2024-11-28

trademark beige, advocating ignorance, weaponizing bullshit, UK needs more Musk, hardware faults, debanked founders for acceptable AI, Harris was doomed, beat them calm, Ruble rubble, simu-flim-flam

etc

• For Love of God, Make Your Own Website - Aftermath

  “We were already long overdue for a return to websites we control, rather than feeds manipulated by tech oligarchs,” Molly White from Web3 Is Going Great! told me. “Now that they’ve made it clear how eager they are to help usher in authoritarianism, I think it will only become more painfully clear how important sovereign websites are to protecting information and free expression.”

Horseshit

• Scientists study the flight of hummingbirds to design robots for drone warfare

• The workplace has become a surveillance state

• Australian Transport Safety Bureau report – Qantas had tool left in engine

• Boeing Dreamliner makes emergency landing at Sydney Airport

• AI Dash Cams Give Wake-Up Calls to Drowsy Drivers

• How the 1980s Engineered the Collapse of the Working Class

• Transplant Charity Used Organ-Transport Jet for Personal Trips

• US Thanksgiving Should Be in October

• The 'sweepstakes' games that look a lot like online gambling

• The influencer lawsuit that could change the industry - The Verge

  One Amazon influencer makes a living posting content from her beige home. But after she noticed another account hawking the same minimal aesthetic, a rivalry spiraled into a first-of-its-kind lawsuit. Can the legal system protect the vibe of a creator? And what if that vibe is basic?

• Rubenerd: We can’t be informed about everything

  The modern world is designed to be infinitely complex, yet the people who inhabit it are increasingly unforgiving of any misunderstanding. Any problem that arises was clearly the result of you being a failure, or not taking the time to research something in obsessive detail. It’s as though people deserve any and all negative outcomes. But that’s an impossible bar to clear for everything you interact with, directly or otherwise. That’s why we have professionals, and why they’re so important, and why we need to be able to trust them.

• Landlords Evicted Maui Residents and Housed Wildfire Survivors for More Money

• What Gladiator II Gets Right and Wrong About Real Fights in the Colosseum

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• How the far right is weaponising AI-generated content in Europe

  From fake images designed to cause fears of an immigrant “invasion” to other demonisation campaigns targeted at leaders such as Emmanuel Macron, far-right parties and activists across western Europe are at the forefront of the political weaponisation of generative artificial intelligence technology. In virtually every case, far-right parties and movements have eschewed the use of any sort of watermarking or identifier on the AI images, according to experts. “What we are seeing is the tip of the iceberg because what is coming from individuals and beyond the official channels is even worse,” said Salvatore Romano, the head of research at the nonprofit AI Forensics, which examined the output of parties including France’s National Rally, Reconquête and Les Patriotes.

• Online influencers need 'urgent' fact-checking training, warns Unesco

Bluesky

• Bluesky COO: 'People are tired of the algorithm deciding everything'

• Bluesky Is Booming in Japan

• Bluesky boom worries Chinese media

• Why BlueSky is better than Twitter | Victor Ponamariov

• The Rise of Bluesky

Musk

• Elon Musk's Twitter backers gain windfall from xAI deal

• Inside Elon Musk's Quest to Beat OpenAI at Its Own Game

• Musk admits X throttles links as 'news influencers' take over

• Tesla Is Looking to Hire a Team to Remotely Control Its 'Self-Driving' Robotaxis

• Musk Says He Wants to Save the Planet. Tesla's Factories Are Making It Dirtier

• Starlink gets FCC nod for space calls, but can't dial up full power

• X trying to block transfer of platform's InfoWars accounts to The Onion

• Musk is the right man in the wrong continent

  If the next intellectual trend is Musk’s rethinking of government itself, one European nation in particular would notice. In the main, the British elite’s cringing obsession with America is a bad thing. On the left, it led to the importation of critical race theory and other fads. (If only there were tariffs on ideas.) On the right, there was the delusion that America was going to do the post-Brexit UK a favour on trade out of some ancestral attachment. But one advantage of this unreciprocated infatuation is that, if Musk does change Washington, the British political class will sit up, as it wouldn’t if the same achievement took place in Paris or Canberra. He might give them what is known in the jargon of the day as the “permission structure” to reform.

