The Micro Blog

Slashdot: Prime Video Will Let You Summon AI To Recap What You’re Watching

Amazon’s Prime Video has introduced “X-Ray Recaps,” a generative AI feature that will recap what you’re watching. The new tool can create text summaries of “full seasons of TV shows, single episodes, and even pieces of episodes,” the company says in a blog post. The Verge reports: …

Defector: The Argonaut Octopus Has Mastered The Free Ride

Although most octopuses live near the ocean floor and its ample hiding places, argonauts spend their entire lives sailing in the open ocean, just below the surface. This lifestyle has rendered the small cephalopods rather elusive to the scientists who wish to study them. “Most observations on argonauts are opportunistic,” Roger Villanueva, a marine biologist at Spain’s Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC), wrote in an email.

via Kottke

MacRumors: GM Again Attempts to Explain Its Decision to Drop CarPlay in New EVs

American automaker General Motors (GM) last year announced it would be phasing out support for CarPlay and Android Auto in its new electric vehicles, in favor of its own software platform called Ultifi. The decision has been very controversial, as many drivers consider CarPlay to be a must-have feature in a new vehicle. In 2022, for example, Apple said 79% of U.S. buyers would only consider a vehicle that works with CarPlay.

To make matters worse, GM’s rollout of Ultifi went rather poorly, with some early reviewers of the Chevrolet Blazer EV last year experiencing technical issues with the platform. Some of those problems have since been resolved, but it is clear that the automaker might not be as effective at developing software as a tech company like Apple.

Do 79% of US car buyers own an iPhone? I doubt it…

UPI: Diver off the coast of Barbados finds ring lost in 1977

Alex Davis said he was diving with his metal detector near Miami Beach in Barbados in mid-October when he found a ring buried underwater.

The McMaster University ring bore the year 1965 and the initials “FMP,” so Davis contacted the Hamilton school for help finding its owner.

Karen McQuigge, McMaster’s director of alumni engagement, searched through the database with her team and identified the ring’s likely owner as Morgan Perigo, who had graduated with a math degree in 1965.

UPI: Amazon starts air drone deliveries in the West Valley of Phoenix

The air drone delivery service is available to consumers who are located near Amazon Prime’s same-day site Tolleson, Ariz., and who order eligible items weighing no more than 5 pounds.

An Amazon air drone will deliver the items using MK30 drones that deploy for facilities located next to Amazon’s same-day delivery site in Tolleson.

The smaller sites combine order-fulfillment and delivery services for Amazon customers to make it faster for Amazon to deliver potentially millions of eligible items by air drone.

Amazon started its air-drone delivery service in 2022 and last year added pharmacy delivers at its air-delivery facility in College Station, Texas.

I wonder if the post office is showing any interest in this?

CleanTechnica: HomeBoost Turns Your Smartphone Into A Home Energy Audit Device

Consumer research by HomeBoost found that many people viewed home energy auditors like they view car mechanics — professionals trying to upsell them. To counter that impression, the HomeBoost team wanted to create a cheaper, easier way to evaluate a home. The BoostBox’s thermal camera attachment snaps onto a smartphone. Users download an app which guides them through a 30 minute step by step process that takes photos and scans their house. The process includes taking pictures of appliances, water heaters, and thermostats so the app can gauge how much of a difference it would make to swap them out for more environmentally friendly devices.

The Marginalian: The Pleasure of Being Left Alone

But despite her surface sociality, Macaulay embodied the true test of an introvert — not whether one engages in social activity, but whether one is charged or drained by it.

Last Updated: 05.Nov.2024 19:50 EST

Monday’s articles

Follow along as new links are added to today’s list

RadioLab (podcast): The Unpopular Vote

As the US Presidential election nears, Radiolab covers the closest we ever came to abolishing the Electoral College.

