2021-10-26

Cool

• BrachioGraph – the cheapest, simplest possible pen-plotter

Worthy

• The Last Days of The Romanovs at the Port of Los Angeles (and Where Is Everybody?) | naked capitalism

• Epistemic Minor Leagues - Astral Codex Ten

• The First Population Bomb - by Davis Kedrosky - Economic History Research

• Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants - by Tony - The Polymerist

  Documenting prior work into databases or searchable archives is common sense in the chemical industry. Just because we don’t publish papers doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be writing them for internal use. Patents can serve as useful markers for knowledge, but you shouldn’t base a company’s internal confidential intellectual property on patent submissions.

• A Patent Troll Backs Off - News - SparkFun Electronics

  tldr; The patent troll Jason Nguyen of Altair Logix couldn’t shake us down so he dropped the case. It cost us $12,645. I hope you never get sued by a troll but if you do, take a deep breath. Realize you're not powerless. The more we all realize that and the more we band together, the more they go away.

etc

• Geothermal's Path to Relevance: Cheap Drilling - Austin Vernon's Blog

• Radio signal detected by Parkes telescope is not aliens, but it's still 'weird'

• ‘World’s biggest snake’ so massive it has to be lifted by CRANE from bush lair

• The marvel of China's multi-generational rice terraces

• A New Use for Leftover Eggs: Preserving Produce - Tech Briefs

• How Pickleball Won over Everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio to Your Grandparents

Horseshit

• The latest abuse of noncompetes: forcing nurses to quit in a pandemic

• Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’ are people too, US court rules

• Lost hiker ignored calls from rescuers because he didn’t recognize their number

  • A lost hiker ignored rescuers' phone calls, thinking they were spam

• Detecting Bull**It

• Because they care Best Buy and Home Depot drop security cameras linked to Uyghur surveillance

• “So you think you're funny?”: Rating the humour quotient in standup comedy

• Crypto Investors Are Bidding to Touch a 1,784-Pound Tungsten Cube Once a Year

• No Thought-Terminating Clichés, Just Vibes - by Tyler Berbert - Words With Berbs

celebrity gossip

• Fauci pressed over claims of funding for ‘cruel’ puppy experiment

  • ArrestFauci Trends Following Reports His Agency Funded Cruel Experiments on Dogs

  • Anthony Fauci Has Been Abusing Animals for 40 Years

• Michael Jordan game-worn rookie sneakers sell for record $1.47M USD

• Elon Musk Had a Good Day

• John Kerry Holds $1 Million Stake in Equity Fund Linked To Uyghur Labor Abuse.

COVID / VaxCult

• (PDF) Antibody levels lower in vaccinated individuals post-infection vs. unvaccinated

• Is the FDA about to approve an experimental COVID vaccine for kids? - by Techno Fog - The Reactionary

• Doctors are often unaware of the only treatment for early Covid-19 - CNN

• Chinese Citizen Journalist Who Documented Covid-19 in Wuhan Resurfaces

• Vaccine passports in Scotland an “unmitigated disaster”

• Scientists link Covid vaccines to rare neurological complications

• Covid-19 vaccine-myocarditis paper to be permanently removed: Elsevier

• Covid-19: How effective is a third vaccine dose?

• Why people believe Covid conspiracy theories: could folklore hold the answer?

• Has Covid Killed Criticism?

• Health Care Workers Speak Out on Why They Would Rather Lose Their Jobs Than Take a COVID-19 Vaccine.

• Australia: Pandemic laws to force 2 year jail term for health order breaches

• Workers Come Out in Force in Mass Protest Against New York Vaccine Mandate

• Pandemic vs. Endemic: 'This is it' is the consensus among some Covid experts

• UK Covid: Are cases about to plummet without Plan B?

• CDC Director: Unvaccinated Police, Government Workers To Be Sent For “Education And Counseling” – Summit News

• Endemic Covid-19 Has Arrived in Portugal

• NIH Quietly Edits Section of Website on Gain-of-Function Research

• No Significant Change In COVID-19 Hospitalization Outcomes During Delta Surge: CDC Study | ZeroHedge

• More on Original Antigenic Sin and the Folly of Universal Vaccination Campaign

• Researchers use AI – and folklore – to map the coronavirus conspiracy theories

• SARS-CoV-2 variant A.30 is heavily mutated and evades vaccine-induced antibodies

• NIH Director Shredded Over Risky Research In Wuhan After CNN Interview Goes Sideways | ZeroHedge

• Gain of Function

  Naturally, there are Republican officials and others who are using this situation to call for the head of Anthony Fauci, to cast doubt on every other statement the NIH has made, and so on. What else would you expect? I don't expect the likes of Rand Paul to become better or more honest human beings (there's a limit to how much gain-of-function you can expect, you know) , but this is not a good time for own goals. Francis Collins was on CNN last night, and he did not have an easy time explaining himself. If the agency continues to try to live in between those fine distinctions in the paragraph above, they're not going to have a very good time. China, with their reflexive secrecy, is already acting as if they have something to hide - the NIH shouldn't emulate them.