• 3 killed, 1 seriously injured in Tesla Cybertruck crash in Northern California

Electric / Self Driving cars

• Hesai to halve Lidar prices next year, sees wide adoption in electric cars

• Chinese EVs are coming to the U.S., tariffs or no tariffs

• Ford UK calls for incentives to buy electric cars as backlash grows

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• The Fraudulent Science of Success - The Atlantic

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Why the US wants to force Google to sell Chrome

  • Mozilla begs courts to allow Google search deal for Firefox to continue

• Google is inserting search links into webpages / Website owners have to opt out

• D-Link won't fix critical flaw affecting 60k older NAS devices

• LinkedIn says it's too boring for kids to face a social media ban in Australia

• FTC urges smart device makers to disclose software update lifecycles

• TikTok to block teenagers from beauty filters over mental health concerns

• Daring Fireball: The End of the Line for Delicious Library

• Fans preserve and emulate Sega's rare '80s "AI computer"

• Why Rust and Its Memory Safety Lulls Developers into a False Sense of Security

• (2023) Memoirs from the old web: IE's crazy content rating system

  this scheme wasn't some IE proprietary extension. It was actually the product of a W3C standards effort

• Zoom Rebrands as an AI Company

• The Atari 7800 is a no-frills glimpse into a forgotten gaming era

  Even for those with fond memories of Atari 7800-filled childhoods, I'm not sure that this bare-bones package justifies its $130 price. There are many more full-featured ways to get your retro gaming fix, even for those still invested in the tail end of Atari's dead-end branch of the gaming console's evolutionary tree.

• GM eliminated Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – this upgrade adds them back

• The US copyright office has struck down a major effort for game preservation

• Microsoft Faces Broad Antitrust Investigation from US FTC

  • FTC launches broad investigation into Microsoft

• Smart gadgets' failure to commit to software support could be illegal, FTC warns

• Hackers abuse popular Godot game engine to infect PCs

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• AMD granted a glass substrate patent to revolutionize chip packaging

• Raspberry Pi CM5 is a faster, drop-in upgrade

  • Compute Module 5 on sale now from $45

• Python dependency management is a dumpster fire

• Redis Inc seeks control over Rust Redis-rs library, talk of trademark concerns

• The capacitor that Apple soldered incorrectly at the factory (HN comments)

  • from the comments on that one: (2010) Notice of Request to stop using Overseas Models of Sony CRT Color TVs manufactured before the end of 1990

  In Sony CRT color TVs manufactured before the end of 1990, a particular internal component has been found in some cases to suffer age deterioration following very long term usage and thus overheat. This overheating may, in rare cases, cause the component to catch fire and result in a burn to TV set, and at times damage to surrounding property. In light of the above, we would like to ask you to stop using Sony CRT color TVs manufactured before the end of 1990.

• Malware can turn off webcam LED and record video, demonstrated on ThinkPad X230 (HN comments)

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Teuken-7B-Base and Teuken-7B-Instruct: Towards European LLMs

• OpenAI hits pause on video model Sora after artists leak access in protest

  • Artists Stick It to 'AI Overlords' and Leak OpenAI's Sora Video Generator

• OpenAI gets $1.5B investment from SoftBank in tender offer

  • OpenAI allows employees to sell $1.5 billion stock to SoftBank, sources say | Reuters

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• NASA awards SpaceX a contract for one of the few things it hasn't done yet

• NASA says SpaceX will launch its Dragonfly mission to Saturn.

Crypto con games

• Appeals court reverses sanctions against Tornado Cash

  • Big victory in Tornado Cash case as judge says OFAC exceeded authority

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Software Is In, Chips Are Out

• Beware the rise of 'ghost jobs' – fake job openings with no intent to hire

• Qualcomm reportedly loses interest in Intel takeover

• Are Overemployed 'Ghost Engineers' Making Six Figures to Do Nothing?

