2024-05-06

etc

• Been recaptured i heard: Zebra remains on the loose in Washington state, officials close trailheads

Horseshit

• Why Americans stopped buying convertibles

• In-Car Hydration and Urination Systems for Race Car Drivers

• Futurists are signing up to be decapitated–and then have their brains frozen

• Tech's proposed utopian communities don't seem to be for everyone

celebrity gossip

• I Was at the Clapperboard for Orson Welles' Drunk Wine Commercial

Musk

• Have the wheels come off for Tesla?

• Did Elon Cut Tesla Supercharging as a Power Move?

• Tesla plans to charge some Model Y owners to unlock more range

• FCC Lets SpaceX Expand Testing of Cellular Starlink for Phones

• Nantucket newspaper trolls local Tesla Cybertruck for havoc on tiny island

Trump / War against the Right / Jan6

• Hope Hicks Testifies in Trump Hush-Money Trial: Key Takeaways - The New York Times

  In nearly three hours on the stand, Ms. Hicks described the impact on Mr. Trump’s campaign of the so-called “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Mr. Trump bragged about grabbing women’s genitals. As soon as the tape was disclosed in October 2016, Ms. Hicks said, she knew it would be “a massive story.” Taking the stand under a subpoena, Ms. Hicks said she was nervous, and at one point, early in the cross-examination, she broke down in tears.

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• We still don't understand how one human apparently got bird flu from a cow

• H5N1 bird flu outbreak in India; 2 doctors, 6 others quarantined

• Milk Has Lost Its Magic: The bird-flu panic is getting out of hand

• US shared 'gobsmacking' Covid lab leak file with UK

  In a previously unreported phone call that month, Mike Pompeo, the former US secretary of state, presented evidence that supported the lab leak theory to Dominic Raab, then the Foreign Secretary, and representatives from Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Speaking to The Telegraph, two Trump administration officials accused Mr Raab and the UK Government of ignoring the lab leak theory because of resistance from government scientists who supported the explanation that the virus had jumped between animals and humans.

  • Britain Ignored 'Gobsmacking' Covid Lab Leak Evidence Due to Scientific Advisers

• New Covid variants called FLiRT are spreading in the U.S. What are the symptoms?

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Salt Lake bar owner who touted ban on 'Zionists' arrested twice in 2 days after demonstrations | KSL.com

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Activist Groups Trained Students for Months Before Campus Protests: Left-wing groups and veteran demonstrators provided guidance and support before rise of pro-Palestinian encampments.

• In an era of overabundance, elite colleges matter more than ever

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Dating apps kiss'n'tell all sorts of sensitive personal info

• Satya Nadella's Microsoft memo on putting security first

• Ancestry caught stealing records a second time from local genealogy groups

• Breach of a Face Recognition Firm Reveals a Hidden Danger of Biometrics

• Jack Dorsey says he's no longer on the Bluesky board

  • Jack Dorsey says that he's not on the Bluesky board anymore

  • Bluesky confirms Jack Dorsey is no longer on its board

• Ten years ago Microsoft bought Nokia's phone unit – then killed it

• Love it, hate or fear it, TikTok has changed America

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• The VGA Attribute Controller Is Weird

  Like many VGA features, the attribute controller is an extension of the EGA hardware. And like many other EGA registers, the attribute controller was write-only. That is, the EGA hardware registers would be written, but not read. Needless to say, this “feature” of the EGA hardware caused endless headaches for programmers… but that’s a different story.

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Why governments need to take a more active role in regulating AI

• AI-powered 'HorseGPT' fails to predict this year's Kentucky Derby winner

• The teens making friends with AI chatbots

• Is artificial intelligence the great filter that makes civilisations rare?

• The Sam Altman Playbook: Fear, the Denial of Uncertainties, and Hype

  • HN comments

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• 'We're in a new era': the 21st-century space race takes off

• After emotional rollercoaster, NASA astronauts ready to fly on Boeing Starliner

• The Pentagon is lying about UFOs

  n a case resolution report published last week, the Pentagon’s UFO analysis office concluded with “moderate” confidence that the object observed by the pilot was a balloon, likely “a large commercial lighting balloon.” This so-called explanation insults the intelligence of any reader who takes a few moments to review the details of the incident. It did not convince the world’s most prominent UFO skeptic. The pilot’s sketch of the object, described as akin to an “Apollo spacecraft,” bears no plausible resemblance to the design of any known industrial lighting balloon.

  The Pentagon’s egregious misrepresentation of this analysis is of like kind with its so-called explanation for the Eglin Air Force Base incident. In short, the decades-long “nothing-to-see-here” approach to UFOs continues, unabated. With unknown objects exhibiting highly unconventional technology brazenly penetrating airspace around nuclear missile silos and other sensitive military facilities, the American public deserves truth, transparency and far more analytic integrity than the Pentagon is currently demonstrating.

