We’re beating plowshares into swords, For those tired old men That we elected King.
This is end Of the innocence.
Somewhere back there in the dust, That same small town in each of us.
Jammed Mechanism
The mechanism we have in place to deal with our most difficult societal issues is for the government to review them and then to take a stand, and pass enabling legislation.
The federal Liberals seem completely paralyzed from making any decision that anyone might object to. It’s a complete leadership vacuum.
I love the hills at this time of year when they’re covered in these cheery purple flowers.
I wish I could edit with my voice. It would have to be more accurate than Siri is today, but it would be terrific.
e.g. “Change ‘That was a disaster!’ to ‘In my opinion, overcoming the impression left on undecided voters may be insurmountable.’”
Time for Beto O’Rourke to step up?
#DemocratCandidatesForPresident
🔗 Articles: Wednesday 26.Jun.2024
Don’t leave home without it.
CartoonBrew: Disney-Themed Snow White Cafe In Hollywood Shutters After 78 Years
Snow White Cafe, a kitschy Disney-themed diner and dive bar located at 6769 Hollywood Boulevard, has abruptly shuttered. It had been in business for 78 years.
Its interior, which was decorated with murals of characters from Disney’s first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, has been gutted.
There is plenty of lore surrounding the Disney murals. Some say the artwork was drawn by Disney artists who worked on the original feature — and it may have been, though there’s no way to prove it.
via Manton
CartoonBrew: Animation+, A Free Channel Focused On Adult Comedy Content, Launches In U.S. And Canada
Animation+, a new streaming service and studio focused on adult comedy content for millennial and Gen Z audiences, has launched in the U.S. and Canada. Its first consumer offering is a free ad-supported tv channel, currently available exclusively on Samsung TV Plus.
Hmmm, locking content to a specific hardware device.
NYT: Lauren Boebert Wins Crowded Primary in Colorado After Swapping Districts
Representative Lauren Boebert, the MAGA lightning rod who switched districts in Colorado to avoid being ousted from the House, won a crowded Republican primary on Tuesday in a conservative area of the state, all but ensuring that she will serve another two years in Congress.
Ms. Boebert, a two-term Republican, overcame multiple challengers in the eastern plains of Colorado, nearly guaranteeing that she will prevail over her Democratic rival in November in the solidly red Fourth Congressional District. The Associated Press called the race for her less than half an hour after polls closed as she led by a wide margin.
Electrek: Here’s how big of a difference tires can make on Tesla Model 3
The results were really interesting as they highlight how big of a difference on efficiency tires can make.
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They were all tested on the Model 3 with 18″ wheels except for the EcoReady, which was tested on 19″ and certainly negatively affected the results.
Regardless, this shows a 29 Wh per mile difference in efficiency between the most efficient and less efficient EV-optimised tires. That’s very interesting.
Electrek: CATL shares energy-dense battery that will power electric planes
The world’s largest battery maker continues to showcase why it’s the name to beat in its given segment. During the Shanghai Auto Show, CATL launched a new condensed battery that delivers the proper safety and energy density to enable the flight of electric passenger planes. If this technology sounds like it’s still several years away, think again — CATL expects to begin mass production sooner than you’d think.
CATL remains the name to beat in EV battery development, not only in China, where it is headquartered, but around the entire globe. This past February, the company emerged yet again as the largest battery market share holder on the planet for a sixth straight year.
TorStar: They’re offering $1M to keep the Ontario Science Centre open
How are Torontonians are banding together to try [to] save the Ontario Science Centre.
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Together, the pair run the Vohra Miller foundation, founded in 2020 to help fund STEM initiatives in the city. Vohra-Miller, who is a public health doctorate student at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, was named a vaccine hero by the Star in 2021, and she has dedicated her life to science education. Miller joined Shopify in its nascent days in 2011 as head of its marketing team, and stayed on to be chief product officer until 2020, after the company was named Canada’s largest.
The Science Centre, and science education more broadly isn’t important just for families and kids, or as a piece of architectural history, but because there’s a “hostility towards science” post-pandemic, Vohra-Miller said.
CP: Closing science centre unnecessary, says firm of architect who designed building
“The Rimkus engineering report makes it clear that closing the OSC is not a necessity,” the firm wrote.
“Repairs are needed, but on a manageable scale and with potentially minimal impact on the public experience of the building. We offer our architectural services pro bono to the Government of Ontario to realize the necessary roof repairs and we encourage the structural and building science community to similarly offer pro bono services for this scope to accomplish the recommended repairs immediately.”
CP: Apple to bring self-service repair program to Canada next year
Apple says Canadians will soon get access to a program providing them with the parts, tools and manuals they need to fix their own devices.
The tech giant says the self-service repair program will make its debut in 2025, likely in the first few months of the year.
MacRumors: Alleged First Look at Apple Watch X / Series 10 With 2-Inch Display
Apple is rumored to be planning a revamp of the Apple Watch for the device’s tenth anniversary, and 91mobiles claims to have sourced CAD renders of what could be the “Apple Watch X” or Apple Watch Series 10 from industry insiders.
The site claims that the renders are of a “larger” model featuring a 2-inch display. The current Apple Watch Series 9 has a 1.7-inch display, while the Apple Watch Ultra has a display size of 1.93-inches, so this would be the biggest screen on an Apple Watch so far.
The Christian Science Monitor: For Biden and Trump, debate offers a rare chance to change perceptions
While a plurality of voters identify themselves as independents, polling suggests that the number of true independents who don’t lean one way or the other is actually in the single digits. But as Jordan Tama, a political expert at American University and a national security adviser to Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign, pointed out in a call with reporters Tuesday, debates can be critical for this small population who “tips our elections.”
SVA!
First though, it has to be said that the loss of Toronto-St. Paul’s is a large one for Justin Trudeau and the Liberals. They know what many past Liberal voters were saying at the doors — that they couldn’t vote for candidate Leslie Church because they are keen to see Trudeau leave.
Whether they obtain that wish soon or after the 2025 election is going to be the question of the summer. It’s said that only Trudeau can ultimately make that decision — that no one is going to force him out.
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All these MPs will be so intent on avoiding the same fate as Toronto-St. Paul’s, they will likely be extremely eager to please restive voters. Need help on a tax matter, or someone to help you move? Call up your local Liberal MP.
Forbes: U.S. Oil And Gas Production Are Ahead Of Last Year’s Record Pace
Last year marked a record for U.S. oil production with an average daily production of 12.93 million barrels per day (BPD). That record was 5% greater than the previous record of 12.31 million bpd set in 2019.
However, current data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that average daily production thus far in 2024 is 13.12 million bpd — 7.1% ahead of the production level of a year ago and 1.4% higher than last year’s record pace.
Last Updated: 26.Jun.2024 23:52 EDT
I’m very disappointed to find that Victorinox no longer makes the simple 2-bladed Swiss Army pocket knife that I’ve carried for years. I find it hard to believe that they would discontinue it!
Sorry to hear of the passing of Big Nerd Ranch books & bootcamps. 😞
https://bignerdranch.com/blog/finding-new-pastures-big-nerd-ranchs-next-chapter/
🔗 Articles: Monday 03.Jun.2024
Snap! Crackle! Pop!
The Guardian: European and Canadian central banks expected to cut interest rates this week
New lower rates of 3.75% and 4.75% respectively are likely to be introduced this week after drops in inflation.
WashPo: Claudia Sheinbaum elected Mexico’s first female president
The historic vote Sunday underscored the nation’s progress on gender equity but the Morena victory highlighted concerns about the weakening of its democratic institutions.
NYT: MicroStrategy and Its Founder to Pay $40 Million in Tax Fraud Lawsuit
Michael Saylor did not pay any income taxes to Washington despite living there from 2005 through 2020, the attorney general for the District of Columbia said.
The attorney general for the District of Columbia reached a $40 million settlement with Michael Saylor and the software company he founded, MicroStrategy, in what the attorney general’s office said was the largest income tax fraud recovery in Washington history, The New York Times has learned.
The settlement, which is expected to be announced on Monday, stems from lawsuits filed in 2021 and 2022 accusing Mr. Saylor of evading more than $25 million in income taxes in Washington. Mr. Saylor enlisted MicroStrategy’s help to file fraudulent forms from 2005 through 2020 claiming that he lived in either Virginia or Florida, states with significantly lower income tax rates, and he did not pay any income taxes to the district during that period, the attorney general’s office said.
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“Michael Saylor and his company, MicroStrategy, defrauded the district and all of its residents for years,” Brian L. Schwalb, the attorney general, said in a statement. “Indeed, Saylor openly bragged about his tax-evasion scheme, encouraging his friends to follow his example and contending that anyone who paid taxes to the district was stupid.”
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This is not the first time that Mr. Saylor or MicroStrategy has been accused of committing fraud: In 2000, Mr. Saylor and two other MicroStratgy executives settled accounting fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for about $11 million.
NYT: Abnormally Dry Canada Taps U.S. Energy, Reversing Usual Flow
In February, the United States did something that it had not done in many years — the country sent more electricity to Canada than it received from its northern neighbor. Then, in March, U.S. electricity exports to Canada climbed even more, reaching their highest level since at least 2010.
The increasing flow of power north is part of a worrying trend for North America: Demand for energy is growing robustly everywhere, but the supply of power — in Canada’s case from giant hydroelectric dams — and the ability to get the energy to where it’s needed are increasingly under strain.
Meanwhile in Ontario, Doug Ford tore down windmills!
Reuters: UK’s Labour Party set for 194-seat majority in general election - YouGov poll
Britain’s main opposition Labour Party is set to win next month’s general election in a landslide victory with a 194-seat majority, YouGov said on Monday.
The multilevel regression and post-stratification (MRP) poll predicted that Labour would win 422 seats, with the governing Conservatives expected to win 140 seats.
A previous YouGov’s MRP poll published in early April showed Labour winning 403 seats nationwide if a general election was held then. A party would need to win more than 320 seats to secure a majority in parliament.
This is going to be a huge change! Of course, there will be lots of mistakes with so many rookie MPs and MPs who have never been in power.
TechRadar: I watched Nvidia’s Computex 2024 keynote and it made my blood run cold
There was something that Huang said during the keynote that shocked me into a mild panic. Nvidia’s Blackwell cluster, which will come with eight GPUs, pulls down 15kW of power. That’s 15,000 watts of power. Divided by eight, that’s 1,875 watts per GPU.
