2024-07-17
etc
-
(2016, PDF) Atmospheric Pressure at the Time of Dinosaurs
If you allow yourself to entertain the idea that a higher atmospheric pressure, say between 3 and 5 bar, could have existed in the time of the dinosaurs, it would resolve two of the anomalies that face us today, which are:
-
how a dinosaur’s heart could pump blood 7 or more meters upwards, without introducing the ideas of multiple hearts (as many as 8), giant hearts, and hearts located right under their chins, and
-
how a giant flying quetzalcoatlus had the energy to stay airborne, something that biology and aerodynamics says is not possible in today’s atmosphere. All of this leads us to the next fascinating question – what was the atmospheric before that time?
-
Horseshit
-
Designing in a Post-Taste world - Design Lobster
Let’s start by winding the clock back to the halcyon days of March 2016. I’m choosing this month (somewhat arbitrarily) because it was the month that WeWork achieved a milestone $16bn valuation prompting a frenzy of speculation about its high-design vision of the future workplace. It was also around this time that I remember an architect friend of saying to me that being in a WeWork felt like being in a period drama about now. Because of Brexit and the US Election, 2016 often gets described as the high watermark of truth in public discourse, with the years subsequent bracketed somewhat apocalyptically as the Post-Truth era. But what if this year was also a Peak Taste? A high watermark for a certain kind of minimal, straight-down-the-line, tasteful “Good Design”. With the ominous implication of course that we are now in a Post-Taste era, whatever that might mean.
-
King and Queen present royal title to a goat | UK News | Sky News
The King has presented honours to those from all walks of life, but this was a first... presenting a royal title to a goat. To mark his first visit to Guernsey as monarch, Tamsin, an eight-year-old Golden Guernsey goat, was presented in a special ceremony to King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Afterwards, Joe explained to Sky News how it was a moment he'd never forget, and how he'd washed Tasmin in Head & Shoulders shampoo to make sure she looked her best. The rare honour for the entire rare breed now means that they'll officially be known around the world as Royal Golden Guernsey's.
-
Young people today are sad nerds
Still, young people exist in the US, and — because they’re pretty poor now, but probably won’t always be — Bernstein Research has tried to figure out what they’re like. The answer: sad, sedentary and addicted to computer games. OK: that’s reductive, and needs massive caveats. There are some ways in which, in aggregate, Gen Z (15–27 year olds) and Gen Alpha (0–14 year olds), might be expected to experience better health outcomes than earlier generations: they smoke less, for instance. But overall, it doesn’t look like a super pretty picture from a public health perspective:
-
They Thought They Knew Their Hamsters. Then They Put Up Spy Cameras
Electric / Self Driving cars
Musk
-
Elon Musk Enters Uncharted Territory With Trump Endorsement - The New York Times
With those moves, Mr. Musk, 53, entered uncharted territory. He broke with tradition set by the leaders of other major social media firms, none of whom have endorsed a presidential candidate. By using X as a megaphone for his politics — posting to his nearly 190 million followers — Mr. Musk also erased any air of neutrality for the platform. Now, as the presidential election gets closer, Mr. Musk’s full-throated support for the Republican candidates raises questions about how their opponents can expect to be treated on this site.
- How many fawning stories described Zuckerberg's relation with Obama and how much effort he and Bezos put into getting Obama, Hillary, and Biden elected?
-
Elon Musk details two assassination attempts in past eight months
-
Musk signals delays to robotaxi unveiling for key design change
-
20 satellites fall from sky after catastrophic SpaceX rocket failure
-
SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas
Trump / War against the Right / Jan6
-
"Weaponized Autism." Shame, Pride, and the Making and Undoing of the Alt-Right
Most nazis had been extremely hostile to me in 2017, but by 2021, they accepted my presence. Charlottesville had turned out to be the high point and the undoing of the alt-right, and my coverage of it was a significant reason for that. It was like we were veterans who’d fought on the opposite sides of a war. There weren’t many other people in the world who had witnessed the same events. So when I called them and asked for an interview, it was pretty easy to get them to say yes.
-
FBI succesfully breaks into phone of Attempted Assassination Suspect
-
Liberal Media Scream: Anger over blood-splattered ‘fight, fight, fight’ - Washington Examiner
-
US authorities obtained intelligence from a human source in recent weeks on a plot by Iran to try to assassinate Donald Trump, a development that led to the Secret Service increasing security around the former president in recent weeks, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN. There’s no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who attempted to kill the former president on Saturday, was connected to the plot, the sources said. The existence of the intelligence threat from a hostile foreign intelligence agency — and the enhanced security for Trump — raises new questions about the security lapses at the Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and how a 20-year-old man managed to access a nearby rooftop to fire shots that injured the former president. It’s not clear whether the specifics of the Iran threat were shared with the Trump campaign, which said in a statement: “We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to The United States Secret Service.”
