News gathered 2024-08-25
(date: 2024-08-25 12:06:03)
Sept. 14: Tickets Available for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
date: 2024-08-25, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Tickets are available for purchase for the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performance scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons
https://scvnews.com/sept-14-tickets-available-for-big-bad-voodoo-daddy/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-25, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
"We have no visibility into the inner workings of the NYT. We can't vote them out of office. We can't even rebut them. They rarely carry opposing opinions."
https://www.threads.net/@davew/post/C_GmCiXJVBa
CL-32 is a DIY pocket computer with a thumb keyboard, E-Ink screen and ESP32-S3 chip
date: 2024-08-25, from: Liliputing
The CL-32 is a work-in-progress pocket-sized PC that combines modern hardware with classic design inspired by systems from the 1980s like the TRS-80 Pocket Computer. While some details haven’t been finalized yet, the basic elements include an ESP32-S3 system-on-a-chip combined with a small E Ink display and a custom printed circuit board with a QWERTY keyboard. […]
The post CL-32 is a DIY pocket computer with a thumb keyboard, E-Ink screen and ESP32-S3 chip appeared first on Liliputing.
Wall Street Week Ahead — ‘Super Bowl’ Nvidia earnings stand to test searing AI trade
date: 2024-08-25, from: VOA News USA
New York — The rally in U.S. stocks faces an important test […] with earnings from chipmaking giant Nvidia NVDA.O, whose blistering run has powered markets throughout 2024.
The S&P 500 .SPX has pared a sharp drop it suffered after U.S. economic worries contributed to a sell-off at the beginning of the month and again stands near a fresh all-time high.
Nvidia, whose chips are widely seen as the gold standard in artificial intelligence, has been at the forefront of that rally, jumping by more than 30% since its recent lows. The stock is up some 150% year-to-date, accounting for around a quarter of the S&P 500’s 17% year-to-date gain.
The company’s Aug. 28 earnings report, coupled with guidance on whether it expects corporate investments in AI to continue, could be a key inflection point for market sentiment heading into what is historically a volatile time of the year. The S&P 500 has fallen in September by an average of 0.78% since World War Two, the worst performance of any month, according to CFRA data.
“Nvidia is the zeitgeist stock today,” said Mike Smith, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, which holds the company’s shares in its portfolios. “You can think of their earnings four times a year as the Super Bowl.”
Some investors are getting ready for fireworks. Traders are pricing in a swing of around 10.3% in Nvidia’s shares the day after the company reports earnings, according to data from options analytic firm ORATS. That’s larger than the expected move ahead of any Nvidia report over the last three years and well above the stock’s average post-earnings move of 8.1% over that same period, ORATS data showed.
The results come at the end of an earnings season during which investors have taken a less forgiving view of big tech companies whose earnings failed to justify rich valuations or prodigious spending on AI. Examples include Microsoft MSFT.O, Tesla TSLA.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O, whose shares are all down since their July reports.
Nvidia’s valuations have also climbed, as the stock soared about 750% since the start of 2023, making it the world’s third-most valuable company as of Thursday, while also drawing comparisons to the dotcom bubble of more than two decades ago. The company’s shares trade at about 37 times forward 12-month earnings estimates, compared with a 20-year average of 29 times, according to LSEG Datastream.
Market sentiment could depend as much on Nvidia’s guidance as its results. Evidence that it sees robust demand will be a bullish sign that companies are continuing to invest rather than pull back in anticipation of an economic slowdown, said Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager, equities, at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management.
Nvidia’s “connection to the largest companies in the U.S. stock market makes this a must-watch event,” he said. “The biggest piece that investors want to know is whether there is sustainability and what demand will look like in ’25 and ’26,” he said.
The trajectory of monetary policy and the U.S. economy also looms large for investors. In a Friday morning speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered an explicit endorsement of interest rate cuts, saying further cooling in the job market would be unwelcome.
Investors will be watching U.S. labor market data on Sept. 6 for evidence of whether last month’s unexpected downshift in employment carried over to August. Signs that employment is continuing to weaken could bring back the recession fears that rocked markets earlier this month.
A tight presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, and Republican former President Donald Trump may also whip up market uncertainty in the weeks ahead.
The August surge in stocks may make it difficult for markets to make much more headway in the near term even if Nvidia’s earnings impress Wall Street, said John Belton, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, which holds shares of the chipmaker.
The S&P 500 trades at 21 times expected earnings, far above its long-term average of 15.7.
“The stock market as a whole is still trading at stretched valuations so the bar remains high,” Belton said.
Tomorrow is International Dog Day
date: 2024-08-25, from: The Signal
Top Breeds rated by state American families adore their four-legged companions. Approximately two-thirds of U.S. households own a dog, and a staggering 85% of dog owners consider their pets a […]
The post Tomorrow is International Dog Day appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/tomorrow-is-international-dog-day/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-25, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Walt Mossberg: "Journalists have one core job: to tell the truth, especially when it’s clear. The staff of the NY Times has done it in the past, even at great risk. Why don’t they do it now?"
https://www.threads.net/@mossbergwalt/post/C_CXbTyxPD3
The Cold Truth: Cold Brew vs. Iced Coffee
date: 2024-08-25, from: The Signal
Cold brew and iced coffee are the go-to choices for those seeking a refreshing caffeine fix. But what sets these two beloved beverages apart? Lisette Gaviña Lopez, fourth-generation coffee roaster […]
The post The Cold Truth: Cold Brew vs. Iced Coffee appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/the-cold-truth-cold-brew-vs-iced-coffee/
Bring Optimistic Content to Your Social Media Feeds
date: 2024-08-25, from: The Signal
For many Gen Z-ers, scrolling on social media has become a primary source of entertainment and a tool for staying connected. In fact, the majority of Gen Z Americans report […]
The post Bring Optimistic Content to Your Social Media Feeds appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/bring-optimistic-content-to-your-social-media-feeds/
The Organ Builder
date: 2024-08-25, from: Doc Searls (at Harvard), New Old Blog
In The Soul’s Code, James Hillman says each of us is born with as much of a destiny, calling, mission, or fate, as an acorn has within it an oak tree. He also says “Reading life backward enables you to see how early obsessions are the sketchy preformation of behaviors now… Reading backward means that […]
https://doc.searls.com/2024/08/25/the-organ-builder/
End of Summer Fun!
date: 2024-08-25, from: The Signal
The three-day Labor Day Weekend is considered the unofficial end of “summer” because kids are back in school and summer vacation season is winding down. The calendar lists Sept. 22 […]
The post End of Summer Fun! appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/end-of-summer-fun/
SUSD to Host Community Meetings on Facility Needs
date: 2024-08-25, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Governing Board of the Saugus Union School District approved Resolution 2024-2025 #15 in a special meeting held on Thursday, Aug. 1 ordering a school facilities bond measure be placed on the Nov. 5, 2024 ballot
https://scvnews.com/susd-to-host-community-meetings-on-facility-needs/
Start-up incubator Y Combinator backs its first weapons firm
date: 2024-08-25, from: Ben Werdmuller’s blog
<div class="known-bookmark">
<div class="e-content">[George Hammond at the Financial Times]
“Y Combinator, the San Francisco start-up incubator that launched Airbnb, Reddit, Stripe and Coinbase, is backing a weapons company for the first time, entering a sector it has previously shunned.”
Specifically, its a low-cost cruise missile startup, which the Financial Times reports would be suitable for use in a potential war between the US and China. The cruise missiles are 10x smaller and 10x cheaper than today’s alternatives, but presumably still murder people.
Also from the article:
“There is “a very interesting situation where geopolitical heat and the end of zero-interest rate policies have made people become more pragmatic,” said the founder of one start-up that was in the same group of YC-funded companies as Ares. […] “People support builders doing cool, hard stuff.”“
Very interesting indeed. Certainly, you can make money by selling weapons of war. But should you? And in what world is killing people “cool stuff”?
Silicon Valley’s origins are in large part military, of course, so this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. But for a while there, in the wake of the this-is-for-everyone radical inclusion of the web (which was not a military creation), it seemed like tech was heading in a different direction. It’s disappointing to see that this was ephemeral at best.
<p>[<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/17f16071-87e0-4675-a152-6d6285b97fd5">Link</a>]</p>
</div>
</div>https://werd.io/2024/start-up-incubator-y-combinator-backs-its-first-weapons-firm
Microsoft’s Copilot falsely accuses court reporter of crimes he covered
date: 2024-08-25, from: OS News
German journalist Martin Bernklau typed his name and location into Microsoft’s Copilot to see how his culture blog articles would be picked up by the chatbot, according to German public broadcaster SWR. The answers shocked Bernklau. Copilot falsely claimed Bernklau had been charged with and convicted of child abuse and exploiting dependents. It also claimed that he had been involved in a dramatic escape from a psychiatric hospital and had exploited grieving women as an unethical mortician. Copilot even went so far as to claim that it was “unfortunate” that someone with such a criminal past had a family and, according to SWR, provided Bernklau’s full address with phone number and route planner. ↫ Matthias Bastian So why did Copilot (which is just OpenAI’s ChatGPT with sparkles) claim Bernklau did all sorts of horrible things? Well, his occupation – journalist – is a dead giveaway. He has written a lot of articles covering court proceedings in Tübingen on abuse, violence, and fraud cases, and since Copilot is just spicy autocorrect, it has no understanding of context and pinned the various crimes he covered on Bernklau. Adding in his address, phone number, and a damn planned route to his home is just the very disgusting icing on this already disgusting cake. What makes matters even worse, if you can believe it, is that Bernklau has absolutely no recourse. He contacted the public prosecutor’s office in Tübingen, but they stated they can’t press charges because the accusations coming from Copilot aren’t being made by a real person. And to make it still even worse, Microsoft just threw its hands in the air and absolved itself of any and all responsibility by pointing to its terms of service, in which Microsoft discards liability for content generated by Copilot. Convenient. This is nothing short of a nightmare scenario that can utterly destroy someone’s life, and the fact that Microsoft doesn’t care and the law isn’t even remotely prepared to take serious matters like these on is terrifying.
Hurricane Hone sweeps past Hawaii, dumping enough rain to ease wildfire fears
date: 2024-08-25, from: VOA News USA
HONOLULU — Hurricane Hone passed just south of Hawaii early Sunday, dumping enough rain for the National Weather Service to call off its red flag warnings that strong winds could cause wildfires on the drier sides of islands in the archipelago.
Hone had top winds of 80 mph (130 kph), according to a 2 a.m. advisory from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu, and was moving west near the southernmost point of the Big Island, close enough to sweep the coast with tropical storm force winds and to drop up to a foot (30 centimeters) or more of rain on the windward and southeast-facing slopes of the Big Island, with locally higher amounts possible.
Hurricane Gilma, meanwhile, increased to a Category 4 hurricane Saturday night, but it was still about 1,480 miles (2,380 kilometers) east of Hilo and forecast to weaken into a depression before it reaches Hawaii.
“Hone’s main threats to the state continue to be the potential for heavy rainfall leading to flooding, damaging winds and large surf along east-facing shores,” the weather service advised early Sunday.
Some Big Island beach parks were closed due to dangerously high surf and officials were preparing to open shelters if needed, Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said.
Hone, whose name is Hawaiian for “sweet and soft,” poked at memories still fresh of last year’s deadly blazes on Maui, which were fueled by hurricane-force winds. Red flag alerts are issued when warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds combine to raise fire dangers. Most of the archipelago is already abnormally dry or in drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“They gotta take this thing serious,” said Calvin Endo, a Waianae Coast neighborhood board member who lives in Makaha, a leeward Oahu neighborhood prone to wildfires.
The Aug. 8, 2023, blaze that torched the historic town of Lahaina was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, with 102 dead. Dry, overgrown grasses and drought helped spread the fire.
For years, Endo has worried about dry brush on private property behind his home. He’s taken matters into his own hands by clearing the brush himself, but he’s concerned about nearby homes abutting overgrown vegetation.
“All you need is fire and wind and we’ll have another Lahaina,” Endo said Saturday. “I notice the wind started to kick up already.”
The cause of the Lahaina blaze is still under investigation, but it’s possible it was ignited by bare electrical wire and leaning power poles toppled by the strong winds. The state’s two power companies, Hawaiian Electric and the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, were prepared to shut off power if necessary to reduce the chance that live, damaged power lines could start fires, but they later said the safety measures would not be necessary as Hone blew past the islands.
Roth said a small blaze that started Friday night in Waikoloa, on the dry side of the Big Island, was brought under control without injuries or damage.
Days before FBI search, OC supervisor defended his daughter’s nonprofit against fraud claims
date: 2024-08-25, updated: 2024-08-25, from: The LAist
The remarks made on a Vietnamese radio broadcast are Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do’s first known public response after O.C. officials filed a lawsuit alleging millions of taxpayer dollars were misspent.
https://laist.com/news/politics/fbi-oc-supervisor-andrew-do-vietlink-radio-viet-america-society
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-25, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Interview with Kamala Harris's aunt in India. Really interesting. Her mother came to the US on a Fullbright scholarship.
https://www.tiktok.com/@rushinarasima/video/7406754964791364907?_r=1&_t=8pAQrHxBuJu
US rapper Macklemore cancels Dubai gig over alleged UAE role in Sudan war
date: 2024-08-25, from: VOA News USA
Dubai, United Arab Emirates — U.S. rapper Macklemore has announced he is cancelling an upcoming show in Dubai over the UAE’s involvement in the conflict in Sudan, charges the Gulf state has denied.