Our house averages less than 0.5 kW!
MacRumors: Apple Readies WWDC Stream on YouTube Ahead of Keynote Next Week
WWDC 2024 will kick off with Apple’s keynote on June 10 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, and the page where the presentation will be live streamed is now available on YouTube. On the page, you can set a reminder to be notified before the keynote begins.
NYT: Elon Musk’s Starlink Connects and Divides Brazil’s Marubo People
Elon Musk’s Starlink has connected an isolated tribe to the outside world — and divided it from within.
NYT: The 25 Photos That Defined the Modern Age
In 1966, Ruscha photographed both sides of the Strip by securing a motorized camera to the bed of a pickup truck. The result was “Every Building on the Sunset Strip,” a nearly 25-foot accordion-fold, self-published artist’s book.
NYT: EVs Are Suddenly Becoming Affordable
More efficient manufacturing, falling battery costs and intense competition are lowering sticker prices for battery-powered models to within striking distance of gasoline cars.
The most accurate way to compare cars is by their total lifetime cost (TLC), in which case electric cars are now actually cheaper than carbon cars!
CNN: Claudia Sheinbaum profile: Who is the veteran politician set to be Mexico’s first female president?
The 61-year-old is set to replace the outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, her longtime ally whose social welfare programs lifted many Mexicans out of poverty, making their leftist Morena party favorite in the polls.
“Our duty is and will always be to look after every single Mexican without distinction,” Sheinbaum said in a speech early Monday morning. “Even though many Mexicans do not fully agree with our project, we will have to walk in peace and harmony to continue building a fair and more prosperous Mexico.”
Baffler: The Insulin Empire
But if a patient is so lucky as to be diagnosed with diabetes in time to prevent or ameliorate DKA, they are immediately faced with another disconcerting problem: accessing the treatment, which happens to be one of the most lucrative pharmaceutical products in human history. Just past the centennial of insulin’s discovery, the lack of insulin access and affordability continues to run rampant globally. Of the 537 million people living with diabetes worldwide, around 70 million require insulin. At the same time, more than three in four adults with diabetes reside in low- and middle-income countries where a combination of poverty and predatory pharmaceutical regimes make acquiring sufficient insulin difficult or impossible. Even in higher-income countries, pharmaceutical consortiums control who gets access to insulin, and for how much.
Take the United States: about 38.4 million Americans–including children–have diabetes, and among them, 8.4 million rely on insulin. A 2019 Yale study found that one in four insulin-dependent diabetics have resorted to rationing their insulin supplies: using less insulin than prescribed, stopping insulin therapy, delaying the start of insulin therapy, not filling prescriptions, and engaging in other underuse behaviors related to cost. Many who need insulin not only require adequate dosages but different types of insulins, alongside a suite of devices to monitor and stabilize blood sugar levels as health complications can emerge if they drift too far in either direction. Forgoing adequate insulin dosing can have devastating consequences for type 1 and many type 2 diabetics, and the practice is a substantial driver of the hundreds of thousands of deaths attributable to diabetes complications in the United States each year. With global diabetes rates expected to double by 2050, insulin accessibility and affordability will continue to be a matter of life and death for people with the disease.
The potential for insulin’s market exploitation was almost presciently understood by Banting and his team at the University of Toronto, so in 1923, when Banting and Best were awarded the U.S. patents for insulin and the method for making it, they swiftly sold them to the university for $1 each. “Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world,” Banting explained, believing that profiting off such an essential treatment was not only immoral but detrimental to ensuring universal affordability and access.
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Some of the commonly used forms of insulin have long been exponentially more expensive in the United States than in the rest of the OECD; for years, caravans have taken Americans across the border to Canada, where they can buy insulin for a tenth of its U.S. price. Stateside, insulin prices have consistently seen hikes that are eye-watering for patients and mouth-watering for executives and investors. A vial of Eli Lilly’s rapid-acting Humalog (insulin lispro) cost $21 in 1996 but increased to $332 by 2018.
Last Updated: 03.Jun.2024 22:29 EDT
🔗 Articles: Sunday 02.Jun.2024
Betcha can’t eat just one!
Daring Fireball: ICQ Is Shutting Down (Also: ICQ Is Still Around)
Perhaps no area of computing was more disrupted by the smartphone revolution than messaging. Pre-mobile, “instant messaging” had a surprising number of popular platforms. AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) was tops amongst my cohort, almost certainly because Apple’s iChat – the Mac-only predecessor to the app we now call Messages – started in 2002 exclusively as an AIM client. But Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, and ICQ were all popular too. The list of protocols that the popular Mac chat app Adium supported was very long.
NYT: In Singapore, China Warns U.S. While Zelensky Seeks Support
“These malign intentions are drawing Taiwan to the dangers of war,” Admiral Dong told the meeting after making an oblique but unmistakable reference to U.S. military and political support for Taiwan. “Anyone who dares split Taiwan from China will be smashed to pieces and court their own destruction.”
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There is no clear evidence yet that Ukraine has struck inside Russia with weapons provided by its allies in NATO, after the Biden administration acceded last week to a request from the government in Kyiv to be able to hit targets across the border. That shift in U.S. policy had followed declarations from nearly a dozen European governments and Canada that their weapons could be used in this way.
TechCrunch: Iceland’s startup scene is all about making the most of the country’s resources
With fewer than 400,000 inhabitants, Iceland receives more than its fair share of tourists — and of venture capital. Both are good reasons to pay attention to what’s going on and coming out of this unique island nation.
“We need more pillars to our economy,” Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, Iceland’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, recently told TechCrunch at Iceland Innovation Week in Reykjavík.
Guardian: Editorial: The Guardian view on taxing billionaires: we need to talk about the super-rich
G20 countries will discuss proposals to make the world’s wealthiest individuals pay more towards funding public goods. The debate is overdue.
Dr Jardim is among just 17 per cent of Australian neurosurgeons who are women.
She juggles three children — aged five, three and one – with a demanding role as a brain surgeon working across the Queensland Children’s and Mater Health hospitals in Brisbane.
ABC (.au): China defence chief says Beijing ready to ‘forcefully’ stop Taiwan independence
National security expert Professor Rory Medcalf called it the “most pointedly intimidating speech” he had heard from a Chinese representative in the past 20 years.
TorStar: Man charged with careless driving in TTC streetcar collision
Toronto police said they charged a man with careless driving after the Saturday morning collision involving a streetcar in the area of Frederick and King Streets.
TorStar: Justin Ling: I asked why the Liberals broke a vow. Their reply shocked me
In 2021, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party, desperately clinging to a minority government in an election they didn’t have to call, made a bold promise on policing. Re-elect the Liberals, the party’s platform said, and the new government would prohibit the RCMP from employing neck restraints–like the ones used to kill George Floyd and Eric Garner — or deploying tear gas or bullets to control unruly crowds.
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But three years on, the government has done little to make any of those promises a reality. In fact, my reporting shows the Liberals have effectively abandoned even their own promised baby steps toward reform. Why? Because the RCMP told them to.
TorStar: If Red Lobster dies, part of me will, too
I know this probably sounds pretty maudlin. And I guess it is. But my point is that we all have these places where our lives unfold. If we’re lucky, they’re perfect places. It could be the crest of a hill overlooking a vista, as the sun sets. Or some lake, or whatever. But if we live, like lots of us live, in the suburbs and exurbs that cling wrap this vast continent, then chances are your life probably doesn’t have a perfect crest, or a vista, or a lake.
Chances are it has an East Side Mario’s, or an Applebee’s, or a Red Lobster. You know: a place where the staff has memorized an in-house birthday song that they all recite tableside, clapping more-or-less in synch. These places bloom in the memory. And they are in increasingly short supply.
TorStar: How did Justin Trudeau screw up so badly? Maybe the answer was hiding in plain sight
By the fall of 2022, though, the Liberals really started losing the thread. They didn’t see the cost-of-living crisis coming on. They failed to come to grips with housing and immigration, and they didn’t grasp the connection between those issues. They didn’t go at Pierre Poilievre hard when he took over as Conservative leader, leaving him a clear field to define himself as the champion of middle-class Canada.
Most obviously, the Liberals completely bungled the foreign interference file. If they’d taken it seriously and done what pretty much everyone suggested — set up a foreign agents register and promise an inquiry — they could have contained the damage.
Instead, inexplicably, they dodged and weaved and turned a problem into a crisis. By the summer of 2023 they’d fallen to 20 points behind the Conservatives and nothing they’ve done since has turned that around.
Last Updated: 02.Jun.2024 23:56 EDT
🔗 Articles: Saturday 01.Jun.2024
Breakfast of Champions!
Globe: Andrew Coyne: In one juror’s trajectory, both the strength of the jury system and the fragility of the rule of law are exposed
I find myself, amid the hurricane of coverage following the first criminal conviction of a former president in U.S. history, obsessing about Juror No. 2.
That’s the member of the jury that convicted Donald Trump who, asked in jury selection what media he read, said he relied on Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s personal social-media site. That, and X, the former Twitter.
Other jurors said they got their news from CNN, or The New York Times, or The Wall Street Journal. Only Juror No. 2 cited Truth Social, and only Juror No. 2 said he got his news exclusively from social media.
NewsNation: Boeing’s first astronaut flight called off at the last minute in latest setback
A last-minute problem nixed Saturday’s launch attempt for Boeing’s first astronaut flight, the latest in a string of delays over the years.
Two NASA astronauts were strapped in the company’s Starliner capsule when the countdown automatically was halted at 3 minutes and 50 seconds by the computer system that controls the final minutes before liftoff.
With only a split second to take off, there was no time to work the latest trouble and everything was called off. It was not immediately clear why the computers aborted the countdown.
Guardian: ‘Once in a lifetime’: UK and European space scientists urged to join Nasa mission to Uranus
European space scientists have been urged to join forces with Nasa to ensure the success of one of the most ambitious space missions planned for launch this century.
Joining a robot spaceflight to the mysterious planet Uranus would offer “the opportunity to participate in a groundbreaking, flagship-class mission”, astrophysicists have said.
The call was made in Nature, the leading science journal, in a special editorial which exhorted the European Space Agency (Esa) to form an international partnership with Nasa. Such cooperation would ensure that the Uranus mission – which would involve putting a robot spacecraft in orbit round the planet and dropping a probe into its thick, icy atmosphere – is completed in time and on budget.