In the 1960s, then-President Lyndon Johnson approached an ambitious young senator known as the Kennedy of the Midwest to tweak the way Americans elect their president. The more Senator Birch Bayh looked into the electoral college, the more he believed it was a ticking time bomb hidden in the Constitution that someone needed to defuse. With overwhelming support in Congress, the endorsement of multiple presidents, and polling showing that over 80 percentof the American public supported abolishing it, it looked like he might just pull it off. So why do we still have the electoral college? And will we actually ever get rid of it?

via Patrick Rhone

Will Prowse (YouTube): $192 Siekon Mini 12V! But are Mini LiFePO4 Worth the Extra $$$? Hmm…

Battery technology continues to advance.

Wired: What Are Hall Effect Sensors and How Do They Work?

More and more keyboards and video game controllers employ Hall effect sensors, but what exactly is this technology? We break it down.

All you need to know!

iPhone in Canada: Bell Hits Customers with $5 Price Hike on Popular Plans

Bell has increased the price of select 5G plans on November 1, 2024.

According to changes on its website today, entry 5G plans have increased in price by $5 per month. This comes ahead of Black Friday, where most carriers bring on cellphone deals.

Bell’s wireless pricing as of today, can be seen below. It’s never been more confusing to navigate Bell’s plans and prices on its website (after a $10/month autopay credit): …

iPhone in Canada: Apple Confirms iPhone 14 Plus Camera Flaw: Check if You Qualify

Apple is offering free repairs for a small number of iPhone 14 Plus devices that may have a faulty rear camera, and it applies to Canadians as well.

Some users have reported that the camera preview doesn’t work on these devices, which were made between April 10, 2023, and April 28, 2024.

If you have an iPhone 14 Plus with this problem, you can use Apple’s serial number checker to see if your device qualifies for the repair program. Only the iPhone 14 Plus is covered, not other iPhone models.

MacRumors: Find My Gains Option to Share Lost Item Location With an ‘Airline or Trusted Person’ in iOS 18.2

Apple in iOS 18.2 beta 2 added a new feature to the Find My app, which is designed to allow you to share a lost item’s location with a trusted person. Apple says that the feature is meant to help you locate an item through a third-party, like an airline employee.

NYT: The Powerful Density of Hypertextual Writing

The NY Times has had a difficult time covering the 2024 election in a clear, responsible manner. But I wanted to highlight this short opinion piecefrom the paper’s editorial board, which I’m reproducing here in its entirety:

You already know Donald Trump. He is unfit to lead. Watch him. Listen to those who know him best. He tried to subvert an election and remains a threat to democracy. He helped overturn Roe, with terrible consequences. Mr. Trump’s corruption and lawlessness go beyond elections: It’s his whole ethos. He lieswithout limit. If he’s re-elected, the G.O.P. won’t restrain him. Mr. Trump will use the government to go after opponents. He will pursue a cruel policy of mass deportations. He will wreak havoc on the poor, the middle class and employers. Another Trump term will damage the climate, shatter alliances and strengthen autocrats. Americans should demand better. Vote.

NYT: A Record Number of States Are Experiencing Drought

Almost the entire United States faced drought conditions during the last week of October.

Only Alaska and Kentucky did not have at least moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor system.

NYT: Murray McCory, 80, Dies; JanSport Founder Created the School Backpack

He brought lightweight packs to millions of students and transformed the way they carried their textbooks to school.

CleanTechnica: Con Ed And First Student Bring Solar Microgrid To New York

Recently, Con Ed and First Student started a trial program that will use solar panels to supply some of the electricity needed for those electric school buses. Assuming each bus has at least a 100 kWh battery, that translates to 1 GW of storage for the fleet. That’s a lot of storage capacity that can be used to support a dedicated microgrid for those electric school buses. The economic advantages are self-evident. Con Ed would not have to build new generating capacity and transmission infrastructure to support the bus fleet, and the buses could provide grid stabilization services to Con Ed. The result? Everybody wins, especially the students who do not have to breathe in a miasma of diesel fumes every day as they travel back and forth to school.

LA Times: Trump campaign gets equal time from NBC after Harris' ‘SNL’ appearance

According to people familiar with the discussions, campaign officials for Trump contacted the network and asked for time. The request was honored and Trump was given two free 60-second messages that appeared near the end of its telecast of a NASCAR playoff race and during post-game coverage of a “Sunday Night Football” contest in which the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Indianapolis Colts 21-13.

