2023-11-24

etc

• It's Thanksgiving. Beware the Deep-Fried Turkey

• Do electric cars pose a greater fire risk than petrol or diesel vehicles?

• Be Cass-o-Wary – they can swim too | Department of Environment and Science, Queensland

• Tyrian purple: The lost ancient pigment that was more valuable than gold

• In Praise of “Ain’t” | BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog

  I want to know is what is inherently wrong with using “ain’t”? I can tell you what’s right with it. It’s strong, it’s musical—when was a one-syllable word so close to two?—it looks as good as it sounds. It’s economical. It’s working class, it does its job. The reasons against it are, in fact, purely those of class, in my opinion.

• Roman Infantry Tactics: Why the Pilum and Not a Spear?

• Fermentation technology as a driver of human brain expansion

Horseshit

• Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks

  A standardized abrasion machine made real-time breakdown of products into microplastics and nanoplastics. The microplastics from the sex toys were then solvent extracted and analyzed using GC–MS. Rates of microplastics and nanoplastics released during abrasion testing from most microplastic release to least was the anal toy, beads, dual vibrator, external vibrator. Both micro- and nanoplastics particles were generated following the abrasion test,

  The material matrix of each product was analyzed using ATR-FTIR, with results identifying the anal toy as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the anal beads as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the external vibrator as a silicone blend (polydimethylsiloxane [PDMS]), and the dual vibrator as a rubber mixture (polyisoprene). After extraction, phthalates known to be endocrine disruptors were present in all tested sex toys at levels exceeding hazard warnings. Analogous findings have been reported for similar materials that, when incorporated into other product categories, are subject to regulatory scrutiny in both the US and EU.

  • don't sandpaper your cheap toys, then boil them in acetone. Got it.

• Gen Z is worried they're going to raise a generation of iPad kids

• Steaks cooked in the microwave are better, says scientist: 'The ideal way'

• Bentley driver who hit Rainbow Bridge border checkpoint at 100 mph in fiery crash was heading to Kiss concert in Canada after visiting NY casino: sources.

• Pokémon is no longer just a game – it's a lifestyle

  • HN comments

• Short answer: EPA Rules Why Does My 'Efficient' Dishwasher Take a Zillion Minutes for a Load?

• The three-year cruise is canceled | CNN

  the dream is over for passengers who’d signed up for Life at Sea Cruises’ inaugural three-year voyage. After weeks of silence, the company has acknowledged to passengers that it has no ship, and has canceled the departure, vowing to refund those who’d signed up for cruises costing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

celebrity gossip

• Warren Buffett discusses will in rare letter, pledging to donate 99% of fortune

Obit

• Charles Peters, Neoliberal Founder of The Washington Monthly, Dies at 96

Musk

• Elon Musk Spent Three Years Falling Down a Red-Pilled Rabbit Hole

• Driver takes Cybertruck into ocean after Musk says it floats

Trump / War against the Right / Jan6

• Where Europe's 'Far-Right' Has Gained Ground | ZeroHedge

• The Geert Wilders victory, and more

  Note to media: Since they keep winning elections, or at least placing well, you can’t call them “far right” any more! How about “deep center”?

• Donald Trump Tells Argentina's Right-Wing Firebrand Javier Milei He'll Visit Him

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• Politicians don't understand science: advisers give evidence at UK Covid inquiry

• Don’t press ‘pandemic panic button’ scientists caution on China pneumonia report.

  • Mysterious respiratory outbreak in China gets attention of World Health Organization.

  • China says no 'novel pathogens' in severe juvenile respiratory outbreak

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Columbia U Newspaper Reporter Forced To Leave Campus After Writing Rolling Stone Antisemitism Piece – Twitchy

• Brooklyn Museum Zine Fair selling anti-Israel ‘River to the Sea’ merchandise sparks outrage: ‘Clearly hate speech’.

• Pro-Palestinian protesters glue their hands to 6th Avenue, disrupting Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

• Once the cutting edge of cool, Portland is now taking lessons from Milwaukee

  • Hmm.. Why would Portland need to "revive their downtown?" Didn't they just have several years of cultural exploration and celebration of diversity there?

