2024-01-11
Horseshit
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GM's Cruise offers a settlement to Calif regulators over pedestrian accident
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Our experiments to raise more money for people in povertyy | GiveDirectly
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better web design and donation form made people 34% more likely to donate
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Q: Can I apply to receive money? A: At this time, we are not accepting applications for cash transfers. Our U.S. programs are targeted to specific populations, who are then invited to participate in a program.
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"Your tears say more than facts ever could" Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun Fights Back Tears, Admits 'Mistake' on Air Alaska 737 - Bloomberg
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Gen Z jobseekers are bringing parents to interviews, employers say: 'Unprepared'
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Microturbines can generate electricity from drinking water pipes | New Scientist
The excess pressure in water pipes can be used to spin miniature hydroelectric turbines, providing an underutilised source of clean energy. Some envision a distributed network of small turbines serving as a form of reliable storage to back up wind and solar power. Water pipes offer a largely untapped source of renewable electricity that could provide 1.4 gigawatts of power in the US alone
- And we could solar panels in parking lots to generate power from those lights, at night, too!
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How extremists and terrorists exploit games
However, something else happened ten years ago that scarred the industry and negatively impacted the world around it in the process: Gamergate. And though the initial campaign subsided, its toxic legacy lives on. As Vox summarised in 2020, Gamergate wasn’t just fueled by extremists online; it fueled online extremism for years afterwards.
This became particularly obvious when using a Twitch competitor called Liv where “you could go from one click of an innocuous StarCraft session to someone putting out some of the most vitriolic hatred about far right ideologies.”
Extremists do create games and game content to reach players. While Hezbollah does create its own games, extremist groups face a bleakly similar challenge to game developers in the sense that it can be hard to successfully fund, develop and release titles good enough to appeal to the audience they’re trying to reach.
To that end, extremist groups or individuals are more likely to mod games - such as the creation of a Doom mod of the Pulse nightclub shooting - or create content in a user generated content platform like Roblox or Fortnite to reach players, running as fast as they can to avoid the “whack-a-mole” of each platform’s content moderation processes.
More broadly though, extremist groups have used games content to propagandise. Far-right organisations, for example, have referenced games like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and God of War: Ragnarok when speaking to their audiences because the Norse mythology contained within can be subverted to appeal to extreme right wing audiences.
celebrity gossip
Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering
Musk
Trump / War against the Right / Jan6
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How Tech Automated the January 6 Investigations - IEEE Spectrum
As the January 6 investigations move into their fourth year, an IEEE Spectrum analysis of court filings suggests they are evolving from sprawling, labor-intensive efforts touching on many aspects of suspects’ lives to something far more streamlined and digital. Some, like Coker’s, have even reached the point of requiring little human input at all.
Automated enforcement of lesser infractions is nothing new–think neighborhood speed cameras. However, experts say that its use for serious felony charges could set a dangerous precedent for the U.S. justice system, raising questions about bias, misidentification, and the rise of the surveillance state.
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Trump BANNED from speaking in his own defense in closing argument in New York fraud trial.
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Fani Willis subpoenaed in top Trump Georgia prosecutor’s divorce case.
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False Claims Of “Insurrection,” Minutes After January 6 Capitol Riot, Suggest Disinformation Plot
There appears to be a glaring double standard in Democrats’ approach to violent political activity. In 2020, Black Lives Matter protesters created a self-declared autonomous region in Seattle, Washington, called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) or Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP). They took over the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct and set it on fire. Multiple shootings occurred, including of a 19-year-old who died.
This event could have been considered an “insurrection” since its explicit aim was to overthrow and occupy government institutions, subverting the democratic process. Yet CHOP did not receive the same levels of condemnation as January 6.
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Trump expected to attend closing arguments in his New York fraud trial
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Trump Suggests He’s Decided on a Vice President: ‘I Know Who It’s Going to Be’
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Donald Trump claims credit for ‘miracle’ of overturning right to abortion
Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp
Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation
Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts
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Migrants evacuated from Floyd Bennett Field due to high winds
NYC students forced to go remote as city houses nearly 2K migrants at their school — one mom goes off: ‘Does it feel good?’
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
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Piracy Is Surging Again Because Streaming Execs Ignored the Lessons of the Past
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BI alarmed after parent company compels 'review' after Ackman complaints
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Steve Wozniak Case Cues Test of Internet Liability Shield Limit
A panel of California state justices probed the limits of a federal law that shields online platforms from lawsuits Tuesday, as Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak argued that YouTube negligently failed to protect its users from scammers that doctored footage of him and other tech icons to sell a fake Bitcoin giveaway.
At the heart of the debate are YouTube’s verification badges, which appear as check marks next to a user’s name to signal that the user is who they say they are. Wozniak’s attorney argued before a panel of justices in California’s Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal that YouTube lent credibility to the scam by giving check marks to accounts that ran the hoax videos.