Economicon / Business / Finance

• L.A. developer plans home teardowns to build apartments where city dislikes them

• New Job Scams Are Flourishing. Young Workers Are Especially Susceptible

• Economists Aren't the Best at Predicting the Economy

• Consumers Fed Up with Food Costs Are Ditching Big Brands

• Buffett Praised Apple After Trimming It, Drops Paramount Stake

• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy violated labor law with union comments, NLRB rules

• Reclassifying Marijuana Could Unlock Blns in Tax Savings for Cannabis Companies

• Is employee ownership the key to building workers' wealth?

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Pro-Palestianian protesters are backed by a surprising source: Biden's biggest donors - POLITICO

  President Joe Biden has been dogged for months by pro-Palestinian protesters calling him “Genocide Joe” — but some of the groups behind the demonstrations receive financial backing from philanthropists pushing hard for his reelection. The donors include some of the biggest names in Democratic circles: Gates, Soros, Rockefeller and Pritzker, according to a POLITICO analysis.

  Two of the main organizers behind protests at Columbia University and on other campuses are Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Both are supported by the Tides Foundation, which is seeded by Democratic megadonor George Soros as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and it in turn supports numerous small nonprofits that work for social change. (Gates did not return a request for comment, and Soros declined to comment.)

  Another notable Democratic donor whose philanthropy has helped fund the protest movement is David Rockefeller Jr., who sits on the board of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In 2022, the fund gave $300,000 to the Tides Foundation; according to nonprofit tax forms, Tides has given nearly $500,000 over the past five years to Jewish Voice for Peace, which explicitly describes itself as anti-Zionist.

  Several other groups involved in pro-Palestinian protests are backed by a foundation funded by Susan and Nick Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt Hotel empire — and supporters of Biden and numerous Democratic campaigns, including $6,600 to the Biden Victory Fund a few months ago and more than $300,000 during the 2020 campaign.

• America's semiconductor policy is missing a key piece

• With dueling approaches, the US and EU hit the tech giants hard

• Feds Mandate Automated Emergency Braking by 2029

• NYC pol says law allowing rape suit against him was unconstitutional — despite voting for the legislation

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Amazon delivery driver shoots, kills person with gun in attempted carjacking

World

• North Yorkshire Council to phase out apostrophe use on street signs

  • Yorkshire apostrophe fans demand road signs with nowt taken out

• From teenage cyber-thug to Europe's most wanted

• Fake Videos of Modi Aides Trigger Political Showdown in India Election

• Deadly 'Zombie Drug' Believed to Contain Human Bones Wreaks Havoc in West Africa

• Hertfordshire Residents Speak Out Against Google's Data Centre

Israel

• Al Jazeera condemns Israeli government decision to shut down channel

  • Al Jazeera's pre-recorded 'final report' from Israel as ban enacted

  • Israel shuts down local Al Jazeera offices in 'dark day for the media'

• U.S. put a hold on an ammunition shipment to Israel

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Denying Russia's Only Strategy for Success

• The Trajectory of India-Russia Ties Amid the War in Ukraine

• German government: Cyberattacks originate from Russian military intelligence

• North Korean weapons are killing Ukrainians. The implications are far bigger

China

• China Is Buying Gold, Sending Prices to Record Highs - The New York Times

Health / Medicine

• What is the UK smoking ban, how will it work and when will it start?

  • Fraudulent Logic Guides the UK Smoking Ban | Mises Institute

  The prime minister has decided to go on a crusade against smoking! The government passed its legislation that effectively bans smoking for those born after 2009. The government says it is doing this to reduce the burden on the NHS, billions of pounds will be saved in the long run due to fewer people developing smoking related illnesses. The NHS needs saving so the conservatives are standing their defense of the legislation on the grounds they know are extremely popular amongst the electorate. Perhaps this is the perfect encapsulation of how MPs being guided by public opinion necessitates creation of bad policy.

• Towards transparent and durable copper-containing antimicrobial surfaces

• Experts Discuss the Dark Likelihood of 'Abandoned' Brain Implant Technology

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• A new type of porous material that can store greenhouse gases

• Cars are a major predator for wildlife. How is nature adapting to our roads?

• The Science Behind Why the World Is Getting Wetter

• Let insects eat your plants

  Over the last few decades, a massive global crisis has affected insect populations, which are declining at a rate of between 1% and 2% every year. This means that practically any intervention that could help these creatures is valuable. More people are "planting for pollinators", with one 2022 survey finding one in three US adults purchase plants to help wildlife, an increase of 26% from 2020. This helps ensure there are lots of native wildflowers to supply bees, hoverflies and butterflies with nectar. But should we also try horticulture for herbivores, too? Should we plant things in the hope they will get gobbled up? To find out, I turned to the experts.

  • Printables.com is doing an "Insect Hotels" contest, too. Bugs are hot right now. Pre-cicada trend.

• At least 224 people, 153 pets rescued in Texas floods with more rain in forecast

• The Hot Poop on the Cinderella Incinerating Toilet

• Number of dead sawfish soars to 40 as reports of spinning fish continue