2023-10-18

etc

• Ex Astris Scientia - Commercially Available Chairs in Star Trek

Horseshit

• Mazda's DMCA takedown kills a hobbyist's smart car API tool

• The Internet Could Be So Good

• At least 189 bodies found at US 'green' funeral home

• Stanford scientist, after decades of study, concludes: We don't have free will

• The booming AI-generated porn industry

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• 'Osint' Accounts Are Destroying the Israel-Palestine Information Ecosystem

Musk

• X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features | Hacker News

• X/Twitter might need subscription for posting content, replies, likes, reposts

• X begins charging new users $1 a year in New Zealand, Philippines

Pestilence / Pox / COVID / VaxCult

• Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

• New pill helps Covid smell and taste loss fade quickly

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• The Theory That Men Evolved to Hunt and Women Evolved to Gather Is Wrong

• If You Know You’re Right, Step on the Gas! The Rise of Fundamentalism in Academia and Hollywood

• Effective Altruism Is as Bankrupt as Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Faked Crystals and Faked Data | Science | AAAS

• Republicans want schools to block social media or lose internet funds

• Top law firm rescinds job offers to Ivy League students who signed Israel letter

Entertainment / ShowBiz / Advertising

• This Vintage Mini Cooper Is Actually a Top-Notch Racing Simulator

  At the time of writing, the current bid stands at just £2000, or roughly $2,450 USD. Expect it to sell for a bit more than that given the quality of this unique and charming build.

• X-Wing Model from the Original 'Star Wars' Sells for $3.1M

• The Meta glassholes have arrived

• What happened to blogging for the hell of it? | Hacker News

• Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free

• I Just Sold My 500th Book. If I Was Allowed to Advertise It I’d Be Rich

• The most insane "robocall mitigation plans" that telcos filed with the FCC

  • HN comments

• How Social Media Abdicated Responsibility for the News

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• Gnome Foundation Hires "Professional Shaman" as New Executive Director

  In the announcement, this new GNOME director stated, "I am impressed by the international reach of the GNOME community and the diversity of the individuals involved in creating all of this amazing output." All of which set off my "This doesn't sound like a person with software experience" alarm.

  And to Mrs. Holly Million, the new Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation: Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux! You have a standing invitation to The Lunduke Journal podcast whenever you like.Just be prepared for most of my questions to be about the relationship between ayahuasca and GTK4.

  • HN comments

Space / UFO / Boomy Zoomers

• Unidentified anomalous phenomena – Hot spots and the quest for UFO data

• Not the X-Files: Mapping Public Reports of UAP Across America

Crypto con games

• Binance US No Longer Allows USD Withdrawal for Users

Economicon / Business / Finance

• CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid are closing thousands of stores. Here's why

• Waymo Layoffs

• Self-Checkout Is a Failed Experiment

• Mortgage Rates Close to 8% as Economy Refuses to Cool

• Fed to Propose Lowering Debit-Card Swipe Fees

• AI Funding Soars to $17.9B While Rest of Tech Slumps

• What will happen to mortgage interest rates after the next Fed meeting?

• Real-Estate Commissions Could Be the Next Fee on the Chopping Block

• Bank of America's unrealized losses on securities rose to $131.6B

  • HN comments

• Convoy cancels all shipments, load board is empty, announcement upcoming

• 30-year fixed mortgage rate just hit 8% for the first time since 2000

• America's farmers are getting older, young people aren't rushing to join them

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• In California, You Can Now Sell Your ADU | Hacker News

• Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

  • HN comments

• ‘Cue the Calliope Music’: Bill Kristol Explains Why He Supports Democrats, and Twitter Has Thoughts

• First Speaker Vote A Bust As Jordan Loses 20 Republicans

• Biden administration announces 'largest ever' investment in US electric grid

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Michigan Cops Not So Sure About Red Flag Confiscations Now That They May Have to Enforce Them - The Truth About Guns

  the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association got behind the bill in the legislature. But now that they may have to be the ones to actually knock on doors, court order in hand, and demand Michiganders turn over their firearms, the enforcement implications have become, well, problematic.