Last Updated: 04.Nov.2024 22:22 EST

Sunday’s articles

Follow along as new links are added to today’s list

Writing Exchange (Cheri Baker): Hate responders

So there’s a hate preacher harassing people nearby with a megaphone. Someone made a Reddit post asking for help, and before long a guy dressed like Jesus showed up holding a sign that reads “I don’t know him.”

Someone else arrived and started blowing a loud whistle every time he tries to spout his garbage. This asshat is being drummed off the streets by what is essentially a Monty Python theater troupe.

Nov 02, 2024 at 08:50 PM

Daily Beast: Bill Maher Reluctantly Makes His Last Minute Case for Kamala Harris

But ultimately, Maher begged undecided voters to go for the Democrats next week to avoid “the rule of a mad king.”

“Do I love everything about Kamala? No, who told you you get to love everything? Do I wish she came up with a better reason to be president than ‘I’m not Trump’? Yeah, it would have been very helpful. But let’s not forget: I’m not Trump is still a really great reason,” he said at the end of his monologue.

SMH: Renewable energy is roaring back, crushing coal to historic lows

Stronger winds and heavier rainfall have boosted renewables and pummelled coal to its lowest share of the east-coast grid on record for the past two months.

Globe: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith receives 91% support in UCP leadership vote

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith raked in support from 91 per cent of United Conservative Party members who voted in her leadership review Saturday, crushing internal pockets of dissent and solidifying her place as the head of the province’s right-wing.

The UCP said 6,085 people registered at its annual meeting in Red Deer, and 4,633, or 76 per cent, cast ballots in the leadership review.

ExplainingComputers (YouTube): Top 5 New SBCs 2024 — plus 12 more contenders!

The best new single board computers for makers and enthusiasts of the past 12 months. Read this description later if you do not want to know the boards before you watch the video!

The ExplainingComputers Top 5 New SBCs of 2024, together with the videos in which I first reviewed them, are as follows:

1. Radxa X4: Radxa X4: An N100 Pi  
2. Radxa Rock 5 ITX: Arm PC Build (Rock 5 ITX)  
3. Odroid M1S: Odroid M1S: Great Valu…  
4. Banana Pi BPI-F3: Banana Pi BPI-F3: Octa…  
5. Lichee Pi 3A: Lichee Pi 3A: RISC-V S…  

You can also quickly locate any of my SBC video reviews — Arm, x86 and RISC-V from this page: www.explainingcomputers.com/sbc.html

Women’s Health: 10,000 Steps Is A Myth. Here’s What Science Says You Should Do Instead.

A 2019 study for which Dr. Lee was the lead author found that the risk of death dropped by about 40 percent for women in their 70s with as few as 4,400 steps per day, or less than half the recommended number. The risk continued to drop with more steps, but then plateaued at about 7,500 steps. The optimal step count for people younger than 60, though, was about 8,000 to 10,000 a day, per a separate study.

Other studies have examined how many steps are enough, and suggest that if you’re looking for a good number, 7,500 will do for adults, says Cayla McAvoy, PhD, a senior evaluator for the Florida Department of Health and a research consultant at Tudor-Locke’s walking lab.

UPI: FCC commissioner blasts Kamala Harris' appearance on ‘SNL’

Brendan Carr, the senior Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission, has criticized Kamala Harris' appearance on the final Saturday Night Live episode ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Carr, writing on social media, called Harris' appearance on the sketch comedy show a “clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule.”

“The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct — a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election,” Carr wrote.

“Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns.”

MacRumors: Vision Pro With M5 Chip Rumored for 2025, Apple Also ‘Considering’ iPhone-Connected Glasses

Apple plans to release an updated Vision Pro headset with its as-yet-unannounced M5 chip in 2025, according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The current Vision Pro is equipped with the M2 chip, which debuted in 2022.

MacRumors: Canon Now Accepting Orders for Spatial Video Lens Previewed at WWDC

Canon’s new stereoscopic RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL camera lens for spatial video recording recentlybecame available for pre-order. In the U.S., pricing is set at $449.99, and orders are estimated to be delivered in mid-November.

