting more than 1,000 salaried positions worldwide in its software and services division, with the majority based in the US.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/gm_axes_1000_jobs_in/
13,600-Year-Old Mastodon Skull Uncovered in Iowa
date: 2024-08-19, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The hulking creature may have overlapped with Indigenous people
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/13600-year-old-mastodon-skull-unearthed-in-iowa-180984931/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Harris, Trump, and Our Broken News Media.
https://weeklysift.com/2024/08/19/harris-trump-and-our-broken-news-media/
‘Santa Barbara News-Press’ Archives Languish Amid Decay
date: 2024-08-19, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Bidders for the assets of the once-mighty daily paper have a week to place their bets.
The post ‘Santa Barbara News-Press’ Archives Languish Amid Decay appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/19/santa-barbara-news-press-archives-languish-amid-decay/
The Double-Edged Sword of Air Conditioning in a Warming World
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: RAND blog
Last summer was the hottest on record and 2024 looks to be hotter still. Cranking up the AC can provide temporary relief but it could lead to greater vulnerability to extreme climate events over time. Fortunately, there are strategies that could reduce air conditioning’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Man killed on I-5 identified
date: 2024-08-19, from: The Signal
A man killed on the northbound side of Interstate 5 at the Calgrove Boulevard exit in the early hours of Saturday has been identified by the Los Angeles County Medical […]
The post Man killed on I-5 identified appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/man-killed-on-i-5-identified/
Microsoft closes Windows 11 upgrade loophole in latest Insider build
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Pretending you’re a server won’t stop the hardware police
Microsoft has finally patched a workaround exploited by users seeking an upgrade path for Windows 11 that dodged the company’s hardware requirements.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/windows_11_loophole_closed/
Aug. 30: The Rink Sports Pavilion Groundbreaking
date: 2024-08-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Join the city of Santa Clarita for a groundbreaking event, marking the construction of The Rink Sports Pavilion on Friday, Aug. 30, at 9:30 a.m
https://scvnews.com/aug-30-the-rink-sports-pavilion-groundbreaking/
Sols 4277-4279: Getting Ready To Say Goodbye to the King!
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
Earth planning date: Friday, Aug. 16, 2024 It’s time to move on from our “Kings Canyon” drill site, so today’s plan focused on our usual tidy up routine after a drill campaign. First we need to dump out any material in the drill chambers, in an action called “RAGE” – this sounds aggressive but stands […]
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/sols-4277-4279-getting-ready-to-say-goodbye-to-the-king/
California goes to the Democratic convention: 3 things to watch for
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The LAist
The California delegation, the largest at the Democratic National Convention, will also play a key role representing the home state of Kamala Harris. What to look for this week.
https://laist.com/news/politics/california-democratic-convention-watch
A Rare ‘Super Blue Moon’ Will Be Visible Monday Night: What Does That Mean?
date: 2024-08-19, from: Smithsonian Magazine
Tonight’s full moon will be bigger and brighter than usual, and it’s the third of four full moons this summer
Procreate will not be building any generative AI features into their fantastic…
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/0045160-procreate-will-not-be-bui
City to Hold Official Groundbreaking on the Future Site of The Rink Sports Pavilion
date: 2024-08-19, from: City of Santa Clarita
Join the City of Santa Clarita for a groundbreaking event, marking the construction of The Rink Sports Pavilion on Friday, August 30, at 9:30 a.m. Located adjacent to the Gymnasium at the Santa Clarita Sports Complex, this state-of-the-art recreational facility will become a cornerstone of community engagement and wellness in Santa Clarita. The Rink Sports […]
The post City to Hold Official Groundbreaking on the Future Site of The Rink Sports Pavilion appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.
Firefighters Extinguish Blaze at London’s Somerset House
date: 2024-08-19, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The palatial complex’s historic artworks sustained no damage from the fire that broke out on August 17
Too Much Information
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: One Foot Tsunami
https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/08/19/too-much-information/
Ken Striplin | Know Your District
date: 2024-08-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of active participation in the democratic process
https://scvnews.com/ken-striplin-know-your-district/
Washington, DC, councilmember arrested on bribery charge
date: 2024-08-19, from: VOA News USA
Washington — A Washington, D.C., councilmember known for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories has been arrested on charges that he accepted over $150,000 in bribes in exchange for using his elected position to help companies with city contracts, according to court records unsealed on Monday.
Trayon White Sr., a Democrat who ran an unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2022, was arrested on a federal bribery charge by the FBI on Sunday. He is expected to make his initial court appearance on Monday.
An FBI agent’s affidavit says White agreed in June to accept roughly $156,000 in kickbacks and cash payments in exchange for pressuring government agency employees to extend two companies’ contracts for violence intervention services. The contacts were worth over $5 million.
White, 40, also accepted a $20,000 bribe payment to help resolve a contract dispute for one of the companies by pressuring high-level district officials, the affidavit alleges.
An FBI informant who agreed to plead guilty to fraud and bribery charges reported giving White gifts including travel to the Dominican Republic and Las Vegas along with paying him bribes, the FBI said.
White, who has served on the D.C. council since 2017, represents a predominantly Black ward where the poverty rate is nearly twice as high as the overall district. He is running for re-election in November against a Republican challenger.
White’s chief of staff and communication director didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
https://www.voanews.com/a/washington-dc-councilmember-arrested-on-bribery-charge/7748385.html
The Disciples
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/the-disciples
Gentoo Linux to drop Itanium support as Funtoo fork enters ‘Hobby Mode’
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Founder’s side-project is letting in water
News is bubbling up both from the Gentoo project and its successor, the tellingly named “Funtoo” – what Gentoo founder Daniel Robbins did next.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/gentoo_drops_ia64_funtoo_falters/
Gentoo Linux to drop Itanium support as Funtoo fork enters ‘Hobby Mode’
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Liam Proven’s articles at the Register
Founder’s side-project is letting in water
<p>News is bubbling up both from the Gentoo project and its successor, the tellingly named "Funtoo" – what Gentoo founder Daniel Robbins did next.</p> LASD Asking for Public’s Help Locating Missing Santa Clarita Woman
date: 2024-08-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Missing Persons Unit investigators are asking for the public’s help locating at-risk missing person Donna Lee Puglisi
https://scvnews.com/lasd-asking-for-publics-help-locating-missing-santa-clarita-woman/
Homicide: Life on the Street is now streaming on Peacock. Alan Sepinwall…
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/0045155-homicide-life-on-the-stre
Book note: Moerdijk and van Oosten, Sets, Models and Proofs
date: 2024-08-19, from: Logic Matters blog
Back (slowly, slowly) to logical matters. My plan for the rest of the year is to put together a second edition of what is consistently the most downloaded of the Big Red Logic Books (and also, surprisingly, the second-best paperback seller), namely Beginning Mathematical Logic: A Study Guide. It won’t be a radical revision, though […]
The post Book note: Moerdijk and van Oosten, <i>Sets, Models and Proofs</i> appeared first on Logic Matters.
Don’t Mess With Texas Heat
date: 2024-08-19, from: Heatmap News
The heat is chilling out this week, meaning today’s update is a short one. If you’re in the Northeast, start dreaming of pumpkins and hot cocoa. If you live farther south … keep running that AC a little longer.
Fall is in sight — for some
Those in the Northeast can start airing out their sweaters this week. According to Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, a long-lasting jet stream should bring temperatures 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit below historical averages through the end of August. The region can also expect some precipitation and stronger storms, which will likely bring down temperatures even more.
The Pacific Northwest will also get fall-like weather this week, Pastelok told me, which will move into the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley on Thursday. For much of the South and the Gulf Coast, however, forecasts are not looking as optimistic. Pastelok told me it’s possible that both Albuquerque, New Mexico and Lubbock, Texas will break heat records this week, getting well into the 90s and 100s, respectively.
After a brief respite, the heat will also return to the western Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and southeast Montana. Some parts of the Pacific Northwest that started the week feeling fall-ish might end it back in summer, as temperatures creep back up on the eastern side of the region. By Friday, Texas will have it worst.
Park Fire slows down
The Park Fire seems to have finally halted — it hasn’t grown past 429,000 acres burned since last week. Containment is now at 53%. and no new counties have been affected. “I think there’s a reasonable chance that the fire has largely reached its final footprint,” said Climate scientist of the University of California, Los Angeles Daniel Swain during a live briefing on Friday.
After experiencing its hottest July ever, California will finally get a break from the heat this week as the low pressure along the northwest coast will send cool air down into California, Pastelok told me. “The combination of smoke and westerly winds will cool northern California, as well as the coastal areas down to southern California,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean fire conditions are going away, Swain explained. As long as things stay windy and dry, the risk will remain, and a new heat wave arriving around the end of August could up the danger even higher.
Greece’s worst wildfire of the year almost reached Athens
Gigantic wildfires in Greece stopped just shy of Athens. The fire spread incredibly quickly last week due to powerful winds, with flames as high as 80 feet — the mayor of Kifisia, Vasilis Xypolitas, told CNN that at one point, the fire was moving faster than cars. Thousands of residents had to be evacuated.
While the flames have since died down, they burned through almost 260,000 acres, causing extensive damage to cities and villages. Houses, schools, and hospitals have been completely destroyed and many residents might have to wait weeks before electricity is restored. One death has been confirmed.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but Greece has been suffering through a particularly hot and dry summer — prime conditions for relentless fires. This year, the country saw its hottest June and July on record.
Another heat wave in the Balkans
Southeastern Europe has recently seen temperatures above 100 degrees during a heat wave that is expected to persist this week. This is the latest heat wave to hit Romania, which has already suffered through drought and extreme weather this summer. While some rain is predicted for the country this week, temperatures will continue to run above average
Bosnia has also been particularly hard hit, and farmers there have noticed a significant impact to production this year. Around Bijeljina, where most of the country’s grain production takes place, farmers estimate that half their crops have been damaged due to the heat. The whole country has seen little to no precipitation this summer, with temperatures constantly above 95 degrees.
https://heatmap.news/climate/summer-heat-fall-texas
Costco in Cancún, a piece about Costco’s travel service and how the…
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/0045151-costco-in-cancun-a-piece
Swift Could Sue Trump Under State Law for Fake AI Endorsement
date: 2024-08-19, from: 404 Media Group
Donald Trump accepted fake endorsements from AI-generated versions of Taylor Swift and her fans. Under a recently-enacted Tennessee law, the AI-generated images could be illegal.
https://www.404media.co/donald-trump-taylor-swift-endorsement-ai-images/
Archaeologists Stumble Upon a 2,000-Year-Old Dolphin Mosaic in England
date: 2024-08-19, from: Smithsonian Magazine
The Roman-era artwork was likely preserved thanks to a remodeling project in the third or fourth century C.E.
Ubuntu 24.04.1 will be late, but fresher kernels are coming
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Bad news for impatient LTS users, balanced out by tweaked policy
The launch date for the next Ubuntu point release is being pushed back, but there’s a silver lining: Canonical is promising fresher kernels in future builds.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/ubuntu_240401_will_be_late/
Ubuntu 24.04.1 will be late, but fresher kernels are coming
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Liam Proven’s articles at the Register
Bad news for impatient LTS users, balanced out by tweaked policy
<p>The launch date for the next Ubuntu point release is being pushed back, but there's a silver lining: Canonical is promising fresher kernels in future builds.</p> https://go.theregister.com/i/cfa/https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/ubuntu_240401_will_be_late/
Livestreams of Watering Holes in the Namibian Desert
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/livestreams-of-watering-holes-in-the-namibian-desert-1
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
That’s a lot of pot! Major seizure made in Astoria.