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Valve now allows the "vast majority" of AI-powered games on Steam
TechSuck / Geek Bait
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
Crypto con games
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Bitcoin’s Respectability Takes a Fresh Hit With SEC Hack. Here’s Why. | Barron's
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Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund to Start Trading on Thursday
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SEC approves rule changes that pave the way for Bitcoin ETFs
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(PDF) SEC approves rule changes that pave the way for Bitcoin ETFs
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SEC Commissioner: Out, Damned Spot! Statement Approval of Bitcoin Trust Shares and Trust Units
until a court reminded us that our “unexplained discounting of the obvious financial and mathematical relationship between the spot and futures markets falls short of the standard for reasoned decisionmaking,” we persisted in denying a spot bitcoin ETP. We squandered a decade of opportunities to do our job. If we had applied the standard we use for other commodity-based ETPs, we could have approved these products years ago, but we refused to do so until a court called our bluff.
our actions here have muddied people’s understanding of what the SEC’s role is. Congress did not authorize us to tell people whether a particular investment is right for them, but we have abused administrative procedures to withhold investments that we do not like from the public.
by failing to follow our normal standards and processes in considering spot bitcoin ETPs, we have created an artificial frenzy around them. Had these products come to market in the way other comparable products typically have, we would have avoided the circus atmosphere in which we now find ourselves.
we have alienated a generation of product innovators within our space. Our unreasonable approach to these applications has signaled that regulatory prejudice against new products and services can lead us to sidestep the law and unreasonably delay product launches.
Economicon / Business / Finance
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Amazon Laying Off Hundreds in Prime Video, Studios in Latest Cuts
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Walmart to Make Largest Drone Delivery Expansion of Any U.S. Retailer
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Global economy set for its worst half decade of growth in 30 years, World Bank says.
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Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant – Semafor
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Google confirms it just laid off around a thousand employees
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Thousands of Software Engineers Say the Job Market Is Getting Much Worse
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
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Back to the Future: Power Dishwashers!
Why do today’s dishwashers typically take more than 2 hours to run through a normal cycle when less than a hour was common in the past? The reason is absurd energy and water “conservation” rules. These rules, imposed on dish and clothes washers, have made these products perform worse than in the past,, cleaning less well or much more slowly. One of the best things that the Trump administration did (other than Operation Warp Speed, of course) was creating a product class–superwashers!–that cleaned in under an hour and were not subject to energy and water conservation standards. The Biden administration reversed these rules but the 5th circuit just ruled that the reversal was “arbitrary and capricious.”
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Doocy Questions Potential Cover-Up Over Biden's Health | ZeroHedge
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Hunter Biden Crashes Hearing Debating Whether to Hold Him in Contempt
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Hunter’s Art Dealer Contradicts White House Claims Over Art Sales – JONATHAN TURLEY
Bergès admitted that most of the art was actually purchased by lawyer Kevin Morris, who has reportedly given Hunter millions to cover unpaid taxes and expenses. So, as media was reporting how Hunter’s art was being eagerly purchased by art lovers, it appears to have been an illusion. It was Morris, and he only paid Bergès’ 40% commission on the $875,000 purchases. Bergès admits that he has never seen a deal where the purchaser just paid his commission.
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Politicians Can't Rig the Economy Like They Used To - Bloomberg
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Florida considers socialist model to combat soaring insurance costs
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Gambling boom detrimental to New Jersey economy, report says
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Haley-DeSantis Food Fight Validates Trump's Debate Boycott Strategy
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Another test for Speaker Mike Johnson. Will he keep the government open?
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Bob Menendez Files Long-Shot Motion to Have Bribery Charges Chucked
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Affordable Care Act reaches 'major milestone' with 20M now enrolled for new year
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Ramaswamy argues Iowans should caucus for him to "save Trump"
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Democrats announce huge fundraising haul for state legislative race efforts
Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security
External Security / Militaria / Diplomania
World
Iran / Houthi / Red Sea / Mediterranean
Israel
Russia Bad / Ukraine War
China
Health / Medicine
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Declining global fertility rates and the implications for family planning
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‘Gas-Station Heroin’ Sold as Dietary Supplement Alarms Health Officials - The New York Times
Often sold as a dietary supplement and promoted by retailers as a mood booster and focus aid, tianeptine is among a growing, unregulated class of potentially addictive products available in gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops and across the internet. They typically include synthetic pharmaceuticals and plant-derived substances. Some, like kratom and phenibut, can be addictive and, in rare cases, fatal. They often originate in other countries, including Indonesia and Russia, where they are commonly used, even prescribed, for mood management. But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved them as medicines in the United States.
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More Teens Who Use Marijuana Are Suffering From Psychosis - WSJ