Apple and Canon announced the lens at WWDC in June. The lens attaches to Canon’s EOS R7, enabling the mirrorless camera to record 3D videos for playback on AR/VR headsets like Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest 3. More details about the lens are available on Canon’s website, and in our coverage of the WWDC announcement.

Last Updated: 03.Nov.2024 23:59 EST

Saturday’s articles

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“Democracy: the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” H.L. Mencken

NYT: Canadian Police Say They Dismantled Country’s Largest Drug Lab

Canadian authorities have dismantled what they described as the country’s largest drug laboratory, hidden in a rural part of British Columbia, seizing enough chemicals and other material to produce roughly 96 million doses of fentanyl, the country’s leading cause of overdose deaths.

For the first time in Canada, the police also found evidence of a drug production method used primarily by Mexican cartels to make opioids. The process requires a particular precursor chemical, and is often used to mass produce a potent synthetic drug know as “super meth.”

The discovery, experts say, suggests that Canadian drug dealers might be taking lessons from the cartels or that Mexican criminal groups might be operating in the country. Canadian authorities would not elaborate on potential links and said that the investigation that uncovered the drug lab was continuing.

TorStar: Doug Ford wanted cities to ask him to use the notwithstanding clause to end encampments. Twelve mayors just said do it

The premier said he wanted Ontario’s big city mayors, a group of 29 municipal leaders, to show “backbone” and support using the notwithstanding clause.

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Last year in Waterloo, a judge ruled that it’s a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a municipality to evict those in encampments if there are no shelter spaces available for them. A similar ruling was also handed down in Kingston.

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Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, chair of the mayors' group, wants to see “one point person, a specific minister or ministry, in charge of solving this” and a province-wide plan including more supports.

She said the “issue becomes, if you are using the notwithstanding clause to close down encampments, but people have nowhere to go, we’re no farther ahead.”

Korea Times: How Korean novels are helping a generation find calm amid competition

If you’ve spent time on Seoul’s subway recently, or indeed public transport in Korea in general, you may have noticed that paper books are back in fashion. Many of these books have a recognizable style of cover — warm, inviting colors and a Jimmy Corrigan-like traditional hanok or otherwise cosy-looking freestanding building on the cover. This is a result of the Korean healing fiction trend, which is slowly taking the nation by storm.

Apart from those instantly recognizable covers, Korean healing fiction has several distinct traits. The novels are short and written in a highly readable style, which makes them ideal for commuters. Korean healing novels tell of people, burned out by the stresses of hypercompetitive life in the big city, who find new energy and personal growth through joining a community or learning a skill — running a bookshop, learning to cook or some other endeavor that allows for creative expression.

The Economist reports that Korean healing fiction is being translated and issued by major western publishing companies, and is selling well.

WashPo: Kamala Harris has slight lead over Donald Trump in Iowa poll

The poll results, conducted by a well-regarded polling firm, show Kamala Harris’s strength among women, particularly those who are older or politically independent.

RNZ News: Lower cruise numbers could make tourism industry sweat over summer

A tourism operator says a drop in cruise passengers could have a significant impact on his bottom line this summer.

The New Zealand Cruise Association predicts a 20 percent decrease in visitor numbers over the incoming cruise season, driven by increases to port costs and the international visitors levy.

BBC: DNA-testing site 23andMe fights for survival

Firstly, it didn’t really have a continuing business model – once you’d paid for your DNA report, there was very little for you to return for.

Secondly, plans to use an anonymised version of the gathered DNA database for drug research took too long to become profitable, because the drug development process takes so many years.

That leads him to a blunt conclusion: “If I had a crystal ball, I’d say they will maybe last for a bit longer,” he told the BBC.

“But as it currently is, in my view, 23andMe is highly unlikely to survive.”

Last Updated: 02.Nov.2024 22:54 EDT

Friday’s articles

Follow along as new links are added to today’s list

NYT: Millions of Movers Reveal American Polarization in Action

These estimates, based on a New York Times analysis of detailed public voter registration records of more than 3.5 million Americans who moved since the last presidential election, offer a new and extraordinarily detailed glimpse into one of the ways that we segregate from each other – down to the street level.

