2025-05-07
etc
Horseshit
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Hugo Administrators Resign in Wake of ChatGPT Controversy
In a post on Bluesky co-signed by Hugo administrator Nicholas Whyte, deputy Hugo administrator Esther MacCallum-Stewart, and World Science Fiction Society division head Cassidy, the trio announced they were resigning from their roles ahead of the Seattle event, which takes place in August. “We want to reaffirm that no LLMs or generative AI have been used in the Hugo Awards process at any stage,” the statement read in part, which might turn the heads of anyone who is a) interested in the Hugos, but b) not up on the latest controversy.
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Gravity further supports theory we are living in a simulated universe
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Lego built full-size F1 cars for the Miami GP drivers' parade
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We figured out where gold comes from. The answer is explosive
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What the New York subway tells us about the future of the internet
- Nah, the necro-rapists were among the first on the Internet.
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Tennis adopted electronic line calling on clay and created a ball-mark monster
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What Does It Mean To Delete A Diesel Truck?
In the diesel world, when you hear someone say their truck is "deleted," they're not talking about high-tech stealth technology or scratching off serial numbers; they're talking about deleting the emissions control systems that modern diesel engines come with. This usually includes removing the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system, and the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system that uses DEF (diesel exhaust fluid). With those systems gone, a truck can feel like a different beast altogether: more reliable, more powerful, and often loud as hell.
- One of my neighbors has a 1980s diesel VW Rabbit with a big tall exhaust stack coming out of the hood and "rollin coal" spray painted on the sides.
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Kentucky boy uses mother's phone to order 70K Dum-Dum suckers
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AI-Enhanced Social Engineering Will Reshape the Cyber Threat Landscape
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Even experts disagree over whether social media is bad for kids–we examined why
celebrity gossip
Musk
Electric / Self Driving cars
Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation
Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
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Signal Clone Used by Waltz Suspends Service After 'Security Incident'
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Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell appears online with a price tag of over $11,000
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Backdoor found in popular ecommerce components
We established that Tigren, Magesolution (MGS) and Meetanshi servers have been breached and that attackers were able to inject backdoors on their download servers. This hack is called a Supply Chain Attack, which is one of the worst types. By hacking these vendors, the attacker gained access to all of their customers' stores. And by proxy, to all of the customers that visit these stores.
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AI crawler wars threaten to make the web more closed for everyone
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Epic will use an EU account to bring Fortnite back to the US App Store
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Fortnite Creator Burned $100M on Lawyers, $1B in Revenue Fighting Apple
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Why Google is losing its iron grip on search, and what I use now instead
TechSuck / Geek Bait
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The Curse of Knowing How, or; Fixing Everything
Before I could program, broken software was frustrating but ignorable. For years I’ve simply “used” a computer, as a consumer. I was what companies were concerned with tricking into buying their products, or subscribing to their services. Not the technical geek that they prefer to avoid with their software releases, or banning from their games based on an OS. Now it has become provocative. I can see the patterns that I wish I couldn’t, find oversights that I can attribute to a certain understanding (or the lack thereof) of a certain concept and I can hear what has been echoing in the head of the computer illiterate person who conjured the program I have to debug.
I notice flaws like a good surgeon notices a limp. Why the hell does this site send ten megabytes of JavaScript for a static page? Why is the CLI output not parseable by
awk? Why is this config hardcoded when it could be declarative? -
4x faster network file sync with rclone (vs rsync) | Jeff Geerling
also ran comparisons just changing out a couple files, and
rcloneandrsyncwere almost identical, as the full scan of the directory tree for metadata changes takes about the same time on both (about 18 seconds). It's just the parallel file transfers that helprclonepull ahead.
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
Crypto con games
Economicon / Business / Finance
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Bay Area biotech company Unity lays off every single worker, including CEO
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Toronto's unsold condo rate has reached 'an incredible level': expert
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Oil settles down more than $1 a barrel as OPEC+ accelerates output hikes.