• Covid: How worried should we be about the new AY.4.2 lineage of the coronavirus?

• Vaccine Horrors

• Identification of driver genes for critical forms of Covid-19

Culture War / Re segregation / Identdoctrination

• Don't let them loot, they said, as their streets became rivers · Jesse Squires

• Scientists Built an AI to Give Ethical Advice, but It Turned Out Super Racist

• Our brave new progressive world, from A to Woke

• A Conspiracy of Data: QAnon, Social Media, and Information Visualization

Edumacationalizing

• Florida father furious to discover his 7-year-old daughter’s school has been TYING a mask to her face with rope every day. She has Down syndrome.

• A crusade to end grading in high schools

• Don Surber: Democrats retreat in war on parents

• Short Week: The Main Thing with Kids is to Keep Them Alive - by Freddie deBoer - Freddie deBoer

  But in many ways the most important service provided by K-12 schools is warm, safe, stimulating environments for kids whose home lives are filled with deprivation and instability. This was an argument in my book - politicians and policymakers from both sides of the aisle dramatically overemphasize the educational purpose of school relative to the childcare aspect. (“Warehousing,” if you prefer the pejorative.) The existence of free safe warm places with subsidized meals for children to go to represents a vast human good that we have taken for granted for a long time. Since the educational benefits of early childhood education remain entirely unproven, I’d much rather we talk about childcare than pre-k. Keep the kiddos alive, and we can worry about schooling when they’re older.

• On Free Software, Education in China and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Media / Many Ministries of Truths / Censorship

• The Intercept Fabricates A College "Censorship" Story - by Michael Tracey - Michael Tracey

  I also sent queries to Intercept editor Ryan Grim, who eventually claimed that it was unnecessary for The Intercept to contact a main subject of their article, LaCroix, because she’d already been cited in an activist press release about the situation at Bates. Another thing Grim and Bernard might have learned if they bothered talking to LaCroix was that the quote she provided for this activist press release was substantially altered to make it look like she was alleging censorship, when she wasn’t.

• Welp, Twitter locked us out of our account | Not the Bee

• Too big to cover alone: Newsrooms team up

• Google Bans White Coat Waste Ads Criticizing Fauci-Funded Dog Testing

• Roku Is Making It Easy for Advertisers to Target You While You Stream TV

• Video platform rumble.com acquires locals.com

• Billionaires Hoffman, Soros, back new media firm to combat disinformation

• University of Wisconsin hospitals have blocked the Gab social media platform

Facebook

• Facebook’s struggle to keep young people

• Facebook has known it has a human trafficking problem for years

• Unvaccinated Victorians to be banned from normal life “until at least 2023”

• FB shares under pressure following release of leaked whistleblower documents

• The Big Facebook Leak

• Whistleblower Absurdly Attacks Facebook's Privacy-Protecting Encryption Efforts

• Facebook Removed the News Feed Algorithm in a 2018 Experiment

• Facebook Whistleblower Testified That Company's Algorithms Are Dangerous

• Facebook plans to break out its VR, AR business

• Jury Clears Oculus Founder, Facebook Unit of IP Theft

• The Facebook papers are a “big fat nothingburger”

• Facebook knew it was being used to incite violence in Ethiopia, did nothing

• Facebook admits site appears hardwired for misinformation, memo reveals

• Facebook says it’s refocusing company on ‘serving young adults’

• Facebook Wrestles with the Features It Used to Define Social Networking

• Frances Haugen Leaking My Facebook Engineering “Goodbye Post”

  I am a writer and I love good journalism… but I don’t like blinkered, partisan journalism such as the “techlash” we are experiencing from so many outlets at the moment, ignoring the benefits that we obtain from social networking and other innovation. The situation has become so toxic that even some of the critics are beginning to notice.

• Apple Privacy Rules to Blame for Facebook's Lower Than Expected Quarterly Growth

• They left Facebooks integrity team. Now they want the world to know how it works

• Facebook profits top $9bn amid whistleblower revelations

  • Facebook earns $9bn despite whistleblower scandal

• Facebook's language gaps weaken screening of hate, terrorism

• Five points for anger one for a like: Facebook's formula, rage, misinformation

• Facebook Had a Fix for Anti-Vax Content but Didn't Apply It

  • Facebook froze as anti-vaccine comments swarmed users

• Facebook Faces a Public Relations Crisis. What About a Legal One?

• Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

TechSuck

• Amazon strikes deal with UK spy agencies to host top-secret material

• Tesla pulls Full Self-Driving update after sudden braking spooks drivers

• Russian SolarWinds hacker group is still attacking America's computer networks

• Apple Is Normalising Surveillance

• Recycled cathode materials enabled superior performance for lithium-ion battery

• Early failure rates have decreased a lot Drive Failure Over Time: The Bathtub Curve Is Leaking

Economicon

• The Great Resignation: Why People Are Leaving Their Jobs in Growing Numbers

• Fed Prepares to Taper Stimulus Amid More Doubts on Inflation

• Tesla shares surpass $1T in value

• The original 'Doge' meme sold as an NFT for $4M–now you can own a piece

• The Market for Single-Family Rentals Grows as Homeownership Wanes

• Modern Land becomes the 4th Chinese developer to default on overseas debt obligations after failing to make a $250 million dollar bond payment.

• National House Price Index increased 19.8% year-over-year in August

• Meet Skimpflation: A Reason Inflation Is Worse Than the Government Says It Is

• In 2000, a Disneyland ticket cost $41. A price hike just increased it to $164

• U.S. regulators exploring how banks could hold Bitcoin – FDIC Chairman

Poilitcks

• Musings on Markets: The Billionaire Tax: The Worst Tax Idea Ever?

• Biden tells 'false' Amtrak story for 5th time

• Biden makes FCC nominations that will give Democrats a 3-2 majority

  • Biden expected to name 2 FCC picks in race to avert Republican majority

• Maskless Biden Hacks A Cough Into His Hand, Then Greets People With Handshake | The Daily Caller

• Lawmakers will grill Snap, TikTok and YouTube on kids and safety tomorrow

• Law Firms That Raced To Defend Terrorists Ignore J6 Defendants

• WH Official Comment on 'F Joe Biden' and 'Let's Go Brandon' Chants Is as Bad as You Would Think – RedState

• EXCLUSIVE: ‘Pathetic Piece Of Trash’: House Republicans Respond To Rolling Stone Piece Alleging Capitol Riot Coordination | The Daily Caller

  “They’re talking about their sources and sources and quoting sources, but not giving names, so that just reminds me of the whole Russian collusion lie, and the type of language that Adam Schiff uses when he’s talking about sources,” she told the Daily Caller. “The whole thing is their same playbook,” Greene continued. “Make up a story, publish it, then all the other outlets rinse and repeat.”

  “No one in my office, including me, participated in the planning of the rally or in any criminal activity on January 6. We did not attend or participate at all. However, I am extremely interested to find out who, besides the FBI operatives, did plan the events on January 6. For the purpose of a potential defamation lawsuit against those making baseless accusations of a crime, I need to know who these persons are who are alleging that I helped,” Gohmert told the Caller.

• 20 years later, it's time to move on from mass surveillance | TheHill

Law / Crime / Police

• Georgia Man Used Covid Relief Loan on $57,000 Pokemon Card: Prosecutors

• Extreme couponers were sent to prison in $31.8M fraud scheme

• Europol investigation busts 150 'high value' darknet vendors

• The Theranos trial lost a juror to the mathematical allure of Sudoku

Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• State Department tested diplomats for 'directed energy exposure'

• State Department to set up new cyber bureau to combat hack attacks

• Carrying Biden Signs, Massive Migrant Caravan Pushes Toward U.S.

  • "Tell Biden We Are Coming": 'Mother Of All Caravans' Headed Towards Texas | ZeroHedge

• Iran Behind Drone Attack On U.S. Base In Syria, U.S. Officials Say | The Daily Wire

• US backs Taiwan's participation in UN

World

• Facing sky-high connection fees, rural Ontarians go off the grid

• Iran says cyberattack closes gas stations across country

• How Russia Is Cashing in on Climate Change

• Germany Muslim migrant who murdered three while screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ is not guilty, not an ‘Islamist.’

• Canada Cost for federal gun buyback scheme rises again without any guns actually bought

Health / Medicine

• Decades after polio, Martha among last to still rely on an iron lung to breathe

• ERs are now swamped with seriously ill patients – but most don't have Covid

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• How to talk to your grandchildren about Joe Manchin and the climate

• UN sounds alarm on missing climate pledges

• Bomb Cyclone Stomps Out California's Massive Dixie Wildfire

• Climate Anxiety – reactions to unprecedented threats hardly surprising

• From Homes to Cars, It’s Now Time to Electrify Everything - Yale E360

• Nuclear Power’s Awkward Role in Crucial COP26 Climate Talks

• Why the next electric battery boom may be in cargo ships

• Climate scientists fear tipping points (maybe you should too)

• Bringing COP26 to People Everywhere

• Climate champion: Zion Lights explains why nuclear power is our answer

• Being Green, It’s A Rich Man’s Game

• Elevated CO2 depletes plant minerals at the base of human nutrition

• Where Have All the Insects Gone?

• Feel Good Story of The Week: Elephants Stomp Another Poacher.