Across all movers, Republicans chose neighborhoods Donald J. Trump won by an average of 19 percentage points in 2020, while Democrats chose neighborhoods President Biden won by the opposite margin (also 19 points). In total, movers started in neighborhoods 31 percentage points apart; they ended in neighborhoods 38 points apart. Across the country, the result is a widening gap between blue neighborhoods and red ones.

Gift link

NYT: Pennsylvania Voters Worry About the Toxicity of Politics

In a tight presidential race, Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral votes, will very likely decide the winner. And the state, which Donald J. Trump won in 2016 and President Biden won in 2020 by narrow margins, is up for grabs.

That’s clear in Berks County, which lies about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia where flourishing Democratic suburbs melt into conservative, rural Pennsylvania.

The mountains and low hills that make up most of the county are sprinkled with small towns and farms, while the county seat, Reading, is Pennsylvania’s fourth-largest city, with a substantial Latino majority. In 2020, Mr. Trump won the county by around 8 percentage points, the narrowest margin of the 54 counties that he won across the state.

Berks is “a big bag of marbles,” said Matthew Orifice, a longtime resident of Boyertown, Pa., “half of which are blue, half of which are red.”

Interviews with interesting people with divergent views.

TorStar: Donald Trump tells Joe Rogan he wants Canadian freshwater

“You have millions of gallons of water pouring down from the north, with the snow caps and Canada, all pouring down,” Trump said at a press conference in California on Sept 13.

“And they have a very large faucet,” Trump continued. It’s unclear who “they” are or where the “faucet” is. Requests for clarification from Trump’s team were not answered before publication.

Trump is likely talking about diverting fresh water from the Columbia River, which forms in the Rocky Mountains and flows through B.C. and into Washington and Oregon — and though ideas proposing as much have been floated in the past, experts told the Star that we’re unlikely to ever see it happen.

New Scientist: Fresh insights into how we doze off may help tackle sleep conditions

WHEN he was in need of inspiration, the inventor Thomas Edison used to take a nap in a chair while holding a metal ball in each hand. The moment he dropped off, the balls would drop too and crash to the floor, jolting him awake. Edison claimed that this allowed him to capture creative ideas that had fleetingly bubbled up into his semi-consciousness as he fell asleep.

The state Edison was chasing is known as the sleep-onset period (SOP), a little-studied phase of the sleep-wake cycle. Once seen as merely a brief interlude between wakefulness and slumber, it is now being recognised as a distinct and important stage in its own right. Not only is it involved in orchestrating the shutdown of consciousness, but it may also play a vital role in many of the functions of sleep, including memory-processing and, of course, creativity.

via Apple News+

New Scientist: The science behind lower carbon pigs

As origin stories go, this is a strange one. Who would have thought that six farmers meeting up in an English pub in the 1950s would have helped to improve the carbon footprint of 21st century pigs?

It might not have been part of those farmers’ original goal – they simply wanted to use science to improve pig breeding. But it turns out that the application of science is playing a pivotal role in creating credible, measurable carbon reductions in the pork industry. “If we can select more robust, healthy, efficient animals, ultimately we can translate that to improvements in sustainability” says Matt Culbertson, the current chief operating officer of the Pig Improvement Company (PIC), which officially came into being in the White Hart pub in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire in 1962.

PIC’s business and research have led to the breeding of pigs that not only lower the carbon emissions in the meat supply chain, but carry the first externally-verified measure of the role of genetics in sustainability. Advances in technology, improved computing power, statistical methodology and genetics enable breeders to select animals with the ideal characteristics to be parents of the next generation, and the benefits are accruing for the planet, as well as the consumer.

Kottke: Letter of Recommendation: DRM-free Audiobooks From Libro.fm

For the last three years, I’ve been been getting my audiobooks through Libro.fm. You can listen through their app or download DRM-free mp3 or m4b files to listen in the app of your choice. They are a social purpose corporation, 100% employee owned, and partner with local bookstores to offer audiobooks & share profits. They don’t have every title because of Audible’s strategy of locking up exclusives (like Emily Wilson’s translations of The Iliad and the Odyssey), but they have most of what you’d want to read. They also make it easy to gift audiobooks to friends and family (and I suppose, enemies and strangers if you want?)