What to know about Monday’s blue supermoon
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The LAist
The next blue supermoon will not happen until 2032, but supermoons occur more frequently.
https://laist.com/news/what-to-know-about-mondays-blue-supermoon
Your SoCal Weather Report For Monday, August 19: Warm up begins after a cooler weekend
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The LAist
Expect warming today and tomorrow, but another cooling trend by midweek.
https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/la-weather-report-august-19-warm-tuesday-monday-no-wind
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Phil Donahue Dead: Talk Show Host Was 88.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/phil-donahue-dead-talk-show-host-1235978074/
A disturbing report from ProPublica on the armed domestic terror cells that…
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/0045150-a-disturbing-report-from-
Manufacturing Is Back, Baby
date: 2024-08-19, from: Heatmap News
For my entire life, I’ve heard politicians talk about bringing manufacturing jobs back to America. Now it is finally happening. “We’re not going back!” has become Kamala Harris’s rallying cry, and it’s apt here too, because those jobs and industries of the future are what’s at stake in this election.
The Biden-Harris administration and the 117th Congress enacted a trio of laws — the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — that made major public investments to cultivate and strengthen several key industries of the future: semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, solar and wind manufacturing, hydrogen-based energy, and clean steel.
Those new laws (and other Biden-Harris Administration actions on trade and tariffs) have directed and amplified a megatrend in “reshoring” and driven a huge surge in private sector investments in U.S. manufacturing, creating tens of thousands of good jobs in communities across America. Investment in manufacturing construction has more than doubled since passage of the IRA and CHIPS, and the U.S. has seen nearly 127,000 new jobs created, according to Energy Innovation policy analyst Jack Conness.
Just last week, on the occasion of the IRA’s two-year anniversary, Heatmap’s Emily Pontecorvo wrote about a new report finding that 6,285 utility-scale clean energy projects in the U.S. may be eligible for IRA tax credits, meaning 3.9 million jobs, all of which will be subject to minimum pay standards if they want the federal rewards.
These investments are supporting a diverse set of communities across America. Of the nearly $71 billion of clean energy manufacturing investments announced in 2023, more than $59 billion — around 83% — were in House districts represented by Republicans per the Clean Economy Tracker, a partnership between Atlas Public Policy and Utah State University. That’s tens of billions of dollars flowing into rural areas, including a significant chunk going to “energy communities,” areas that have historically produced, processed, or transported fossil fuels.
We all know that manufacturing plants can be an anchor employer for a community and play an even more important role than the direct jobs numbers reveal. The opening of dozens of new advanced manufacturing plants means dozens of communities across America have a brighter economic future — or at least, they do for now.
Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s vision for “the next conservative administration,” contains a set of plans and policies that would put all those communities and hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs in jeopardy. Energy Innovation modeled the policy scenario outlined in Project 2025 against one in which the U.S. meets its stated goal of reducing emissions 50% to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030 and found that the former would lead to 3.9 million fewer jobs in 2030 compared to the latter, including 1.7 million jobs straight-up lost. The overall economic effect would be catastrophic: a $320 billion annual drop in GDP in 2030, compared to a $450 billion per year gain if the U.S. meets its clean energy and climate goals.
Trump has publicly disavowed Project 2025, but the evidence for his private alignment with its authors and principles continues to mount — most recently the release of secret Project 2025 training videos, featuring more than two-dozen former Trump administration figures.
Project 2025 calls for gutting the IRA and the infrastructure law, which would, in the words of a memo released last week by the center-left think tank Third Way, “end crucial federal investments in US manufacturing, scrap tax incentives that help U.S. manufacturers compete with China, and make it harder for U.S. manufacturers to obtain loans.” It would also have ominous implications for America’s geopolitical position in the medium- to long-term. “Funding basic research and then cutting all subsequent support, as Trump plans to do, opens the door for other countries to swoop in and claim market share,” the authors write. This has happened before: The U.S. developed much of the solar and battery technology China is now using to dominate those global markets.
That’s to say nothing of the overall environment of chaos and policy uncertainty that comes with a Trump presidency, which wreaks havoc on business investment. Business leaders would be wise to remember what it was like under Trump 1.0. Trump might promise corporate tax cuts, but with a strong economy, cooling inflation, and a vibrant manufacturing renaissance finally underway, the worst thing we could do is pull the rug out from under the entire U.S. economic policy framework — continuity and certainty are good for business.
As Greg Sargent pointed out in The New Republic, “All this gives Harris an opening.” The green transition can be exciting, a source of the kind of joy Harris and her vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz, have been stumping about. “Without getting entangled in cultural cross-signaling around fossil fuels, she can argue that the very last thing we should do is reverse the clean energy boom. It’s creating lots of jobs building cool, innovative stuff right in the American heartland.”
I, for one, will be looking to see if this contrast starts to show up in political ads and speeches at this week’s Democratic National Convention — something like: “Harris will continue investing in U.S. manufacturing and the industries of the future. Trump will blow that all up. The choice is on the ballot. And we’re not going back.”
What future do you choose?
https://heatmap.news/economy/us-manufacturing-election
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
It’s nice to see the DNC including influencers this year. I hear them say this is the first time, but I beg to disagree. A few dozen bloggers were at the DNC in 2004, and were treated well, in many ways. I think the word influencer and blogger have fairly similar meanings. Blogger is a broader term, because it’s possible to have a very small readership for a blog, thus not be influencing very much, but still have a lot of value. And you always can influence your mom and little sister, right? 😄
http://scripting.com/2024/08/19.html#a142623
Californians Affected by Wildfires May Be Eligible for Property Tax Relief
date: 2024-08-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The California State Board of Equalization (BOE), which is constitutionally and statutorily responsible for the oversight of California’s property tax system, reminds all Californians affected by this year’s wildfires that they may be eligible for property tax relief
https://scvnews.com/californians-affected-by-wildfires-may-be-eligible-for-property-tax-relief/
Diminishing Dark Energy May Evade the ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes
date: 2024-08-19, from: Quanta Magazine
The largest-ever 3D map of the cosmos hints that the dark energy that’s fueling the universe’s expansion may be weakening. One community of theoretical physicists expected as much.The post Diminishing Dark Energy May Evade the ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Phil Donahue, pioneering daytime talk show host, dies at 88
date: 2024-08-19, from: VOA News USA
https://www.voanews.com/a/phil-donahue-pioneering-daytime-talk-show-host-dies-at-88/7748199.html
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Respect
the reader. This isn’t exactly a new
rule for journalism,
but it’s worth mentioning anyway. If you wouldn’t want to read the piece
yourself, don’t let them put your name on it. Example. A
story
promises to tell you about 47 seconds that saved Kamala Harris’s career.
They do eventually tell you the words, but you have to wade through a
lot of pointless bullshit to get to it. If I were writing it, the first
words of the piece would have to be the words, and then explain it.
You’ve seen this over and over and it gets worse all the time. I still
don’t understand why they do it, if I’m reading the piece, I’m a paying
subscriber, right? Another example of disrespect, quit trying to upsell
paying customers. Once a month maybe, but not every 8th time I visit
your site. Most businesses have no regard for their customers’ time, but
the ones that do, really make an impression.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/19.html#a140827
The hottest invite in American economics
date: 2024-08-19, from: Marketplace Morning Report
Picture this: Lush greenery, the picturesque Tetons and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a cowboy hat. (Maybe.) This week, roughly 120 academics, Fed policy makers and journalists are descending on Wyoming for the annual Jackson Hole Symposium. We’ll hear more about the event combining mountain hikes and monetary policy. But first, inflation remains a raw nerve as Vice President Kamala Harris begins to outline her economic policy goals.
Reliable app storage over time is not here yet
date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News
I’m working on a project which may or may not ship, but it presents an interesting design challenge either way.
The idea is I want to write lots of little bits, less than 5000 characters each, they have titles, use styling, links, include images, etc.
Or it could also be as small as a single emoji.
This is what we’ve settled on in 2024 as the basic unit of writing. From a tweet to a long blog post.
I want to make an editor and storage system that fits this model perfectly based on all we know about this stuff, and the latest server and network technologies.
It should have the best simplest API we know how to make in 2024.
In every way it’ll be the nicest, fastest and most flexible way to create structures of writing over time.
In that last sentence is the gotcha – over time. It’s the frontier, the leading edge. Because in 2024 there’s no way for me, as an individual developer to create a structure that lasts over time.
I can create a structure that has a high probability of lasting a month. A pretty good chance of lasting a few years, but beyond that, it gets less likely probably at a pretty good clip and eventually goes over a cliff.
The way I have answered that in the past was with GitHub.
In 2017, I started an archive of my Scripting News writing on GitHub. It’s still just a fraction of my writing, I’m not doing anything like that for all my other sites and services. But at least I’ve managed to set up a system that only requires me to do something once a month, which is something I like to do because it gives me some assurance the other mechanisms are still working. Archive systems have bugs too.
So I guess for the project I’m doing I will again use GitHub to mirror the content in the database until and unless GitHub proves unusable for this purpose, or something much better comes along.
Note that GitHub has made no promise about the continued availability of their service, all we have to go on is that they have been reliable for enough time to present the illusion of persistence. 😄
http://scripting.com/2024/08/19/134815.html?title=reliableAppStorageOverTimeIsNotHereYet
Brit tech mogul Mike Lynch missing after yacht sinks off Sicily amid storms
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Autonomy founder’s wife rescued, daughter and others unaccounted for
Updated Mike Lynch, often dubbed the UK’s answer to Bill Gates, is missing after his luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily this morning.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/mike_lynch_missing_yacht/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-08-19, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
The law of thermodynamics they didn’t teach you about in school: every vibrant social gathering space will eventually turn into a bank branch office.
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112988988019545826
Installing FreeBSD with OpenZFS via the Linux rescue system
date: 2024-08-19, from: OS News
Hetzner no longer offers a FreeBSD rescue system but it is possible to install and manage FreeBSD with OpenZFS from the Linux rescue system on a dedicated server with UEFI boot. The installation is done on a mirrored OpenZFS pool consisting of two drives. ↫ Martin Matuska Not much to add here – Hetzner is a popular hosting and server provider, and if you want to use FreeBSD on their machines, here’s how.
https://www.osnews.com/story/140529/installing-freebsd-with-openzfs-via-the-linux-rescue-system/
Hubble Spots Billowing Bubbles of Stellar Floss
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
A bubbling region of stars both old and new lies some 160,000 light-years away in the constellation Dorado. This complex cluster of emission nebulae is known as N11, and was discovered by American astronomer and NASA astronaut Karl Gordon Henize in 1956. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope brings a new image of the cluster in the […]
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-spots-billowing-bubbles-of-stellar-floss/
House Republicans release impeachment report on Biden but next steps are uncertain
date: 2024-08-19, from: VOA News USA
Yearlong probe stops short of alleging any criminal wrongdoing by president
National Public Data tells officials ‘only’ 1.3M people affected by intrusion
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Investigators previously said the number was much, much higher
The data broker at the center of what may become one of the more significant breaches of the year is telling officials that just 1.3 million people were affected.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/national_public_data_breach/
Let’s remember how benign the internet can be
date: 2024-08-19, from: Logic Matters blog
In 2002, when the internet was still in its infancy, the philosopher Bernard Williams wrote: Moreover, the Internet shows signs of creating for the first time what Marshall McLuhan prophesied as a consequence of television, a global village, something that has the disadvantages both of globalization and of a village. Certainly it does offer some […]
The post Let’s remember how benign the internet can be appeared first on Logic Matters.
https://www.logicmatters.net/2024/08/19/lets-remember-how-benign-the-internet-can-be/
Raspberry Pi 5 with 2GB RAM now available for $50
date: 2024-08-19, from: Liliputing
When the Raspberry Pi 5 first launched in 2023 it was available in two configurations: customers could buy a model with 4GB of LPDDR4X-4267 RAM for $60 or an 8GB version for $80. Now the Raspberry Pi team has launched a cheaper model with a $50 price tag. But the smaller amount of memory isn’t […]
The post Raspberry Pi 5 with 2GB RAM now available for $50 appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/raspberry-pi-5-with-2gb-ram-now-available-for-50/
The Golden Age of Hackers in Vegas Is Over
date: 2024-08-19, from: 404 Media Group
After ransomware struck the strip, Vegas is more cautious and paranoid about hackers than ever, with businesses and casinos sending a clear message: hackers are not welcome here.
https://www.404media.co/the-golden-age-of-hackers-in-vegas-is-over-defcon/
Feeds for Threads
date: 2024-08-19, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News
I was kvelling the other day about rss.app and how they have feeds for Threads accounts. They do. But there are two caveats.