The rapper best known for hits like 2012’s “Thrift Shop” made the announcement in a post on social media on Saturday.
“I have decided to cancel my upcoming show in Dubai this October,” he said.
“Over the last several months I’ve had a number of people reach out to me, sharing resources and asking me to cancel the show in solidarity with the people of Sudan,” he said.
“Until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF I will not perform there,” Macklemore added, referring to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that have been battling the Sundanese army.
War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army, under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, which is commanded by Burhan’s former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
For months, the army has accused the UAE of supporting the RSF.
In June, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed called Abu Dhabi’s financial and military support for the RSF the “main reason behind this protracted war.”
The UAE has denied allegations of RSF support as “disinformation,” saying that it’s efforts are focused exclusively towards de-escalation and alleviating Sudan’s humanitarian suffering.
Macklemore has released socially aware music in the past, supporting LGBTQ+ rights while also criticizing ills including poverty and consumerism.
In his latest track released in May, Macklemore voices support for Palestinians and also praises students across the United States protesting against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The song, “Hind’s Hall,” is named after a building at Columbia University that students recently occupied and renamed after Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza.
Buying a PC for local AI? These are the specs that actually matter
date: 2024-08-25, updated: 2024-08-25, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
If you guessed TOPS and FLOPS, that’s only half right
Feature Ready to dive in and play with AI locally on your machine? Whether you want to see what all the fuss is about with all the new open models popping up, or you’re interested in exploring how AI can be integrated into your apps or business before making a major commitment, this guide will help you get started.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/25/ai_pc_buying_guide/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-25, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Stephen Wolfram thinks we need philosophers working on big questions around AI.
LEVER WEEKLY: Dark Money Is Blocking Your Ballot Box
date: 2024-08-25, from: The Lever News
The dark-money web behind a voter purge, the Senate obstacles standing in Harris’ way, and more from The Lever this week.
https://www.levernews.com/lever-weekly-dark-money-is-blocking-your-ballot-box/
Podcast: A Whirlwind Tour of DEF CON
date: 2024-08-25, from: 404 Media Group
Joseph went to DEF CON to talk to hackers on location. AI, hacking biology, and community all came up.
https://www.404media.co/podcast-a-whirlwind-tour-of-def-con/
Long Beach Shark Lab needs $500K in donations to keep shark monitoring program afloat
date: 2024-08-25, updated: 2024-08-25, from: The LAist
Support for the previously state-funded program was cut earlier this year due to California’s budget deficit.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-25, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
I’ve watched Michelle Obama ask dozens of times who’s gonna tell Trump that the job he’s seeking might just be one of them black jobs and it makes me laugh every damn time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6PT_zSfHZio
Schubert on Sunday 9: Elias Quartet play D. 804
date: 2024-08-25, from: Logic Matters blog
The last Schubert on Sunday post — over six months ago, how did that happen? — was a wonderful video recording of Julian Prégardien singing Die Schöne Mullerin, accompanied by the fortepianist Els Biesemans. Prégardien has now just released a CD of the same cycle, this time with the fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout. This is quite […]
The post Schubert on Sunday 9: Elias Quartet play D. 804 appeared first on Logic Matters.
https://www.logicmatters.net/2024/08/25/schubert-on-sunday-9-elias-quartet-play-d-804/
Today in SCV History (Aug. 25)
date: 2024-08-25, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1916 – Woodrow Wilson signs act creating National Park Service; its first director is Stephen T. Mather, who made his fortune with the Santa Clarita Valley’s borax mine and envisioned & put his own money into forming the Park Service. [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-aug-25/
Gynecologists, patients focus on making procedures less painful
date: 2024-08-25, from: VOA News USA
Weeks after floods, Vermont businesses struggling to get visitors to return
date: 2024-08-25, from: VOA News USA
burke, vermont — Two bouts of flooding from storms in July has hampered businesses and destinations in an economically depressed section of northern Vermont, with some still closed as they continue to repair damage and others urging visitors, who were deterred by the weather, to make the trip.
Kingdom Trails, a popular destination for mountain bikers, draws tens of thousands of visitors a year. But the storms that hit the region on July 10 and July 30 washed away some roads and bridges, damaged homes and trails, and discouraged visitors at the height of the season.
Businesses and destinations are picking up the pieces, with some still closed in nearby Lyndonville, while others want to get the word out that they are very much open.
“I can’t stress enough that we are open and our community is welcoming people,” said Abby Long, executive director of Kingdom Trails. “We’re encouraging folks to not only come visit Kingdom Trails and have an awesome time but sign up to volunteer mucking and gutting houses for the morning and then relax on the trails in the afternoon.”
The storms caused $300,000 in damages to the trails — and that doesn’t account for the loss of membership revenue, she said. The trails were closed for about a day and a half as crews worked furiously to get them back open. The cost of repairs comes on top of the $150,000 in damages suffered in last summer’s flooding.
“That is not sustainable,” Long said.
So far, 341 businesses in Vermont have reported flood damage to the state this year, according to Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein. Last summer, about 1,100 businesses were affected, she said.
In Lyndonville, a popular diner that had been in business since 1978 will not be reopening after getting damaged in the July 10 storms. The owner of the Miss Lyndonville Diner is having repairs done and plans to sell the restaurant. She told the Caledonian Record that the flooding convinced her it was time to retire.
Leaving ski industry
The nearby Village Sport Shop, which also has been in business for nearly 50 years, has decided to close its flooded Lyndonville shop and exit the ski industry, according to a social media post by the business.
“With the multiple flooding events we have endured and the evolution we have needed to take as a business, we have come to the decision it is time to turn our focus towards the summer side of the business and relieve ourselves from the flood risks the lowest lying real estate on the strip endures,” the post said. The business has a trailside bicycle shop in East Burke.
A bagel shop and a Walgreens drugstore were still temporarily closed as they recover from the flood damage.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration making federal funding available to help individuals and communities recover from the July 9-10 flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. Governor Phil Scott has requested a separate disaster declaration for the July 30 storms and flooding.
In May, Vermont became the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by extreme weather fanned by climate change. But officials have acknowledged that collecting any money will depend on litigation against a much-better-resourced oil industry.
In Burke, a town of about 1,650 that is home to the Burke Mountain ski area, Kingdom Trails is a huge economic driver, said Town Administrator Jim Sullivan.
“It’s traumatic, it’s unbelievable the extent that it ripples out,” he said. “If Kingdom Trails can’t open, people cancel their reservations at the Airbnbs and at the inns. We have restaurants that are counting on all of those people coming here. And it’s just a chain event that eventually dwindles where you have these absolutely beautiful days and you just don’t have the people here that we normally would have if we didn’t have this devastation.”
‘Screeching halt’
The East Burke Market was having a really good summer but when the trails closed down, business “came to a bit of a screeching halt,” said co-owner Burton Hinton.
Each of the storms caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in road and property damage, Sullivan said. The town lost a bridge in the July 10 flooding and the whole mountain road in the storm weeks later, he said.
“We’re still waiting for some direction from the federal government. In the meantime, everybody has really come together and done a great job of helping each other. True community,” he said.
About 60 student-athletes who race in cross-country mountain biking with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League, and 40 coaches, were in Burke to train at Kingdom Trails when the latest flooding hit on July 30.
The group had to pivot to ride on gravel for a few days but then some trails reopened quickly, said Michael Morrell, with the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, who was with them.
“The trail system up here and the trail crew are just so efficient, and the trails, many of the trails, they drain very well,” he said on August 1.
Still, he said he felt terrible for those reliant on getting tourists to visit the local trails.
“I feel so bad that their roads are closed,” Morrell said. ” … We’re just glad that we can help support them in any way we can.”
US crossword fan creates puzzles celebrating Black heritage
date: 2024-08-25, from: VOA News USA
NEW YORK — It started a couple of years ago when Juliana Pache was doing a crossword puzzle and got stuck.
She was unfamiliar with the reference that the clue made. It made her think about what a crossword puzzle would look like if the clues and answers included more of some subjects that she was familiar with, thanks to her own identity and interests — Black history and Black popular culture.
When she couldn’t find such a thing, Pache decided to do it herself. In January 2023, she created blackcrossword.com, a site that offers a free mini-crossword puzzle every day. And Tuesday marked the release of her first book, Black Crossword: 100 Mini Puzzles Celebrating the African Diaspora.
It’s a good moment for it, nearly 111 years after the first crossword appeared in a New York newspaper. Recent years have seen an increasing amount of conversation around representation in crossword puzzles, from who’s constructing them to what words can be used for answers and how the clues are framed. There’s been a push to expand the idea of the kinds of “common knowledge” players would have to fill them out.
“I had never made a crossword puzzle before,” Pache, 32, said with a laugh. “But I was like, ‘I can figure it out.’”
And she did.
Made ‘with Black people in mind’
Each puzzle on Pache’s site includes at least a few clues and answers connecting to Black culture. The tagline on the site: “If you know, you know.”
The book is brimming with the kinds of puzzles that she estimates about 2,200 people play daily on her site — squares made up of five lines, each with five spaces. She aims for at least three of the clues to be references to aspects of Black cultures from around the world.
Pache, a native of the New York City borough of Queens with family ties to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, had a couple of goals in mind when she started. Primarily, she wanted to create something that Black people would enjoy.
“I’m making it with Black people in mind,” she said. “And then if anyone else enjoys it, they learn things from it, that’s a bonus but it’s not my focus.”
She’s also trying to show the diversity in Black communities and cultures with the clues and words she uses, and to encourage people from different parts of the African diaspora to learn about each other.
“I also want to make it challenging, not just for people who might be interested in Black culture, but people within Black culture who might be interested in other regions,” she said. “Part of my mission with this is to highlight Black people from all over, Black culture from all over. And I think … that keeps us learning about each other.”
What, really, is ‘general knowledge’?
While on the surface if might just seem like a game, the knowledge base required for crosswords does say something about what kind of knowledge is considered “general” and “universal” and what isn’t, said Michelle Pera-McGhee, a data journalist at The Pudding, a site that focuses on data-driven stories.
In 2020, Pera-McGhee undertook a data project analyzing crossword puzzles through the decades from a handful of the most well-known media outlets. The project assessed clues and answers that used the names of real people to determine a breakdown along gender and race categories.
Unsurprisingly, the data indicated that for the most part, men were disproportionately more likely than women to be featured, as well as white people compared to racial and ethnic minorities.
It’s “interesting because it’s supposed to be easy,” Pera-McGhee said. “You want … ideally to reference things that people, everybody knows about because everyone learns about them in school or whatever. … What are the things that we decide we all should know?”
There are efforts to make crosswords more accessible and representative, including the recently started fellowship for puzzle constructors from underrepresented groups at The New York Times, among the most high-profile crossword puzzles around. Puzzle creators have made puzzles aimed at LGBTQ+ communities, at women, using a wider array of references as Pache is doing.
Bottom line, “it is really cool to see our culture reflected in this medium,” Pache said.
And, Pera-McGhee said, it can be cool to learn new things.
“It’s kind of enriching to have things in the puzzle that you don’t know about,” she said. “It’s not that the experience of not knowing is bad. It’s just that it should maybe be spread out along with the experience of knowing. Both are kind of good in the crossword-solving experience.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-crossword-fan-creates-puzzles-celebrating-black-heritage/7752195.html
Kamala’s acceptance speech
date: 2024-08-25, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News
Full audio for Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech at the DNC.
Thanks to Ian Landsman for converting the video to MP3.
My blog post about the speech.
Podcast: 37 minutes.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/24/014006.html?title=kamalasAcceptanceSpeech
Culinary Icon Alice Waters Meets Santa Barbara Elite to Improve How We Eat
date: 2024-08-25, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Raising awareness for the Edible Schoolyard Project at Belmond’s El Encanto.
The post Culinary Icon Alice Waters Meets Santa Barbara Elite to Improve How We Eat appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Person robbed in Canyon Country
date: 2024-08-25, from: The Signal
Personnel with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to reports of a person robbed on Saturday afternoon in Canyon Country. The robbery involved a male suspect with no additional […]
The post Person robbed in Canyon Country appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/person-robbed-in-canyon-country/
I’m Speaking: Kamala Harris Is Seen and Heard
date: 2024-08-25, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Many feminists have waited for this day to come around again, but one must wonder whether a sufficient number of Americans have changed their sexist and racist attitudes in order to elect Harris.