Last Updated: 01.Nov.2024 19:59 EDT

Thursday’s articles

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CBC: Alberta woman’s medically assisted death delayed last minute by B.C. judge

An Alberta woman was denied a medically assisted death in Vancouver this past Sunday after an interim injunction was granted in B.C. Supreme Court barely 24 hours before she was scheduled to die.

According to court documents, the woman was approved for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in July by Vancouver MAiD provider Dr. Ellen Wiebe after her own doctors in southern Alberta wouldn’t approve it.

CleanTechnica: CleanTechnica Tested: Oupes Mega 1 Power Station

The first thing I noticed was that it has both a good number and a good variety of outputs:

• Two USB-PD 100W ports
• Four USB-A quick-charge ports
• A cigarette lighter plug and two other 12v outputs
• Four 20-amp 120v outlets

It also has a decent display (it looks better in person) that shows not only the percentage, but also time remaining at current power usage.

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Speaking of solar power and charging, there are several good inputs to charge it up. For solar, it has standard Anderson Powerpole connectors that are compatible with all sorts of power inputs. As you can see in the featured image at the top of the article, it comes with a cigarette lighter plug and a solar adapter to feed power into this port. But you can put any power source that meets the specifications (12–80 volts, up to 12 amps) to charge it up! There’s also a standard 120V plug to charge it at home or from a generator, as well as a breaker reset.

How to Geek: How to “Undo” on iPhone: 5 Different Ways

Three-Finger Tap to Undo (Two Methods)

There are two tapping gestures you can use to undo text entry mistakes on your iPhone. While typing, double-tap the screen with three fingers. You’ll see an “Undo” notification at the top of the screen, and your last action will be undone.

Also, in many Apple apps and some third-party apps, you can bring up a formatting bar by single-tapping the screen with three fingers. This opens a widget at the top of the screen that allows you to undo, cut, copy, paste, and redo.

No longer just the “shake to undo” gesture.

LA Times: Wendell Pierce slams ‘obnoxious fans’ who spoiled World Series

In a series of tweets Wednesday, the “Jack Ryan” and “The Wire” actor condemned the unruly behavior and “obnoxious fans” that spoiled his night at Yankee Stadium, where the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a late-inning victory against the Bronx Bombers. Pierce tweeted that he left Wednesday’s game early, alleging “people were throwing things at me” for speaking to a Dodgers fan. He tweeted about his experience two hours after posting a video of himself sharing his excitement for Game 5, rooting for the Yankees and wearing a hat with the team’s logo.

Sign of the times?

MacRumors: PSA: Apple’s New USB-C Accessories Require macOS Sequoia, Don’t Work Properly With macOS 15.2 Beta

With the launch of new M4 Macs this week, Apple introduced USB-C versions of the Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard to continue on with phasing out the Lightning port. Apple users who plan to buy these new accessories should be aware that there are some software limitations currently. …

Last Updated: 31.Oct.2024 23:58 EDT

Wednesday’s articles

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Wired: The Eternal Truth of Markdown

Markdown is not just a piece of software. It’s also a markup language–it’s used to format plaintext, which then appears the way you want it to on, say, the internet. Markdown the markup language was designed to be “as easy-to-read and easy-to-write as is feasible,” according to creator John Gruber’s syntax guide. “A Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it’s been marked up with tags or formatting instructions.”

This, I believe, is the cornerstone of Markdown’s success (and why related projects from that era, like reStructuredText and Setext, remain largely unknown): It looked at the world as it actually was and built on the informal conventions people were using. Markdown took common quirks of writing plaintext emails or message-board posts–like wrapping a word in asterisks to emphasize it–and extended those formatting customs. It did not come in and declare an entirely new syntax and ask people to adopt it.

via John Philpin

UPI: ‘Weekend warrior’ exercise can cut risk of cognitive decline, study indicates

Being a “weekend warrior” – engaging in exercise once or twice per week – may be as beneficial as regular sessions in decreasing the risk of cognitive decline that often leads to dementia, a new study concludes.