-
Tracking the Trump rally gunman’s movements leading up to his attack | CNN
In the 48 hours before he opened fire on former President Donald Trump, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks made a series of stops in and around his suburban Pittsburgh hometown. On Friday, he went to a shooting range where he was a member, and practiced firing, a law enforcement official told CNN. The next morning, Crooks went to a Home Depot, where he bought a five-foot ladder, and a gun store, where he purchased 50 rounds of ammunition, the official said. Then, Crooks drove his Hyundai Sonata about an hour north, joining thousands of people from around the region who flocked to Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He parked the car outside the rally, with an improvised explosive device hidden in the trunk that was wired to a transmitter he carried, the official said. Then, investigators believe, he used his newly-bought ladder to scale a nearby building, and opened fire on the former president.
- http://dragon.snafuhall.com/art/crooks-ladder.jpg
-
Here’s the official story so far
random 20 year old acting completely alone walked within 150 yards of a presidential campaign rally with a rifle, climbed onto a rooftop in full view of Secret Service snipers, set up his shot and fired without anyone intervening and with no help from anyone. This 20 year old is also so politically radical as to attempt an assassination and yet not radical enough to have ever posted any political writings or commentary on any social media site ever in his life. He also wrote no manifesto and left behind no indication about why he did it. His last and only political act, before attempting to kill the Republican candidate, was to register as a Republican. You must believe this and ask no questions about it or else you are a conspiracy theorist. And one thing we know about assassination attempts is that there’s never any conspiring involved.
-
What We Know About The Trump Rally Shooter's Discord Account
Discord now tells Kotaku that it has found an account on the gaming chat platform that appears to be associated with Crooks, but that he rarely used it. “We have identified an account that appears to be linked to the suspect; it was rarely utilized and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident or discuss his political views,” a spokesperson for the company wrote in an emailed statement.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Discord spokesperson said an account that appears to be linked to Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified and removed in accordance with the company's "off-platform behavior policy."
- "and removed" ... when?
-
the actual shots targeting #Trump may have been taken by the US Secret Service
https://t.me/RealHealthRanger/4945
There is now a very credible explanation emerging that says US Secret Service agents, on orders from Kimberly Cheatle and Alejandro Mayorkas, placed a Secret Service team INSIDE the building where the "shooter" was crawling on the roof, and that the actual shots targeting #Trump may have been taken by the US Secret Service from INSIDE the building. This would be consistent with the audio forensics of the shooting recordings, since the distance would be nearly identical to the rooftop "shooter." This also explains why counter-sniper teams held their fire until AFTER the "shooter" killed Trump. Their job was to eliminate the patsy. Note that US Secret Service had eyes on this young man for at least 30 minutes, watching him with an actual rangefinder, scoping the range of the shot, then with a backpack, then scaling the ladder and going onto the roof. They watched him and reported on his progress. They did nothing to stop him.
-
FBI, DHS warn of possible retaliation for attack on Trump - POLITICO
Violent extremists or others “may attempt follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence” in response to the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally over the weekend in Pennsylvania, the agencies said in the bulletin obtained by POLITICO. No specific targets are mentioned, but the four-page bulletin notes that extremists have conducted or plotted attacks against “perceived political or ideological opponents,” in the past, the DHS and FBI said.
Threats across the political spectrum have proliferated. Supporters of Trump sent death threats and envelopes full of white powder to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office led the hush money prosecution against the former president. Others “swatted” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after she found Trump to be ineligible to appear on the state’s 2024 primary ballot.
-
The man added that the death and injuries were a 'small price'. 'It doesn't matter to Trump,' he added. 'Do you think he cares if people die for him to be elected? 'Death doesn't mean anything to Trump.
-
Mike Flynn: Deposed witnesses offered massive bribes north of $25M
-
Vance's appointment as VP suggests GOP is looking to appeal to Silicon Valley
-
Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz Say They Plan to Donate to Trump Pac
-
Silicon Valley’s tech titans line up to donate to Donald Trump
-
Musk reportedly commits to sending "around $45M a month" to a Trump Super PAC
-
Elon Musk plans to give $45M a month to pro-Trump super PAC, WSJ reports
-
Musk plans to donate $45M a month to super PAC backing Trump
-
Andreessen Horowitz co-founders explain why they're supporting Trump
-
I assume we can look forward to coverage of similar donations to Democrats? No? How about just reporting on the people who have given money to members of the Biden family?
-
-
Trump's VP candidate and ex-VC JD Vance has long ties to Silicon Valley
Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
TechSuck / Geek Bait
-
Inside an IBM/Motorola mainframe controller chip from 1981
I was hoping to find a recognizable processor inside the package, maybe a Motorola 6809 or 68000 processor. Instead, I found a complicated chip that doesn't appear to be a processor. It has a 16×16 memory block along with about 20 PLAs (Programmable Logic Arrays), a curiously large number. PLAs are commonly used in processors for decoding instructions, since they can match bit patterns. I couldn't find a datapatch in the chip; I expected to see the ALU and registers organized in a large but regular 8-bit or 16-bit block of circuitry. The chip doesn't have any ROM so there's no microcode on the chip. For these reasons, I think the chip is not a processor or microcontroller, but a specialized data-handling chip, maybe using the PLAs to interpret bits of a protocol.