The post I’m Speaking: Kamala Harris Is Seen and Heard appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/24/im-speaking-kamala-harris-is-seen-and-heard/
Stranger Things: The First Shadow with Audio Description (AD)
date: 2024-08-25, updated: 2024-08-25, from: Tink’s blog
https://tink.uk/stranger-things-the-first-shadow-with-audio-description/
Full Circle Weekly News 380
date: 2024-08-25, from: Full Circle Magazine
Credits
- Host: @bardictriad, @zaivala
- Bumper: Canonical
- Theme Music: From The Dust - Stardust
- https://soundcloud.com/ftdmusic
- CC BY 4.0
https://fullcirclemagazine.org/podcasts/podcast-380/
Xecast Episode 3: The curse of the artist
date: 2024-08-25, from: Ze Iaso’s blog
Xe returns while on vacation where they built a new PC, made a SaaS to check web server headers, and re-evaluated how they think about complexity.
https://xeiaso.net/xecast/003/
Still A Republic?
date: 2024-08-24, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Since Trump came down the escalator, the left, the media, and the socialist Democrat Party have targeted him. Now a biased, corrupt judge wants to sentence him to prison on September 18. How convenient.
The post Still A Republic? appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/24/still-a-republic/
Unusual weather leads to summer snowfall in western mountains of US
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, California — An unusually cold weather system from the Gulf of Alaska interrupted summer along the West Coast of the United States on Saturday, bringing snow to Washington state’s Mount Rainier and a lookout point of California’s Sierra Nevada.
Photos posted by the National Weather Service and local authorities showed a white-covered peak from Rainier and a dusting of snow at Minaret Vista, a lookout point southeast of Yosemite National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada.
Madera County Deputy Sheriff Larry Rich said it was “definitely unexpected” to see snow at Minaret Vista in August.
“It’s not every day you get to spend your birthday surrounded by a winter wonderland in the middle of summer,” he said in a statement. “It made for a day I won’t soon forget, and a unique reminder of why I love serving in this area. It’s just one of those moments that makes working up here so special.”
Snow also fell overnight on Mammoth Mountain, a ski destination in California, with the National Weather Service warning hikers and campers to prepare for slick roads.
More light snow was possible in California on the crest of the Sierra Nevada, mostly around Tioga Pass and higher elevations of Yosemite National Park, the National Weather Service said.
August snow has not occurred in those locations since 2003, forecasters said.
Tioga Pass rises to more than 9,900 feet (3,017 meters) and serves as the eastern entryway to Yosemite. But it is usually closed much of each year by winter snow that can take one or two months to clear.
“While this snow will not stay around very long, roads near Tioga Pass could be slick and any campers and hikers should prepare for winter conditions,” the weather service wrote.
While the start of ski season is at least several months away, the hint of winter was welcomed by resorts.
“It’s a cool and blustery August day here at Palisades Tahoe, as a storm that could bring our first snowfall of the season moves in this afternoon!” the resort said in a social media post Friday.
The “anomalous cool conditions” will spread over much of the western U.S. by Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
Despite the expected precipitation, forecasters also warned of fire danger because of gusty winds associated with the passage of the cold front.
At the same time, a flash flood watch was issued for the burn scar of California’s largest wildfire so far this year from Friday morning through Saturday morning.
The Park Fire roared across more than 671 square miles (1,748 square kilometers) after it erupted in late July near the Central Valley city of Chico and climbed up the western slope of the Sierra.
The fire became California’s fourth largest on record, but it has been substantially tamed recently. Islands of vegetation continue to burn within its existing perimeter, but evacuation orders have been canceled.
California’s wildfire season got off to an intense start amid extreme July heat. Blazes fed on dried-out vegetation that grew during back-to-back wet years. Fire activity has recently fallen into a relative lull.
Forecasts call for a rapid return of summer heat as the cold front departs.
Ken Striplin | Remembering Young Lives Lost
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Youth Grove is a solemn place within Central Park where pillars shaped like tree stumps circle around a center monument
https://scvnews.com/ken-striplin-remembering-young-lives-lost/
On Taiwan visit, Haley says isolationist policy for US not ‘healthy’
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on a visit to Taiwan Saturday that an isolationist policy isn’t “healthy” and called on the Republican Party to stand with her country’s allies, while still putting in good words for the party’s nominee, Donald Trump.
Haley, who ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, told reporters in the capital, Taipei, that supporting U.S. allies, including Ukraine and Israel, is vital. She underscored the importance of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, to be brought under control by force if necessary.
“I don’t think the isolationist approach is healthy. I think America can never sit in a bubble and think that we won’t be affected,” she said.
While the U.S. doesn’t formally recognize Taiwan, it is the island’s strongest backer and main arms provider. However, Trump’s attempt to reclaim the presidency has fueled worries. He said Taiwan should pay for U.S. protection in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek published in July and dodged answering the question of whether he would defend the island against a possible Chinese military action.
When Haley shuttered her own bid for the Republican nomination, she did not immediately endorse Trump, having accused him of causing chaos and disregarding the importance of U.S. alliances abroad. But in May she said she would be voting for him, while making it clear that she felt her former boss had work to do to win over voters who supported her.
On Saturday, she spoke in Trump’s favor. She said that having previously served with Trump’s administration, “we did show American strength in the world,” pointing to their pushback against China and their sanctioning of Russia and North Korea, among other efforts.
“I think that all of that strength that we showed is the reason that we didn’t see any wars, we didn’t see any invasions, we didn’t see any harm that happened during that time. I think Donald Trump would bring that back,” she said.
Trump has claimed that if elected, he would end the conflict in Ukraine before Inauguration Day in January. But Russia’s United Nations ambassador said he can’t. Trump’s public comments have varied between criticizing U.S. backing for Ukraine’s defense and supporting it, while his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, has been a leader of Republican efforts to block what have been billions in U.S. military and financial assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022.
Concerns among Ukraine and its supporters that the country could lose vital U.S. support have increased as Trump’s campaign surged.
Haley criticized Trump’s rival, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she would “do exactly” what President Joe Biden had done. She said Harris was part of his administration when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and when the Hamas-Israel war broke out last year.
“She was in the situation room right next to Joe Biden. She was there making the exact same decisions. Those decisions have made the world less safe,” she said.
Haley added that while the Republicans and Democrats may not currently concur on much, they agree on “the threats of China,” adding that Taiwan is now looking “to make sure that if China starts a fight with them, that they are prepared to make sure that they can fight back.”
She said her party should stand with the country’s allies and make sure that U.S. shows strength around the world. She also said any authoritarian regime and “communists” harming or hurting other free countries should be a personal matter to the U.S.
“We don’t want to see communist China win. We don’t want to see Russia win. We don’t want to see Iran or North Korea win,” she said.
Haley met Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te during this week’s trip. She called for more international backing for the self-ruled island, a coordinated pushback against China’s claims over it, and for Taiwan to become a full member of the United Nations.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that 38 warplanes and 12 vessels from China were detected around the island during a 24-hour period from Friday morning. Thirty-two of the planes crossed the middle of the line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that’s considered a buffer between the island and mainland.
Sept. 21: Marching On BBQ, Music Fundraiser for Veteran Collaborative
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Marching On, a barbeque and live music fundraiser to benefit the Santa Clarita Veteran Services Collaborative will be held Saturday, Spet.
https://scvnews.com/sept-21-marching-on-bbq-music-fundrasier-for-veterans-collaborative/
Aug. 28: SCV Senior Center ‘Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren’
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center will host a Health and Wellness lecture “Supporting Grandparents Who are Raising Their Grandchildren” Wednesday, Aug. 28 1-2 p.m.
https://scvnews.com/aug-28-scv-senior-center-supporting-grandparents-raising-grandchildren/
Samuel Dixon Family Health Center Installs 2024-25 Board
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Samuel Dixon Family Health Center has installed its 2024-25 board of directors.
https://scvnews.com/samuel-dixon-family-health-center-installs-2024-25-board/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-08-24, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
After drooling over the FinalCut Pro UI on iPad, it is now time to learn from LogicPro on iPad.
It has lots of nice fresh idioms that solve some issues I have struggled with in Godot iPad.
Really enjoying this:
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/113018920914596810
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
What Is RSS and What Can You Do With It?
https://www.makeuseof.com/what-is-rss-and-what-can-you-do-with-it/
Adding 16 KB page size to Android
date: 2024-08-24, from: OS News
A page is the granularity at which an operating system manages memory. Most CPUs today support a 4 KB page size and so the Android OS and applications have historically been built and optimized to run with a 4 KB page size. ARM CPUs support the larger 16 KB page size. When Android uses this larger page size, we observe an overall performance boost of 5-10% while using ~9% additional memory. In order to improve the operating system performance overall and to give device manufacturers an option to make this trade-off, Android 15 can run with 4 KB or 16 KB page sizes. ↫ Steven Moreland Android 15 has been reworked to be page-size agnostic, meaning that a single binary can run on either 4 KB or 16 KB versions of Android. Any assumptions about page size have been removed from Android as well, the EROFS and F2FS file systems as well as UFS are now compatible with 16 KB, and a whole lot more things have been changed and refactored to make this transition as effortless as possible. Application developers do need to do a few things, though. They’ll need to recompile their binaries with 16 KB alignment, after which they’ll need to be tested in a 16 KB version of an Android device or emulator. To make this possible, starting with Android 15 QPR1, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will get a new develop option that will reboot the device in 16 KB mode. In addition, Android Studio will gain a 16 KB emulator target as well. The 16 KB page size is an ARM-only feature, so people running the emulator on x86 devices will emulate the 16 KB page size, in which “the Kernel runs in 4 KB mode, but all addresses exposed to applications are aligned to 16 KB”. Of course, Google urges Android developers to test for 16 KB page sizes as soon as possible.
https://www.osnews.com/story/140578/adding-16-kb-page-size-to-android/
Santa Clarita Veteran Services Collaborative Moves to New Home
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Veteran Services Collaborative which has been providing services to veterans, active-duty military and their families since 2018 from an office on Lyons Avenue in Santa Clarita has moved to a new location
https://scvnews.com/santa-clarita-veteran-services-collaborative-moves-to-new-home/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
I love the way Kamala's meme-makers get into Trump's brain.
https://www.threads.net/@kamalahq/post/C_EH33OM5ld
Remembering Young Lives Lost at the Evening of Remembrance
date: 2024-08-24, from: City of Santa Clarita
By City Manager Ken Striplin The Youth Grove is a solemn place within Central Park (27150 Bouquet Canyon Road) where pillars shaped like tree stumps circle around a center monument. Each pillar represents one of 119 young lives lost in traffic-related incidents and symbolize a life cut short. The central monument urges the community to […]
The post Remembering Young Lives Lost at the Evening of Remembrance appeared first on City of Santa Clarita.
https://santaclarita.gov/blog/2024/08/24/remembering-young-lives-lost-at-the-evening-of-remembrance/
Sept. 6: Bella Vida Needlecraft Group Boutique
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center will host the Bella Vida Needlecraft Group Boutique Friday, Sept. 6, 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. in the Senior Center Courtyard at 27180 Golden Valley Road, Santa Clarita CA, 91350.
https://scvnews.com/sept-6-bella-vida-needlecraft-group-boutique/
RFK Jr. endorses Donald Trump
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his endorsement of former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, on Friday. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti reports from Glendale, Arizona, where the two politicians campaigned together for the first time.
https://www.voanews.com/a/rfk-jr-endorses-donald-trump/7755738.html
Acrylic Painting Technique Classes at ARTree
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Beginning Thursdays, Aug. 29 through Dec. 19 from 10 a.m. - Noon, ARTree Community Arts Center will host Acrylic Painting Technique Classes for ages 18 and up.
https://scvnews.com/acrylic-painting-technique-classes-at-artree/
The Making of Our Alien Earth: The Undersea Volcanoes of Santorini, Greece
date: 2024-08-24, from: NASA breaking news
The following expedition marks the third installment of NASA Astrobiology’s fieldwork series, the newly rebranded Our Alien Earth, streaming on NASA+. Check out all three episodes following teams of astrobiologists from the lava fields of Holuhraun, Iceland, to the Isua Greenstone Belt of Greenland, and finally, the undersea volcanoes of Santorini, Greece. And stay tuned […]
Push to Build More Homes on California Coast Stifled After Lawmakers Derail Housing Bills
date: 2024-08-24, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Several efforts to minimize the power and influence of the California Coastal Commission have stalled.
The post Push to Build More Homes on California Coast Stifled After Lawmakers Derail Housing Bills appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Registration Still Open for Primetime Preschool
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
Registration remains open for the 4-year-old classes at multiple locations for the 2024/25 academic year at Primetime Preschool
https://scvnews.com/sept-1-registration-still-open-for-primetime-preschool/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Republicans rally by boat in Foster City Lagoon.
Debt Payments?
date: 2024-08-24, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Isn’t it quite obvious the funds raised by new city sales tax should go to paying down the $7 million debt the city has created?
The post Debt Payments? appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/24/debt-payments/
Fauci recovering at home after being hospitalized for West Nile virus
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
NASA decides to keep 2 stranded astronauts in space until February
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — NASA decided Saturday it’s too risky to bring two astronauts back to Earth in Boeing’s troubled new capsule, and they’ll have to wait until next year for a ride home with SpaceX. What should have been a weeklong test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months.