• Recession Since 2022: US Economic Income and Output Have Fallen Overall

• Most American farmers have second jobs to stay afloat

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Mark Andreessen Explains Alarming Meeting About Federal Control of AI, Debanking

  30 tech founders were secretly debanked. No warning. No explanation. No appeals. Pure, silent government power.

  • Marc Andreessen on Biden administration targetting tech founders

• Oversight Committee Hearing Will Review Census Miscounts That Benefited Democrats.

Trump

• Trump picks Covid lockdown critic to lead top health agency

  • Jay Bhattacharya at the NIH

  I would expect it is a priority of his to switch more NIH funding into riskier bets, and that is all to the good. More broadly, his appointment can be seen as a slap in the face of the Fauci smug, satisfied, “do what I tell you” approach. That will delight many, myself included, but still the question remains of how to turn that into concrete advances in public health policy. Putting aside the possibility of another major pandemic coming around, that is not so easy to do. My main worry is simply that NIH staff will not trust their new director.

• Musk publicized the names of government employees he wants to cut

Democrats / Biden Inc

• Kamala Harris Campaign Aides Suggest Campaign Was Just Doomed

  Harris couldn’t have distanced herself from President Joe Biden, they said, because she was loyal. She couldn’t have responded more forcefully to attacks over trans rights, because doing so would have been playing Trump’s game. And she might not have had much chance of winning anyway, given the deficit she inherited from Biden when he dropped out of the race in July.

• Harris 2028! | National Review

Left Angst

• The Plot Against Birthright Citizenship – Mother Jones

  In his next term, Trump will aim to dispute more than a century of legal precedent and deal a blow to a bedrock constitutional understanding of what it means to be an American citizen. He cannot change everything with the stroke of a pen. But Trump can—and says he will—begin the long task of dismantling birthright citizenship. There is a playbook, decades in the making.

• State Department-Funded ‘Cry Sessions’ After Trump’s Election Get Congressional Scrutiny.

• Some Black Women Are Choosing Rest Over Politics - The New York Times

  Black women voters supported Ms. Harris in overwhelming numbers — upward of 90 percent cast ballots for her, according to some exit polls. And her loss, as the first Black woman presidential nominee, left supporters such as Ms. Hall feeling disillusioned. On social media, under hashtags like #blackwomenrest and #restera, some women have emphasized that after turning out strong for Ms. Harris, they feel unappreciated and defeated, and are ready to bow out of the political and culture wars, for now, to focus on their personal well-being. “Our feelings are hurt,” said Vernique Esther Ofili, 31, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist in Atlanta. “We get to decide how we respond.”

• Trump's Win Has Sparked Another 'Primal Scream' Meltdown

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• MTA's A.I. bus cameras issue mistaken parking violations

• Tech Worker Sentenced for Conspiring to Act as Agent of Chinese Government

• Straight-talking defense witness for Daniel Penny planted real, reasonable doubt about chokehold death

• His wives kept dying mysteriously. His secret poison: Insulin

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• T-Mobile Engineers Spotted Hackers Running Commands on Routers

• Sally Paine outlines how America should deal with the “quartet of chaos”

  The second cold war began with Xi Jinping’s accession to power, Vladimir Putin’s disposal of term limits in 2012 and Russia’s ingestion of 7% of Ukraine in 2014. Both leaders have signalled that international norms no longer matter and they have deepened their relations with Iran and North Korea, portending a hostile alliance variously known as CRINK, the axis of upheaval or the quartet of chaos. In 2025, how should America respond to it? Each of the four seeks international successes to vindicate different power paradigms. Mr Putin wants to conquer Ukraine to prove Russia’s greatness. Mr Xi aims to maintain the Communist Party’s power monopoly by rallying nationalism to take Taiwan. In North Korea, Kim Jong Un is building a nuclear arsenal to retain his throne. Ali Khamenei wants to vindicate his brand of Islam by extending Iran’s regional domination.