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Downtown San Francisco retail is dying. What's replacing it is so much worse
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
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FTC Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees to Take Effect on May 12, 2025
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Public Meetings Privilege Housing Opponents — Here’s How to Fix It - The Urbanist
this confluence of factors means most public participation processes only give the appearance of democratizing decisions, allowing community participation, and being open to all. On the contrary, they reinforce already-existing structural discrimination. In addition, connections exist between public participation processes and local elections in terms of who participates. Particularly for off-cycle elections (which local elections usually are), the type of people who take part tend to be from the same demographic of public meeting participants: older, Whiter, richer, homeowners. “Essentially, there is a feedback loop between … who participates in public meetings, the public processes, the legislating, and who participates in elections,” said Budd.
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The Fourth Circuit's Geofencing Case Ends Not with a Bang but a Whimper
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“Keep the Government Out”: NPR’s Katherine Maher Continues to Make the Case for Defunding NPR
NPR’s bias and contempt for the public over the years are well-documented. But this should not be the reason for cutting off such funding. Instead, the cutoff should be based on the principle that democracies do not selectively subsidize media outlets. We have long rejected the model of state media, and it is time we reaffirmed that principle. (I also believe there is ample reason to terminate funding for Voice of America, although that is a different conversation.) Many defenders of NPR would be apoplectic if the government were to fund such competitors as Fox News. The CBS interview should be the final capstone on this debate. It is time to heed Katherine Maher. It is time to keep “government out” of the media. It is time to end the funding of NPR.
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U.S. travelers without Real ID will still be able to fly after midnight deadline
Trump
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Judge Boasberg Keeps Getting Assigned Trump Cases. Lawmakers Want to Know Why.
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Executive Order protecting Americans from dangerous gain-of-function research
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(PDF) Withdrawal of Determination of Miscellaneous Gas Products as Covered Products
DOE is withdrawing its prior determination that miscellaneous gas products (“MGPs”), which include decorative hearths and outdoor heaters, qualify as covered products under Part A of Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (“EPCA”).
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Hegseth orders Pentagon to cut number of senior generals by 20%.
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Trump Says California's High-Speed Train to Lose Federal Funding
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Supreme Court rules to allow, for now, Trump ban on trans military members | Fox News
The high court ruling is a near-term victory for the White House, even as it did not address the underlying merits of the case or President Donald Trump's Jan. 27 executive order banning transgender service members from the U.S. military. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the administration's appeal and kept the lower court injunction in place.
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Trump admin announces plans to shut down the Energy Star program
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Tulsi Gabbard Reused the Same Weak Password on Multiple Accounts for Years
Left Angst
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Park Service suspends air-quality monitoring at all national parks
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Trump blocks grant funding for Harvard until it meets president's demands
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America's Slide into Authoritarianism, as seen from Ted 2025
Carole Cadwalladr, a journalist who has reported on tech overreach and the rise of data-driven authoritarianism, delivered a powerful talk in which she correctly stated what many are afraid to admit: It’s a coup. The purchase of an American president (and American sovereignty) by Elon Musk is unprecedented, and it appears to be advancing unabated.
In the course of just a few days, Americans have cataloged a laundry list of signs that the country has reached a tipping point into authoritarianism: SignalGate; “Liberation Day” tariffs; reversal of (some) tariffs (maybe); deportations to El Salvador; defiance of the Supreme Court; asserting that “home growns” (aka citizens) are next; taking control of Columbia University by placing it into receivership; bullying law firms to provide pro-bono services supportive of the regime; indiscriminate revocation of student visas; calling for the revocation of the broadcast license for CBS over dislike of 60 Minutes content; attempts to criminalize media figures like Norm Eisen; investigation of former Trump administration officials Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs on grounds of treason; forcing Americans to use X to interact with the Social Security administration; widespread DOGE cuts of programs and agencies without Congressional approval; decline of the dollar under pressure from tariffs and market chaos. The list goes on and on.