The seasoned pilots have been stuck at the International Space Station since the beginning of June. A cascade of vexing thruster failures and helium leaks in the new capsule marred their trip to the space station, and they ended up in a holding pattern as engineers conducted tests and debated what to do about the trip back.
After almost three months, the decision finally came down from NASA’s highest ranks on Saturday. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will come back in a SpaceX spacecraft in February. Their empty Starliner capsule will undock in a week or two and attempt to return on autopilot.
As Starliner’s test pilots, the pair should have overseen this critical last leg of the journey, with touchdown in the U.S. desert.
It was a blow to Boeing, adding to the safety concerns plaguing the company on its airplane side. Boeing had counted on Starliner’s first crew trip to revive the troubled program after years of delays and ballooning costs. The company had insisted Starliner was safe based on all the recent thruster tests in space and on the ground.
The astronauts
Retired Navy captains with previous long-duration spaceflight experience, Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, anticipated surprises when they accepted the shakedown cruise of a new spacecraft, although not quite to this extent.
Before their June 5 launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, they said their families bought into the uncertainty and stress of their professional careers decades ago. During their lone orbital news conference last month, they said they had trust in the thruster testing being conducted. They had no complaints, they added, and enjoyed pitching in with space station work.
Wilmore’s wife, Deanna, was equally stoic in an interview earlier this month with WVLT-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, their home state. She was already bracing for a delay until next February: “You just sort of have to roll with it.”
There were few options.
The SpaceX capsule currently parked at the space station is reserved for the four residents who have been there since March. They will return in late September, their stay extended a month by the Starliner dilemma. NASA said it would be unsafe to squeeze two more into the capsule, except in an emergency.
The docked Russian Soyuz capsule is even tighter, capable of flying only three — two of them Russians wrapping up a yearlong stint.
So, Wilmore and Williams will wait for SpaceX’s next taxi flight. It’s due to launch in late September with two astronauts instead of the usual four for a routine six-month stay. NASA yanked two to make room for Wilmore and Williams on the return flight in late February.
NASA said no serious consideration was given to asking SpaceX for a quick stand-alone rescue. Last year, the Russian Space Agency had to rush up a replacement Soyuz capsule for three men whose original craft was damaged by space junk. The switch pushed their mission beyond a year, a U.S. space endurance record still held by Frank Rubio.
History of problems
Starliner’s woes began long before its latest flight.
Bad software fouled the first test flight without a crew in 2019, prompting a do-over in 2022. Then parachute and other issues cropped up, including a helium leak in the capsule’s propellant system that nixed a launch attempt in May. The leak was deemed isolated and small enough to pose no concern. But more leaks sprouted following liftoff, and five thrusters also failed.
All but one of those small thrusters restarted in flight. But engineers remain perplexed as to why some thruster seals appear to swell, obstructing the propellant lines, then revert to their normal size.
These 28 thrusters are vital. Besides being needed for space station rendezvous, they keep the capsule pointed in the right direction at flight’s end as bigger engines steer the craft out of orbit. Coming in crooked could result in catastrophe.
With the Columbia disaster still fresh in many minds — the shuttle broke apart during reentry in 2003, killing all seven aboard — NASA embraced open debate over Starliner’s return capability. Dissenting views were stifled during Columbia’s doomed flight, just as they were during Challenger’s in 1986.
Despite Saturday’s decision, NASA isn’t giving up on Boeing.
NASA went into its commercial crew program a decade ago wanting two competing U.S. companies ferrying astronauts in the post-shuttle era. Boeing won the bigger contract: more than $4 billion, compared with SpaceX’s $2.6 billion.
With station supply runs already under its belt, SpaceX aced its first of now nine astronaut flights in 2020, while Boeing got bogged down in design flaws that set the company back more than $1 billion. NASA officials still hold out hope that Starliner’s problems can be corrected in time for another crew flight in another year or so.
NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew
date: 2024-08-24, from: NASA breaking news
NASA will return Boeing’s Starliner to Earth without astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard the spacecraft, the agency announced Saturday. The uncrewed return allows NASA and Boeing to continue gathering testing data on Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew. Wilmore and Williams, who […]
I love Reeder despite this persistent niggle
date: 2024-08-24, from: Ben Werdmuller’s blog
I love hanging out in Reeder. I subscribe to thousands of feeds, and it handles them well for me. But it does make it hard for me to prune them once I’m subscribed.
I found myself looking at this screen this afternoon:
And I thought to myself: you know what? I don’t need to be subscribed to Axios. This isn’t the kind of article I’m looking to consume on a regular basis.
So, uh, how do I unsubscribe from it?
There’s nothing here that allows me to unsubscribe from the feed while I’m looking at this post. There’s also nothing that tells me which folder it’s in, so I can go looking for the feed and unsubscribe it there. I’m actually not really sure where I filed it. And I can’t search for feeds by name. Sure, I could have a better, more organized system, but really, I could use more help.
This contextual menu also doesn’t help me:
So until I go through my subscriptions folder by folder, I’m stuck reading pieces about the Harris campaign mocking Trump, which, to be honest, I really don’t care about.
Regardless, it’s my favorite feed reader. But I come up against this issue surprisingly regularly.
https://werd.io/2024/i-love-reeder-despite-this-persistent-niggle
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Braintrust: I want to get a UserTalk parser running in C.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/24.html#a165718
Two Interviews with Ken Kaplan, One of the Creators of OS-9
date: 2024-08-24, from: Computer ads from the Past
Two interview from two different time periods
https://computeradsfromthepast.substack.com/p/two-interviews-with-ken-kaplan-one
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
In El Paso, a Migrant Death Crisis Emerges amid Extreme Heat.
https://www.texasobserver.org/el-paso-migrant-death-heat/
Thoughts on symbols
date: 2024-08-24, from: Manu - I write blog
<p>Yesterday <a href="https://symbol.fediverse.info/">this proposal for a new symbol</a> for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse">fediverse</a> was making the rounds. People made comments on it. People always make comments. We all do. Some liked it, some thought it reminds a bunch of snowflakes (it kinda does), others think it’s not bad but the old one is better. Every time someone “rebrands” something this type of reaction is pretty common. My first thought when I saw it was “Does the fediverse need a symbol?”.</p>In their proposal, the first thing they explain is how this is a typographical character that can be copy pasted everywhere. Cool, I guess. The second is the original meaning of the symbol:
It refers to groups of stars in the sky, akin to constellations.
Then they explain why they think it’s a good symbol:
We suggest that it’s a very fitting symbol for the fediverse, a galaxy of interconnected spaces which is decentralised and has an astronomically-themed name. It represents several stars coming together, connecting but each their own, without a centre.
I’m no astrophysicist, and if what I’m saying is wrong I’m sure Brian will correct me, but I’m pretty sure galaxies do have a centre. And also, the last thing you want is to have “several stars coming together” because that’s gonna end badly.
Also, and probably quite fittingly, stars in the sky only give us here on earth the illusion of being in some way connected while in reality there’s no connection and are all incredibly far apart. But hey, maybe that was an intentional secret meaning behind this starry-themed symbol they picked. But I digress.
After describing the meaning they then explain what the fediverse is and only then they address the most important question which is why do you need a symbol in the first place.
Thanks to the interconnected nature of the fediverse, it usually doesn’t matter if someone is a member of one platform or another. What matters is that they can follow each other as part of the fediverse. A single symbol to represent that belonging can often be more relevant than individual icons for each service.
This, to me, means absolutely nothing. But also, I think trying to unify people behind a silly symbol is the wrong move. And it’s also a misguided effort. A new symbol doesn’t solve anything and doesn’t help your cause. Also, “A single symbol to represent that belonging can often be more relevant than individual icons for each service” belonging to what? I am no fediverse citizen but I do consider myself a good citizen of the web. I try my best to make it a better place and I try to encourage people to own their corners of the web. Am I excluded from your fancy club because I don’t “federate”? Are you saying I don’t belong? I’m asking this rhetorically, because frankly speaking, I couldn’t give less of a fuck about belonging to some arbitrary definition.
Stop trying to make everything about symbols and flags and tribes. It’s not helping.
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Deputies called to report of teen fight at In-N-Out; No arrests made
date: 2024-08-24, from: The Signal
Deputies responded to a call at In-N-Out at 9:40 p.m. Friday on the 26400 block of Bouquet Canyon Road in Saugus with reports of a large fight breaking out, but […]
The post Deputies called to report of teen fight at In-N-Out; No arrests made appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/deputies-called-to-report-of-teen-fight-at-in-n-out-no-arrests-made/
Resignation calls grow against OC Supervisor Andrew Do after FBI raids
date: 2024-08-24, updated: 2024-08-25, from: The LAist
Calls for the Supervisor Do’s resignation echo across Orange County’s political sphere.
Fed’s actions spoke louder than words in inflation fight, research shows
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming — The Federal Reserve’s credibility in the eyes of financial markets helped in its battle against inflation over the past two years, but it had to be earned afresh with interest rate hikes that backed up policymakers’ verbal promises to restore price stability, according to new research presented at the Kansas City Fed’s annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
A strong perception in financial markets that a central bank is committed to inflation control can make monetary policy more effective, prompting markets to shift financial conditions faster and lowering inflation with a less-serious hit to economic growth than would otherwise be the case.
While investors came to believe that the U.S. central bank under the leadership of Fed Chair Jerome Powell was serious about defending its 2% inflation target, that belief only formed over time and after the officials began raising the policy interest rate in March 2022 and accelerated the rate hikes over that summer, the researchers found.
“Forecasters and markets were highly uncertain about the monetary policy rule prior to ‘liftoff’ and learned about it from the Fed’s rate hikes,” economists Michael Bauer from the San Francisco Fed, Carolin Pflueger from the University of Chicago, and Adi Sunderam from the Harvard Business School, found in their research. “Substantial rate hikes were apparently necessary for perceptions to shift. … The public did not fully understand the Fed’s strategy and policy rule prior to liftoff.”
The research serves as a warning of sorts against central bankers putting too much weight on the power of “talk therapy” — or the ability to influence economic outcomes with words and promises alone.
Earning public trust
The Fed in recent years has been characterized by a surfeit of speeches and public comments by its officials, whether by the head of the central bank, other members of its presidentially appointed Board of Governors, or its 12 regional bank presidents, under the notion that more transparency is good for public accountability and makes policy more effective.
Fed officials in the recent inflation battle often noted that public belief in their commitment to the inflation target would help on its own to lower the pace of price increases, shorten the time it took for tighter monetary policy to have an impact, and lower inflation with less damage to the job market and other aspects of the “real” economy.
The researchers found, however, that while the Fed under Powell eventually earned the benefit of public trust, it also wasn’t a given.
The research used survey data to quantify how professional forecasters perceived the Fed would respond to higher inflation and found that even as prices began rising in 2021 the expected Fed response to inflation was near zero.
While that could have been attributed to several factors, including a belief that inflation would ease on its own, the researchers concluded it was because forecasters weren’t sure how the central bank would react.
After the first rate increase in March of 2022, however, perceptions began to shift, with forecasters eventually expecting the Fed to respond on an almost one-for-one basis to any rise in inflation.
The change in perceptions coincided with policymakers shifting from the initial quarter-percentage-point move to the first of four 75-basis-point hikes in June 2022, and with a stern speech by Powell at that year’s Jackson Hole conference that reaffirmed his intent to defend the inflation target despite the economic pain it might cause.
As market perceptions about the Fed’s sensitivity to inflation increased, “interest rates became significantly more sensitive to inflation data surprises,” the research found, adding that “the increase in the perceived inflation response likely aided the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy and improved the Fed’s inflation-unemployment tradeoff.”
For future policymakers, the researchers said, the conclusion is clear: Actions speak louder than words.
“Policy rate actions contribute to, and may even be necessary for, the effectiveness of communication, particularly when uncertainty about the monetary policy framework is high,” they found, suggesting the Fed’s quarterly Summary of Economic Projections could be changed to make the central bank’s “reaction function” more explicit. “A timely policy rate response to inflation matters not only for influencing immediate financial conditions, but also for signaling that policymakers are serious.”
Thoughts on a new image for the fediverse
date: 2024-08-24, from: Ben Werdmuller’s blog
This proposed image for the fediverse is good; I like it a lot.
But I don’t know that the combative language on this site is helpful. The Meta iconography isn’t right, I agree, but there’s something off about calling them “a large corporation that is joining in as late” (sic).
For one thing, Meta is early; for another, it seems to me that we want companies to participate? I don’t think seeking ideological purity is useful (and run the risks of the movement shooting itself in the foot).
Whatever you think about Meta’s goals for participating, I do also think Meta’s presence gives the network a sort of legitimacy that it was otherwise struggling to achieve. That’s a net benefit: we must grow the network.