• China releases three US citizens held for years in prisoner swap

World

• If War Comes to the UK

• UK arrests 3,300 for online statements

• CCTV shows pupils abused and locked in padded room

  The footage from Whitefield School in north-east London resembles "torture", one safeguarding expert told us. It shows for the first time the reality of what pupils faced. A police investigation into the abuse footage, taken inside the special school's "calming rooms" between 2014 and 2017, ended earlier this year without any charges. However, parents say they have been left to deal with the trauma. The school says new leadership found the footage after the rooms had been shut and shared it with the police.

• London's 850-year-old food markets to close

• The Anonymous Woman Journalist Reporting Inside Taliban-Run Afghanistan

• TikTok CEO summoned to European Parliament over role in shock Romania election

• Why India's latest Sun mission finding is crucial for the world

• Egypt Feuds with Travel Blogger, Issuing 1,100-Word Response to Complaints

• Shanghai's ambition to be the 'future of finance' fell apart

Israel

• Israeli media: Ceasefire with Hezbollah close, Israel to hold Cabinet meeting

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• US Sanctions Hit Ruble as Russia's FX Sources Are Drying Up

  • Russian Central Bank Halts Currency Buying Until 2025 as Ruble Slides

  • Russia's rouble plunges to lowest rate since early weeks of Ukraine war

  • Ruble tumbles as Russia's war economy comes under increasing strain

• Russia-linked hackers exploited Firefox and Windows bugs in hacking campaign

• US urges Ukraine to lower fighting age to 18 to bolster ranks, official says

China

• Chinese Carmakers Are Trouncing Once-Unbeatable Japanese Rivals

• Leaked BYD Letter Signals China EV Price War Is Set to Intensify

• China Is Bombarding Tech Talent with Job Offers. the West Is Freaking Out

• Chinese Ship Suspected of Deliberately Dragging Anchor to Cut Baltic Cables

• China's emissions peak in sight as solar and electric cars boom

Health / Medicine

• Study Shows Marijuana Use Linked to Lower Obesity Rates

• Probable extinction of influenza B/Yamagata and its public health implications

• The Cassava Saga Finally Ends | Science | AAAS

  The company has noted that the drug was safe, but damn it, so is lemonade and we're not trying to cure Alzheimer's patients with that while burning hundreds of millions of dollars of investor money. The entire simufilam story has been a complete waste of time, money, effort, and the hopes of desperate patients, and what's worse is that along the way there were so many big, bright, flashing warning signs that that's exactly what was going on.

• 'The science of fluoride is starting to evolve': behind its risks and benefits

• Increasing testosterone levels does not increase sex drive

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Global treaty on plastic pollution reaches homestretch

• SpaceX rocket explosion shredded the upper atmosphere

• Madagascar's ocean algae bloom was caused by dust from southern Africa

• Uncontacted hunter-gatherers facing threat of genocide because of mineral mining

• Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

• Satellite space junk might wreak havoc on the stratosphere

• 50 years of "the world is doomed" will do that: People all over trust climate researchers less than scientists in general

• Drought is causing saltwater to creep up the Delaware River

• Fossil fuel CO2 emissions increase again in 2024

• Mysterious heat waves are popping up worldwide without explanation

• Research Provides Complex Answers to the Effects of Aircraft Contrails

• how dare they attempt counter-propaganda Inside the Plastic Industry’s Battle to Win Over Hearts and Minds - The New York Times

  A trove of documents leaked from an influential industry group shows how some of the world’s largest petrochemical and plastics companies have been waging a campaign to push back against a “tide of anti-plastic sentiment” — especially among young people concerned about the environment. The industry group, the National Association for PET Container Resources, or NAPCOR, worked to deliberately obscure its connection to the campaign and make its content “authentic and from the creators’ viewpoints,” the documents show.

• Exxon hacked environmental activist emails