CBC: As Oilers make a push for the Stanley Cup Final, playoff hockey begins to disappear from CBC
Hockey fans in Canada hoping to watch the Edmonton Oilers move toward a berth in the Stanley Cup final this weekend won’t be able to do so for free, after CBC chose to not carry Games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference final.
The games will be available only to those who subscribe to Sportsnet, either through their cable service or directly from Rogers Sports & Media through the Sportsnet+ app.
CBC scheduled a one-hour broadcast of the Canadian Screen Awards followed by a Just For Laughs special, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, during the highly anticipated fifth matchup between the Oilers and the Dallas Stars. The teams went into the game with their series knotted 2-2.
It feels like CBC management is so disconnected from the world, making Poilievre’s desire to cut their budget easier! It’s really an own-goal.
The party, which has been climbing steadily in the polls and is now well ahead of the BC United, the current Opposition, would repeal the provincial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in favour of pivoting to an approach of “economic reconciliation” by signing business deals with individual First Nations.
As well, the party would strike a committee to review all school textbooks and literature to ensure they are “neutral,” party leader John Rustad said during a wide-ranging meeting with The Globe and Mail’s editorial board in Vancouver earlier this month.
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Mr. Rustad and Bruce Banman, of Abbotsford South, both sit as BC Conservatives in the legislature after being elected as members of BC United in 2020. Mr. Rustad was ejected from the BC United caucus in 2022 after his social-media posts cast doubt that people are directly responsible for the climate changing around the globe. Mr. Banman crossed the floor to join Mr. Rustad last September and has refused to say whether he agrees or disagrees with climate change.
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On climate change, Mr. Rustad has been vocal about ending the province’s carbon tax, which the BC Liberals created in 2008 as the first such levy in North America.
Mr. Rustad argues the science around human causes of climate change is “a theory and it’s not proven,” a position widely at odds with accepted science. But Mr. Rustad maintains there is no pressing need to legislate solutions.
“It’s not even a crisis,” he told The Globe.
What a loon!
Globe: Kelly Cryderman: Naheed Nenshi wants to reshape the NDP’s role in Alberta
Naheed Nenshi gets a lot of applause from Alberta NDP audiences these days. However, when he called United Conservative Party MLAs the ”monkeys on the other side” at a leadership debate earlier this month, there were murmurs and grumbling. Mr. Nenshi’s quip about decorum during Question Period in the legislature was too ugly to be many New Democrats’ cup of tea.
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In the Alberta NDP leadership contest that will culminate in one month, Mr. Nenshi remains the one to beat, for all the good and bad that front-runner status entails.
Globe: A Chinese spacecraft lands on moon’s far side to collect rocks in growing space rivalry with U.S.
The landing module touched down at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time in a huge crater known as the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the China National Space Administration said.
The mission is the sixth in the Chang’e moon exploration program, which is named after a Chinese moon goddess. It is the second designed to bring back samples, following the Chang’e 5, which did so from the near side in 2020.
Last Updated: 01.Jun.2024 23:46 EDT
🔗 Articles: Friday 31.May.2024
If you can find a better car, buy it.
CleanTechnica: California Heat Pump Partnership Aims For 6 Million In 6 Years
Everybody knows that heat pumps are going to push fossil energy out of buildings and back underground where it belongs. The question is how far, and how fast. The newly launched California Heat Pump Partnership has the answer and they are not kidding around, with the firepower of a collaborative effort that includes the companies covering more than 90% of the US consumer heat pump market.
Manton Reece: About
Want the longer story? I’ve been developing apps for the Mac and the web since the mid-1990s. …
NYT: Opinion: How to Force Justices Alito and Thomas to Recuse Themselves in the Jan. 6 Cases
Everyone assumes that nothing can be done about the recusal situation because the highest court in the land has the lowest ethical standards — no binding ethics code or process outside of personal reflection. Each justice decides for him- or herself whether he or she can be impartial.
Kottke: Fabric & Letterforms
I loved looking at some of the items from the Letterform Archive related to the representation of letters with fabric (knitting, cross-stitch, weaving, etc.) Also, I did not know this re: the word “text”:
The word “text” originated from the Latin word “textus,” which means “a weaving” or “a fabric.” In ancient times, textus referred specifically to the process of weaving fabric. Over time, the meaning of the word expanded to include written or printed material, reflecting the idea of words being woven together to create a coherent written work. …
MacRumors: Apple Vision Pro International Launch Likely Scheduled for July
The international launch of the Vision Pro is likely to fall in the third or fourth week of July. Given this timing, there is a chance that Apple will confirm the date at its WWDC keynote on June 10.
Dave Winer (Scripting News): Tech is about people
Once again we’re at the beginning of a huge tech-induced transformation, and yet again the people who already occupy a high rung of the ladder of success, or imagine they do, are p*ssing all over it, without using it.
NewsNation: Carville, Rivera disagree on Trump verdict
James Carville believes in the American jury system, believes it worked in the Donald Trump hush money case, and believes the jury got it right.
“In spite of Trump’s constant telling people that he was going to take the stand and defend himself, he offered no defense,” Carville said. “He chickened out.”
“I respect jurors. Believe they are diligent American citizens. The idea these jurors were some sort of political pawn is a disservice to the jury system and a disservice to the rule of law,” Carville told NewsNation’s “Cuomo.”
NewsNation: Trump says he wanted to testify in hush money trial
Former President Donald Trump, now also a convicted felon, said during a news conference Friday he wanted wanted to testify in his criminal hush money trial but was discouraged by his legal team.
Speaking in front of Trump Tower in New York the day after the unprecedented verdict in his trial, Trump said he ultimately decided not to testify because it would have allowed lawyers to dig into everything he’s ever done, and that the judge wanted to go into every detail.
He got good advice, I’d say.
MacRumors: iOS 18 to Add Text Effects to iMessage
While it is already possible to send iMessages with bubble effects or full-screen effects, such as invisible ink or confetti, the text effects would allow you to animate individual words within a message. With the Messages app set to gain RCS support on iOS 18, it is possible the text effects will also work with green bubbles.
Our hope is that Apple will also add bold, italics, and underline formatting options alongside the text effects, but we have not confirmed that possibility.
In addition to the text effects and RCS support, the Messages app on iOS 18 will reportedly gain an AI-powered autocompletion tool.
Electrek: Volkswagen ID.3 gains more spunk, power, and a lower price model
The “major” upgrades include new software and infotainment (with ChatGPT). VW’s new system features a larger touchscreen with an improved design.
With a stronger and more efficient motor, the new ID.3 (Pro S) delivers 228 hp (170 kW) as standard with up to 347 miles (550 km) WLTP range. The upgraded model also features faster charging speeds with up to 175 kW DC charging capacity and added battery pre-conditioning.
CBC: What the ‘inadvertent error’ in the PBO’s carbon tax analysis means, in as plain English as possible
Both the PBO and the other group of economists agree the majority of Canadian households receive more in rebates than they pay in these direct and indirect fiscal costs, combined. (This is the portion of the PBO analysis that the federal Liberals like to point to, and that the federal Conservatives like to ignore.)
TechCrunch: Live Nation confirms Ticketmaster was hacked, says personal information stolen in data breach
Live Nation said the breach occurred on May 20, and that a cybercriminal on May 27 “offered what it alleged to be Company user data for sale via the dark web.” The company did not say who the personal information belongs to, though it’s believed to relate to customers.
AppleInsider: AirTag crucial to recovery of $5 million of stolen tools in Metro DC
After getting fed up with overnight thefts of tools, a Northern Virginia carpenter planted AirTags on his tools, leading police to series of storage facilities full of stolen goods.
Twice, an unnamed carpenter woke in the early morning to find his van broken into, and thousands of dollars of tools stolen out of the vehicle. He decided that if there was going to be a third time, he was going to hunt down the thieves.
He bought a series of AirTags and planted them in some of the larger tools that had yet to be stolen.
On January 22, the thieves returned. All in all, between the three break-ins, 50 tools had been stolen from the man — including some of the tools seeded with AirTags.
BBC: Migrants and drugs - why Mexico’s election matters to the US
Opinion polls have given the frontrunner, Claudia Sheinbaum, and her main rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, such a large lead over their male rivals, that a female president looks like a foregone conclusion.
But whoever wins this coming Sunday will have to deal with the sensitive relationship with the United States, which is not only Mexico’s northern neighbour but also its top commercial partner.
How to handle the Mexican drug cartels – largely blamed by US authorities for the deadly epidemic of fentanyl overdoses and deaths in the US – is not the only daunting issue for the Mexican presidential candidates.
The winner will also have to deal with the record flows through Mexico of US-bound foreign migrants that are a burning topic in the US’ own 2024 electoral race.
Last Updated: 31.May.2024 23:59 EDT
🔗 Articles: Thursday 30.May.2024
It beats as it sweeps as it cleans.
NYT: Nate Cohen: Perhaps Lost in the Polling: The Race for President Is Still Close
Though he trails in the polls, President Biden has mostly held his support among white voters. Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin probably offer his clearest path to victory.
Reuters: US Labor Dept sues Hyundai over US child labor, court filing shows
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday sued South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co, an auto parts plant and a labor recruiter, over illegal use of child labor in Alabama.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Montgomery, Alabama, also sought an order requiring the companies to relinquish any profits related to the use of child labor.
Reuters reported in 2022 that children, some as young as 12, worked for a Hyundai subsidiary and in parts suppliers for the company in the Southern state.
The Labor Department in its filing named three companies as defendants, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC, SMART Alabama LLC, an auto parts company, and Best Practice Service LLC, a staffing firm, for employing a 13-year-old child.
The Department’s Wage and Hour Division found the child had worked up to 50-60 hours per week on an assembly line operating machines that formed sheet metal into auto body parts.
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In 2022, Reuters revealed the widespread and illegal employment of migrant children in Alabama factories supplying both Hyundai and sister brand Kia. In addition to leading to probes by law enforcement and regulators, the coverage was followed by other media examinations of the problem of child labor in the U.S.
CBC: Ford suggests immigrants to blame for shooting at Jewish school
Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested Thursday immigrants to the province were responsible for shooting at a Jewish girls’ elementary school in North York last weekend, despite police saying they have little information on the suspects.
He’s back into full idiot mode!
CBC: Emigration from Canada to the U.S. hits a 10-year high as tens of thousands head south
Census says 126,340 people left Canada for the U.S. in 2022, a 70 per cent increase over a decade ago.