I also agree with the point, made by Chris Messina, Manton Reece and others, that the right phrase is the social web, not the fediverse. The web is the network.
https://werd.io/2024/thoughts-on-a-new-image-for-the-fediverse
Babe Ruth’s ‘called shot’ jersey could auction for up to $30M
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
DALLAS, Texas — Nearly a century after Babe Ruth called his shot during the 1932 World Series, the jersey worn by the New York Yankees slugger when he hit the home run to center field could sell at auction for as much as $30 million.
Heritage Auctions is offering up the jersey Saturday night in Dallas.
Ruth’s famed, debated and often imitated “called shot” came as the Yankees and Chicago Cubs faced off in Game 3 of the World Series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on October 1, 1932. In the fifth inning, Ruth made a pointing gesture while at bat and then hit a home run off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.
The Yankees won the game 7-5 and swept the Cubs the next day to win the series.
That was Ruth’s last World Series, and the “called shot” was his last home run in a World Series, said Mike Provenzale, the production manager for Heritage’s sports department.
“When you can tie an item like that to an important figure and their most important moment, that’s what collectors are really looking for,” Provenzale said.
Heritage said Ruth gave the road jersey to one of his golfing buddies in Florida around 1940 and it remained in that family for decades. Then, in the early 1990s, that man’s daughter sold it to a collector. It was then sold at auction in 2005 for $940,000, and that buyer consigned it to Heritage this year.
In 2019, one of Ruth’s road jerseys dating to 1928-30 sold for $5.64 million in an auction conducted at Yankee Stadium. That jersey was part of a collection of items that Ruth’s family had put up for sale.
https://www.voanews.com/a/babe-ruth-s-called-shot-jersey-could-auction-for-30-million/7755601.html
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
My linkblog now reliably works on Twitter and Threads, in addition to Mastodon, Bluesky, RSS and WordPress. I find it really empowering to be able to publish to all those places at once.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/24.html#a151321
Is the Open Source Bubble about to Burst?
date: 2024-08-24, from: Ben Werdmuller’s blog
<div class="known-bookmark">
<div class="e-content">“I want to talk about three examples I see of cracks that are starting to form which signal big challenges in the future of OSS.”
I had a knee-jerk initial reaction to this post - what open source bubble?! - but Tara Tarakiyee makes some important points here about our dependence on open source code and how that might change over time.
The through line to all of them is about money. The OSI’s new “open source AI” definition is loose because AI vendors likely couldn’t make money otherwise (although whether they can make money anyway is still up for debate); source-available licenses have become prevalent because it’s easier to sell commercial licenses and therefore make a living building software; much open source software was precariously funded through European Commission Next Generation Internet grants, which are now evaporating.
While we can stand for pure open source values all we like, the people who build open source software need to make a living: food must go on the table and they need a roof over their heads. Ideally their compensation would extend beyond those basic necessities.
This has been the perennial problem for open source: how can it be sustainable for the people who build it? We’re not launching into a post-monetary Star Trek future any time soon. In the meantime, people need to be paid for their work, or open source runs the risk of being a hobbyist-only endeavor.
People won’t pay for software that they don’t need to pay for. I suspect open-core, which opens the core of a software platform while monetizing high-value extensions, is the best answer we can hope for. But even that might not be realistic.
<p>[<a href="https://tarakiyee.com/is-the-open-source-bubble-about-to-burst/">Link</a>]</p>
</div>
</div>https://werd.io/2024/is-the-open-source-bubble-about-to-burst-tara-tarakiyee
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Trump is not the incumbent, but it might feel that way because the coup that started on Jan 6 is ongoing. It won't be over until there is a peaceful transfer of power from Biden to Harris and Trump is out of the picture.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/kamala-jitsu-democratic-convention-harris-walz-final-night
@Dave Winer’s Scripting News (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s Scripting News)
Trump is not the incumbent, but it might feel that way because the coup that started on Jan 6 is ongoing. It won’t be over until there is a peaceful transfer of power from Biden to Harris and Trump is out of the picture.
http://scripting.com/2024/08/24.html#a145549
Andy Jassy on using generative AI in software development at Amazon
date: 2024-08-24, from: Ben Werdmuller’s blog
<div class="known-bookmark">
<div class="e-content">Andy Jassy on using Amazon Q, the company’s generative AI assistant for software development, internally:
“The average time to upgrade an application to Java 17 plummeted from what’s typically 50 developer-days to just a few hours. We estimate this has saved us the equivalent of 4,500 developer-years of work (yes, that number is crazy but, real).”
“The benefits go beyond how much effort we’ve saved developers. The upgrades have enhanced security and reduced infrastructure costs, providing an estimated $260M in annualized efficiency gains.”
Of course, Amazon is enormous, and any smaller business will need to scale down those numbers and account for efficiencies that may have occurred between engineers there.
Nevertheless, these are incredible figures. The savings are obviously real, allowing engineers to focus on actual work rather than the drudgery of upgrading Java (which is something that absolutely nobody wants to spend their time doing).
We’ll see more of this - and we’ll begin to see more services which allow for these efficiency gains between engineers across smaller companies, startups, non-profits, and so on. The dumb companies will use this as an excuse for reductions in force; the smart ones will use it as an opportunity to accelerate their team’s productivity and build stuff that really matters.
<p>[<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andy-jassy-8b1615_one-of-the-most-tedious-but-critical-tasks-activity-7232374162185461760-AdSz/">Link</a>]</p>
</div>
</div>https://werd.io/2024/andy-jassy-on-using-generative-ai-in-software-development-at
Canadian rail arbitration hearing ends without decision; strike looms
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
TORONTO — A workers’ union Friday threatened a strike at one of Canada’s two major freight railroads, only hours after the company’s trains restarted following a potentially devastating stoppage. A government-ordered arbitration hearing wrapped up without a decision, and Canadian National trains were expected to keep moving at least through Monday morning.
CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out their workers Thursday when negotiations over a new labor contract reached a deadline without an agreement. That resulted in a near total shutdown of freight rail in the country for more than a day, until Canadian National resumed its service Friday morning. Trains operated by CPKC remain parked, and its workers, who had already been on strike since Thursday, stayed on the picket line Friday.
The government forced the companies and the union, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, into arbitration overseen by the Canada Industrial Relations Board — an order the union is challenging. Friday’s nine-hour hearing ended with no order from the board.
The union filed a 72-hour strike notice against CN on Friday morning shortly after it announced that it planned to challenge the arbitration order, union spokesperson Marc-Andre Gauthier said.
If the board orders the union back to work, “the TCRC will lawfully abide by the decision, but will undertake steps to challenge to the fullest extent,” the Teamsters said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this will not provide immediate relief, but the Union is prepared to appeal to federal court if necessary.”
Canadian National, which has about 6,500 workers involved in the dispute, said the impact of the strike notice will depend on the timing of the Canada Industrial Relations Board’s decision. “It is in the national interest of Canada that the CIRB rule quickly, before even more harm is caused,” the railroad said in a written statement. CPKC has about 3,000 engineers, conductors and dispatchers involved.
Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the union’s latest actions “will prolong the damage to our economy and jeopardize the wellbeing and livelihoods of Canadians, including union and nonunion workers across multiple industries.”
Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the decision to force the parties into binding arbitration Thursday afternoon, more than 16 hours after the lockout shut down the railroads, saying the economic risk was too great to allow them to continue. The government had declined to order arbitration two weeks ago. MacKinnon said he had hoped that negotiations between the companies and the union on a new contract would succeed.
“This is not about disobeying the minister’s order. It’s about exercising our right,” Teamsters Canada President Francois Laporte said Friday in announcing the strike. “We will exercise our right within the legal framework.”
Canadian National trains had begun rolling at 7 a.m. across Canada, said CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis. The development initially appeared to at least partially end a work stoppage that threatened to wreak havoc on the economies of Canada and the United States. Both countries, across all industries, rely on railroads to deliver their raw materials and finished products.
“While CN is focused on its recovery plan and powering the economy, Teamsters are focused on getting back to the picket line and holding the North American economy hostage to their demands,” Abecassis said following the union’s strike notice.
Getting even one of the railroads running again is a relief for businesses. In most past rail labor disputes, only one of the Canadian railroads stopped and the economy was able to weather that disruption.
The negotiations that began last year are hung up on issues around the way workers are scheduled and contract rules designed to prevent fatigue. The railroads had proposed shifting away from the current system that pays workers based on the number of miles they travel, to a system based on the hours they work. The railroads said the switch would make it easier to provide predictable schedules. But the union resisted because it feared the proposed changes would erode hard-fought protections against fatigue and jeopardize safety.
In Canada, another issue at CN is the railroad’s intention to expand a system that allows it to temporarily relocate workers to other parts of its network when it’s short on employees in a certain region.
Regarding wages, the railroads said they both offered raises in line with other recent deals in the industry for what are already well-paying jobs. Canadian National has said its engineers make about $150,000 and conductors earn roughly $121,000 for working 160 days a year, although some of their time off is spent stuck at hotels on the road between train trips while getting required rest. CPKC says its pay is comparable.
Nearly all of Canada’s freight handled by rail — worth more than $730 million a day and adding up to more than 375 million tons of freight last year — stopped Thursday along with rail shipments crossing the U.S. border.
About 30,000 commuters in Canada were also affected because their trains use CPKC’s lines. CPKC and CN’s trains continued operating in the U.S. and Mexico during the lockout.
Billions of dollars of goods move between Canada and the U.S. via rail each month, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“There are a lot of goods and services shipped across borders,” Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said at a rally in Calgary, Alberta, on Friday. “If this company chooses to continue its bad behavior, then it is going to have an impact. … They’ve got a lot of decisions they need to make. And they need to make the most important decision: Reward these workers with what they’ve earned and don’t try to diminish safety just so they need to feed their bottom lines.”
Don’t Gut Prop. 12’s Humane Standards for Animals
date: 2024-08-24, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
As one of Rep. Carbajal’s constituents, I am respectfully asking him to stand against the controversial attempts to gut Proposition 12 in the Farm Bill.
The post Don’t Gut Prop. 12’s Humane Standards for Animals appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
https://www.independent.com/2024/08/24/dont-gut-prop-12s-humane-standards-for-animals/
@Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed (date: 2024-08-24, from: Miguel de Icaza Mastondon feed)
A critical mistake people of good morals are making is to resign from their posts in protest.
They need to stay put and gum up the works.
Here is a a useful guide for patriots by patriots:
https://www.cia.gov/static/5c875f3ec660e092cf893f60b4a288df/SimpleSabotage.pdf
https://mastodon.social/@Migueldeicaza/113017444643497134
Hone approaches Hawaii; Big Island under tropical storm warning
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
HONOLULU, HAWAII — Tropical Storm Hone was approaching the southern edges of Hawaii on Saturday with gusts of wind and heavy rain, potentially inflicting flooding and wind damage on the Big Island over the weekend and raising the risk of wildfires on the drier sides of the islands.
The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm warning for Hawaii County, which includes all of the Big Island, and a red flag warning for the leeward sides of all islands.
Hone, which means “sweet and soft” in Hawaiian, had top winds of 105 kilometers per hour (65 miles per hour) early Saturday. It will likely strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as it passes near or south of the Big Island from Saturday night into early Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority told travelers it’s still safe to come to the islands but recommended that people postpone outdoor activities.
“We are not advising visitors to cancel their trips,” the agency said in a news release.
Hone was centered 465 kilometers (290 miles) east-southeast of Hilo and 805 kilometers (500 miles) east-southeast of Honolulu early Saturday.
The eastern and southeastern parts of the Big Island could get 11 to 25 centimeters (5 to 10 inches) of rain. The island could get sustained winds of 32 to 64 kph (20 to 40 mph) and gusts near 97 kph (60 mph).
The dry air north of the storm will spread arid conditions across the archipelago on Saturday, combining with strong winds to raise wildfire risks. Most of the state is already abnormally dry or in drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The weather service’s red flag warning will be in effect from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. It issues the alert when warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds combine to raise fire dangers. Winds are expected to be strongest where they blow downslope from higher terrain, over headlands and through passes, the hurricane center advised.
The situation recalls last year’s deadly wildfires on Maui, which were fueled by hurricane-force winds. But Hone’s wildfire risks are lower, said Laura Farris, a weather service meteorologist in Honolulu.
The August 8, 2023, blaze that torched the historic town of Lahaina caused the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Powerful winds whipped up in part by a hurricane passing to Hawaii’s south helped fuel the flames that killed 102 people. Dry, overgrown grasses and drought helped spread the fire.
The state’s two power companies, Hawaiian Electric and the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, said they would be monitoring conditions this weekend and ready to shut off power if necessary to reduce the chance that live, damaged powerlines could start fires.
The cause of the Lahaina blaze is still under investigation, but it’s possible it was ignited by bare electrical wire and leaning power poles toppled by the strong winds.
Moving westward across the Pacific behind Hone was Category 2 Hurricane Gilma, but it was expected to weaken over cooler waters as it encounters drier air in coming days and was forecast to become a tropical depression by Wednesday. Gilma may bring rain to Hawaii, but it’s not clear how much, Farris said.