The study was published Tuesday online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

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A total of 7,945 respondents said they didn’t exercise at all; 726 met the weekend warrior definition; 1,362 reported exercising several times per week; and 2,088 made up a combined group.

During an average 16-year monitoring period, researchers identified 2,400 cases of mild dementia. The prevalence was 26% among the no exercisers, 14% among the weekend warriors and 18.5% among the regularly active.

Hmmm…

Malcolm Gladwell | TED (YouTube): The Tipping Point I Got Wrong

In his 2000 bestseller “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell told the story of why crime fell in New York City in the 1990s. Now, 25 years later, he’s back with a confession and a mea culpa: “I was wrong,” he says. He shares how his analysis contributed to the rise of the infamous “stop and frisk” policing policy in New York City — and shows why journalists should avoid the trap of imagining a story is ever really over. (Followed by a Q&A with TED’s Monique Ruff-Bell) (Recorded at TEDNext 2024 on October 22, 2024)

NYT: How Trump and Harris Compare on Climate Change

If he returns to the White House, former President Donald J. Trump, who last month called climate change “one of the greatest scams of all time,” plans to build on his first-term attacks on the environment when he pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement and rolled back more than 100 environmental regulations.

In a second term, he has promised to end federal support for a clean energy transition and hamstring wind and solar development while expanding oil and gas production — including drilling in the fragile Arctic wilderness. He has said he would again withdraw the country from the Paris accord and potentially go further, blocking the United States from negotiating future global climate agreements.

MacRumors: Apple Announces MacBook Pro Models With M4 Pro and M4 Max Chips, Thunderbolt 5 Support, and More

Apple today announced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models featuring M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, alongside a new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M4 chip.

The new M4 Pro and M4 Max machines come with a minimum of 24GB of Unified Memory as standard, up from 18GB in the previous models. Both models feature three Thunderbolt 5 ports, the newest specification of Thunderbolt that offers speeds of up to 120 Gb/s with Bandwidth Boost, which is triple the maximum bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4.

The Conversation: Making a Snickers bar is a complex science − a candy engineer explains how to build the airy nougat and chewy caramel of this Halloween favorite

As a food engineer studying candy and ice cream at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I now look at candy in a whole different way than I did as a kid. Back then, it was all about shoveling it in as fast as I could.

Now, as a scientist who has made a career studying and writing books about confections, I have a very different take on candy. I have no trouble sacrificing a piece for the microscope or the texture analyzer to better understand how all the components add up. I don’t work for, own stock in, or receive funding from Mars Wrigley, the company that makes Snickers bars. But in my work, I do study the different components that make up lots of popular candy bars. Snickers has many of the most common elements you’ll find in your Halloween candy.

via John Brady

Dodgers won the World Series.

Last Updated: 30.Oct.2024 16:11 EDT

Tuesday’s articles

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Small Good Things (Hollie): Just now… Me: <points to newly …

Greg: Okay, you have to understand, the containers are a mirage, you have too much stuff, you can’t just get new container. The problem is <waves hands at my desk> too much stuff.

CBC: Saskatchewan Party wins 5th consecutive majority government

Some tight races in Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert too close to call.

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There were seven ridings in the province still too close for CBC’s decision desk to call as the night drew to a close. CBC will continue populating this page with live results as they come in from Elections Saskatchewan.

Last Updated: 29.Oct.2024 10:09 EDT

Monday’s articles

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Guardian: ‘Magicians get emotional about it’: should secrets of magic ever be revealed?

Study examining highly contested topic of ‘exposure’ looks at when it is acceptable to share tricks of the trade.

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The paper, Towards a Theory of Exposure, is available in the Journal of Performance Magic.

Verge: Secret service members, maybe don’t set your Strava to public.

Or you could end up like French President Emannuel Macron’s bodyguards: leaking the location of the one person you’re supposed to protect.

Le Monde found the names and addresses of roughly a dozen of Macron’s bodyguards… and then found their running routes on Strava. Including routes they ran during recon trips to scout hotels for the president to stay at.

Semafor.com: Bodyguards inadvertently expose French President Macron’s location on Strava

CBC: Porter breaks its own rules by kicking deaf woman and her service dog off a flight

Porter says ‘miscommunication’ between pilot and flight attendant led to incident.