- It costs $9.99 per month for 15 feeds. Could be a bit expensive for some people’s budgets.
-
The
second concern is more serious. It doesn’t handle titleless items
properly. It repeats the contents of the tweet in the title and
description of the feeds it generates. An
example.
This is not right, and it’s not the way Mastodon and Bluesky do it.
There’s nothing wrong with items that have no titles. When an item has
no title you do the common sense thing – omit the title. I’m happy to
help with this. I wrote the
RSS 2.0 spec, and
am something of an authority on this. It’s important to get this right.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/19/125603.html?title=feedsForThreads
Virginia’s datacenters guzzle water like there’s no tomorrow, says FOI-based report
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
AI’s thirst for power is only making things worse
Concerns over the environmental impact of datacenters in the US state of Virginia are being raised again amid claims their water consumption has stepped up by almost two-thirds since 2019, and AI could make it worse.…
Zotac Gaming Zone handheld gaming PC launches for $799 (with Ryzen 7 8840U, 120 Hz display, and dual trackpads)
date: 2024-08-19, from: Liliputing
The Zotac Gaming Zone is a handheld gaming PC that enters an increasingly crowded marketplace. But it has a few features that could help it stand out. It’s one of the first to feature an IR webcam with support for face recognition. It’s the first Windows handheld to feature a pair of Steam Deck-like trackpads below […]
The post Zotac Gaming Zone handheld gaming PC launches for $799 (with Ryzen 7 8840U, 120 Hz display, and dual trackpads) appeared first on Liliputing.
At Work and Beyond, NASA Employees Find Joy in Aviation
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
The first “A” in NASA stands for aeronautics. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is just one of several NASA centers conducting revolutionary research to make flight cleaner, safer, and quieter. But an interest in flying goes beyond the professional for many at NASA. Meet a handful of NASA Glenn employees who have a personal connection […]
Kamala Harris to make her economic case at the DNC
date: 2024-08-19, from: Marketplace Morning Report
The Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago today. While Democrats will be touting the Biden administration’s accomplishments, Kamala Harris has to articulate a clear and distinguishable economic message to help sway voters — one that says the next four years will be better for their pocketbooks than the last. Plus, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is cracking down on homeless encampments. Where are all those people going to go?
Climate Change Will Be an Unavoidable Topic at the DNC
date: 2024-08-19, from: Heatmap News
Current conditions: Record rainfall swamped Vienna, Austria, over the weekend • Russia evacuated school children from summer camps in parts of Siberia as wildfires rage • It will be a pleasant 72 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Chicago today for the start of the Democratic National Convention.
THE TOP FIVE
- Climate advocates will be out in force at the Democratic National
Convention
The Democratic National Convention kicks off today in Chicago, where Vice President Kamala Harris will be officially recognized as the party’s 2024 presidential nominee. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden are expected to speak today, former President Barack Obama is scheduled to appear tomorrow, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will take center stage Wednesday to accept the vice-presidential nomination, and Harris will speak on Thursday. The rest of the schedule hasn’t been officially announced, but climate change will be an unavoidable topic. E&E News reported that climate will be a prominent theme on at least one of the event’s four nights, with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, and EPA Administrator Michael Regan likely to tout the Biden administration’s environmental wins. Climate advocates will be out in force, making the case “for candidates up and down the ballot in November to speak often about the success of the Inflation Reduction Act,” E&E News added. Convention attendees reportedly will receive regular pop-up ads on their devices from the event’s “clean energy sponsor,” Chicago-based Invenergy, about the economic benefits of the solar boom. The event runs through Thursday.
- Connecticut hit by historic rain and flooding
Heavy rain inundated parts of the East Coast yesterday, triggering catastrophic flash floods and disrupting travel. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for parts of Connecticut, including Fairfield, New Haven, Litchfield and Hartford counties, after about 10 inches of rain fell across the region. Meteorologists called this a one-in-1,000-year event. “This amount of precipitation wasn’t expected by anyone today,” Kyle Pederson, a NWS meteorologist, told The New York Times. Streets and cars were submerged and multiple water rescues had to be carried out.
Flash flood warnings were issued for Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. In NYC, water poured from the ceiling into Chelsea Market. Amtrak trains were disrupted between New York and Philadelphia, and flights were delayed out of Boston Logan International Airport.
- Heat illness sickens 100 at Colorado air show
Meanwhile, in Colorado, more than 100 people who attended an air show were treated for heat-related illnesses on Saturday. Temperatures inched toward 100 degrees Fahrenheit at the Pikes Peak Regional Air Show in Colorado Springs, and there was little cloud cover or shade to provide relief. The fire department said most people were treated on-site but 10 were sent to hospitals. At the event’s second day, on Sunday, organizers put in place extra precautions like water stations and shade tents. “No one wants a repeat of Saturday,” said Colorado Springs Sports Corporation spokeswoman Lauren DeMarco. Parts of Colorado have been experiencing near-record high temperatures for August. In Denver, the extreme heat is also making air quality worse. Heat alerts were in place for more than 52 million people across the central Plains and South over the weekend. The heat index could reach 112 degrees today in parts of north Texas.
- Appeals court scraps some natural gas pipeline safety standards
In case you missed it on Friday, a U.S. appeals court scrapped some of President Biden’s natural gas pipeline safety standards. The rules, put in place by the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said natural gas operators had to repair pipelines showing signs of wear and tear, like corrosion or cracks and dents. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the agency hadn’t adequately analyzed the costs of those repairs or explained why they would be justified, and tossed them out.
- Hailstone ‘library’ could help improve weather modeling
Researchers have created a “hailstone library” where they are collecting and studying hailstone samples to help inform weather models. The library, located at Australia’s University of Queensland, contains hundreds of samples of hailstones from all over the world to help scientists better understand how things like shape, weight, and size affect the way the stones behave in a storm.
“The end game is to be able to predict in real-time how big hail will
be, and where it will fall,”
said
Dr. Joshua Soderholm, an Honorary Senior Research Fellow from the
University of Queensland’s School of the Environment. “More accurate
forecasts would of course warn the public so they can stay safe during
hailstorms and mitigate damage. But it could also significantly benefit
industries such as insurance, agriculture, and solar farming which are
all sensitive to hail.”
Heatmap’s
Jeva Lange noted back in June that most climate models don’t look
specifically at hail trends, but that “it’s been hypothesized that
climate change could create larger and more destructive hail in the
future.”
THE KICKER
This is the first year since 2011 that tickets for the Burning Man Festival haven’t sold out. Last year’s event was spoiled by heavy rain that flooded the Nevada desert and left stranded attendees to fend for themselves in deep mud.
https://heatmap.news/politics/dnc-chicago-harris-climate-change
ESA’s Juice probe dances with Earth and Moon before shooting off to Jupiter
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Gravity assist flybys planned for tonight and tomorrow
The European Space Agency’s Juice probe is to thread the needle this week with a first for a space mission – swings around the Moon and Earth that will result in the spacecraft coming approximately 700 km from the lunar surface.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/esa_juice_gravity_assist/
CockroachDB scuttles away from open source Core offering
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Distributed database biz doesn’t like bigger customers using the free version of its software
CockroachDB, the distributed transactional system with a mostly PostgreSQL compatible front end, plans to retire its free open source “Core” product in favor of a new Enterprise licensing structure for self-hosted users.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/cockroachdb_abandons_open_core/
7-Eleven gets takeover offer
date: 2024-08-19, from: Marketplace Morning Report
From the BBC World Service: The owner of convenience store giant 7-Eleven has received a takeover offer from Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard, which runs the Circle K chain. Then, long COVID has cost Australia’s economy over an estimated $6 billion, with 100 million working hours lost in 2022 alone. Then, Indonesia has inaugurated its new — and partially built — capital city of Nusantara, as part of an ambitious $30 billion plan.
https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/7-eleven-gets-takeover-offer
Fed’s pandemic-era vow to prioritize employment may soon be tested
date: 2024-08-19, from: VOA News USA
Washington — Four years after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made fighting unemployment a bigger priority during the COVID-19 pandemic, he faces a pivotal test of that commitment amid rising joblessness, mounting evidence inflation is under control, and a benchmark interest rate that is still the highest in a quarter of a century.
High interest rates may be on the way out, with the U.S. central bank expected to deliver a first cut at its Sept. 17-18 meeting and Powell potentially providing more information about the approach to the policy easing in a speech on Friday at the Kansas City Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
But with the Fed’s policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range for more than a year, the impact of relatively high borrowing costs on the economy may still be building and could take time to unwind even if the central bank starts cutting — a dynamic that could put hopes for a “soft landing” of controlled inflation alongside continued low unemployment at risk.
“Powell says the labor market is normalizing,” with wage growth easing, job openings still healthy, and unemployment around what policymakers see as consistent with inflation at the central bank’s 2% target, former Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said. “That would be great if that is all there is. The history is not good.”
Indeed, increases in the unemployment rate like those seen in recent months are typically followed by more.
“That does not seem the situation now. But you may only be one or two poor employment reports away” from needing aggressive rate cuts to counter rising joblessness, Evans said. “The longer you wait, the actual adjustment becomes harder to make.”
Inflation versus employment
Evans was a key voice in reframing the Fed’s policy approach, unveiled by Powell at Jackson Hole in August 2020 as the pandemic was raging, policymakers were gathering via video feed, and the unemployment rate was 8.4%, down from 14.8% that April.
In that context the Fed’s shift seemed logical, changing a long-standing bias towards heading off inflation at the expense of what policymakers came to view as an unnecessary cost to the job market.
Standard monetary policymaking saw inflation and unemployment inextricably and inversely linked: Unemployment below a certain point stoked wages and prices; weak inflation signaled a moribund job market. Officials began to rethink that connection after the 2007-2009 recession, concluding they needn’t treat low unemployment as an inflation risk in itself.
As a matter of equity for those at the job market’s margins, and to achieve the best outcomes overall, the new strategy said Fed policy would “be informed by assessments of the shortfalls of employment from its maximum level.”
“This change may appear subtle,” Powell said in his 2020 speech to the conference. “But it reflects our view that a robust job market can be sustained without causing an outbreak of inflation.”
A pandemic-driven inflation surge and dramatic employment recovery made that change seem irrelevant: The Fed had to raise rates to tame inflation, and until recently the pace of price increases had slowed without much apparent damage to the job market. The unemployment rate through April had been below 4% for more than two years, an unparalleled streak not seen since the 1960s. The unemployment rate since 1948 has averaged 5.7%.