They don’t make ’em like that any more: Borland Turbo Pascal 7
date: 2024-08-24, from: OS News
All, in all, It was much easier to program for Windows using Turbo Pascal 7 than with anything else. Not only did it provide a programming model that matched the way the Windows user interface worked, the application itself had a Windows graphical interface – many Windows programming tools at that time actually ran under MSDOS, and were entirely text-based. TP 7 also had fully-graphical tools for designing the user interface elements, like menus and icons. Laying out a menu using a definition file with an obscure format, using Windows Notepad, was never an agreeable experience. Microsoft did produce graphical tools for this kind of operation, but Turbo Pascal combined them into a seamless IDE. All I had to do to build and run my programs was to hit the F7 key. I could even set breakpoints for the debugger, just by clicking a line of code. As I said, common enough today, but revolutionary for early Windows programming. ↫ Kevin Boone Even as a mere child who didn’t even know what programming was, I was aware of Turbo Pascal. It was a name that you just encountered all over the place as a DOS and Windows 3.x user, even if you didn’t know what it was. The author of this article, Kevin Boone, even claims Turbo Pascal “contributed to the widespread uptake, and eventual domination, of Microsoft Windows on desktop PCs”, which is not something I can verify because I was far too young, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it holds water. This article made me wonder if Pascal is easy to learn, and if someone wanting to learn programming can do worse than start with a Windows 3.x virtual machine and Turbo Pascal. Sure, it’s probably not very relevant today, but it might serve as a good, solid base to work from? I have no idea.
https://www.osnews.com/story/140576/they-dont-make-em-like-that-any-more-borland-turbo-pascal-7/
Ethernet history deepdive: why do we have different frame types?
date: 2024-08-24, from: OS News
The history of Ethernet is fascinating. The reason why we have three different frame types is that DIX used the Ethernet II frame that is prevalent today, while IEEE intended to use a different frame format that could be used for different MAC layers, such as token bus, token ring, FDDI, and so on. The IEEE were also inspired by HDLC, and modeled their frame header more in alignment with the OSI reference model that had the concept of SAPs. When they discovered that the number of available SAPs weren’t enough, they made an addition to the 802 standard to support SNAP frames. In networks today, Ethernet II is dominant, but some control protocols may use LLC and/or SNAP frames. ↫ Daniel Dib I just smiled and nodded.
https://www.osnews.com/story/140574/ethernet-history-deepdive-why-do-we-have-different-frame-types/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Is That—Is That—Optimism We Feel?
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/is-thatis-thatoptimism-we-feel?r=iyynm&triedRedirect=true
YOU LOVE TO SEE IT: Harris-Style Freedom For The Working Class
date: 2024-08-24, from: The Lever News
Plus, clean energy cleans up, immigration reform becomes a family matter, and plastic bags get sacked.
https://www.levernews.com/you-love-to-see-it-harris-style-freedom-for-the-working-class/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Harris Plans Bus Tour Through Georgia.
https://politicalwire.com/2024/08/24/harris-plans-bus-tour-through-georgia/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Whose Freedom? Democrats claim the key moral frame.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
The sad compromise of “sponsored results.”
https://seths.blog/2024/08/the-sad-compromise-of-sponsored-results/
P&B: Robert Kingett
date: 2024-08-24, from: Manu - I write blog
<p>This is the 52nd edition of <em>People and Blogs</em>, the series where I ask interesting people to talk about themselves and their blogs. Today we have Robert Kingett and his blog, <a href="https://robertkingett.com">robertkingett.com</a></p>To follow this series subscribe to the newsletter. A new interview will land in your inbox every Friday. Not a fan of newsletters? No problem! You can read the interviews here on the blog or you can subscribe to the RSS feed.
If you’re enjoying the People and Blogs series and you want to see it grow, consider supporting on Ko-Fi.
Let’s start from the basics: can you introduce yourself?
I’m a totally blind, gay, writer of fiction and nonfiction. I work in the audio description space as a writer and Blind Quality Control specialist/editor, but I also write fiction podcast scripts as well as novellas and novels. I publish books, and I’m a vibrant advocate for digital accessibility with regards to blind access.
My main love is writing. I love writing fiction stories because I believe it’s the best kind of education.
As for the types of fiction I write, I write romance. Diverse romance, specifically. I’ve dabbled in erotica, but my work leans more towards the romance side of the coin with not a lot of smut. I do write about people like me, awkward, but empathetic people and their love journeys. Others have also said I’m a great humor writer, but I don’t consider myself gut busting funny, but others would disagree!
Lastly, I write screenplays and TV show seasons, but my main writing love has always been writing romance books and novellas and fiction podcast scripts.
I’m also an accessibility consultant. Trust me, I don’t love the accessibility consulting, but I’m passionate about accessibility and accessible design because it’s how I can access the web.
As for my hobbies? I read a lot of books, consume a lot of fiction podcasts, and eat a lot of cookies. I’m a digital nomad so I work entirely remotely.
What’s the story behind your blog?
I knew that I always wanted my own website. I didn’t want to be beholden to any tech corporation hosting my content, let alone censor me because people find sex gross but somehow find hateful opinions to be just fine and dandy. My blog is all over the place. Blind readers will get tutorials on how to use something with a screen reader. Publishing people will get thoughts and opinions about disability representation in the industry and the media published by various publishers. Other people will find snapshots of experiences and how I feel about them. My blog isn’t one thing. It’s a mix mash of things.
I always wanted a space of my own to just dump thoughts and stories and otherwise onto the internet without having a corporation control what I can say or who sees it. With an RSS feed, my writings aren’t controlled by an algorithm or someone paying to drown out my post with their latest sponsored content.
I didn’t like where WordPress was headed with their Gutenberg editor at all, so I went looking for a static site generator I could use. I know how to read code, and I know how to write in some internet languages, but I really didn’t want to host my own site. I wanted to pay someone to host my stuff but also let me to exact control sometimes. Also, I needed a platform that was going to be screen reader accessible from the beginning. Very few publishing platforms are screen reader accessible, so my options are limited, but I didn’t want to do Micro Blogging. I like writing long content because lengthy writing lends itself to more introspection and thought.
I knew I didn’t want to narrow down my blog to a particular theme. I knew it was going to be me. It was going to be a platform to promote my work, for me to tell stories, and for me to talk to other people. I finally found a web host that was willing to host my blog for a fee.
What does your creative process look like when it comes to blogging?
If I am doing a nonfiction piece, I gather up all links and references in a text editor and just keep a running list of references and links until I’m done with that post. I write to old boy bands like Simple Plan and similar. I also write to environmental sounds, or I have a playlist of mood songs and use that when I want to really lean into a fiction scene. When I write novels, I write all the best/most interesting scenes first, then I go back and write what happens before and after the most interesting scenes. Same for screenplays and fiction podcast scripts.
Do you have an ideal creative environment? Also do you believe the physical space influences your creativity?
I always write at a desk with a full keyboard. I never write on my phone unless I have a Bluetooth keyboard with me. If I write in public, I always people watch and eavesdrop on random conversations because that’s fantastic ways to study people and how they interact with others. I write a lot in libraries because I don’t have to buy anything, and I can reserve rooms all day if I want to write away from home, all for free.
A question for the techie readers: can you run us through your tech stack?
The blog is currently a CMS called ClassicPress hosted by Project Army. As for how I write, if I write in HTML or similar, I then write in Markdown or a similar fashion in a plain text editor. I write all my novels in plain text and or Markdown then convert them later. I write all my screenplays and fiction podcast scripts in Fountain. Those are all plain text solutions. After I’m all done, I convert the plain text screenplay or novel into a formatted book or formatted screenplay using open-source tools like Pandoc.
Given your experience, if you were to start a blog today, would you do anything differently?
If I had to start over, I’d go with a static site generator first because it will have better longevity than a CMS database. I wouldn’t change anything else. The title, content, anything.
Financial question since the Web is obsessed with money: how much does it cost to run your blog? Is it just a cost, or does it generate some revenue? And what’s your position on people monetizing personal blogs?
I pay about $200 biannually for my blog to be hosted. I rely entirely on donations and a shared funding model where people financially sponsor my hosts and otherwise to keep me online. I’m fully reader supported, and the blog doesn’t make a profit. I’m not intending to sell people’s data or have ads on my blog. That’s just a poor reader experience. I often joke that if you want to take me offline, just stop donating to me, because that will be the day I finally just let the blog go.
Time for some recommendations: any blog you think is worth checking out? And also, who do you think I should be interviewing next?
I highly recommend the podcast/blog Reid my Mind radio. I also think you should check out Jonathan Mosen blog. I listen to more podcasts than I read any particular blog, which is ironic because I have over 100 RSS feeds, but I don’t have any particular blog recommendations. I do recommend people read some fanfiction on Archive of Our Own, though!
Final question: is there anything you want to share with us?
Because I’m such a fiction podcast guru, I’d highly recommend checking out the Fiction Podcast the Bright Sessions or the Two Princes. I’d also suggest the best place, I think, to find fiction podcasts is https://www.theend.fyi/ but I also recommend watching any movie with audio description enabled and not looking at the screen. You can find movies with audio description at https://adp.acb.org/masterad.html
This was the 52nd edition of People and Blogs. Hope you enjoyed this interview with Robert. Make sure to follow his blog (RSS) and get in touch with him if you have any questions.
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- suggest a person to interview next. I’m especially interested in people and blogs outside the tech/web bubble.
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Book note: Halbeisen & Krapf, Gödel’s Theorems and Zermelo’s Axioms
date: 2024-08-24, from: Logic Matters blog
A standard menu for a first mathematical logic course might be something like this: (1) A treatment of the syntax and semantics of FOL, presenting a proof system or two, leading up to a proof of a Gödel’s completeness theorem (and then a glance at e.g. the compactness theorem and some initial implications). (2) An […]
The post Book note: Halbeisen & Krapf, <I>Gödel’s Theorems and Zermelo’s Axioms</I> appeared first on Logic Matters.
LEGO’s Concorde is the only supersonic jet you can build for the price of a fancy dinner
date: 2024-08-24, updated: 2024-08-24, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
And still step on in the dark
Hands-on Having admired the Concorde perched atop the Sinsheim Museum, we wanted one of our own but had to settle for the next best thing – the LEGO® Concorde.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/24/lego_concorde/
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
One year after Prigozhin’s death, the Kremlin is humiliated once more.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Two degrees in bebop, a PhD in swing…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lvelsr9vHhI
UK government can’t kick consultancy habit despite promises
date: 2024-08-24, updated: 2024-08-24, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Spending returns to pandemic levels as tech deals make up bulk of framework agreements
UK public expenditure on management consultancies has returned to COVID-era levels, despite repeated plans by the previous government to reduce dependency on external expertise.…
Paul Butler | Exceptional Customer Experience
date: 2024-08-24, from: The Signal
We recently celebrated 30 years of marriage, and to mark this milestone, we were blessed to enjoy a seven-day cruise in Alaska. Having been back home for a couple of […]
The post Paul Butler | Exceptional Customer Experience appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/paul-butler-exceptional-customer-experience/
The Time Ranger | Two Nudes for the Price of One
date: 2024-08-24, from: The Signal
It’s a fine weekend morning to be up in the saddle — pals o’ SClarita lore and legend. What’s say we check out some vistas from yesteryear? Be real careful […]
The post The Time Ranger | Two Nudes for the Price of One appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/the-time-ranger-two-nudes-for-the-price-of-one/
Robert Lamoureux | Help! It’s hot and the electric bill is insane!
date: 2024-08-24, from: The Signal
Question: Robert, we are new to Santa Clarita (and California), and though we knew the temperatures we’d be in, we certainly are not comfortable in the home we are in. […]
The post Robert Lamoureux | Help! It’s hot and the electric bill is insane! appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/robert-lamoureux-help-its-hot-and-the-electric-bill-is-insane/
Bishop Diego Rolls to 34-13 Victory Over Salesian in Season Opener
date: 2024-08-24, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Bishop Diego will travel to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame next week.
The post Bishop Diego Rolls to 34-13 Victory Over Salesian in Season Opener appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
North Korea condemns new US nuclear strategic plan report
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea vowed Saturday to advance its nuclear capabilities, reacting to a report that the United States had revised its own nuclear strategic plan.
The country will “bolster up its strategic strength in every way to control and eliminate all sorts of security challenges that may result from Washington’s revised plan,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The New York Times reported this week that a U.S. plan approved by President Joe Biden in March was to prepare for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea.
The highly classified plan for the first time reorients Washington’s deterrent strategy to focus on China’s rapid expansion in its nuclear arsenal, the Times said.
KCNA said North Korea’s foreign ministry “expresses serious concern over and bitterly denounces and rejects the behavior of the U.S.”
It added North Korea vowed to push forward the building of nuclear force sufficient and reliable enough to firmly defend its sovereignty.
Pyongyang and Moscow have been allies since North Korea’s founding after World War II and have drawn even closer since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The United States and Seoul have accused North Korea of providing ammunition and missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang, which has declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear weapons power, has described allegations of supplying weapons to Russia as “absurd.”