Many also shared their intention to establish residency outside the United States. While the stereotype of liberals fleeing conservative regimes goes back decades, concerns now transcend mere political displeasure. Some involved in media, non-profits, relief work, science, and other efforts requiring international coordination are now wondering if they will be able to remain in the United States without interference. Large, established non-profit organizations now face the prospect of having their tax status revoked, which can be executed as an administrative action within the Internal Revenue Service with no due process. The United States has transformed into a fully authoritarian kleptocracy.
as a Palestinian journalist involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy, I have experienced repeated harassment at the hands of the German authorities. My husband, a German citizen, and I, an American citizen, have grown accustomed to being held for hours at a time, subjected to invasive interrogations about our travels, and having our belongings thoroughly searched without clear justification. But we were shocked to find out that these tactics, designed to intimidate and deter, have now been taken up by the United States to target Palestinians amid the ongoing genocide.
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The EU Zombie Uses Trump as Cover to Further Feed on Citizens | naked capitalism
Donald Trump is the gift that keeps on giving for the western misleadership class. Any anti-democratic swindle on the EU wish list is now being sold as a remedy to the Orange Man. (And if it’s not Trump, it’s Russia). The US is no longer a reliable defense partner, they say. We must give more power to Brussels and send untold billions to weapons companies. The US is no longer a reliable economic partner, they say. We must increase competitiveness by weakening labor and empowering finance. The UK voters may have opted for Brexit, but London and Brussels are “defying Trump” with a “free and open trade” declaration that includes negotiations ‘on defense and security, fishing and energy, as well as a “common understanding” of which topics will be covered by intensive Brexit reset negotiations this year.’ The strange thing about these plans, however, is that they include reliance on US weapons and energy and alignment with US geopolitical and geoeconomic goals.
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Trump Decimates NOAA Lab Protecting Great Lakes from Toxic Algae Blooms
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Data centers say Trump's crackdown on renewables bad for business, AI
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Cybersecurity's on the front line in the culture wars • The Register
In one example among many, the FCC, America's communications and broadcast regulator, has said it will not approve mergers or acquisitions of any companies supporting "invidious" woke agendas. The overt politicization of a communications regulator is an ill-fitting shoe in a democracy. The UK's populist Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, tried the same thing in 2021 with Brit comms regulator Ofcom by pushing ex-Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre as its head, but this was successfully defended against by institutional revulsion. The tech sector is a lot less regulated than the broadcasters, but that's not much protection against an administration determined to unroll as much of post-war liberal culture as it can, as quickly as it can, and with no thought of cost or consequences. Where global companies like Microsoft are going to see both cost and consequence is in the stark truth that what passes for the "invidious woke agenda" in Trump's administration is just basic civil rights in Europe. Will Trump overlook that, or will it become a casus belli against tech? Nobody knows, and it looks as if Europe isn't prepared to paper over that crack while there's every chance it could become a chasm.
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Breakfast Is Breaking - The Atlantic
breakfast diehards like me have noticed a troubling change. At my neighborhood diner, a breakfast plate that cost $11.50 in 2020 now costs $14—and it isn’t just because of inflation. Although all kinds of food have gotten more expensive in recent years, traditional breakfast has had a particularly rough go of it. The cost of eggs has soared; supply shortages have driven coffee and orange-juice prices to historic highs. And that’s not even taking President Donald Trump’s tariffs into account. “Milk, sausage, certainly not coffee—these things are not going to get cheaper,” Jason Miller, a supply-chain-management professor at Michigan State University who researches the impact of tariffs, told me. The stream of staples that have made American breakfast so cheap for so long is now starting to sputter.
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Von der Leyen, Macron knock Trump's war on unis as gigantic miscalculation
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Trump's Trade War with China: One Ship, $417M in New Tariffs
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CISA slammed for role in censorship industrial complex faces possible $500M cut
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Doge Aide Involved in Dismantling Consumer Bureau Owns Stock That Could Benefit
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Palantir backs federal austerity push, saying it's 'the right thing' for US
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Chinese goods with 145% tariffs arriving in LA. Expect shortages and price hikes
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Mattel CEO says toy manufacturing won’t come to America, but price hikes will.