• Soros-backed Louisiana district attorney carjacked at gunpoint with his mother: reports. Orleans Parish DA Jason Williams was elected in 2020 after running on a platform of social justice and bail reform

• Speed cameras: California's answer to rising traffic deaths?

• How a Georgia Man Got a $1.4 Million Speeding Ticket

  A spokesman for the City of Savannah explained in a statement to WSAV that, “The balance reflected in the e-citation is a placeholder, not a fine. The fine for a super-speeder ticket can only be set by a judge at the court appearance and cannot exceed $1,000 plus state mandated costs. Since super speeders are required to go to court, the software automatically puts in a $999,999.99 base amount plus state mandated costs," the statement continued. "Recorders Court is adjusting the language in e-citations in order to avoid future confusion.”

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Israel-Hamas war illuminates trouble with political hacking groups

• ASIO and FBI heads accuse China of being worst intellectual property thief

• “Watch what’s going down now. We may be at war by the end of the week.”

• Ask HN: Are we heading towards World War 3?

• US Embassy in Lebanon is set on FIRE as thousands of pro-Palestine rioters waving Hezbollah banners encircle compound before security douses them in tear gas: Rioter plants flag in fence as ‘day of unprecedented anger’ gets underway

• Saudis Issue Urgent Warning To Leave Lebanon "Immediately & Now" As US Embassy In Beirut Begins Evac

• Biden further chokes off China's AI chip supply with Nvidia bans

• Russia and China-Backed Hackers Are Exploiting WinRAR Zero-Day

  • Government-backed actors exploiting WinRAR vulnerability

• China's advancement in stealth submarine 'a nightmare' for US and allies

• Drone attack on base hosting US troops intercepted in Iraq, heightening fears of a broader conflict.

World

• Argentina's leading left presidential candidate Hail Mary: abolish taxes

• Sweden reports damage to Baltic Sea cable with Estonia

• Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered

Israel

• Israel just bombed a hospital, at least 500 civilians are killed

• Embryologists inundated with requests for sperm retrieval from fallen and dead

• Mass Protests Erupt In Arab Capitals As IDF Blames Errant Islamic Jihad Rocket For Hospital Massacre | ZeroHedge

  just as Air Force One is departing Washington for Israel, the White House has canceled the entire leg of Biden's trip to Jordan.

• Gaza, beyond de-development to disposability and destruction

  • in this person's world, unchecked, unprovoked israeli aggression keeps screwing the innocents.

• A missile launched by a Palestinian group exploded mid-air

  • and hit the hospital. (later) ... parking lot.

• How can HN community prevent genocide of Palestinians?

• Community Notes and War Crimes

• Hundreds Killed by Islamic Jihad After Misfire Causes Explosion at Gaza City Hospital

• Evidence Suggests Misfired Hamas Rocket Hit Gaza Hospital, Killing Hundreds.

• Gaza hospital: What video, pictures and other evidence tell us about blast

• hospital wasn’t bombed, the parking lot was, and 500 people didn’t die

• U.S. Says Intelligence Shows Gaza Militants Behind Hospital Blast

• Biden In Israel, Agrees With Netanyahu: Looks Like The "Other Team" Did Hospital Strike

• Guardian sacks their own cartoonist Steve Bell who had worked at the paper for over 40 years over ‘anti-Semitic’ Benjamin Netanyahu cartoon

Health / Medicine

• Germicidal UV lights could be producing indoor air pollutants, study finds.

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Detroit: magic wand makes dirty air look clean and lets polluters off the hook

• U.S. declares 21 endangered species extinct

• DeepMind Wants to Use AI to Solve the Climate Crisis

• Gulf Stream weakening now 99% certain, and ramifications will be global