However, it did thank Russia for using its United Nations veto in March to effectively end monitoring of sanctions violations just as UN experts were starting to probe alleged arms transfers.
China, also a key ally of North Korea, presents itself as a neutral party in Russia’s offensive on Ukraine and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But it is a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war.
Moscow has looked to Beijing as an economic lifeline since the Ukraine conflict began, with the two boosting trade to record highs as Russia faces heavy sanctions from the West.
https://www.voanews.com/a/north-korea-condemns-new-us-nuclear-strategic-plan-report/7755256.html
Santa Barbara Dons Show Off Explosive Offense in 42-17 Win Over Camarillo
date: 2024-08-24, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
The Dons will travel to perennial powerhouse Valencia next week.
The post Santa Barbara Dons Show Off Explosive Offense in 42-17 Win Over Camarillo appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Under pressure from Europe, Apple makes iOS browser options bit more reasonable
date: 2024-08-24, updated: 2024-08-24, from: The Register (UK I.T. News)
Cupertino quits screwing around with defaults – for those in the EU
Analysis Apple has agreed to change the way it implements web browser choice screens and browser capabilities to comply with Europe’s monopoly-busting Digital Markets Act.…
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/24/apple_eu_browser_defaults/
Today in SCV History (Aug. 24)
date: 2024-08-24, from: SCV New (TV Station)
1974 – Covering a section of the 1933 Ridge Route Alternate (US 99), Pyramid Lake opens to the public [story
https://scvnews.com/today-in-scv-history-aug-24/
Archaeologists in Virginia find colonial-era garden, clues about slaves who tended it
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
williamsburg, virginia — Archaeologists in Virginia are uncovering one of colonial America’s most lavish displays of opulence: an ornamental garden where a wealthy politician and enslaved gardeners grew exotic plants from around the world.
Such plots dotted Britain’s colonies and served as status symbols for the elite. They were the 18th-century equivalent of buying a Lamborghini.
The garden in Williamsburg belonged to John Custis IV, a tobacco plantation owner who served in Virginia’s colonial legislature. He is perhaps best known as the first father-in-law of Martha Washington. She married future U.S. President George Washington after Custis’ son Daniel died.
Historians also have been intrigued by the elder Custis’ botanical adventures, which were well-documented in letters and later in books. And yet this excavation is as much about the people who cultivated the land as it is about Custis.
“The garden may have been Custis’ vision, but he wasn’t the one doing the work,” said Jack Gary, executive director of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum that now owns the property. “Everything we see in the ground that’s related to the garden is the work of enslaved gardeners, many of whom must have been very skilled.”
Posts, paths
Archaeologists have pulled up fence posts that were 3 feet (1 meter) thick and carved from red cedar. Gravel paths were uncovered, including a large central walkway. Stains in the soil show where plants grew in rows.
The dig also has unearthed a pierced coin that was typically worn as a good-luck charm by young African Americans. Workers have also found the shards of an earthenware chamber pot, or portable toilet, that likely was used by people who were enslaved.
Animals appear to have been intentionally buried under some fence posts. They included two chickens with their heads removed, as well as a single cow’s foot. A snake without a skull was found in a shallow hole that had likely contained a plant.
“We have to wonder if we’re seeing traditions that are non-European,” Gary said. “Are they West African traditions? We need to do more research. But it’s features like those that make us continue to try and understand the enslaved people who were in this space.”
The museum tells the story of Virginia’s colonial capital through interpreters and restored buildings on 300 acres (120 hectares), which include parts of the original city. Founded in 1926, the museum did not start telling stories about Black Americans until 1979, even though more than half of the 2,000 people who lived there were Black, the majority enslaved.
In recent years, the museum has boosted efforts to tell a more complete story, while trying to attract more Black visitors. It plans to reconstruct one of the nation’s oldest Black churches and is restoring what is believed to be the country’s oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children.
There also are plans to re-create Custis’ Williamsburg home and garden, known then as Custis Square. Unlike some historic gardens, the restoration will be done without the benefit of surviving maps or diagrams, relying instead on what Gary described as the most detailed landscape archaeology effort in the museum’s history.
The garden disappeared after Custis’ death in 1749. But the dig has determined it was about two-thirds the size of a football field, while descriptions from the time refer to lead statues of Greek gods and topiaries trimmed into balls and pyramids.
Correspondence with Briton
The garden’s legacy has lived on through Custis’ correspondence with British botanist Peter Collinson, who traded plants with other horticulturalists around the globe. From 1734 to 1746, Custis and Collinson exchanged seeds and letters via merchant ships crossing the Atlantic.
The men possibly introduced new plants to their respective communities, said Eve Otmar, Colonial Williamsburg’s master of historic gardening. For instance, Custis is believed to have made one of Williamsburg’s earliest written mentions of growing tomatoes, known then as “apples of love” and native to Mexico and Central and South America.
Custis’ gardeners also planted strawberries, pistachios and almonds, among 100 other imported plants. It’s not always clear from his letters which were successful in the Virginia climate. A recent pollen analysis of the soil indicates the past presence of stone fruits, such as peaches and cherries, which weren’t a big surprise.
The garden existed at a time when European empires and slavery were still expanding. Botanical gardens often were used for discovering new cash crops that could enrich colonial powers.
But Custis’ garden was primarily about showing off his wealth. A study of the area’s topography placed his garden in direct view of Williamsburg’s only church house at the time. Everyone would have seen the garden’s fence, but few were invited inside.
Exotic lily
Custis delighted his guests with the likes of the crown imperial lily, which was native to the Middle East and parts of Asia, and boasted clusters of drooping, bell-shaped flowers.
“In the 18th century, those were unusual things,” Otmar said. “Only certain classes of people got to experience that. A wealthy person today — they buy a Lamborghini.”
The museum is still trying to learn more about the people who worked in the garden.
Crystal Castleberry, Colonial Williamsburg’s public archaeologist, has met with descendants of the more than 200 people who were enslaved by the Custis family on his various plantations. But there is too little information in surviving documents to determine if an ancestor lived and worked at Custis Square.
Two people, named Cornelia and Beck, were listed as property with the Williamsburg estate after Daniel Custis died in 1757. But their names prompt only more questions about who they were and what happened to them.
“Are they related to one another?” Castleberry asked. “Do they fear being split up or sold? Or are they going to be reunited with loved ones on other properties?”
Florida quietly removes LGBTQ+ travel info from state website
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Key West, Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors and St. Petersburg are among several Florida cities that have long been top U.S. destinations for LGBTQ tourists. So it came as a surprise this week when travelers learned that Florida’s tourism marketing agency quietly removed the “LGBTQ Travel” section from its website sometime in the past few months.
Business owners who cater to Florida’s LGBTQ tourists said Wednesday that it marked the latest attempt by officials in the state to erase the LGBTQ community. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis previously championed a bill to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, and supported a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, as well as a law meant to keep children out of drag shows.
“It’s just disgusting to see this,” said Keith Blackburn, who heads the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce. “They seem to want to erase us.”
The change to Visit Florida’s website was first reported by NBC News, which noted a search query still pulls up some listings for LGBTQ-friendly places despite the elimination of the section.
John Lai, who chairs Visit Florida’s board, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. Dana Young, Visit Florida’s CEO and president, didn’t respond to a voicemail message Wednesday, and neither did the agency’s public relations director.
Visit Florida is a public-private partnership between the state of Florida and the state’s tourism industry. The state contributes about $50 million each year to the quasi-public agency from two tourism and economic development funds.
Florida is one of the most popular states in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. Nearly 141 million tourists visited Florida in 2023, with out-of-state visitors contributing more than $102 billion to Florida’s economy.
Before the change, the LGBTQ section on Visit Florida’s website had read, “There’s a sense of freedom to Florida’s beaches, the warm weather and the myriad activities — a draw for people of all orientations, but especially appealing to a gay community looking for a sense of belonging and acceptance.”
Blackburn said the change and other anti-LGBTQ policies out of Tallahassee make it more difficult for him to promote South Florida tourism since he encounters prospective travelers or travel promoters who say they don’t want to do business in the state.
Last year, for instance, several civil rights groups issued a travel advisory for Florida, saying that policies championed by DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
But visitors should also understand that many Florida cities are extremely inclusive, with gay elected officials and LGBTQ-owned businesses, and they don’t reflect the policies coming from state government, Blackburn added.
“It’s difficult when these kinds of stories come out, and the state does these things, and we hear people calling for a boycott,” Blackburn said. “On one level, it’s embarrassing to have to explain why people should come to South Florida and our destination when the state is doing these things.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/florida-quietly-removes-lgbtq-travel-info-from-state-website/7752215.html
Canyon football drops opener on the road at Charter Oak
date: 2024-08-24, from: The Signal
Canyon Cowboys football got off to a slow start Friday night and couldn’t get out of a hole as the Charter Oak Chargers won the season opener at home, 44-6. […]
The post Canyon football drops opener on the road at Charter Oak appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/canyon-football-drops-opener-on-the-road-at-charter-oak/
Golden Valley football holds on to beat Westlake
date: 2024-08-24, from: The Signal
The run game, solid tackling and a ferocious pass rush lifted Golden Valley Grizzlies football to victory in its season opener against the Westlake Warriors. Golden Valley never trailed in […]
The post Golden Valley football holds on to beat Westlake appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/golden-valley-football-holds-on-to-beat-westlake/
Valencia football drops shootout at Simi Valley
date: 2024-08-24, from: The Signal
By Jonathan Andrade For The Signal The Valencia Vikings gambled for glory in Friday night’s season opener, but lady luck turned a blind eye. Down a point in the fourth […]
The post Valencia football drops shootout at Simi Valley appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
https://signalscv.com/2024/08/valencia-football-drops-shootout-at-simi-valley/
Sidelined at the DNC, pro-Palestinian Democrats still see progress
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
Chicago — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian delegates were sidelined at the Democratic National Convention that ended with Vice President Kamala Harris reaffirming her support for Israel.
“The people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7,” she said in her speech accepting the party’s presidential nomination Thursday evening.
As anti-war protesters filled the streets throughout the week, 270 pro-Palestinian Democrats calling themselves “cease-fire delegates” signed a petition demanding Harris, if she’s elected, enact an arms embargo on Israel.
The unheeded petition was pushed by leaders of the “Uncommitted” movement, which garnered hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries across the nation.
These delegates staged a sit-in outside Chicago’s United Center, the convention’s venue, to protest the Democratic National Committee, who denied a speaking request for Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric doctor who treats wounded children in Gaza.
The DNC, according to Uncommitted National Movement spokesperson Layla Elabed, didn’t want Harris to be “overshadowed.”
Asked by VOA for a reaction to Elabed’s claim, the Harris campaign said, “There have been a number of speakers who have spoken about the war in Gaza and the need to secure a cease-fire and hostage deal.”
Uncommitted delegates
Elabed spoke to VOA on behalf of the 30 “Uncommitted” delegates who voted present in the nomination roll call. That’s less than 1% of the roughly 4,700 delegates who voted for Harris.
The pro-Palestinian group, however, was given a speaking opportunity Monday in a panel event outside of the convention.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Muslim sympathetic to the Palestinian cause who spoke on the panel, was given time at the convention main stage on Wednesday. However, he did not mention Gaza in his speech.
The war in Gaza is “not the topic that I would decide” to speak about, Ellison told VOA before his speech, indicating that pragmatism is key to affect change within the party.
“I’m not one of those people who believe that we vote for perfection. What we vote for is conversation,” he said.
Party platform supports Israel
As the convention kicked off, Democrats voted to adopt the party’s platform that recommitted support for Israel, a cease-fire for hostage release deal and the two-state solution.
Pro-Palestinian delegates tried to include language backing enforcement of laws that ban giving military aid to individuals or security forces that commit gross violations of human rights.
“What we are asking is that our tax dollars not be used to kill men, women and children. This is not a controversial demand and is actually more aligned with our Democratic values,” Elabed said.
Compared to Biden, Harris appears to offer more sympathy for Palestinian suffering, repeating Thursday of the “devastating” situation in Gaza over the past 10 months.”
“So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again,” she said in her convention speech. “The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”
But policy-wise she signaled continuity from the current administration.
“President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” she said in her speech to thunderous applause.
Harris’ current and former aides say her Israel policy is unlikely to diverge from President Joe Biden. Halie Soifer, national security adviser to Harris while she was in the Senate, said that the vice president has always been a “strong supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” while upholding humanitarian values.
“She does not want to see the suffering of innocent civilians, nor do the vast majority of Americans and Jewish Americans,” said Soifer, who is now CEO of Jewish Democratic Council of America.
“We don’t have to view it through binary lens,” she told VOA. “We support both.”
Not discouraged
Uncommitted delegates say they’re not discouraged.
Inga Gibson, a delegate from Hawaii, a state where seven out of 31 delegates are uncommitted, said she has made “tremendous progress” with her fellow delegates.
“I found that a lot of people are really with us on this issue, but they don’t know where to begin or how to get involved,” she told VOA.