CBC: Donald Trump found guilty on all counts in hush-money trial
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial, and the real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people,” he said, referring to the upcoming U.S. presidential election this fall.
“We didn’t do a thing wrong. I’m an innocent man.”
NYT: Trump Convicted on All Counts to Become America’s First Felon President
Donald J. Trump was convicted on Thursday of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign, capping an extraordinary trial that tested the resilience of the American justice system and transformed the former commander in chief into a felon.
The guilty verdict in Manhattan — across the board, on all 34 counts — will reverberate throughout the nation and the world as it ushers in a new era of presidential politics. Mr. Trump will carry the stain of the verdict during his third run for the White House as voters now choose between an unpopular incumbent and a convicted criminal.
BBC: Dinosaur hunter stumbles across million-dollar find
The first stegosaurus skeleton to go under the hammer is set to fetch millions of dollars in New York. But the extraordinary discovery was made by chance, thousands of miles away out west during one man’s birthday stroll, writes Stephen Smith.
9to5Mac: YouTube app no longer hijacks Apple TV screen saver
This is certainly good news for Apple TV users. Although the YouTube screensavers were harmless, some people were afraid that the app would use this space to show ads in the future. Even Google executive Philipp Schindler said earlier this year that the company was testing a way to show ads on TVs when a video is paused.
Ubiquitous, pervasive advertising is a pox.
WashPo: What to know about the jurors in Trump’s New York hush money trial
Here is what the jurors said during jury selection about Trump, their media consumption and their ability to remain impartial: …
A 51-year-old Calgary man who suffers debilitating cluster headaches has won a Federal Court battle forcing Health Canada to reconsider his bid for legal access to psilocybin to treat his extreme pain.
Ottawa Federal Court Judge Simon Fothergill, on May 24, granted an application for judicial review of Health Canada’s denial of Jody Lance’s bid for legal access to medical grade psilocybin — the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms — to manage pain associated with the headaches, which is so bad they have earned the nickname “suicide headaches.”
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Psilocybin has been legal for Canadians to access in a limited way under the Special Access Program since 2022. As of November 2023, Health Canada had authorized 153 requests for 161 patients.
Health Canada will need to establish better evidentiary rules for such substances.
Guardian: Moira Donegan: I had convinced myself Trump would never be convicted. I’m happy I was wrong
There are so many things that Trump should go to prison for, which he never will. He should go to prison for what he did on January 6. He should go to prison for what he did to migrant families. If there were justice, he would go to prison for what he did to E Jean Carroll and allegedly to any number of the two dozen other women who have accused him of sexual assault. He might never go to prison, and there’s still a long way to go before anything like true justice is served.
But for those of us who had despaired of a day like this — who had convinced ourselves that to think he would ever be convicted of anything was childishly naive — this is a very good day. We can be happy, among other things, that we were wrong.
NYT: David French: ‘Ukraine Has Gone Through a Terrible Period’: A Q. and A. With Frederick and Kimberly Kagan
He is the director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project and was one of the intellectual architects of America’s successful surge counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq in 2007. She wrote a military history of the surge and is the founder and president of the Institute for the Study of War, which is producing in-depth, real-time analysis of the battlefield in Ukraine for the public and government leaders.
I found their observations about what is arguably the most consequential military conflict of the 21st century invaluable. I hope you find them as instructive as I did.
Atlantic: Dressing for Court
The courtroom dress code for most witnesses and defendants is modest, quiet attire—clothing that no one will be talking about. But when celebrities and politicians are in the mix, it’s not that simple.
Atlantic: David Frum: Wrong Case, Right Verdict
Donald Trump will not be held accountable before the 2024 presidential election for his violent attempt to overturn the previous election. He will not be held accountable before the election for absconding with classified government documents and showing them off at his pay-for-access vacation club. He will not be held accountable before the election for his elaborate conspiracy to manipulate state governments to install fake electors. But he is now a convicted felon all the same.
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The United States can have a second Trump presidency, or it can retain the rule of law, but not both. No matter how much spluttering and spin-doctoring and outright deception you may hear from the desperate co-partisans of the first Felon American to stand as the presumptive presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party — there is no denying that now.
Atlantic: Amazon Returns Have Gone to Hell
I’ve had this same experience — where Amazon insists that it never got an item I really have sent back — many times now. In some cases, I did end up getting charged, and had to talk with customer service to unwind the matter. Sometimes it took several separate calls or chats to resolve.
NYT: What I Learned About Life at My 30th College Reunion
“Every classmate who became a teacher or doctor seemed happy,” and 29 other lessons from seeing my Harvard class of 1988 all grown up.
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12. Many classmates who are in long-lasting marriages said they experienced a turning point, when their early marriage suddenly transformed into a mature relationship. “I’m doing the best I can!” one classmate told me she said to her husband in the middle of a particularly stressful couples’-therapy session. From that moment on, she said, he understood: Her imperfections were not an insult to him, and her actions were not an extension of him. She was her own person, and her imperfections were what made her her. Sometimes people forget this, in the thick of marriage.
13. Nearly all the alumni said they were embarrassed by their younger selves, particularly by how judgmental they used to be.
Last Updated: 30.May.2024 23:37 EDT
🔗 Articles: Wednesday 29.May.2024
Put a Tiger in Your Tank!
CleanTechnica: BYD Unveils Plug-In Hybrid With 1,305 Miles Of Total Range
28.May.2024
If you happen to live in China, the base price for the BYD Qin L and Seal 06 is 99,800 yuan ($13,775). Holy EV disruption, Batman! If these cars ever came to the US, BYD would never be able to keep up with demand. Of course, they are not coming to the US, because there is now a 100 percent tariff on Chinese made cars, but even at double the price, American buyers would be breaking down the doors to get one.
But wait, there’s more. BYD says owners of cars with the new plug-in hybrid technology can save up to 9,682 yuan ($1,336) a year in fuel costs compared to driving a traditional gasoline powered car. By lightning-like calculation, that means the Qin L or Seal 06 could have a net cost of zero — as in nada — if you buy it and keep it for 10 years. That’s unbelievable.
TechCrunch: Mistral releases Codestral, its first generative AI model for code
Mistral, the French AI startup backed by Microsoft and valued at $6 billion, has released its first generative AI model for coding, dubbed Codestral.
Codestral, like other code-generating models, is designed to help developers write and interact with code. It was trained on over 80 programming languages, including Python, Java, C++ and JavaScript, explains Mistral in a blog post. Codestral can complete coding functions, write tests and “fill in” partial code, as well as answer questions about a codebase in English.
Mistral describes the model as “open,” but that’s up for debate. The startup’s license prohibits the use of Codestral and its outputs for any commercial activities. There’s a carve-out for “development,” but even that has caveats: the license goes on to explicitly ban “any internal usage by employees in the context of the company’s business activities.”
The reason could be that Codestral was trained partly on copyrighted content. Mistral didn’t confirm or deny this in the blog post, but it wouldn’t be surprising; there’s evidence that the startup’s previous training data sets contained copyrighted data.
Guardian: Delhi temperature hits 52.9C, shattering India’s national record
Authorities warn of water shortages with temperatures 9C higher than expected and 1.9C above previous countrywide highpoint.
Guardian: Trump likens himself to Mother Teresa as jury weighs fate in hush-money case
After Judge Juan Merchan instructs jury, Trump rails against proceedings, saying even saint ‘could not beat these charges’.
Apparently he’s a martyr and a saint!
Kottke: “My Bike Is Everything to Me”
Bill Walton:
I am the luckiest guy in the world because I am alive and I can ride my bike. It is the ultimate celebration of life when you go out there and are able to do what you can do. I have not been able to play basketball for 34 years. I have not been able to walk for enjoyment or pleasure or exercise in 41 years, but I can ride my bike.
Wired: ‘Largest Botnet Ever’ Tied to Billions in Stolen Covid-19 Relief Funds
The United States Department of Justice on Wednesday announced charges against a 35-year-old Chinese national, Yunhe Wang, accused of operating a massive botnet allegedly linked to billions of dollars in fraud, child exploitation, and bomb threats, among other crimes.
Wang, identified by numerous pseudonyms — Tom Long and Jack Wan, among others — was arrested on May 24 and is accused of distributing malware through various pop-up VPN services, such as “ProxyGate” and “MaskVPN,” and by embedding viruses in internet files distributed via peer-to-peer networks known as torrents.
Last Updated: 29.May.2024 19:36 EDT
3rd period of the final game of the PWHL’s inaugural season and it’s a barn burner. Free streaming on YouTube!
Women’s hockey for the win!
🔗 Articles: Tuesday 28.May.2024
Have It Your Way!
WashPo: Va. firm fined for discriminatory hiring ad that only sought White citizens
A Virginia-based technology company will pay more than $38,000 in penalties** **for posting a discriminatory job advertisement that only sought to hire White U.S. citizens, the Justice Department announced.
Arthur Grand Technologies Inc., a firm that provides information technology services, in March 2023 posted a job advertisement for a business analyst position on the hiring site Indeed that asked in a bolded note for “Only Born US Citizens [White] who are local within 60 miles from Dallas,” according to a Justice Department news release. “Don’t share with candidates,” the advertisement read in brackets. Outrage quickly followed when the job posting was shared on social media.
More and more blatant.
WashPo: Virginia solar projects stall after Dominion Energy required pricey upgrades
“We went from a worst-case scenario of interconnection fees being about $20,000 – and that was a rare, worst-case scenario – to we’re starting out at half a million and going up from there. They’ve literally shut down midsize solar,” said Alden Cleanthes of Norfolk Solar, which works in low-income communities.
After launching in 2019, her company did more than $2 million in business, including installations on two historically Black churches, a community center and a family-owned roofing company. In 2023, it completed no projects.
ScienceAlert: New Type of Reversible Male Contraception Proves a Success in Mouse Study
A new type of male contraceptive that doesn’t rely on hormones has shown preliminary success in mice. The novel medicine is not only reversible; it comes with very few side effects.
Clinical trials for humans are still years away, but in initial experiments on rodents, the right dose of medicine at the right time can enter the bloodstream, cross into the testes, and curtail the hyperactivity of sperm.
The compound is called CDD-2807, and US researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine are keen to keep studying it.
BBC: British Museum gems for sale on eBay - how a theft was exposed
In 2020, Danish antiquities dealer Dr Ittai Gradel began to suspect an eBay seller he had been buying from was a thief who was stealing from the British Museum.