• How Effective Altruism Split Silicon Valley–and Fueled the Blowup at OpenAI

Entertainment / ShowBiz / Advertising

• DDG founder says Google's phone, manufacturing partnerships thwart competition

• Ex-owners of sex work site Backpage convicted of prostitution scheme

  the government says, they encouraged sex work ads by creating a system for “johns”, or customers, to leave reviews about the sex workers they had engaged with. Website workers and an automated system filtered out words that made it obvious that sex was being offered in exchange for money.

• Your Local Newspaper Might Not Have a Single Reporter

• OneWeb receives approval from Indian space regulator for satellite broadband

• Say Goodbye to Those Absurd Side-Effects Readouts in Drug Commercials

  The changes won’t happen instantly. The rule will only come into effect 180 days after it’s officially published, and it will take a full year before the FDA will begin to enforce compliance.

• UK sci-fi hit ‘Doctor Who’ celebrates 60th anniversary

  • Internet Archive has the first 8 seasons available:

  • Doctor Who S01 (1963-1964)

  • Doctor Who S02 (1964-1965)

  • Doctor Who S03 (1965-1966)

  • Doctor Who S04 (1966-1967)

  • Doctor Who S05 (1967-1968)

  • Doctor Who S06 (1968-1969)

  • Doctor Who S07 (1970)

  • Doctor Who S08 (1971)

• NFL's Black Friday game is the latest warning sign for traditional TV

• Ubisoft blames 'technical error' for showing pop-up ads in Assassin's Creed

• Fire TV now also displays full-screen video ads on its homescreen

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Possibility That an SEC Investigation of Altman and Nadella May Soon Be Filed

• Statement by Annie Altman, Sam Altman's Sibling (Heavily Censored/Suppressed)

• Elon Musk Shares Mysterious Letter About Sam Altman

• With Sam Altman's return, a shift in AI from idealism to pragmatism

• Anthony Levandowski is rebooting his AI church.

• Training for one trillion parameter model backed by Intel and US govt has begun

  • HN comments

• Tesla turns on 10k-node Nvidia H100 Cluster

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• ESA’s new Ariane 6 rocket passed a major full-scale rehearsal

  • HN comments

• Avi Loeb gets his name in print again: Harvard SETI Project Helps ID Mystery Sound | Hackaday

Crypto con games

• FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is now trading fish to pay for services in prison

• Why CEO Sam Altman's firing at ChatGPT maker Open AI was bound to happen

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Greyhound stations are leaving downtowns after sale to notorious investment firm

• Texas officials warn of rolling blackouts to ease strain on power grid

• Garbage Inflation Data – The Government’s Official Inflation Rate Includes a Laughable 34% Reduction in Consumer Health Insurance Costs Over the Past 12 Months

  Per the October 2023 inflation figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of premiums paid for Health Care Insurance decreased by 34% from October 2022 to October 2023. Fraudulent inputs with negative values are certainly one way to artificially deflate the actual inflation rate.

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• The Feds' Vehicle 'Kill Switch' Mandate Is a Gross Violation of Privacy

  • HN comments

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• US Army clears historical convictions of 110 black soldiers

• Real pushback: Soldiers punished by Biden for refusing jab now sue for billions – Behind The Black – Robert Zimmerman

• Iraqi Government 'Vehemently' Condemns US Airstrikes As Violation Of Sovereignty

• Chinese factories are dismantling the RTX 4090s on their production lines and turning them into high-end AI cards.

  • So... You banned these products from being exported to the country that manufactures them? -- Pixy

  • Nvidia delays launch of new China-focused AI chip

World

• Anti-immigration riot erupts in Dublin after children stabbed: Police refuse to reveal nationality of man held on suspicion of knife attack in Irish capital on Thursday.

  • 34 arrested in Ireland riots after child is stabbed in Dublin

• Taiwan’s Opposition Splits After Collapse of Unity Bid

  • China ties on the line as Taiwan opposition splits in dramatic feud

• Chinese spies had acces to Dutch chip maker NXP's systems for over two years

Israel

• 13 Israeli Hostages, 12 Thai Nationals Freed As Gaza Sees First Day Without Fighting In Seven Weeks

Health / Medicine

• Medicinal leeches poised for comeback in Scottish Highlands

• CDC: Last Year's Flu Shot Was Less Than 50% Effective For Children And Adolescents

• A Brief 200-Year History of Synesthesia

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• 'What the heck is going on?' High-energy particle falling to Earth

• A23a: World's biggest iceberg on the move after 30 years

• TPPF Releases Study Exposing the True Cost of Electric Vehicles

• Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?