She and other uncommitted delegates gave out keffiyehs, “Democrats for Gaza” flyers and “No More Bombs” pins. The pro-Palestinian symbols are emblematic of a key area of disagreement among Democrats – how much support to give to Israel.
Pro-Israel delegates say it should not create division within the party.
“We can all do better to try to understand the complications of the conflict,” Andrew Lachman, a delegate from California told VOA. “We’re all concerned about the civilians of Gaza, but we’re also concerned about the people of Israel and their safety and security.”
Polls show an increasing number of Americans want their leaders to reduce support for Israel. Some say Harris missed an opportunity.
As a former prosecutor, Harris can and should strictly enforce laws and suspend weapons even to allies who violate international or U.S. law, said Nancy Okail, president and CEO of the Center for International Policy, a left-leaning think tank.
“She could make clear this doesn’t just apply to their misuse by Israel to cause disproportionate civilian harm in Gaza, but to their misuse by Netanyahu’s extremist government to dispossess and abuse Palestinians in the occupied West Bank,” she told VOA.
Turning protest into agenda
Scholars of social movements say it takes time and work to turn protests into a political agenda. Elisabeth Clemens, a sociologist from the University of Chicago, said that includes building coalitions, negotiating and compromising.
“Finding a way forward that almost never gets all the way to where the protesters hoped it would get but is nevertheless an important change,” she told VOA.
And on an issue as complicated as the Middle East peace process, there are different pressures exerted on multiple sides.
“American domestic politics only garners a slice of that,” she said.
Elabed said they’re in for the long game.
“Our strategy is not to abandon the Democratic Party, but to essentially revolutionize the Democratic Party and listen to its core base.”
For now, the vice president is their best bet.
“I don’t care what you think, you need to win to have power,” Ellison said. “Harris, the numbers are up everywhere. The chances for success are higher.”
Vibe Check №34
date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Rupert blog
The temperatures soared over 100ºF and the yard is dead and everything smells roasted. But the ten day forecast shows a ten degree dip and that is cause for celebration. Another school year has started. My son has started middle school and my daughter is now in third grade. It’s shocking how fast life goes. And on the workfront, the pace is picking up now that everyone has come back from summer vacation.
A lot has transpired since the previous vibe check (vacations, new pets, rock shows). To start it off, my family escaped the heat and went to San Diego (as is the custom) for one good week and one awful week…
San Diego: The First Good Week
We flew out to Phoenix to join up with my wife’s family and caravan out to San Diego. We had a family dinner the night before and got to see my one year old grandnephew for the first time in a long while. He’s a sweet kid but does not want his Granduncle Dave holding him yet.
The next day we loaded up the beach gear and drove to a resort in Mission Beach in San Diego for a four day stay. We had a great time with my wife’s family letting the cousins run loose while grown-ups played tennis, pickleball, and I played my annual round of golf with my male in-laws. After four days of big family time we scooted up to Encinitas to stay for two nights with our Austin friends whose summer rental had a guest house.
Encinitas was super charming. We stayed near Beacons Beach which is one of those cool beaches at the bottom of a cliffside. We beached pretty hard. My daughter and her oldest bestie pranced up and down the shoreline for hours and she even learned to surf. The contrast between Mission and Encinitas couldn’t be more stark. The trip could have ended there and would have been one of the best vacations in the books. But we weren’t done! We planned to extend the trip with a one-week rental in Mission Bay.
San Diego: The Second Awful Week
The minute we checked into our beachside rental the whole vibe shifted. From tranquil Encinitas to getting blasted with the sounds (and smells) of Mission Beach. Honking, motorcycles, bottles clanking, fighting, garbage trucks, neighbors blasting bad music, and smells drifting up from the alleyway. It felt like going from a yoga retreat to a frat house. Then it got worse. That night our daughter said she didn’t feel well and the next day my wife started going downhill.
A week of beach fun turned into spending thousands of dollars to be sick inside a beach-adjacent summer rental watching SpongeBob Squarepants on repeat. After three urgent care visits over two days the sick members of our party had the required antibiotics to start feeling better. The next day, we went home.
And –as if it couldn’t get any better– I got COVID on the plane ride back. Ughck.
We adopted two new pups
- Laneige (aka “Laney”) - A black lab mix with one brown eye and one blue eye. She’s an attention thief who is not shy about demanding pets.
- Rosebud - A lab mix with expressive pointy ears and two blue eyes (some heeler in there?). She’s the more anxious of the two, but once befriended will roll over for belly rubs.
Our kids have been asking for a new dog for over a year. Every day this summer I’d step into the house and my daughter would spin a laptop around to show me the new dogs she found on the Austin Pets Alive! website. She even wrote a song to try to convince me to get a dog. 🥺 They were dead set on a pup named “Laneige” (named by the shelter after a Korean lip balm).
After dropping the kids off at grandma’s house for a long weekend, we set our plan into action: adopt a dog and surprise the kids. But our plans changed when the shelter brought out Laneige’s sister Rosebud (also named after a lip balm) to our meet and greet. Her pointy ears and blue eyes were too cute. We tend to play it more conservative when it comes to big life choices but we decided to go full stupid for once and surprise the kids with not one dog, but two dogs!
Names may change and we daily ask ourselves “Did we overdo it?” but generally we’re happy with the new additions.
Frostapalooza
Photo by Will Brower
A year ago Brad Frost called my wife and I to share a wild idea for his 40th birthday party: get all his musician friends from all over the world together on one stage for one night of rocking out. Over the course of the next year we picked songs, learned parts, recorded tracks, hoping –but never knowing– how it would all turn out when we assembled in Pittsburgh for one night of rock.
It. Was. Phenomenal.
Nothing could have prepared me for the blast from the five piece horn section. It sounded perfect. It felt big. Dozens of people on stage playing together for the first time, but you wouldn’t know it. Music –good music– filling the halls of an old church. I’m a foot away from a bass guitar amp but I can’t hear the bass because there’s so much music happening. In the crowd I see people listening to my wife sing –they’re singing along– and it takes me back to when I first heard her sing at a karaoke bar in Los Angeles when I fell in love with her.
Photo from Brad Frost
Outside the main event, it felt good to put kindling on some friendships. I got to see Chris, which is always pleasant to see the one person I’m guaranteed to have an hour long conversation every week. Zach & Danh (my co-hosts from Aside Quest) flew up on the same flight. But I got to see and chat with new and old friends as well; Ian, Dan, Ben, Phil, Mike, Jina, Burton, Adekunle, Kevin, Brian, Scott, Josh, Veronika, Ryan, Joshua, Jeff & Jenn & Arlo, Jeremy & Jessica, Daniel & Jessi, Rebecca & Ryan, and countless more folks. Since the US web development conference scene has more or less imploded since the pandemic, this felt a bit like a family reunion with some of my favorite people from around the world.
In the end, Frostapalooza was a magical night celebrating the power of music and friendship. It feels a bit like a dream now and when I explain it to people my words fall short. An ephemeral joyous moment and I have no idea if I’ll do anything like that in my life again. That’s special. The biggest thanks to Brad, Melissa, and Ella who sacrificed a lot of time, money, and life-force to pull it off.
The stats, o the stats.
Okay, quantifiers. Calm down. Here’s your beefsteak of itemized inputs and outputs.
🧠 Learning
- When I got sick I did a deep dive in playing with Obsidian and building a vault. I’m still on Notion (for now) but the jump is less intimidating. I like the indie/privacy angle of Obsidian a lot but from a UX perspective it feels “finicky” when mousing over content in a way that Notion doesn’t. The level of customization is also nicer in Obsidian, but also a potential endless rabbit hole for my distracted brain. Moving my “second brain” is not a task I want to take lightly.
- Watching countless Obsidian videos exposed me to a new organization system: August Bradley’s “Pillars, Pipelines, and Vaults” (PPV) system. I’m not ready to ditch my Notion PARA setup, but the idea PPV introduces that I’m gravitating towards is that my brain is a system of “Inputs” (links, books, and notes vaults) and “Outputs” (blog posts, side projects, and task pipelines) and those exist across “Areas” (pillars) in my life. Inputs need organization (e.g. folders and/or tags) and outputs need a process (e.g. a kanban). I think Obsidian fits this paradigm better than Notion.
📖 Reading
Not my best summer of reading but I’m enjoying the slower pace.
Finished
- Like, Comment, Subscribe by Mark Bergen - The history of YouTube. A great look into how this product which changed the world evolved (and also failed to evolve).
- Read Write Own by Chris Dixon - On a recommendation I read a book about crypto. Shockingly, I didn’t disagree with much here… except that crypto is the solution to the problems outlined in the book. He spent chapters pitching ideas that crypto could solve (decentralized social networks, carrying over video game assets, etc) and those have since been debunked. There’s still no job that crypto does better than a database. Ultimately I think it’s a question of “Who benefits?” when it comes to this technology and I think the answer is: the people who already own a lot of it.
- Humankind by Rutger Bregman - I’ve read this book before but it’s a pleasant little dose of positivity. Are we humans that trample each other while leaving a burning plane? Or are we humans that help each other get off the plane? The answer might surprise you.
- Slow Productivity by Cal Newport - I liked this book better than the last but I think it suffers from the same problems all his books do… he’s shielded by academia and not that busy of a person. I laughed out loud when he used Jane Austen as an example of Slow Productivity (paraphrasing) “After her father sold the farm and the school and they moved to a beach town, she was able to slow down.” Like, yeah dude, I could slow down too if my dad retired and sold the literal farm.
In Progress
- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Adventure Zone Vol. 6 by McElroy, Pietsch, McElroy
- Awe by Dacher Keltner
📝 Blogging
Not my best summer of blogging. But the drafts folder is going wild. Trust me. Lol.
- Mini 4WD - a new hobby
- Summer rental - a post about vacation
- The cost of fueling my body - a quantification of self
📺 Media
Not my best summer of media consumption. But I’m back on Dropout which is nice.
TV
- Wimbledon 2024 - Watched a lot of the Wimbledon finals with my wife.
Streaming
- Make Some Noise S3 (Dropout) w- My favorite improv show. It’s punchier this season.
- Thousandaires (Dropout) - What would you do with $1,000!?
- Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up (Dropout) - A VHS action movie fever dream but with dice.
Anime
- Goldenboy (1995) - Full of fan service but has a main character that flips the genre on its head a bit.
- Mob Psycho 100 S2 (2019) - Mob is at it again. Such a weird, fun series.
- Gundam Breaker Battlogue (2021) - A short web series to promote a new line of Gundam models. Not my favorite “Builder” series nor is it my favorite line of Gundam models. Battlogue on all fronts feels rushed and cheap.
🧶 Crafts
- Tamiya Mini 4WD Blast Arrow Starter Pack - I got into watching min-cars race around a track. I bought one for me and one for my son. I finished mine. My son didn’t finish his. But we don’t have a track to race on… so I either need to pony up cash or figure out another way to race.
🤖 Gunpla
I built the Perfect Grade Unleashed RX-78-2 Gundam - The granddaddy of all granddaddies. This was an incredible build start to finish. I stalled out for two weeks over adhering some metal etching parts but I tried out different glues and cements and ended up using a Scotch Restickable Glue Stick (the same glue for Post-it Notes) and it worked great.
From the inner frame to the outer shell of the body armor, this model is jaw dropping. It has heft, but not too heavy. It poses but feels sturdy. Bandai nestled in gimmicks everywhere but also so subtle you’d never know they were there from a distance. I need to finish putting on all the stickers, but it’s already so incredible to look at that I fear over-decorating.
⌨️ Open source
Nothing official. Except for my job I guess which is technically open source.
👾 Video games
- Thank Goodness You’re Here (Switch) - A hilarious little slapformer (not for kids)
https://daverupert.com/2024/08/vibe-check-34/
🥸 #214 - Who do they think they are?
date: 2024-08-24, from: Interesting, a blog on writing
It’s different once you get to know them.
https://inneresting.substack.com/p/214-who-do-they-think-they-are
Santa Barbara Police Arrest Convicted Felon Found Trespassing on La Colina Junior High Campus, Approaching Students
date: 2024-08-24, from: Santa Barbara Indenpent News
Suspect Teon Tondale West, 31, was booked on felony charges of threatening a crime with intent to terrorize and possessing a weapon near a school, as well as misdemeanor charges of loitering, disrupting school activities, fighting in a public place, and annoying a victim under 18.
The post Santa Barbara Police Arrest Convicted Felon Found Trespassing on La Colina Junior High Campus, Approaching Students appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.
Sidelined at their party’s convention, pro-Palestinian Democrats play the long game
date: 2024-08-24, from: VOA News USA
Vice President Kamala Harris reaffirmed support for Israel in her Democratic National Convention acceptance speech. Pro-Palestinian delegates say they will push to condition U.S. military aid to Israel. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports from the convention in Chicago, Illinois.
@Dave Winer’s linkblog (date: 2024-08-24, from: Dave Winer’s linkblog)
Kamala Harris Defines the New Normal.
https://politicalwire.com/2024/08/23/kamala-harris-defines-the-new-normal/