More than two years later, the museum would announce that thousands of objects were missing, stolen or damaged from its collection. It had finally believed Dr Gradel - but why had it taken so long for it to do so?
BBC: Tackling water shortages with the ‘Star Wars’ tech
Their system converts air to water using atmospheric water generators that contain a liquid desiccant, which absorbs moisture from the air.
Using sunlight or renewable electricity they heat the desiccant to 65C which releases the moisture, which can then be condensed into drinking water.
Mr Shrivastav says the whole process takes about 12 hours. Today each unit produces about 2,000 litres of drinking water.
CBC: Inuit musical duo records album for new Canadian animated film
PIQSIQ’s Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay created the movie’s score.
CBC: Neuralink looks to the public to solve a seemingly impossible problem
The problem, said Roy van Rijn, director of software consultancy OpenValue Rotterdam, is that the files appear very noisy. In other words, they contain many unique data points without common patterns. “If there aren’t enough ‘patterns’ in the data, it is mathematically impossible to compress something further,” he said in an email.
Van Rijn wrote a simple algorithm that compressed the Neuralink files at a ratio of 3.37 to 1. He speculated that participants using a similar approach might be able to compress the neural signals further, but that the “general consensus is that [200 to 1] is just outlandish.”
Neuralink is Musk’s company.
CNN: US pier constructed off Gaza has broken apart
The temporary pier constructed by the US military to transport aid into Gaza broke apart and sustained damage in heavy seas on Tuesday in a major blow to the American-led effort to create a maritime corridor for humanitarian supplies into the war-torn enclave, the Pentagon said.
The pier was “damaged and sections of the pier need rebuilding and repairing,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Tuesday. The pier will be removed from its location on the Gaza coast over the next 48 hours and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where US Central Command will carry out repairs, Singh said. The repairs will take more than a week, further delaying the effort to get the maritime corridor fully operating.
MacRumors: Nomad Tracking Card Review
Nomad today announced the launch of the Tracking Card, a super thin Find My-enabled card that is designed to be carried in a wallet so that it’s trackable with an iPhone.
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Perhaps the best feature of the Tracking Card is the battery. The battery inside can be recharged by putting the card on a Qi-based charger, and the markings on the card show the alignment. I tested the card with several Qi/MagSafe (https://www.macrumors.com/guide/magsafe-battery-pack/)chargers and they were all able to provide power, with charging indicated by a small red LED on the card.
CBC: Doug Ford’s change to booze sales could cost far more than $225M
Official figures from the Ministry of Finance and the LCBO obtained by CBC News on Monday show the province is facing a net revenue loss of $150 to $200 million per year as a result of the changes, in addition to the Beer Store payment.
Huge deficit and he’s cutting revenues!
Last Updated: 28.May.2024 17:06 EDT
🔗 Articles: Monday 27.May.2024
Imagination at work
The Verge: Google promised a better search experience — now it’s telling us to put glue on our pizza
Imagine this: you’ve carved out an evening to unwind and decide to make a homemade pizza. You assemble your pie, throw it in the oven, and are excited to start eating. But once you get ready to take a bite of your oily creation, you run into a problem — the cheese falls right off. Frustrated, you turn to Google for a solution.
“Add some glue,” Google answers. “Mix about 1/8 cup of Elmer’s glue in with the sauce. Non-toxic glue will work.”
So, yeah, don’t do that. As of writing this, though, that’s what Google’s new AI Overviews feature will tell you to do. The feature, while not triggered for every query, scans the web and drums up an AI-generated response. The answer received for the pizza glue query appears to be based on a comment from a user named “f–ksmith” in a more than decade-old Reddit thread, and they’re clearly joking.
Egg freckles.
ScienceAlert: Mysterious Viral DNA in Human Genome Linked With Psychiatric Disorders
We found that that the expression of four Hervs was linked with genetic susceptibility to major psychiatric disorders. The expression of two of these Hervs was associated with schizophrenia, one Herv with both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and one with depression.
These results suggest that Hervs may be playing a more important role in the brain than initially thought.
CleanTechnica: Kenya To Get 1,000 MW Data Center Powered By Geothermal Energy
Kenya is already in the top 10 countries when it comes to electricity generation plants powered by geothermal. Kenya has the 6th highest installed generation capacity and is inching closer to being one of the few countries in the world that have generation capacity from geothermal that is over 1,000 MW. Kenya’s current installed capacity from geothermal is 985 MW. According to THINK GEOENERGY, only New Zealand (1,042 MW), Turkiye (1,691 MW), Philippines (1,952 MW), Indonesia (2,418 MW), and the US (3,900 MW) have more generating capacity than Kenya.
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Last week, Microsoft Corp. and G42 announced a comprehensive package of digital investments in Kenya, as part of an initiative with the Republic of Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy. In collaboration with Microsoft and other stakeholders, G42 will lead the arrangement of an initial investment of $1 billion for the various components outlined in the comprehensive package. One of the Kenyan investment priorities is a state-of-the-art green data center that will be built by G42 and its partners to run Microsoft Azure in a new East Africa Cloud Region.
Cult of Mac: Ikea Sjöss 45W charger review: Why buy anything else?
Plenty of power bricks with dual USB-C ports give you options for charging your Apple devices. But Ikea — yes, the company known for its DIY furniture — has a new offering that trumps them all from a value viewpoint. As you’ll find out in our review of the Ikea Sjöss 45W charger, it packs two USB-C ports and supports all popular fast charging standards.
The effective power adapter stands out for its super-low price, which significantly undercuts the competition. Below is our quick review of the Ikea Sjöss 45W USB-C charger.
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As mentioned, despite a peak 45W output and dual USB-C ports, the Sjöss 45W costs just $14.99. Apple’s 35W power brick with dual USB-C ports cost $59, nearly four times more than Ikea’s offering. Even Apple’s 30W USB-C power adapter, which costs $30, is twice as expensive as Ikea’s more powerful model.
Guardian: Sunak struggles to control Tory party on chaotic fifth day of election campaign
Prime minister campaigns in Buckinghamshire as his military service plan is criticised and MP defects to Reform.
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Sunak found himself under fire early on Monday, as Steve Baker, a Northern Ireland minister, said introducing mandatory national service was a policy dreamed up by advisers and sprung on candidates.
It later emerged that Baker, who is defending the Labour target of Wycombe, had chosen to go on holiday to Greece rather than stay on the campaign trail — after Sunak previously told MPs they should go ahead and book time off.
The prime minister was then hit with the defection of Lucy Allan, the Conservative MP for Telford, who said she would support the local candidate for Reform. The party suspended the whip, but she hit back saying she had quit first and that the Conservatives had no chance in her seat, according to the Shropshire Star.
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The prime minister also struggled to say how his national service policy would work, refusing to clarify what fines or incentives would make it mandatory for 18-year-olds. One minister claimed that it could involve parents being fined if their grownup children did not comply, before another party official appeared to rule that out.
The former defence secretary Ben Wallace defended the policy by appearing to suggest young people had few demands on them. “Heaven forbid young people are made to do something … ” he said.
No stereotyping going on here.
CBC: Federal government plans to increase its use of AI — with some big exceptions
Speaking to a hand-picked roundtable of experts Monday, Anand said the government has set three priorities for a national public service AI strategy: providing services to Canadians, increasing operational efficiency and driving science and research.
“The question is really going to be how can we, with this strategy, add greater efficiencies but also simplify the interactions of the Canadian population and organizations and businesses with federal services,” Anand told the roundtable.
Last Updated: 27.May.2024 17:05 EDT
🔗 Articles: Sunday 26.May.2024
It’s the Real Thing!
NYT: Trump Tells Libertarians to Nominate Him, and Mocks Them When They Boo
Early in his speech at the Libertarian Party’s national convention on Saturday, Donald J. Trump told the party’s delegates bluntly that they should nominate him as its candidate for president. He was vigorously booed.
When the jeers died down, Mr. Trump, visibly frustrated with the rowdy reception he had received ever since taking the stage, dug in and went a step further, seeming to insult the very group that had invited him.
“Only do that if you want to win,” he said of nominating him. “If you want to lose, don’t do that. Keep getting your three percent every four years.”
The boos began anew, only louder.
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“He’s going to make himself sound Libertarian,” Ms. Welch said. “But he’s the ultimate authoritarian.”
NYT: Hillary Clinton Has Some Tough Words for Democrats, and for Women
Hillary Clinton criticized her fellow Democrats over what she described as a decades-in-the-making failure to protect abortion rights, saying in her first extended interview about the fall of Roe v. Wade that her party underestimated the growing strength of anti-abortion forces until many Democrats were improbably “taken by surprise” by the landmark Dobbs decision in 2022.
In wide-ranging and unusually frank comments, Mrs. Clinton said Democrats had spent decades in a state of denial that a right enshrined in American life for generations could fall — that faith in the courts and legal precedent had made politicians, voters and officials unable to see clearly how the anti-abortion movement was chipping away at abortion rights, restricting access to the procedure and transforming the Supreme Court, until it was too late.
“We didn’t take it seriously, and we didn’t understand the threat,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Most Democrats, most Americans, did not realize we are in an existential struggle for the future of this country.”
Well, yeah.
CleanTechnica: Publishing On Cement Decarbonization Brings Challenges, Corrections And More Approaches
We make about 4.1 billion tons of cement annually, which turns into perhaps 40 billion tons of concrete. The carbon dioxide is about one for one with cement, so that’s about 4.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide, or 8% to 10% of all carbon dioxide we emit annually in the world. It’s a big climate problem.
Sublime Systems’ solution — full article with all the nerdy details, some of which I got wrong, here — is electrochemistry, the same class of chemistry that is used in all of our batteries, to make aluminum and to make the chemical that bleaches paper, among a lot of other things. The basics of electrochemistry are that if you have a positively and negatively charged electrode in a medium and you adjust the pH balance, you can do stuff that sometimes seems like alchemy.
Guardian: Charles Leclerc wins Monaco F1 GP for Ferrari to delight of home crowd
This is Leclerc’s sixth attempt to win the race and now that the 26‑year‑old has done so he can consider his Monaco curse truly lifted, becoming the first Monegasque to win here since the Formula One world championship began in 1950 by beating McLaren’s Oscar Piastri into second and his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz into third.