But the events of the last two years, and a coming Fed strategy review, have also triggered a wave of research into exactly what happened: why inflation fell, what role policy played in that, and how things might be done differently if inflation risks rise again.
While the agenda for this year’s conference remains under wraps, the broad theme focuses on how monetary policy influences the economy. That bears on how officials may evaluate future choices and tradeoffs and the wisdom of tactics like preempting inflation before it starts.
Some of that work is already emerging from Fed researchers, including top economist Michael Kiley. He has authored a paper questioning whether policy “asymmetry” — treating employment shortfalls differently than a tight labor market, for example — really helps. Another recent paper suggested policymakers who believe public inflation expectations are formed in the short-run and are volatile should react sooner and raise rates higher in response.
The role public expectations play in driving inflation — and the policy response - was on full display in 2022. When it appeared expectations risked moving higher, the Fed pushed its tightening cycle into overdrive with 75-basis-point hikes at four consecutive meetings. Powell then used a truncated Jackson Hole speech to emphasize his commitment to fight inflation —a stark shift from his jobs-first commentary two years earlier.
It was a key moment that put the U.S. central bank’s seriousness on display, underpinned its credibility with the public and markets, and rebuilt some of the standing that preemptive policies had lost.
‘Too tight’
Powell now faces a test in the other direction. Inflation is progressing back to 2%, but the unemployment rate has risen to 4.3%, up eight-tenths of a percentage point from July 2023.
There’s debate over what that really says about the labor market versus rising labor supply, a positive thing if new job seekers find employment.
But it did breach a rule-of-thumb recession indicator, and while that has been downplayed given other indicators of a growing economy, it also is slightly above the 4.2% that Fed officials regard as representing full employment.
It’s also higher than at any point in Powell’s pre-pandemic months as Fed chief: It was 4.1% and falling when he took over in February 2018.
The “shortfall” in employment that he promised to respond to four years ago, in other words, may already be taking shape.
While Powell will be reluctant to ever declare victory over inflation for fear of touching off exuberant overreaction, Ed Al-Hussainy, senior global rates strategist at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, said it was past time for the Fed to get in front of the risk to unemployment - preemption of a different sort.
Al-Hussainy said the Fed had proved its ability to keep public expectations about inflation in check, an important asset, but that “also has put in motion some downside risk to employment.”
“The policy stance today is offside — it is too tight — and that warrants acting on.”
B2B ISP Fastnet staggers back to feet after VMware incident
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Company continues to investigate root cause
Brighton-based ISP and hosting provider Fastnet has emerged from a trying week which involved battling VMware/Broadcom tech issues that have downed a number of its customers’ websites.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/fastnet_vmware_outage/
Sorry, Moxie. Blaming Agile for software stagnation puts the wrong villain in the wrong play
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Innovation dead for twenty years? Tell that to 2004
Opinion Want a good time on stage, but you’re not a performance artist? Surprisingly easy. Fill a hall with an audience of your peers, tell them the world’s gone to hell in a handcart, then that they’re the only ones who can fix it. You’ll feel the love. Guaranteed.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/sorry_moxie_blaming_agile_for/
Merging Art and Analysis: The Collaborative Efforts Behind NASA Johnson’s Visual Legacy
date: 2024-08-19, from: NASA breaking news
In the heart of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, a team of photographers, imagery acquisition specialists, analytic scientists, and graphic designers work together to create visual narratives that capture the defining moments of space exploration with creativity and precision. From the Apollo missions to the Artemis campaign, these images, videos, and graphics chronicle NASA’s […]
2024-08-18 Indie search for Oddmu
date: 2024-08-19, from: Alex Schroeder’s Blog
2024-08-18 Indie search for Oddmu
This is a follow-up for 2024-08-16 JSON feed for indexing where I linked to IndieSearch, byJP. I want to see what’s required for this to work.
First, I need to install Pagefind. Lucky me, I already have a Rust build environment installed.
cargo install pagefind
Next, I need a static HTML copy of my site:
env ODDMU_LANGUAGES=de,en oddmu static -jobs 3 /tmp/alex
Create the index:
pagefind --site /tmp/alex
Upload:
mv /tmp/alex/pagefind .
make upload
It’s now available at
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/pagefind.
Adding the info to the page header:
<link rel="search" type="application/pagefind" href="/wiki/pagefind" title="Alex Schroeder’s Diary">
<link href="/wiki/pagefind/pagefind-ui.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="/wiki/pagefind/pagefind-ui.js"></script>
<script>
window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => {
new PagefindUI({ element: "#pagefind", showSubResults: true });
});
</script>
And a div to the page body:
<div id="pagefind"></div>
And I had to add ‘unsafe-eval’ to the
script-src Content-Security-Policy header.
Too bad the search result links all end in .html … that
requires an extra rewrite rule, to get rid of. On the other hand, it
also allowed me to get rid of baseUrl: "/view/".
Since there are still rough edges, this search is only available via Pagefind. I’m also not promising any updates to the index.
2024-08-19. While I was experimenting with this all, I asked @byjp some questions.
Sites provide local indexes in the Pagefind format, as a static file?
Correct — except it’s many files, organised so as to allow minimal transfer for a single search query — but all can be retrieved to have a full local index
Clients register one or more of these files and allow searching them?
Correct — they can be retrieved/cached to query locally, or queried efficiently remotely.
Users can install a large number of them, locally? Like I have 23 local dictionaries installed for my dictd and I can query them, locally.
Yes. Many can be kept locally or remotely. The sites you “register”/add become your search index.
Is it possible for a website to offer just a Pagefind installation with a number of URLs to Pagefind indexes without hosting pages and indexes? Clients visiting this Pagefind installation would download all the indexes pointed to in the list and search them locally?
Yes (with minor hackery). Each Pagefind instance is the index, a small bootstrapping JS/WASM blob, and ~5 lines of init JS. Those 5 lines can include locations of multiple indexes for the (exclusively client-side) JS to query when searching; by default the only one configured is the “local” index that created with the Pagefind JS/WASM blob, but you could strip away an empty index and have what you describe — in fact, that’s what my IndieSearch demo does!
If instead of visiting a site with a Pagefind installation one installs a Pagefind browser extensions, is it possible to point it to a URL that hosts a list of indexes?
I haven’t built that (yet), but yeah — I’d want to build an mf2/IndieWeb compatible “new user experience” that’d guide folks to finding a good-for-them set of defaults. My demo automatically (provisionally) adds any site you visit that supports IndieSearch, so you’d get better coverage fast. I’d also consider default-importing from blogrolls and the like. (Management & performance gets tricky with 1000s of indexes. Probs an “if we get there” problem. 😅)
Is it possible to “merge” Pagefind indexes and pass those aggregates on? I’m afraid that having local copies of the indexes means that clients will have to at least query thousands of sites for updates to their page indexes.
Not yet, but I asked exactly this question of the Pagefind devs and they offered that it’s currently too hard, but that there is a potential route they’d consider, see #564.
Thank you so much for answering the questions!
I’m still thinking about the situation where I’m part of a community and we want to all share search, like using Lieu for a webring – except I’d like a solution where I don’t have to do the crawling.
Sadly, the communities I’m part of are planets such as RPG Planet or Planet Emacslife, each with hundreds of blogs. I suppose most of them don’t offer a Pagefind index, being hosted on Blogspot and Wordpress, but what I’m considering is ingesting their feed and indexing it. This could be a service I could perform for people. Luckily, it’s often possible to get all the blog pages via the feed. This is how I’ve made local backups of other people’s blogs. I guess that each site would be a separate index, however?
I’d like to find a way that doesn’t require me to always download all the pages. I’d like to find a way to update the index as it’s being used.
I’d need a way to figure out how to configure it such that the results link back to the original pages, of course.
Another thing I’m considering is that my own site is rendered live, from Markdown files… it’s not a static site. So ideally I’d be able to ingest Markdown files directly. Or I can go the route of exporting it all into a big feed and ingesting that, once I’ve solved the problem above, I guess. But the problem above might also be easier to solve by extracting HTML pages from the feed. It’s what I’ve done in the past. Create something that works, first, then improve it later?
Anyway, ideas are swirling around.
2024-08-19. I notice more things that aren’t quite working the way I like them to work.
The sort order of the results is less than ideal, for example. I like to emphasize more recent blog posts. Pagefind, however, returns them in some sort of scoring order so that I’ve seen quite a few results with pages around 20 years old.
Image previews seem to rarely work. I suspect the problem is pages in subfolders linking to images in that same subfolder. Such relative links don’t need a path – but they do if Pagefind is not in the same directory.
Here’s another thing to consider: The index takes up more space than the full HTML of the entire site, compressed!
alex@sibirocobombus ~> du -sh alexschroeder.ch/wiki/pagefind alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed.json.gz
43M alexschroeder.ch/wiki/pagefind
9.7M alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed.json.gz
So the Pagefind index takes about 4× more space than the full HTML, for this site. This matches my experience with better indexing for my own site where I experimented with full text indexes and trigram indexes. Back then:
the 15 MiB of markdown files seem to have generated an index of 70 MiB – 2023-09-11 Oddµ memory consumption
Of course, in terms of copyright incentives, handing off the entire site like that is tricky. Doing it with a feed feels OK. Doing it for a search engine seems like handing the keys to Google. This provides an incentive to use a pre-computed index.
It also reminds me that the idea I had of building a search engine out of feed slurping without consent is probably a bad idea – like all ideas based on non-consensual acts.
Whether self-indexing is a good thing in terms of avoiding an English-first focus I don’t know. I suspect that most people will be using free software and therefore there’s no reason to suspect that a search engine doesn’t have the means to process the languages. Then again, that’s a lock-in where in order to support a new language, you have to support the software your favourite search-engine supports. So people indexing our own pages might have long term benefits.
I’m still wondering about the comparison of Pagefind and Lunr, to be honest. How many such static search solutions are there? Is there a benefit of one implementation over another?
I guess now I should look into Pagefind some more? Indexing non-HTML pages, handling image previews for pages not in the root directory and relative image source URLs, the sort order of results, the use of the .html extension in results… there are still rough edges as far as I am concerned – and per discussion above the onus is on me to fix my indexing. 😭
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2024-08-18-indie-search
2024-08-16 JSON feed for indexing
date: 2024-08-19, from: Alex Schroeder’s Blog
2024-08-16 JSON feed for indexing
Recently, @dredmorbius wrote about Google and search and posed the question:
What if websites indexed their own content, and published a permuted index in a standard format, in a cache-and-forward model similar to how DNS works?
A while ago I wondered about self-published indexes. We have software to generate feeds. Why not software to generate indexes? Back then I proposed a JSON format. Today I finally took a look at JSON Feed. I think it has everything we need.
Take a look at the example for this site: .well-known/search-feed.json.gz. This file has about 9.7MiB. The source material is 6740 Markdown pages, a total of about 21.5MiB, or 8.4MiB compressed.
Using the next_url attribute, it would be possible to split
this file up into chunks of 100 pages each, or a chunk per year, if the
platform promises that older pages never change. This wouldn’t work for
my wiki, but perhaps it would for certain platforms.
Somebody will have write up a best-practice on how to use HTTP headers to avoid downloading the whole file when nothing has changed. Sadly, section 13 of RFC 2616 is pretty convoluted. Basically something about the use of If-Modified-Since and ETags headers.