“We need to remember that a significant part of toy creation happens in America,” he said. “Design, development, product engineering, brand management all happens in America. Making product, producing product in other countries, allows us to create quality products at affordable price points.”
External Security / Militaria / Diplomania
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US Defense Secretary Hegseth to slash senior-most ranks of military
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US Border Agents Asking for Help Taking Photos of Everyone Entering by Car
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U.S. Orders Intelligence Agencies to Step Up Spying on Greenland
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Houthis Confirm Ceasefire As Trump Essentially Declares 'Mission Accomplished' | ZeroHedge
The Houthis have confirmed there will be a ceasefire in the Red Sea with the United States. The deal was mediated by Oman, and this looks like a 'mission accomplished' moment for Trump where he's ready to grasp onto a way out of the quagmire the US found itself in. Wisely, he is getting the US out, and Israel appears to be stepping up in terms of its own defense. Mideast war correspondent Elijah Magnier observes, "The US intelligently stopped the bombing on Yemen due to the lack of objectives, the empty outcome and the high cost versus no gain." Others have noted this is essentially a declare 'mission accomplish' and cut and run moment, amid no better alternatives.
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USS Truman loses second plane in a week
Another F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier has been lost in the Red Sea, the second jet lost from the carrier in just over a week, four people familiar with the matter told CNN. It is not entirely clear what happened yet, as the investigation is ongoing, but two of the people said there was some kind of arrestment failure as the jet was trying to land on the carrier and the pilot and weapons systems officer had to eject. They were recovered by a rescue helicopter and are both alive, but they suffered minor injuries, one of the people said. The jet crashed into the sea and has not been recovered, two of the people familiar with the incident said. Separately, the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group “took a shot” at the Truman on Tuesday, the four sources said, despite President Donald Trump announcing an apparent ceasefire with the group hours earlier. It is not clear whether the two incidents are related.
World
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Canada should move towards integration with Europe instead of the U.S.
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Ghana bans foreigners from trading in its gold market to boost revenue
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What caused the Spain and Portugal blackouts? Experts say incident is a warning
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Europe's last maker of antibiotics ingredients shuts biggest domestic factory
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Spain to reduce the standard 40H work week to 37.5H for 12.5M employees
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India strikes nine sites in Pakistan weeks after Kashmir militant attack
A statement from the Indian armed forces reads:
A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted.
It said its actions have been “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature” and that no Pakistani military facilities were targeted, adding: "India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution."
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India launches attack on 9 sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Jammu and Kashmir
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India Attacks Pakistan-Administered Kashmir After Pahalgam Terror Attack | ZeroHedge
India identified that it hit the terrorist infrastructure of Islamist groups in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir which killed 26 in the scenic Pahalgam area. The victims had been singled out by the gunmen, which the Indian government has suggested were sponsored by Pakistan, for being Hindu in a sectarian mass killing.
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Israel
China
Health / Medicine
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Scientists Confirm "Crazy" Vitamin B1 Theory from 1958
The molecule involved is a carbene, a form of carbon atom with only six valence electrons instead of the usual eight. This electron deficiency makes carbenes extremely unstable and reactive, especially in water, where they typically break down almost immediately. However, for decades, scientists have suspected that vitamin B1, or thiamine, might form a carbene-like intermediate during essential reactions in the body.
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Telemarketers Are Using a Weird Trick to Sell Bare-Bones Health Plans
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New salmonella outbreak is linked to backyard poultry, CDC says.
Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda
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Giant Sequoias Are Taking Root in an Unexpected Place: Detroit
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Sir David Attenborough Ocean film 'greatest message he's told'
He believes his new, cinema-length film Ocean could play a decisive role in saving biodiversity and protecting the planet from climate change. Sir David, who will be 99 on Thursday, says: "After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea."
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GM mosquitoes: inside the lab breeding six-legged agents in the war on malaria
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Antarctica gains ice for first time in decades, reversing trend of mass loss
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Megaquake could trigger land drop, spike flood risk along West Coast, study says.