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Yet the race he won was a turgid affair to watch. Dictated by tyre management at a torturously slow pace and with passing impossible, the cars circled round in an endless procession, offering neither interest nor any sense of jeopardy, nor indeed barely a sniff of actual racing.
With the top 10 finishing in exactly their grid order, there was nary even an attempt at an overtake among them — Monaco, the so-called jewel in the Formula One crown, proving once more as patently unfit for purpose in the modern era.
The Verge: Bambu P1P vs. Creality K1C: an ‘easy’ 3D printer showdown
If you asked me to recommend an “easy” consumer 3D printer, I’d warn you first: despite countless innovations, you still can’t quite hit a button to reliably photocopy a 3D model. Buying a 3D printer is buying an entire hobby, one where — if you’re a lazy bum like me — many attempts will turn into worthless gobs of plastic.
But if you persisted, I’d tell you my one clear choice for lazy bums: the Bambu P1P.
What, a printer from the company that recalled its newest model and whose earlier ones once went rogue? Yep — because not only did Bambu handle those incidents with rapid apologies, investigations, transparency, and even refunds, the $599 Bambu P1P is also absolutely the easiest, most reliable 3D printer I’ve used.
Last Updated: 26.May.2024 23:52 EDT
🔗 Articles: Saturday 25.May.2024
Can you hear me now?!
SMH: Penguin Island, Rockingham: Western Australia’s little penguin population plummets again
The penguin colony on Rockingham’s Penguin Island has seen its numbers drop by 94 per cent in less than 20 years, with the state Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions admitting the situation was concerning.
The new damning population report on the colony at the popular tourist attraction in Perth’s south, conducted by scientists and given to the state government more than three weeks ago, was finally handed to City of Rockingham councillors on Wednesday night.
UPI: Successful satellite launch will let NASA measure polar heat loss
NASA on Saturday successfully launched a satellite it hopes will be able to measure how much heat is lost to space from the Arctic and Antarctica.
The small cube satellite, or CubeSat, lifted off at 3:41 a.m. in New Zealand aboard an Electron rocket manufactured by Rocket Lab.
The launch took place at the California-based rocket maker’s Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand.
NYT: French Open: 50 Years Ago, Chris Evert and Bjorn Borg Changed Tennis
As for the 50th anniversary of their first French Open titles, Borg and Evert are struck by the speed of time.
Last Updated: 25.May.2024 23:12 EDT
🔗 Articles: Friday 24.May.2024
Just do it!
Vox: Besides Ticketmaster and scalpers, why are concert tickets are so expensive?
The fact is, concerts have steadily gotten more expensive even on the primary market — the place where someone can originally buy tickets, like Ticketmaster — before any scalper upcharge is added. According to the live music trade publication Pollstar, the average ticket price of the top 100 music tours last year was $122.84. In 2019 it was $91.86 — a rise that outpaced inflation by a good margin. Back in 2000, it was $40.74. For the top 10 grossing tours in 2023, the average price was even higher: $152.97.
Though there are a number of factors involved in this price creep (including high fees, which a 2018 Government Accountability Office report says make up an average of 27 percent of the ticket’s total cost), the heart of the matter is simple: demand. People all over the world are clamoring to go to just a handful of the most popular artists’ concerts. Live Nation reported that 145 million people attended one of its shows in 2023, compared to 98 million in 2019. The momentum doesn’t appear to be slowing, with ticket sales in the first quarter of 2024 higher than they were this time last year.
CNN: Michael Richards talks 2006 racist rant, but he’s ‘not looking for a comeback’
“I was a good character actor, but I was comfortable being the character, not in being me,” Richards told the publication.
“I said no to the offer of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I didn’t feel deserving,” he also said. “I said no to hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ twice because I didn’t feel good enough. I was never really satisfied with my Seinfeld performance. Fame magnified my insecurities.”
NYT: Supreme Court Justice Alito’s Beach House Displayed ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag
Last summer, two years after an upside-down American flag was flown outside the Virginia home of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., another provocative symbol was displayed at his vacation house in New Jersey, according to interviews and photographs.
This time, it was the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which, like the inverted U.S. flag, was carried by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Also known as the Pine Tree flag, it dates back to the Revolutionary War, but largely fell into obscurity until recent years and is now a symbol of support for former President Donald J. Trump, for a religious strand of the “Stop the Steal” campaign and for a push to remake American government in Christian terms.
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The disclosure about the new flag is troubling, several ethics experts said in interviews, because it ties Justice Alito more closely to symbols associated with the attempted election subversion on Jan. 6, and because it was displayed as the obstruction case was first coming for consideration by the court.
As a Supreme Court judge, you think he’d understand the importance of the separation of church and state, wouldn’t you?
Ars Technica: Apple clarifies iOS 17.5 bug that exposed deleted photos
The company claimed that when users reported the photos resurfacing on a device other than the one they were originally deleted on, it was always because they had restored from a backup other than iCloud Photos or performed a direct transfer from one device to another.
Wired: Don’t Believe the Biggest Myth About Heat Pumps
Not only do heat pumps work fine in cold weather, they’re still more efficient than gas furnaces in such conditions.
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If heat pumps don’t actually work in frigid weather, no one told the Nordic nations, which endure Europe’s coldest climates, with average winter temperatures around 0degrees Celsius (32 degrees F). As of 2021, Norway had heat pumps in 60 percent of households. In 2022, Finland installed more of the appliances per capita than any other country in Europe, while Sweden has similarly gone all-in on the technology. In the United States, heat pumps are selling like hotcakes in Alaska, and last year Maine announced it had reached its goal of installing 100,000 of the devices way ahead of schedule. These places ain’t exactly perpetually sunny California. (US-wide, heat pumps now outsell gas furnaces.)
via John, Apple News+
Electrek: Nissan preps next-gen LEAF EV production, but challenges await
With trials expected to run for six months, Nissan could begin next-gen LEAF production as early as March 2025. We could see Nissan’s electric car debut before the end of the year. However, that’s if everything goes smoothly.
via John
NewsNation: RFK Jr. makes Florida ballot with help of Reform Party
As independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues his quest to make it on the ballot in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and qualify for the upcoming presidential debates, he’s now succeeded in Florida.
The Reform Party of the United States has nominated Kennedy as its presidential candidate, allowing him to appear on the Florida ballot. He is hoping to peel voters away from both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, with a platform that includes a mix of positions appealing to voters on both sides of the aisle.
He asked the Reform Party for help in his effort to qualify in all states. The party defines itself as a moderate, centrist party founded in 1996 by supporters of independent candidate Ross Perot, who ran for the presidency in 1992.
NewsNation: Eastern Oregon residents pass ‘Greater Idaho’ measure
Residents in Crook County, Oregon, approved the “Greater Idaho” measure Tuesday that would require the county to proceed with efforts to secede from the state and join Idaho.
Voters passed the measure with 53%, making it the 13th county in eastern Oregon to approve it.
NewsNation: US taxpayers pushing back on multibillion-dollar stadium plans
Despite opposition, city officials continue to preach the benefits pro franchises provide despite promised economic benefits that Ganis, the stadium expert, says should always be taken with a grain of salt.
“It’s really the haves and the have-nots,” Christina Giunchigliani, former Clark County Board told the New York Times. “If they really wanted to diversify the economy, does sports add a component? Yes. But they didn’t need public tax dollars to do it.”
Daring Fireball: Publishing AI Slop Is a Choice
From a New York Times story by Nico Grant, under the headline “Google’s A.I. Search Errors Cause a Furor Online”:
With each mishap, tech industry insiders have criticized the company for dropping the ball. But in interviews, financial analysts said Google needed to move quickly to keep up with its rivals, even if it meant growing pains.
Google “doesn’t have a choice right now,” Thomas Monteiro, a Google analyst at Investing.com, said in an interview. “Companies need to move really fast, even if that includes skipping a few steps along the way. The user experience will just have to catch up.”
That quote is insane. There’s no reason Google had to enable this feature now. None. If their search monopoly has been losing share recently, it’s not because of rivals who are serving up AI-generated slop. It’s because even before this, Google’s search results quality was slipping in obvious ways. This is just making it worse.
BBC: Royal Mail investigated by Ofcom for missing delivery targets
Royal Mail is being investigated by Ofcom after the service failed to deliver less than three quarters of first-class post on time in the last year.
In its yearly financial results on Friday, Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS) said only 74.5% of first-class mail was delivered within one working day.
Regulator Ofcom’s rules state 93% of first-class mail must be delivered within the timeframe, excluding Christmas.
Something similar should be set up for Canada Post.
CBC: Mexico is about to experience its ‘highest temperatures ever recorded’ as death toll climbs
The extreme heat smothering much of Mexico has killed dozens of people across multiple states.
The jury reached their verdict after less than a day of deliberations.
First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years — the sentence imposed by Superior Court Justice Harrison Arrell. He described their Karafa and Li’s actions as “the most heinous crimes of violence” noting that Pratt and Romano were unarmed, unsuspecting victims.
NYT: Fast Food Forever: How McHaters Lost the Culture War
Super Size Me helped lead a backlash against McDonald’s. Twenty years on, the industry is bigger than ever.
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It would have been easy to call the cultural moment a brand crisis for fast food.
But two decades later, not only is McDonald’s bigger than ever, with nearly 42,000 global locations, but fast food in general has boomed. There are now some 40 chains with more than 500 locations in the United States. Fast food is the second-largest private employment sector in the country, after hospitals, and about 36 percent of Americans — more than 115 million people — eat fast food on any given day. The three major appeals of fast food remain intact: It’s cheap, it’s convenient and people like the way it tastes.
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The stock price of McDonald’s hit an all-time high in January, and has gone up nearly 1,000 percent since Super Size Me came out — nearly twice the return of the S&P 500.
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It would have been easy to call the cultural moment a brand crisis for fast food.
But two decades later, not only is McDonald’s bigger than ever, with nearly 42,000 global locations, but fast food in general has boomed. There are now some 40 chains with more than 500 locations in the United States. Fast food is the second-largest private employment sector in the country, after hospitals, and about 36 percent of Americans — more than 115 million people — eat fast food on any given day. The three major appeals of fast food remain intact: It’s cheap, it’s convenient and people like the way it tastes.
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The stock price of McDonald’s hit an all-time high in January, and has gone up nearly 1,000 percent since Super Size Me came out — nearly twice the return of the S&P 500.