We also need to agree on how to use some of the JSON Feed attributes.
content_text: If used, all markup should be ignored by the
server (no guessing whether the text is Markdown or not). It would be
fine if this contained just the text nodes of the HTML, separated by
spaces. This can be useful to see whether words occur in the text, how
frequent they are, etc.
content_html: This is the preferred way to include pages in
the index. It is up to the search engine provider to extract useful
information from the HTML, including summaries, extracts, scoring, etc.
It is up to index providers to provide the kind of HTML they think
serves search engines best. This includes using the semantic HTML tags
and dropping style, scripts, footers and other elements that might be
used by search engines to reduce the relevance of the item.
I also find RFC 5005 to be very instructive in how to think about feeds for archiving.
@jonny commented, saying that it was important to think about how search indexes were going to be used:
so given that no single machine would or should store a whole index of the internet or even all your local internet, you can go a few ways with that, take the global quorum sensing path and you get a bigass global dht-like thing like ipfs. if instead you think there should be some structure, then you need proximity. is that social proximity where we swap indexes between people we know? or webring like proximity dependent on pages linking to each other and mutually indexing their neighborhood?
It’s an interesting question but I think I want incremental improvements to the current situation. So if a person has a website right now, on server, what’s the simplest thing they can do so that they aren’t drowned in crawlers and can still be found via search? That would be publishing an index, analogous to publishing a feed. Having more search engines (even if using legacy centralized architecture) would be better than what we have now. Not depending on crawlers would be better what we have now.
In terms of decentralisation, I think I like community search engines like lieu. The idea is great: a community lists a bunch of sites. Lieu generates a web ring and crawls them to build an index of all the member sites. Instead of crawling, it could fetch the indexes. This would be much better than what it does right now, because right now, lieu uses colly for crawling and colly ignores robots.txt. This means that lieu instantly bans itself when it visits my site because it’s not rate limited. It’s just an implementation detail, but sadly I am biased. I’ve been on a Butlerian Jihad since 2009 when I discover that over 30% of all requests I serve from my sites are for machines, not humans.
It makes me want to raise my keyboard and scream “CO₂ for the CO₂ god!!”
Somebody should draw a Hacker Elric doing that, standing on a mountain of electro-trash with the burnt and dead landscape of the post-apocalypse in the background.
But back to the problem of indexing. Right now, search engine operators and their parasites, the search engine optimisation enterprises, crawl every single page including page histories, page diffs, and more, on my wikis. If every wanna-be search engine downloaded my index once a day, I would be saving resources. Whether that’s a step in the right direction, I don’t know.
@jonny also said:
i just think that the ability to fundamentally depart from the commercial structure of the web and all its brokenness doesn’t happen gradually and esp. not with the server/client stack we have now
Indeed, there must be another way. I just don’t see it, right now. It’s always hard to imagine a new world while you’re still living in the old one. I’m sure the solution will seem obvious to the next generation, looking back.
#Search #Feeds #Butlerian Jihad
2024-08-17. @splitbrain suggested that this was the same as the sitemaps.org concept, but I think the sitemap lists the URLs available and you still have to crawl the site. At least now you never miss a page.
Would having such an index generate too much traffic? I think it would worm if all other crawling would stop. That’s the necessary trade-off, of course. No stupid crawlers lost in my wiki admin links (history pages, diffs) wasting resources – that is my goal. Also, since I ask for a crawl delay, crawling has to reconnect all the time, negotiate TLS all the time, start up CGI scripts all the time… having basically a static snapshot for download would obviate that (in a world where crawlers are smart enough to understand that the don’t need to crawl).
2024-08-18. @zens mentioned Lunr but then suggested that @byjp’s solution to the problem is even better: the server provides indexes that are used client-side and a browser extension allows querying multiple such indexes, locally.
Lunr.js is a small, full-text search library for use in the browser. It indexes JSON documents and provides a simple search interface for retrieving documents that best match text queries.
After indexing, Pagefind adds a static search bundle to your built files, which exposes a JavaScript search API that can be used anywhere on your site. Pagefind also provides a prebuilt UI that can be used with no configuration. – Pagefind
Any time they visit the IndieSearch homepage (a page served from their browser extension) they can now search all the sites supporting IndieSearch they’ve visited and/or included. – IndieSearch, byJP
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2024-08-16-json-feed-for-indexes
a filename when none exists
date: 2024-08-19, from: Daniel Stenberg Blog
This is episode four in my mini-series about shiny new features in the upcoming curl 8.10.0 release. One of the most commonly used curl command line options is the dash capital O (-O) which also is known as dash dash remote-name (–remote-name) in its long form. This option tells curl to create a local file … Continue reading a filename when none exists
https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2024/08/19/a-filename-when-none-exists/
Migrating Mess With DNS to use PowerDNS
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Julia Evans
https://jvns.ca/blog/2024/08/19/migrating-mess-with-dns-to-use-powerdns/
Raspberry Pi 5 slims down for cut-price 2 GB RAM version
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Nobody really needs more than that, right?
Almost a year after Raspberry Pi 5 debuted, a cheaper 2 GB version has appeared for users that want to save a little cash or for whom 4 or 8 GB was just slightly excessive.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/raspberry_pi_5_2gb/
Developer tried to dress for success, but ended up attired for an expensive outage
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Debugging software on the waterfront is a strangely dangerous task
Who, Me? Welcome once more, dear reader, to Who, Me? in which Reg readers like your good self attempt to soften the blow of the working week with tales of techie misadventure.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/who_me/
50 years on, Harlem Week shows how a New York City neighborhood went from crisis to renaissance
date: 2024-08-19, from: VOA News USA
NEW YORK — In 1974, Harlem’s deserted streets and tumbledown tenements told the story of a neighborhood left behind. Decades of disinvestment had culminated in a mass exodus known as urban flight and residents watched as their wealthier, more educated counterparts left the New York City neighborhood in droves.
But the tide turned when Percy Sutton, then the Manhattan borough president and New York City’s highest-ranking Black elected official, launched a campaign to bring back vitality to the historically African American neighborhood that had been known as a global Black mecca of arts, culture and entrepreneurship.
It became known as Harlem Week and would go on to draw back those who had departed. On Sunday, organizers celebrated Harlem Week’s 50th anniversary after 18 days of free programming that showcased all the iconic neighborhood has to offer.
Harlem Week stands as “the constant line through the last 50 years of America’s most historic Black neighborhood,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose National Action Network is headquartered in the neighborhood. “The dream of Percy Sutton and his peers in government, arts, the church and other elements of Harlem lives on, stronger than ever.”
In the 1970s, Harlem demanded more than an ordinary festival, if it wanted a resurrection. Those who remained in Harlem during urban flight — mostly low-income, Black families — would turn on their televisions to constant despair: crime reports, bleak statistics and reporters who called their home a “sinking ship.”
Sutton knew Harlem was due for a revitalizing, uplifting moment.
That summer, Sutton rallied religious, political, civic and artistic leaders that included Tito Puente, Max Roach, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Lloyd Williams. Together, they devised an event that would pivot the spotlight from Harlem’s troubles to its vibrant legacy: Harlem Day.
Radio disc jockeys Hal Jackson and Frankie Crocker produced a concert at the plaza of the Harlem State Office Building, while actor Ossie Davis cut a ribbon at 138th street and 7th Avenue, announcing the start of the “Second Harlem Renaissance.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony renamed 7th Avenue to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, named for the first African American elected to Congress from New York, marking the first time a New York City street took the name of a person of color.
“About two or three weeks later, Percy Sutton called us all and said it was such a successful day,” said Lloyd Williams, one of Harlem Day’s co-founders and the current president of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce. “It meant so much to the other cities that were being deserted in Detroit and Baltimore, Washington and Chicago, that they asked if we would do it again on an annual basis.”
They did, and Harlem Day evolved into Harlem Weekend and eventually Harlem Week, which, before the pandemic, expanded to a full month of programming.
“Only in Harlem could a week be more than seven days,” said Williams, whose family has lived in Harlem since 1919.
This year’s celebration featured entertainment, including a headlining set by hip-hop artist Fabolous, a tribute to Harry Belafonte and Broadway performances. Other concerts showcased jazz, reggae, R&B and gospel traditions nurtured in Harlem, alongside hundreds of food and merchandise vendors.
Organizers also included empowerment initiatives, such as financial literacy workshops and health screenings, at Harlem Health Village and the Children’s Festival. Every child who attended received a back-to-school backpack.
Harlem Week always has been a living tribute to Harlem’s history of greats, such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Augusta Savage and Aaron Douglas. It recognizes the Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts Movement and honors landmarks like the Apollo Theater and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Many historians consider the late 1960s and the 1970s to be Harlem’s darkest years.
The area had been battered by unrest, including a 1964 riot that killed an unarmed Black teenager, Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965 and the turmoil after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. Household incomes fell dramatically and infant mortality rates were high.
“The neighborhood was blighted,” recalled Malik Yoba, an actor born in the Bronx in 1967 who grew up in Harlem and spent days playing in the dirt of vacant lots. Yoba attended school in the Upper East Side with peers who had country homes upstate in the Hamptons.
“I didn’t understand why where we lived looked so dramatically different than where they lived,” he said. “I knew something was wrong.”
But Harlemites are creatives and entrepreneurs, visionaries and leaders. Where others saw decline, they saw opportunity, and the determination to match Harlem with its potential ran high.
Yoba, now 56, built a career as an actor showcasing Harlem to audiences across the nation. His experiences with housing inequality also fueled his passion for real estate.
Yoba combats the effects of redlining through his company Yoba Development, which provides young people of color access to the industry and has active projects in Baltimore and New York City.
“When you grow up in disenfranchised and divested communities, you can’t see the forest through the trees,” Yoba said. “You can grow up believing that walking by burnt-down buildings is your birthright, as opposed to understanding that building is a business.”
Hazel Dukes, 92, a prominent New York civil rights activist and Harlem resident of 30 years, has spent her life fighting discrimination in housing and education. She lived in the same Harlem building as Sutton and organized alongside him, later becoming a national president of the NAACP in 1989.
“I know what it feels to be denied,” said Dukes, who was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, and endured Jim Crow segregation. She moved to New York City with her parents in the 1950s.
Today, property in Harlem is coveted, driven by gentrification and its enduring cultural appeal.
“There was a waiting list, because everybody wanted to live in Harlem,” Dukes said. “People want to come to Harlem before they transition from this world.”
Today in SCV History (Aug. 19)
date: 2024-08-19, from: SCV New (TV Station)
2013 – COC breaks ground on Culinary Arts Education building in Valencia [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-aug-19/
2GB Raspberry Pi 5 on sale now at $50
date: 2024-08-19, from: Raspberry Pi News (.com)
With 2GB of RAM, this new entry-level product continues our mission to reduce the cost of high-performance general-purpose computing.