The chip has a 16×16 memory buffer, which could be a register file or a FIFO buffer. One interesting feature is that the buffer is triple-ported, so it can handle two reads and one write at the same time.
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
-
NASA Transmits Hip-Hop Song to Deep Space for First Time
The stars above and on Earth aligned as an inspirational message and lyrics from the song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” by hip-hop artist Missy Elliott were beamed to Venus via NASA’s DSN (Deep Space Network). The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California sent the transmission at 10:05 a.m. PDT on Friday, July 12. “I still can’t believe I’m going out of this world with NASA through the Deep Space Network when ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ becomes the first ever hip-hop song to transmit to space!” said Elliott. “I chose Venus because it symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to share my art and my message with the universe!”
Crypto con games
Economicon / Business / Finance
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
-
Up to $1B May Go to Waste After Hochul's Congestion Pricing Halt
-
Kaspersky to shut down US operations, lay off employees after US Government ban
-
The US itself could be the biggest loser in this election
This year, however, might be the one in which the US election finally loses its magic. November’s poll is probably the most important in generations. But speaking with people outside the US, I no longer hear them fantasising about participation in the only election that matters. Pundits around the globe rightly assert that America faces a dramatic choice. But something has changed. Viewed from afar, the contrast between Biden and Trump does not look as stark as it once might have. People just see two old guys who have been unpopular presidents.
-
How the DNC plans to run out the clock for Biden
The Democratic National Committee is quietly steaming ahead with plans to technically nominate President Biden weeks before the party's convention next month, Axios has learned. If the working plan for a "virtual roll call" holds, Biden just has to outlast his party's critics for about two more weeks. "We look forward to nominating Joe Biden through a virtual roll call and celebrating with fanfare together in Chicago in August alongside the 99 percent of delegates who are supporting the Biden-Harris ticket," Jamie Harrison, the chairman of the DNC, told Axios is a statement.
The DNC's current plan is to train state party chairs next week on how to conduct the electronic voting in a secure way. The window for voting is likely to open on July 29 and conclude by Aug. 5, according to people familiar with the matter.
Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security
-
Biden Admin Finally Giving RFK Jr. Secret Service Protection
-
Sen. Menendez found guilty on corruption charges - Raw Story
Prosecutors successfully argued that the senator tried to use his power to advance Egyptian military interests, interfere in criminal prosecutions and secure investment from Qatari officials, among other things. Menendez and his wife allegedly received gold bars, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other bribes in exchange for his influence. The senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, was also charged in the case, but her trial was postponed indefinitely by the judge after her breast cancer diagnosis. She has pleaded not guilty. Menendez’s co-defendants, New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also found guilty on all the counts they faced for their roles in the scheme.
-
Tunnel found in Tijuana is so long authorities need oxygen tanks
External Security / Militaria / Diplomania
World
-
Germany bans "Compact" magazine
Germany's Interior Ministry banned the right-wing extremist Compact magazine, it said on Tuesday. Authorities searched properties related to the magazine in four German states: Brandenburg, Hesse, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The aim of the raid was to confiscate assets and evidence, the ministry said. The ban also applies to Compact's subsidiary Conspect Film, and prohibits any continuation of previous activities.
"It is a central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene. This magazine incites hatred against Jews, people with a history of migration and our parliamentary democracy in an unspeakable manner," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. The ban shows "that we are also taking action against the intellectual arsonists who are stirring up a climate of hatred and violence against refugees and migrants and want to overcome our democratic state," Faeser added. "Our message is very clear: we will not allow ethnicity to define who belongs to Germany and who does not."
-
More South Koreans want Seoul to have its own nuclear weapons
-
Thailand to roll out a $13.8B handout plan in digital money to citizens
China
Health / Medicine
-
Contamination at PepsiCo Quaker Oats plant may stem back to 2020, says FDA
-
People don't realise the social stigma around HIV/AIDS is falling
If 90% of the community said “yes" in the baseline survey when asked if they would buy fresh vegetables from an HIV-positive shopkeeper, but a participant believed that only 7 out of 10 would have said “yes," she overestimated the stigma. Sixty-three percent (63%) of the survey participants overestimate at least one of the stigma measures in their community.
Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda
-
Climate change is altering the Earth's rotation and making day longer
-
Millions of Britons were forced to drink subpar cups of tea last November due to the recordbreaking low pressure caused by Storm Ciarán. The low pressure caused the boiling point of water to drop below the 100C temperature some experts recommend to extract the full flavour from tea leaves.
The study by meteorologists at the University of Reading, published in the journal Weather, reported that the water in Reading was boiling at 98C on the morning of the storm. For water to boil, the atmospheric pressure must match the vapour pressure of the liquid. It is normal for atmospheric pressures to drop during bad weather such as storms.
-
Good" Plants vs. "Bad" Plants: unpacking the invasive species discourse
-
Turbulence ahead – how scientists keep travellers safe in a warming world
-
Toxic Compounds in Everyday Products Are Disrupting Vital Human Proteins