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In 2016, 91 percent of parents reported buying lunch or dinner for their child in the past week from one of the four biggest chains — a significant increase compared with the 79 percent who did in 2010 and the 83 percent in 2013.
Last Updated: 24.May.2024 23:30 EDT
🔗 Articles: Thursday 23.May.2024
Don’t leave home without it!
ScienceAlert: Oldest Known Human Viruses Found in 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Bones
“To support [this] provocative and interesting hypothesis, it would be necessary to prove that at least the genomes of these viruses can be found in Neanderthal remains,” molecular biologist and senior author of the new study, Marcelo Briones, told New Scientist’s James Woodford. “That is what we did.”
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Briones, along with evolutionary geneticist Renata Ferreira of the Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil and colleagues, sampled DNA from the skeletons of two male Neanderthals.
There, amongst the Neanderthal genome, they found snippets of DNA that resembled three modern viruses: adenovirus, which today causes common colds; herpesvirus, the culprit behind cold sores; and papillomavirus, transmitted during sex and causing genital warts.
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The research has been posted to the bioRxiv preprint server ahead of peer review.
The Atlantic: Nikki Haley Surrendered, But Not Her Voters
Most of her supporters voted for Haley as a way to stop Trump. Haley’s announcement today that she intends to vote for Trump won’t raise their opinion of him, it will only lower their opinion of her. When she says, as she said again today, that she wished Donald Trump would “reach out” to her voters, she’s speaking words that may sound like English, but make no sense. The only way Donald Trump could reach out to Trump-skeptical Republicans is by pleading guilty to the many criminal charges against him and vowing to devote the rest of his life to restitution for the victims of his many civil frauds.
TorStar: Minister tables bill to extend citizenship rights to children born abroad
In 2009, the Conservative government changed the law so that Canadian parents who were born abroad could not pass down their citizenship unless their child was born in Canada.
Stephen Harper, you say?
TorStar: Ontario judge compares police officers to sitcom buffoon
“TELL THE TRUTH,” Justice Fergus O’Donnell wrote, addressing police in capital letters in a May 10 decision that details his frustration that a group of Niagara Regional Police officers seemed bafflingly unable to remember what each other was doing during an impaired driving arrest.
When an officer, or anyone else, takes the stand, their sole job is to be truthful, O’Donnell wrote — “Period. Full stop. End of. Unvarnished. Unselective. The truth, the whole truth (this phrase was underlined) and nothing but the truth. It really is that simple.”
TorStar: Susan Delacourt: Liberals paint Poilievre as scary, but many don’t care
Liberals like to say that the large polling gap with the Conservatives will be narrowed when voters stop and take a hard look at what Pierre Poilievre would do to the country.
But a new poll from Abacus shows that many Canadians have no illusions about how much Poilievre could shake up things — beyond just axing taxes — and the Conservatives are still holding a comfortable, 16-point lead in this latest survey. It should be noted that Abacus removes undecided voters from these horse-race results.
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This reminds me of the aftermath of the 2005-06 election, when a newly elected Conservative government followed through on its promise to end the Liberals’ national child care program. Ken Dryden, the minister responsible for that program, said he kept running into people during that campaign who believed they could have both — a Liberal child care program and the Conservatives’ subsidy to parents.
As former prime minister Jean Chrétien was fond of saying, everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die. If the next election comes down to a choice between change and stability, this poll would seem to be an indication that people want both.
Slashdot: Amazon Plans To Give Alexa an AI Overhaul, Monthly Subscription Price
According to CNBC, Amazon plans to enhance its Alexa voice assistant with generative AIand introduce it to customers through a monthly subscription service. While the price point has yet to be determined, sources say it will not be included in the company’s $139-per-year Prime offering.
“Revenue enhancement”.
James Thomson: About by PCalc in Apple VisionPro
About by PCalc for visionOS is now available!
Perhaps the most pointless app on Vision Pro, but still quite fun to play with. This is a complete remake of the original PCalc About screen in VR. It’s basically me experimenting with what’s possible today with RealityKit, over-engineering things as usual, and then for some inexplicable reason actually shipping it. I hope you enjoy it!
apps.apple.com/gb/app/about-by…
James Thomson: About by PCalc in Apple VisionPro
Here are some more screenshots showing the actual About by PCalc interface in action on visionOS. The main controls have virtual joysticks, but there’s a list of gestures you can assign to each hand, including a point and teleport option for people who don’t enjoy fast movement in VR. Gamepads are fully supported too.
You can also just choose between some points of interest and take in the sights. The settings let you tailor things a bit if you want the controls in a slightly different place.
AP: NCAA, leagues sign off on $2.8 billion plan, setting stage for dramatic change across college sports
The NCAA and the nation’s five biggest conferences have agreed to pay nearly $2.8 billion to settle a host of antitrust claims,a monumental decision that sets the stage for a groundbreaking revenue-sharing model that could start directing millions of dollars directly to athletes as soon as the 2025 fall semester.
The Pac-12 became the final conference to sign off on the proposal Thursday when its university leaders voted to approve, according to a person with direct knowledge of the results.
Guardian: Gavin Newsom signs bill to help people in Arizona get abortions in California
Under the new law, doctors licensed to perform abortions in Arizona could provide abortion care for their patients in California. The legislation offers medical providers an expedited path to getting their credentials in California.
“With SB 233 California offers a lifeline to Arizona doctors to provide the healthcare their patients need without fear of a prison sentence. Once again, California has made it loud and clear we will remain a safe haven for reproductive care,” the California Legislative Women’s caucus said in a statement after lawmakers approved the bill.
Last Updated: 23.May.2024 23:31 EDT
🔗 Articles: Wednesday 22.May.2024
CTV: Woman found dead in Lake Ontario in 2017 is missing person in Switzerland
Then, in January 2023, Toronto police began using investigative genetic genealogy, which revealed that the unidentified woman had distant relatives in North America, most of whom had heritage that traced back to a specific region in Switzerland.
In August 2023, Toronto police with the assistance of the RCMP reached out to police in the European nation, and began focusing their investigation on a woman who went missing from there in September 2017.
The Athletic: What do you think of Scott Foster after reading this?
Foster’s “Three Things” are always in the same order:
The 134 phone calls Foster exchanged with referee Tim Donaghy during a seven-month span when Donaghy was betting on NBA games and providing inside information to bookies.
Friction with [Chris] Paul, the All-Star guard, which has included veiled accusations by Paul that Foster made things personal in the wake of a postgame encounter in 2015 with Paul’s young son.
A collection of anonymous player polls, one by The Los Angeles Times in 2016 and one by The Athletic in 2023, in which players voted Foster the worst referee in the NBA. In a 2019 poll by The Athletic, players voted Foster the second-worst ref behind Tony Brothers.
NewsNation: Nearly half of swing-state voters expect violence around election: Survey
The Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll asked voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, “How much do you trust each of the following — That the election and its aftermath will be free from violence.”
Thirty-one percent of respondents said “not much,” while 18 percent said “not at all.” Thirty-five percent said “some,” and those answering “a lot” equaled 16 percent.
The same poll also found that in a hypothetical match-up between former President Trump and President Biden, the swing-state voters went for Trump by 4 points, with Trump at 48 percent in the poll versus Biden’s 44 percent.
Bloomberg: US Justice Department to Seek Breakup of Live Nation-Ticketmaster
The US Justice Department and a group of states will sue Live Nation Entertainment Inc. for antitrust violations related to Ticketmaster’s unrivaled control of concert ticket sales, according to people familiar with the case.
The suit is expected to be filed in the Southern District of New York Thursday, said the people who asked not to be identified. The dispute will seek remedies including breaking up Live Nation, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing confidential information.
Last Updated: 22.May.2024 21:02 EDT
🔗 Articles: Tuesday 21.May.2024
US FDA: Do Not Use Cue Health’s COVID-19 Tests Due to Risk of False Results: FDA Safety Communication
Date Issued: May 13, 2024
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning home test users, caregivers, and health care providers not to use Cue Health’s COVID-19 Tests for Home and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Use and its COVID-19 Test intended for patient care settings due to increased risk of false results.
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The FDA issued a Warning Letter to Cue Health on May 10, 2024, after an inspection revealed the company made changes to these tests and these changes reduced the reliability of the tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus.
via Pratik
InsideEVs: Study Finds Just 2.5% Of EVs Have Had Their Battery Replaced
The new study found that battery replacement rates for EVs built before 2015 are as high as 13%, but for vehicles from 2016 or newer, they drop to 1% or less. The oldest EVs included in the study were from 2011, and about one in three needed a new battery, but this was due to several factors, not just their age.
Electric Car Charger Vandalism Continues To Surge Nationwide
A Tesla Supercharging station in the Bay Area was recently targeted by vandals who severed the charging cord from every stall. A few days prior, 5 separate Supercharger locations were stripped in Houston, TX. In Fresno, CA, over 50 of the city’s 88 EV charging stations have been pillaged – some multiple times.
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Still, sometimes the vandalism is not about the money at all. Property damage is also performed by petty, anti-EV actors all over the world just looking to make life more miserable for others. An individual in British Columbia, Canada dipped the charging plugs of a Tesla Supercharger in a sealant, which when dried rendered the station inoperable.
Once they get more surveillance cameras installed, we’ll find out who these people are. In the meantime, costs rise.
The Atlantic: Scientists Are Very Worried About NASA’s Mars Plan
If, that is, the samples ever make it back to Earth. NASA officials recently announced that the sample-return effort has become too expensive and fallen worryingly behind schedule. The latest estimated cost of as much as $11 billion is nearly double what experts initially predicted, and the way things are going, the samples won’t arrive home until 2040, seven years later than expected. At a press conference last month, NASA chief Bill Nelson repeatedly called the state of the Mars Sample Return mission “unacceptable,” a striking chastisement of his own agency, considering that MSR is an in-house effort. Officials have put out a call—to NASA’s own ranks and to private space companies—for “quicker and cheaper” plans that don’t require “huge technological leaps” to bring the samples home.
Guardian: Donald Trump removes video on Truth Social with ‘unified reich’ reference
Donald Trump shared a video on his Truth Social account referencing a “unified reich” if Trump wins the presidential election in November – then, after being criticized for it in some quarters for more than half a day, removed it.
The video posted on Monday remained up for 15 hours into Tuesday morning despite the reference being pointed out by media outlets. The former president’s account removed it by about 10am ET on Tuesday.