The post 2GB Raspberry Pi 5 on sale now at $50 appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/2gb-raspberry-pi-5-on-sale-now-at-50/
Japan’s Astroscale wins contract for space junk harvesting robotic arm
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
The plan is to do away with an H-IIA rocket upper stage – and prove it’s possible
Japanese space debris cleaning outfit Astroscale revealed on Monday that it will enter a ¥12,000 million ($81.4 million) five-year contract with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to remove the upper stage of the space org’s H-IIA rocket from orbit using a newly developed satellite.…
Japan’s Astroscale wins contract for space junk harvesting robotic arm
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
The plan is to do away with an H-IIA rocket upper stage – and prove it’s possible
Japanese space debris cleaning outfit Astroscale revealed on Monday that it will enter a ¥12,000 million ($81.4 million) five-year contract with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to remove the upper stage of the space org’s H-IIA rocket from orbit using a newly developed satellite.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/japan_space_junk_retrieval/
How big are global wildfires this year?
date: 2024-08-19, from: Hannah Richie at Substack
They’re tracking much higher than the decadal average.
https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/how-big-are-global-wildfires-this
Chinese chip equipment maker AMEC sues Pentagon for entity list removal
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Plus: China’s richest man used to work for Google; Singtel profit jumps; most APAC governments don’t have AI governance policies, and more
ASIA IN BRIEF Chinese semiconductor equipment manufacturer Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMMEC) is challenging its inclusion on a US blacklist for alleged ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to numerous reports.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/asia_in_brief/
RansomHub-linked EDR-killing malware spotted in the wild
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Also: Your external-facing NetSuite sites need a review; five popular malware varieties for Q2, and more
Infosec in brief Malware that kills endpoint detection and response (EDR) software has been spotted on the scene and, given it’s deploying RansomHub, it could soon be prolific.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/19/ransomhub_edrkilling_malware/
Brush fire in Castaic halted at 1 acre
date: 2024-08-19, from: The Signal
The Los Angeles County Fire Department quickly halted a brush fire, dubbed the Heather Incident, at 1 acre north of the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic on Sunday afternoon, according […]
The post Brush fire in Castaic halted at 1 acre appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/brush-fire-in-castaic-halted-at-1-acre/
Thousands of activists expected at Democratic convention to call for Gaza cease-fire
date: 2024-08-19, from: VOA News USA
CHICAGO — Thousands of activists are expected to converge on Chicago this week for the Democratic National Convention, hoping to call attention to abortion rights, economic injustice and the war in Gaza.
While Vice President Kamala Harris has energized crowds of supporters as she prepares to accept the Democratic nomination, progressive activists maintain their mission remains the same.
Activists say they learned lessons from last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and are predicting bigger crowds and more robust demonstrations in Chicago, a city with deep social activism roots.
Who is protesting?
Demonstrations are expected every day of the convention and, while their agendas vary, many activists agree an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war is the priority.
Things are set to kick off Sunday on the convention’s eve with an abortion rights march along Michigan Avenue.
Organizer Linda Loew said even though Democrats have pushed to safeguard reproductive rights at home, the issue is international. They will march in solidarity with people everywhere who struggle for the right to control what happens to their bodies, as well as to protest the money the U.S. spends to back wars that could be used for health care, she said.
“We believe that the billions of dollars that continue to flow to the state of Israel and the flow of weapons are having an inordinate and horrific impact, but in particular on women, children and the unborn,” she said. “All of these things are tied together.”
The largest group, the Coalition to March on the DNC, has planned demonstrations on the first and last days of the convention.
Organizers say they expect at least 20,000 activists, including students who protested the war on college campuses.
“The people with power are going to be there,” said Liz Rathburn, a University of Illinois Chicago student organizer. “People inside the United Center are the people who are going to be deciding our foreign policy in one way or another.”
Where are they protesting?
Activists sued the city earlier this year, saying restrictions over where they can demonstrate violate their constitutional rights.
Chicago leaders rejected their requests for permits to protest near United Center on the city’s West Side, where the convention is taking place, offering instead a lakefront park more than 5 kilometers away.
Later, the city agreed to allow demonstrations at a park and a march route closer to the United Center. A federal judge recently signed off on the group’s roughly 1.6-kilometer route.
Coalition to March on the DNC spokesman Hatem Abudayyeh said the group is pleased it won the right to protest closer to the convention, but he believes its preferred 3-kilometer march would be safer for larger crowds. The group is chartering buses for activists from about half a dozen states.
“We’re going forward, full speed ahead,” he said.
The city has designated a park about a block from United Center for a speakers’ stage. Those who sign up get 45 minutes.
The Philadelphia-based Poor People’s Army, which advocates for economic justice, plans to set up at Humboldt Park on the city’s Northwest Side and will feature events with third-party candidates Jill Stein and Cornel West, plus a march Monday to the United Center.
Some group members have spent the last few weeks marching the more than 130 kilometers from Milwaukee, where they protested during the Republican convention.
“Poor and homeless people are being brutalized, with tents and encampments destroyed and bulldozed away, from San Francisco to Philadelphia to Gaza and the West Bank,” spokesperson Cheri Honkala said in a statement as the group reached Illinois. “These preventable human rights violations are being committed by Democratic and Republican leaders alike.”
How does a new nominee change things?
Many activists believe nothing much will change because Harris is part of the Biden administration.
“The demands haven’t changed. I haven’t seen any policy changes,” said Erica Bentley, an activist with Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity. “If you’re going to be here, you’re going to have to listen to what’s important to us.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Chicago have been highly visible, shutting down roads to the airport and staging sit-ins at congressional offices. Some are planning their own one-day convention Sunday with third-party candidates.
“Regardless of who the nominee is, we’re marching against the Democrats and their vicious policies that have allowed Israel to kill over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza,” said Fayaani Aboma Mijana, an organizer with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
It’s unclear if the convention will draw far-right extremists who ardently support former President Donald Trump.
Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge Derek Mayer said last week there are no known specific security threats against the convention.
Is Chicago ready?
The convention will draw an estimated 50,000 people to the nation’s third-largest city, including delegates, activists and journalists.
The city says it has made necessary preparations with police and the Secret Service. Security will be tight, with street closures around the convention center.
To combat traffic concerns, city leaders are touting a new $80 million train station steps from the United Center. They also have tried to beautify the city with freshly planted flowers and new signs. City leaders also cleared a nearby homeless encampment.
Police have undergone training on constitutional policing, county courts say they are opening more space in anticipation of mass arrests and hospitals near the security zone are beefing up emergency preparedness.
Authorities and leaders in the state have said people who vandalize the city or are violent will be arrested.
“We’re going to make sure that people have their First Amendment rights protected, that they can do that in a safe way,” Mayor Brandon Johnson told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
But some have lingering safety concerns, worried that protests could become unpredictable or devolve into chaos.
Activist Hy Thurman protested and was arrested at the infamous 1968 convention. The 74-year-old now lives in Alabama but plans to come to Chicago to protest the war in Gaza.
“It’s extremely personal for me,” he said. “I see parallels.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has said that he expects peaceful protests.
“We intend to protect the protesters’ First Amendment rights, and also the residents of the city of Chicago and the visitors to Chicago at the same time,” Pritzker told the AP in a recent interview.
Overloaded fields, type safety, and you
date: 2024-08-19, updated: 2024-08-19, from: Educated Guesswork blog
https://educatedguesswork.org/posts/text-type-safety/
Pop quiz: what is wrong with this tar command?
date: 2024-08-19, from: Ze Iaso’s blog
It’s stupider than you think
https://xeiaso.net/notes/2024/pop-quiz-tar/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
A.I. Is Helping to Launch New Businesses.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/18/business/economy/ai-business-startups.html
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Kamala Harris compared with Hillary Clinton: Her presidential run is operating on very different terms from her predecessor.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/08/kamala-harris-succeeding-as-woman.html?via=rss
Episode 137 - Edge Notched LIVE
date: 2024-08-18, from: Advent of Computing
LIVE from VCF West 2024, my talk on edge notched cards!
Since this is a live recording from an auditorium the audio is a little boomy, so be warned. Actually, I’m pretty sure this is the same space that CHM uses for some of their oral histories.
What I have today is just the audio component. VCF will be posting a full video eventually, which I’ll be sure to pass around.
https://adventofcomputing.libsyn.com/episode-137-edge-notched-live
Media Diet
date: 2024-08-18, from: Chris Coyier blog
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/08/18/media-diet-2/
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
BTW, Olliver Willis is right, the Dems don’t need the journos.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/18.html#a230630
Twitter isn’t over
date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News
I was surprised that Donald Trump was so famous because I didn’t watch reality TV. I come from NY and he was a pretty small thing in NY, even though I guess the rest of the world thinks he’s big in NY.
- I come from Queens, actually, so I know the Trump character pretty well too. Self-important narcissists who inside feel worthless, lashing out at everything they come in contact with. Not the ordinary Scotch/German in Queens, but not that rare either.
The same thing is probably happening now with Elon Musk, because attention of people like me has wandered away from Twitter, but the audience is huge, and probably every bit as movable as it was for Trump in 2016, and Musk owns it? Seems so.
People who think this is over are fooled, imho.
Read this piece in today’s Guardian for another perspective.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/18/230346.html?title=twitterIsntOver
Photos: Come Kettlebell Swing with Us
date: 2024-08-18, from: The Signal
The Child & Family Center held a fundraising event, “Come Kettlebell Swing with Us” to raise funds for the organization’s Purple Walk, a domestic awareness 5K. Participants of the hourlong […]
The post Photos: Come Kettlebell Swing with Us appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/photos-come-kettlebell-swing-with-us/
Blinken renews Gaza cease-fire efforts, but implementation maybe challenging, analysts say
date: 2024-08-18, from: VOA News USA
U.S. diplomatic efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war are being boosted by a new visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Middle East. But even as hopes for a cease-fire are high, implementing it could prove challenging, analysts say. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the details.
James Milner, 38, starts record 23rd season in the Premier League. He’s…
date: 2024-08-18, updated: 2024-08-18, from: Jason Kottke blog
https://kottke.org/24/08/0045149-james-milner-38-starts-re
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-08-18, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
Great thread: https://www.threads.net/@amandammelito/post/C-0vFRYPrNA/?xmt=AQGz7L28eI2OrQq7ZC7GZZwxA4UQVfBgCfeTE5b8xWTJaA
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/112985220392337093
From Segments To Pixels
date: 2024-08-18, from: Tedium site
Handheld calculators saw a massive amount of innovation in the 1970s—thanks in no small part to LCD screens and a primitive form of typography.
https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/16774005/calculators-segmented-lcd-history
A Hardware Interposer to Fix the Symmetricom SyncServer S200 GPS Week Number Rollover Problem
date: 2024-08-18, from: Tilde.news
Small brush fire breaks out in Newhall
date: 2024-08-18, from: The Signal
A small brush fire broke out near Newhall Avenue and the State Route 14 freeway on Sunday, according to Imy Valderrain, spokeswoman for the L.A. County Fire Department. Valderrain said […]
The post Small brush fire breaks out in Newhall appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/small-brush-fire-breaks-out-in-newhall-2/
South Korea, Japan, US renew pledge to cooperate on regional challenges
date: 2024-08-18, from: VOA News USA
Seoul, South Korea — The leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States issued a joint statement Sunday marking the anniversary of their summit at Camp David and reaffirmed a pledge to jointly tackle regional challenges, South Korea’s presidential office said.
The principles on trilateral cooperation established at the summit last year continue to serve as a roadmap for the three countries’ cooperation, the statement issued by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said.
“We stand by our commitment to consult on regional challenges, provocations and threats affecting our collective interests and security,” it said.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Yoon met on Aug. 18 last year and agreed to deepen military and economic cooperation and take a united stand against China’s growing power and security threats from North Korea.
South Korean media have said the leaders plan to meet again this year, citing unnamed sources, but it was not yet clear when, especially since Kishida has announced he would be stepping down.
A senior South Korean presidential official said there will be two or three occasions where the three leaders will have the chance to meet and discussions over those plans are still in the early stages.
The spirit of cooperation among the three countries will live on even after Biden and Kishida leave office, the official told reporters on the condition of anonymity.
“The three main actors who established the Camp David framework of cooperation won’t be in their roles forever,” he said.
Canyon Country teen reported missing
date: 2024-08-18, from: The Signal
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is seeking the public’s help in locating an at-risk teenaged boy from Canyon Country. Gabriel Shraga, 16 , was last seen on the 27000 […]
The post Canyon Country teen reported missing appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/canyon-country-teen-reported-missing/
Beat the Heat with Beach Camping
date: 2024-08-18, from: The Signal
With the latest Extreme Heat Warning issued by the county public health department in the books, summer in the SCV is living up to its reputation as being, well, summer […]
The post Beat the Heat with Beach Camping appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/beat-the-heat-with-beach-camping/
Failing (and surviving failure) as a technical writer
date: 2024-08-18, from: Blog by Fabrizio Ferri-Benedetti
What does it mean to fail as a technical writer? How does one get up again? How can we correct course and rekindle the fire that helped us power through rejections, layoffs, and ostracism? Is there any switch we can toggle so that folks understand what it is that we do and provide us with the resources we need in order to contribute a verse? I’ve been thinking about all this since I became a tech writer; now I want to share some of those thoughts with you.
https://passo.uno/technical-writing-failures/
California Is Giving Schools More Homework: Build Housing for Teachers
date: 2024-08-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Some state agencies are offering incentives and hosting workshops for school districts that want to build affordable housing for teachers.
The post California Is Giving Schools More Homework: Build Housing for Teachers appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
How to Implement Mixed Metals in Your Home
date: 2024-08-18, from: The Signal
Design is a major component for any home renovation. Introducing mixed metals into the kitchen and bath is one of the latest design trends that should be considered when thinking […]
The post How to Implement Mixed Metals in Your Home appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/how-to-implement-mixed-metals-in-your-home/
Ernesto regains hurricane strength, sends swells, rip currents to US East Coast
date: 2024-08-18, from: VOA News USA
Valve releases Windows drivers for the Steam Deck OLED
date: 2024-08-18, from: Liliputing
The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming PC that ships with a Linux-based operating system called SteamOS. And that operating system is something of a mixed blessing: on the one hand, it’s designed from the ground up for handhelds, which has led many to conclude that the SteamOS offers a better user experience than Windows […]
The post Valve releases Windows drivers for the Steam Deck OLED appeared first on Liliputing.
https://liliputing.com/valve-releases-windows-drivers-for-the-steam-deck-oled/
Who needs GitHub Copilot when you can roll your own AI code assistant at home
date: 2024-08-18, updated: 2024-08-19, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Here’s how to get started with the open source tool Continue
Hands on Code assistants have gained considerable attention as an early use case for generative AI – especially following the launch of Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot. But, if you don’t relish the idea of letting Microsoft loose on your code or paying $10/month for the privilege, you can always build your own.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/18/self_hosted_github_copilot/
What has and has not changed in the AI since the ChatGPT revolution? [Video]
date: 2024-08-18, from: Gary Marcus blog
Video of a new talk
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/what-has-and-has-not-changed-in-the
Wall Street week ahead — ‘Soft landing’ hopes are back to lift US stocks after recession scare
date: 2024-08-18, from: VOA News USA
NEW YORK — Hopes for an economic soft landing are once again powering U.S. stocks higher, as encouraging data relieve recession worries following a brutal sell-off earlier this month.
The S&P 500 .SPX has rebounded more than 6% since Aug. 5, when a steep drop pushed the benchmark U.S. index to its biggest three-day slide in over two years. A rapid return to calm was also evident in the Cboe Volatility Index .VIX, or Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” which has retreated from last week’s four-year highs at a record pace.
Driving the turnaround are last week’s reports on retail sales, inflation and producer prices, which helped allay worries over an economic slowdown sparked by weaker-than-expected employment data at the start of the month. The favorable data has bolstered the case for investors looking to hop back aboard many of the trades that have worked this year, from buying Big Tech stocks to a more recent bet on small and mid-cap names that accelerated in July.
“There was a real growth scare that had emerged,” said Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. “Since then, what we’ve seen is the economic data has actually come out in a much more positive light.”
Some of 2024’s biggest winners have staged strong rebounds since Aug. 5. Chipmaker Nvidia NVDA.O has bounced more than 20%, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX has gained more than 14%. Small-cap shares, which had been strong performers in July, have also recovered from recent lows, with the Russell 2000 .RUT up nearly 5%.
Meanwhile, traders are unwinding bets that the Federal Reserve will need to deliver jumbo-sized rate cuts in September to stave off a recession.
As of late Thursday, futures tied to the Fed funds rate showed traders pricing a 25% chance that the central bank will lower rates by 50 basis points in September, down from around 85% on Aug. 5, CME FedWatch data showed. The probability of a 25 basis point cut stood at 75%, in line with expectations that the Fed will kick off an easing cycle in September.
“You can’t necessarily rule out the hard landing scenario outright, but there’s a lot of reason to believe that at this point that economic momentum is being sufficiently sustained,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer with Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
The Fed’s plans could become clearer when Chair Jerome Powell speaks at the central bank’s annual economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“We think a key highlight of Powell’s speech will be the acknowledgement that progress on inflation has been sufficient to allow the start of rate cuts,” economists at BNP Paribas said in a note on Thursday.
For the year, the S&P 500 is up more than 16% and is within about 2% from its July all-time closing high.
Mahajan, of Edward Jones, expects the soft-landing scenario, combined with lower interest rates, to help pave the way for more stocks to participate in the market’s rally, instead of the small number of megacaps that have led indexes higher for much of this year.
Analysts at Capital Economics believe that a U.S. economic soft landing will support the artificial intelligence fervor that helped drive markets higher.
“Our end-2024 forecast for the S&P 500 remains at 6,000, driven by a view that the AI narrative which dominated in the first half of the year will reassert itself,” they wrote. That target would be some 8% from the S&P 500’s closing level on Thursday.
The recent economic data, while reassuring, is far from an all-clear for markets heading into September, which has historically been one of the year’s more volatile periods. Investors will be closely watching Nvidia’s earnings at the end of the month, and another employment report on Sept. 6.
“There’s been a sigh of relief in the market, clearly,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial. “The question now is, will the next payroll report underpin what the market expects at this point in terms of the soft landing.”
Avian Adventures in the Deep Blue Sea
date: 2024-08-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Mariners strike a bounty of birdwatching gold.
The post Avian Adventures in the Deep Blue Sea appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/18/avian-adventures-in-the-deep-blue-sea/
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Another
possible rule for
journalism. Employ non-journalist op-ed writers. Appointed to a
two-year residence, columns published alongside other op-eds. They
expose flaws in stories that have appeared in the publication, either
news or editorial. They have expertise in areas the publication covers.
They have never been employed as a journalist. They are not part of your
organization, never meet with other writers, have no personal
relationships to preserve. They write from the perspective of a reader.
By giving them equal weight as news or op-ed pieces, it’s more likely
the professional journalists and opinion writers will pay attention.
Maybe they’ll even respond. This is the beginning of accountability. The
“public editors” the news orgs employed briefly were jokes. They never
addressed the serious issues, likely because they lacked the perspective
of a reader, or they had relationships to preserve, or just saw it from
the perspective of an insider. There is an obvious and real problem with
news, and it can never be solved until the people whose work is the
problem see it. Is there a more important area of power that gets so
little outside scrutiny? They say democracy dies in darkness, so does
journalism.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/18.html#a144235
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Could a new day dawn at The Times?
https://buzzmachine.com/2024/08/18/could-a-new-day-dawn-at-the-times/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Inciting rioters in Britain was a test run for Elon Musk. Just see what he plans for America.
California lawmakers advance bill that explores East LA cityhood
date: 2024-08-18, updated: 2024-08-18, from: The LAist
The full Legislature will still need to vote on the bill before it can head to the governor’s desk.
https://laist.com/news/politics/california-lawmakers-advance-bill-that-explores-east-l-a-cityhood
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Pro-Democracy 2024 Election Coverage.
https://www.mediaanddemocracyproject.org/2024-election-coverage
Extreme heat at US airshow sickens about 100 people; 10 hospitalized
date: 2024-08-18, from: VOA News USA
Today in SCV History (Aug. 18)
date: 2024-08-18, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1921 – Los Angeles City High School District absorbs Newhall, Saugus and Castaic for grades 9-12. Students attend San Fernando High. (SCV approved for separate high school district in 1945.) [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-aug-18/
Mini farm animals become trendy in US
date: 2024-08-18, from: VOA News USA
NEW YORK — They’re adorable. They require less food and space. And without much coaxing, they might help cut the grass.
Americans are showing more interest in owning miniature cows, goats, donkeys and other diminutive farm animals, a trend driven by hobby farmers looking for easy-to-manage livestock and homesteaders who like the idea of having a petite pig or a scaled-down sheep as a pet.
Animal breeders say sales of pint-sized farm animals have grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, when more people started raising backyard chickens for fun and fresh eggs. Like chickens, mini farm animals appeal to beginners who want the taste of a rugged, agrarian lifestyle.
“A lot of people don’t have access to several acres, but if they have a one-acre plot, they can keep a miniature cow or a few miniature goats,” said Brian Gazda, who has a small farm in East Idaho and with two friends runs a YouTube channel called “Hobby Farm Guys.”
Platforms like YouTube and especially TikTok have played an important part in raising the profile of mini farm animals, said Martin Fysh, a vice president and divisional merchandising manager for rural lifestyle retailer Tractor Supply Co. On any given day, TikTok users put cuteness on parade with videos of tiny blue-eyed goats and 2-foot-tall horses that have received millions of views.
But Fysh thinks the trend also reflects a natural progression among customers who started out with a backyard hen coop. In response, Tractor Supply has increased its selection of treats for both mini and regular sized pigs, and goats.
“They’re seen as part of the extended family,” Fysh said.
While some people buy small farm animals as a stepping stone to owning larger ones, others don’t have a desire to expand. Some owners of mini farm animals turn their hobbies into side hustles by giving visitor tours, breeding animals, and blogging about their pastoral experiences.
But before playing Old Macdonald, newcomers need to weigh the pros and cons, Gazda and other hobby farmers said.
Among the challenges: the volatile nature of prices for each of the types of miniature farm animals. And while they’re cute, they also can be aggressive.
Mini goats
Brittany Snow, a high school English teacher in Florida, owns several small-sized Nigerian Dwarf goats. She realized her dream of living on a farm three years ago when her family moved from the Jacksonville suburb of Middleburg to nearby Melrose.
She said her family wanted to be more self-sustaining after the pandemic and now sources its own dairy products, such as milk and eggs. She sticks mostly with miniature animals because they’re easier to take care of and cost less to acquire and feed.
Snow, 32, started with four Nigerian Dwarf goats: Buttercup, Snowflake, Cash and Peanut. The herd has since expanded to include Pancake and Oreo, the kids of Peanut and Buttercup.
Snow purchased the Nigerian Dwarf goats intending to milk them to make cheese and products like soap and lotion. But that hasn’t worked yet because goats only lactate after giving birth, and Buttercup only recently had her kids.
“The past few years have been a learning curve,” Snow said.
Mini goats are one of the most popular entry-level mini animals. In the past year, animal breeders have registered roughly 8,330 mini goats with the Miniature Dairy Goat Association. That’s a 73% jump from the 12 months before July 2021, when registrations — mostly for newborn females sought after by breeders — totaled just under 4,800, said Angelia Alden, a business operations manager for the North Carolina-based organization.
Many folks who favor mini goats, however, tend to sell them after a few years because it can be challenging — and expensive — to take care of them, Alden said. Rising animal feed costs can be a headache, as is finding adequate medical care due to a shortage of farm veterinarians.