TorStar: There’s only so one way to fix Canada. Everyone will hate it
Today, some provinces are hitting eject just for kicks. Saskatchewan is using the clause to bully transgender kids at school, Ontario wielded it to pass a political advertising law, and Quebec has used it to tell religious minorities how to dress on the job. Pierre Poilievre even wants to use it to pass cruel, inhumane, ineffective, unconstitutional criminal sentencing laws
Trudeau’s strategy has been to leave it to the courts, hoping against hope that they would find some ingenious way to reinstall the glass box marked “DO NOT PRESS.” This is a legal fantasy. The only way to uninstall this constitutional vestige — or, at least, to make it harder to use — is to amend the constitution.
TorStar: Impact of pot legalization on older Canadians has been stark
A year after legalizing dried cannabis flowers, Canadian older adults were the age group with the largest growth in overall cannabis use. Yet, little is known about the health effects of legalizing edible cannabis on older adults.
Our study published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine found that Canada’s legalization of cannabis was associated with increased rates of emergency department visits for cannabis poisoning among older adults in Ontario. The largest increases occurred after edible cannabis became legally available for retail sale in January 2020 (three times greater than pro-legalization, and 1.5 times greater then when only dried cannabis flower was legally available for retail sale).
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A study of Canadian children found that legalization of edible cannabis was associated with marked increases in poisoning hospitalizations. Older adults are similarly prone to unintentional poisonings because edible cannabis products are visually attractive and palatable, and may be taken in error, being easily confused with non-cannabis foods and candies.
Some of the harms we observed were likely related to intentional ingestions, including for recreational purposes. Compared to inhaled cannabis, edibles have delayed drug effects of about three hours. Older adults may be more accustomed to the instantaneous high of inhaled cannabis, and ingest excessive doses of edibles before peak effects have occurred. This is known as ‘dose-stacking’ and is a contributor to cannabis poisoning.
MacRumors: New ‘Parkour’ Immersive Video Coming to Vision Pro on Friday
A description of the Parkour episode invites Vision Pro wearers to join the “world’s leading parkour athletes” as they go on a “gravity-defying trek across the streets and rooftops of Paris.”
MacRumors: Next Emoji Coming to iOS Could Include Face With Eye Bags, Shovel, Fingerprint, Splatter and More
Apple adds new emoji to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and other devices regularly based on updates made to the emoji catalog by the Unicode Consortium, and the there are seven new emoji that we could see sometime in late 2024 or early 2025.
The next emoji characters being considered include face with bags under eyes, fingerprint, leafless tree, root vegetable, harp, shovel, and splatter.
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Apple last introduced new emoji with the iOS 17.4 update that was released in March 2024. Characters added in iOS 17.4 include lime, an edible brown mushroom, a phoenix, a broken chain, shaking head vertically (as in a “yes” nod), and shaking head horizontally (a “no” head shake).
Last Updated: 21.May.2024 22:47 EDT
🔗 Articles: Monday 20.May.2024
ScienceAlert: Mysterious Code in Ancient Assyrian Temples Can Finally Be Explained
In particular, these symbols relate to King Sargon II, who ruled from 721–704 BCE. In their short form, they comprise a lion, a fig tree, and a plough. In their longer form, there are five symbols in sequence: a bird and a bull after the lion, then the tree and the plough.
These images appear in several places in temples in Dūr-Šarrukīn, which was briefly Assyria’s capital. The buried ruins of the ancient city were excavated during the 19th and 20th centuries.
But the meaning of the images — whether they represent gods, supernatural forces, the king’s authority, or an attempt at Egyptian hieroglyphs — has long been debated.
MacRumors: Apple Releases iOS 17.5.1 With Fix for Reappearing Photos Bug
There have been several complaints from iPhone and iPad users who saw their old, deleted photos resurfacing after installing the iOS 17.5 update. Images deleted as far back as 2010 were surfacing again, leading to confusion and worry over what was going on. Apple’s information today indicates that it was a database corruption issue, and iOS 17.5.1 should solve the problem.
MacRumors: Microsoft Debuts New Copilot+ Windows PCs Designed Around AI
Recall - Recall gives the PC a “photographic memory” so users can access anything they’ve seen or done on their PC. Content can be located using timelines across any website, application, or document, with support for snapshots.
Cocreator - Text prompts can be used to generate new images using the neural processing units of the computer. Art can be created based on the text input, and there is a creativity slider to choose from a range between more literal to more expressive.
Restyle Image - Combines image generation and photo editing. Pre-set styles can be used to change the background, foreground, or full image.
Live Captions - Live Captions support live translations and can turn any audio that passes through the PC into a single, English-language caption experience in real time across all apps. Any live or pre-recorded audio in any app or video platform can be translated from 40 languages into English.
NYT: David Kaye: With I.C.C. Arrest Warrants, Let Justice Take Its Course
In seeking the arrests of senior leaders of Israel and Hamas, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has given the world a promise of accountability.
Regardless of the outcome of the cases, the prosecutor’s request that the court issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar helps cut through the polarizing language of the moment and promotes the idea that the basic rules of international humanitarian law apply to all. Anyone demanding an end to the conflict in Gaza and the release of all hostages from the grasp of Hamas should embrace the decision.
Last Updated: 20.May.2024 19:22 EDT
🔗 Articles: Sunday 19.May.2024
9to5Mac: Security Bite: Most common macOS malware in 2024 so far
It is a long-standing misconception that Macs are impervious to malware. Unfortunately, this has never been the case. While Apple might hope people continue to overlook the severity, Mac users continue to be caught off guard by cybercriminals’ advanced attack methods. Below, you can find the most common macOS malware in 2024 so far…
Guardian: Ex-ministers warn UK universities will go bust without higher fees or funding
Vice-chancellors and former ministers are warning that the cash crisis facing universities is so serious that the next government will have to urgently raise tuition fees or increase funding to avoid bankruptcies within two years.
They said the state of university finances was more dire than revealed in last week’s report by the Office for Students, which forecast 40% of England’s universities would end this year in the red.
Vice-chancellors said that increases of between £2,000 to £3,500 a year for each student would be needed to stabilise the sector.
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Another former higher education minister, the Labour MP Margaret Hodge, said raising fees was “politically impossible” but that the funding system needed to be made more progressive.
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Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, the sector’s main lobby group, said there were two big things the next government could do: reinstate raising tuition fees in line with inflation each year, and for ministers to stop using international students as a political football in the immigration debate.
Recent visa changes have led to a slump in international student applications, depriving universities of a lucrative source of revenue.
Disappointing how all the debate is about costs and revenues, and not about why people, either domestic or foreign, should be going to university. Total lack of vision.
Guardian: Trump floats idea of three-term presidency at NRA convention
During a bombastic speech in Dallas, GOP frontrunner asks: ‘Are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?’
Chilling.
Guardian: ‘One hell of a storm is coming’: Canadian graphic novel about Indigenous identity sparks outrage
A graphic novel investigating Indigenous identity in Canada has prompted outrage from Métis groups, who say the book undermines their history and represents an attack on their sovereignty.
The work is the result of a third-year history seminar at Dalhousie University, where students collaborated on a book examining thorny questions over ancestry and identity.
Guardian: Academic and doctor Chris van Tulleken: ‘Ultra-processed products are food that lies to us’
The author on how his mission to improve our national diet began – and where it needs to go.
Globe: Canada suffocates our teams, then blames them when they come up short
The inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League season was a North American project, but it had a national purpose. It was going to prove that Canada can win a top-level pro-hockey championship.
There were three Canadian teams in a six-team league – a 50-50 shot. During the regular season, Toronto and Montreal were the best teams by far.
The postseason set-up was rigged to benefit the top finisher. Toronto was allowed to pick its first-round opponent. The playoffs would be a quick-and-dirty affair – two best-of-fives – presumably favouring the in-form squads.
This is as close as you can get to fixing the system, but Canada still couldn’t get anywhere near closing it out.
Montreal was swept by Boston. Toronto wishes it could have got off that easy. It’s one thing to lose. It’s another thing to lose to a team you don’t rate, because you asked to play them.
ChangeCreator: Lessons For a Simpler Sustainable Life By Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard
Axios: What to know about Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash
Raisi and other officials were returning from a ceremony to open the Qiz Qalasi Dam, located on the border of Iran and Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Three other helicopters were traveling with Raisi’s aircraft, but lost contact before the crash.
ScienceAlert: High-Potency Cannabis Linked to Dramatically Higher Risk of Psychotic Episodes
Consuming higher-potency cannabis between the ages of 16 and 18 doubles the likelihood of psychotic experiences between the ages of 19 and 24, compared with lower-potency cannabis – according to a new study of 1,560 UK adults.
NewsNation: More women, children joining drug cartels: Reports
Armes says a good example is Michelle Angelica Pineda, known as “La Chely,” who has a reputation for extreme brutality. When she was recently arrested in El Paso in February, police found weapons, drugs and other material needed to set up a drug trafficking operation in her motel room.
“She would cut out the heart of her victims and offer them to the patron saint of the drug traffickers … Santa Muerte.”
But it isn’t just women who are being recruited by Mexican cartels. A recent report from The Borgen Project claims 350,000 children have been recruited by Mexican criminal organizations. They often promise those kids money and a sense of belonging.
Cabel Sasser: The Forged Apple Employee Badge
At first, it looked good. The plastic was scuffed with age, the tape on the map was yellowed, the logo was (mostly) correct, and Sherry Livingston really was Employee #10.
But it also felt a little off. The scuffing looked… sandpapery. The splotches on the map felt overcooked. And I couldn’t stop looking at the “typewritten” part…
With comments from Randy Wigginton, Cabel Sasser, and Chris Espinosa!
Guardian: Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1: Costner casts himself as wildly desirable cowboy
After three saddle-sore hours, Kevin Costner’s handsome-looking but oddly listless new western doesn’t get much done in the way of satisfying storytelling.
Admittedly, this is supposed to be just the first of a multi-part saga for which Costner is director, co-writer and star. But it somehow doesn’t establish anything exciting for its various unresolved storylines, and doesn’t leave us suspensefully hanging for anything else.
In fact, the ploddingly paced epic ends by suddenly accelerating into a very peculiar preview montage of part two, with Costner speeding around punching people we’ve never seen before – as if someone had accidentally leant on the fast-forward button and we got to watch the whole of the second section in 25 seconds.
Waterworld on land?
Last Updated: 19.May.2024 23:33 EDT