Mini cows and donkeys
A farm animal can be both mini and mighty. Some of the four-legged stars on social media are furry cows that can weigh 500-600 pounds. The smallest, which stand under 3 feet in height, are known as micro-miniatures. The slightly bigger miniatures can be as tall as 42 inches, according to Allie Sine, a TikTok creator with more than 737,000 followers on the platform. Videos showcasing some of her mini cows have gotten millions of views.
Sine, 28, launched her own business breeding and selling mini cows in 2020 after reselling a sick mini cow that cost $350 for $5,000. Last year, she sold about 190 calves through her Missouri-based business, Mini Moos LLC. The calves were roughly split between mini and micromini cows that can cost from $2,000 to $30,000.
“Everything just skyrocketed,” Sine said.
Others report a similar boom.
Kim Furches, who owns a farm with her husband, Ken, in West Jefferson, North Carolina, said the couple bred mini donkeys for about 20 years and currently own dozens of Mediterranean miniature donkeys, which stand 3 feet high or less.
Before the pandemic, they would typically sell about eight donkeys per year and count themselves lucky if they received a couple thousand dollars for one. They now sell about 20 per year. The last mini donkey sold for $7,500, Furches said. There are some she’s only willing to sell for $9,000 or more.
New types of ‘exotic’ pets
Though some of their customers plan to breed and sell mini animals, too, many say many are just looking for “exotic” pets, Gazda said.
Earlier this year, Jamie Campion, 41, and her husband, Jeff, bought two Southdown Babydoll sheep from a local breeder near their home in Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, for $800 each. The couple moved from Chicago in March 2022 after the pandemic made them rethink their lifestyle. They now live in a modern-style farmhouse built on an acre of land.
While Biscuit and Buttermilk have become excellent lawn trimmers, Jamie Campion said she considers the animals — which weigh about 70 pounds and stand 20 inches high — similar to a dog or a cat.
“They eat the grass, so we don’t even have to buy food (for the sheep) on a weekly basis,” said Campion who discovered the breed on Instagram.
But it can be challenging.
One time, Jeff Campion tried to inject one of sheep with oral medication to treat parasites, and it tore his bicep.
But more often, the sheep give her joy. Jamie Campion recalls taking them out on a snowy day for a walk in the neighborhood, without a leash.
“They just followed right behind,” she said. “There’s a whole sheep and shepherd relationship.”
Miniature animals offer therapy
Others see therapeutic benefits.
Lisa Moad, who owns Seven Oaks Farm in Hamilton, Ohio, and has 13 miniature horses and three regular-size horses, operates a therapy farm for older people and others. She also used to take the miniature horses to local nursing homes and hospitals. But since the pandemic, she has spent most of her timing conducting online training for those looking to embrace the same mission.
That includes teaching horses how to maneuver around wheelchairs and into elevators of hospitals. She said her miniature versions still weigh 175 to 200 pounds, though much less than her regular horses, which range from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds.
“They’re docile, but they can get frightened easily,” she said. “You just can’t walk into a hospital with a horse.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/mini-farm-animals-become-trendy-in-us-/7743442.html
US schools make slow progress on record absenteeism
date: 2024-08-18, from: VOA News USA
MEDFORD, Mass. — Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste missed so much school he had to repeat his freshman year at Medford High outside Boston. At school, “you do the same thing every day,” said Jean-Baptiste, who was absent 30 days his first year. “That gets very frustrating.”
Then his principal did something nearly unheard of: She let students play organized sports during lunch — if they attended all their classes. In other words, she offered high schoolers recess.
“It gave me something to look forward to,” said Jean-Baptiste, 16. The following year, he cut his absences in half. Schoolwide, the share of chronically absent students declined from 35% in March 2023 to 23% in March 2024 — one of the steepest declines among Massachusetts high schools.
Years after COVID-19 upended American schooling, nearly every state is still struggling with attendance, according to data collected by The Associated Press and Stanford University educational economist Thomas Dee.
Roughly one in four students in the 2022-23 school year remained chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year. That represents about 12 million children in the 42 states and Washington, D.C., where data is available.
Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed that much school.
Society may have largely moved on from COVID, but schools say they’re still battling the effects of pandemic school closures. After as much as a year at home, school for many kids has felt overwhelming, boring or socially stressful. More than ever, kids and parents are deciding it’s OK to stay home, which makes catching up even harder.
In all but one state, Arkansas, absence rates remain higher than pre-pandemic. Still, the problem appears to have passed its peak; almost every state saw absenteeism improve at least slightly from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
Schools are working to identify students with slipping attendance, then providing help. They’re working to close communication gaps with parents, who often aren’t aware their child is missing so much school or why it’s problematic.
So far, the solutions that appear to be helping are simple — like postcards to parents that compare a child’s attendance with peers. But to make more progress, experts say, schools must get creative to address their students’ needs.
Caring adults — and incentives
In Oakland, California, chronic absenteeism skyrocketed from 29% pre-pandemic to 53% in 2022-23 across district and charter schools. Officials asked students what would convince them to come to class.
Money, they replied, and a mentor.
A grant-funded program launched in spring 2023 paid 45 students $50 weekly for perfect attendance. Students also checked in daily with an assigned adult and completed weekly mental health assessments.
Paying students isn’t a permanent or sustainable fix, said Zaia Vera, the district’s head of social-emotional learning.
But many absent students lacked stable housing or were helping to support their families. “The money is the hook that got them in the door,” Vera said.
More than 60% improved their attendance after taking part, Vera said. The program is expected to continue, along with district-wide efforts aimed at creating a sense of belonging. Oakland’s African American Male Achievement project, for example, pairs Black students with Black teachers who offer support.
Kids who identify with their educators are more likely to attend school, said Michael Gottfried, a University of Pennsylvania professor. According to one study led by Gottfried, California students felt “it’s important for me to see someone who’s like me early on, first thing in the day,” he said.
A caring teacher made a difference for Golden Tachiquin, 18, who graduated from Oakland’s Skyline High School this spring. When she started 10th grade after a remote freshman year, she felt lost and anxious. She later realized these feelings caused the nausea and dizziness that kept her home sick. She was absent at least 25 days that year.
But she bonded with an Afro-Latina teacher who understood her culturally and made Tachiquin, a straight-A student, feel her poor attendance didn’t define her.
“I didn’t dread going to her class,” Tachiquin said.
Another teacher had the opposite effect. “She would say, ‘Wow, guess who decided to come today?’” Tachiquin recalled. “I started skipping her class even more.”
In Massachusetts, Medford High School requires administrators to greet and talk with students each morning, especially those with a history of missing school.
But the lunchtime gym sessions have been the biggest driver of improved attendance, Principal Marta Cabral said. High schoolers need freedom and an opportunity to move their bodies, she said. “They’re here for seven hours a day. They should have a little fun.”
Stubborn circumstances
Chronically absent students are at higher risk of illiteracy and eventually dropping out. They also miss the meals, counseling and socialization provided at school.
Many of the reasons kids missed school early in the pandemic are still firmly in place: financial hardship, transportation problems, mild illness and mental health struggles.
In Alaska, 45% of students missed significant school last year. In Amy Lloyd’s high school classes in Juneau, some families now treat attendance as optional. Last term, several of her English students missed school for vacations.
“I don’t really know how to reset the expectation that was crushed when we sat in front of the computer for that year,” Lloyd said.
Emotional and behavioral problems also have kept kids home from school. Research shared exclusively with AP found absenteeism and poor mental health are “interconnected,” said University of Southern California professor Morgan Polikoff.
For example, in the USC study, almost a quarter of chronically absent kids had high levels of emotional or behavioral problems, according to a parent questionnaire, compared with just 7% of kids with good attendance. Emotional symptoms among teen girls were especially linked with missing school.
How sick is too sick?
When chronic absence surged to around 50% in Fresno, California, officials realized they had to remedy pandemic-era mindsets about keeping kids home sick.
“Unless your student has a fever or threw up in the last 24 hours, you are coming to school. That’s what we want,” said Abigail Arii, director of student support services.
Often, said Noreida Perez, who oversees attendance, parents aren’t aware physical symptoms can point to mental health struggles — such as when a child doesn’t feel up to leaving their bedroom.
More than a dozen states now let students take mental health days as excused absences. But staying home can become a vicious cycle, said Hedy Chang, of Attendance Works, which works with schools on absenteeism.
“If you continue to stay home from school, you feel more disengaged,” she said. “You get farther behind.”
Changing the culture around sick days is only part of the problem.
At Fresno’s Fort Miller Middle School, where half the students were chronically absent, two reasons kept coming up: dirty laundry and no transportation. The school bought a washer and dryer for families’ use, along with a Chevy Suburban to pick up students who missed the bus. Overall, Fresno’s chronic absenteeism improved to 35% in 2022-23.
Melinda Gonzalez, 14, missed the school bus about once a week and would call for rides in the Suburban.
“I don’t have a car; my parents couldn’t drive me to school,” Gonzalez said. “Getting that ride made a big difference.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-schools-make-slow-progress-on-record-absenteeism/7744942.html
Running Postgres inside Node-RED via WASM and PGlite
date: 2024-08-18, from: Conor O’Niell’s blog, Cross Dominant
I’ve been using Node-RED for many years, mostly for fun and personal projects. The coolest thing I did with it was to build the prototype for the NodeConf EU 2018 badge back-end. But 2024 is the first time I’ve worked with it in production, with the ServisBOT team doing some pretty incredible things using it. One aspect I’ve been interested in recently is local persistence beyond context stores. Of course my first port of call was the world’s greatest database, SQLite.
https://conoroneill.net/2024/08/18/running-postgres-inside-node-red-via-wasm-and-pglite/
Bringing Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass to Life in Solvang
date: 2024-08-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
PCPA’s production of “The Agitators” delves into two pivotal figures in American history.
The post Bringing Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass to Life in Solvang appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Santa Barbara’s Iconic Friendship Paddle Set for September 8
date: 2024-08-18, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
This year’s Paddle to usher in waves of support for teacher Courtney Brewer.
The post Santa Barbara’s Iconic Friendship Paddle Set for September 8 appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/17/santa-barbaras-iconic-friendship-paddle-set-for-september-8/
AQMD reps: Chiquita Canyon behind schedule
date: 2024-08-18, from: The Signal
South Coast Air Quality Management staff members proposed modifications to the Order of Abatement issued to Chiquita Canyon Landfill on Saturday during a hearing at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts […]
The post AQMD reps: Chiquita Canyon behind schedule appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/aqmd-reps-chiquita-canyon-behind-schedule/
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-18, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Journalism is very important part of how our country works yet there is no accountability, no checks and balances, no requirement of transparency. There isn’t even a mechanism to disagree with them. most of the time they have the only voice. We don’t even know what they’re trying to do, what their goals are.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/17.html#a011636
Epic Games Store for iOS in the EU
date: 2024-08-18, from: Michael Tsai
Thomas Claburn: The latest addition, the Epic Games Store, now offers iOS-using Euro-folk access to entertainment titles like Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe and Fall Guys.[…]The process for installing the Epic Games Store on iOS in the EU is rather convoluted, requiring numerous steps as demonstrated in this video. Epic attributes this “to Apple and Google […]
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/08/17/epic-games-store-for-ios-in-the-eu/
Full Circle Weekly News 379
date: 2024-08-18, from: Full Circle Magazine
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LibreCUDA project to run CUDA code on NVIDIA GPUs without proprietary Runtime:
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Ubuntu is moving to the latest kernel versions in upcoming releases:
Credits
- Host: @bardictriad, @zaivala
- Bumper: Canonical
- Theme Music: From The Dust - Stardust
- https://soundcloud.com/ftdmusic
- CC BY 4.0