Every airline has some number of employees who make mistakes or are ill-suited to their jobs. My experience with Porter has been uniformly good, so I don’t think this incident, sad though it is, should be taken as a general indicator of the airline’s services.

CBC: Porch pirates are getting smarter. Here’s how to protect your parcels [video]

Montreal police say they’ve noticed more package thefts in certain neighbourhoods. One cybersecurity expert says thieves are getting smarter and planning out their tactics ahead of time.

NYT: Jeff Bezos Defends Decision to End Washington Post Endorsements

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, whose decision to end presidential endorsements at the paper set off a firestorm inside and outside the paper last week, said on Monday in his first comments about the change that it had been done to improve the newsroom’s credibility, not to protect his own personal interests.

“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” Mr. Bezos wrote in an essay published on The Post’s website. He added: “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.”

Last Updated: 28.Oct.2024 22:20 EDT

Sunday’s articles

Follow along as new links are added to today’s list

WashPo: Michigan has big turnout in first day of early voting statewide

This is the first year of early in-person voting in Michigan, and the one-day numbers on Saturday smashed voter performance during the primaries.

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In addition, more than 1.4 million have cast ballots by mail in the state.

WashPo: Letters: “Deeply, fundamentally saddened.” “Disappointment, disgust and despair.”: The Post decided not to endorse. Readers have questions.

Disappointment, disgust and despair are just some of the feelings I had when I read that The Post decided to refrain from making an endorsement for president. I read this just after I read The Post article “How Trump talks: Abrupt shifts, profane insults, confusing sentences.”

That article describes the former president’s incessant lying, frequent vulgarity, incoherent ramblings and inability to follow through on a thought. The article in effect makes the case for why Donald Trump should not be endorsed, while Vice President Kamala Harris’s behavior continues to make the case for why she should be endorsed.

Daring Fireball: Joz Teases Mac Announcements Next Week

Greg Joswiak, on X:

Mac (😉) your calendars! We have an exciting week of announcements ahead, starting on Monday morning. Stay tuned…

Presumably these will include M4 refreshes of the MacBook Pro lineup (as foretold by those bizarre leaks to Russian YouTubers two weeks ago), iMac, and Mac Mini. And the Mac Mini, reports Mark Gurman, is set to sport an all-new, much-smaller form factor.

TorStar: Ford government to ban foreign students from medical schools

Premier Doug Ford is planning to bar new foreign students in medical schools and offering free tuition to 1,360 Ontarians if they agree to work as doctors in the province for five years after graduating.

BBC: Abercrombie & Fitch: How my investigation led to sex trafficking charges against ex-boss

In a federal courtroom in New York, for the first time I’m face to face with Mike Jeffries — the multi-millionaire ex-fashion boss I’ve spent three years investigating for the BBC. He stares at me directly, lips pursed, and chin raised, as he sits before the judge.

As a result of my reporting, he was arrested this week by the FBI and charged with running an international sex trafficking and prostitution business along with his British partner, Matthew Smith, and their middleman James Jacobson.

Authorities acted after hearing my podcast series, The Abercrombie Guys, in which I unearthed evidence that Mr Jeffries, 80, and Mr Smith, 61, had been at the centre of a sophisticated global operation involving a network of recruiters and a middleman scouting young men for sex.

SFChronicle: UC Berkeley chemists develop powder to suck carbon dioxide from air [gift link]

A team of UC Berkeley chemists have developed a potential solution in the form of yellow crystalline powder, a half-pound of which can absorb as much carbon dioxide annually as a tree.

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Deployed at scale, the material could significantly reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere in a way no other technology can, said Omar Yaghi, professor of chemistry and UC Berkeley and lead author of a paper announcing their discovery, which was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

*NYT: Trump Rally at Madison Square Garden: Election Live Updates

Former President Donald J. Trump is speaking now at his Madison Square Garden rally in New York, a gathering that began with a series of warm-up speakers who delivered a litany of racist remarks, vulgar insults and profanity-laden comments.

Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian who was one of the early speakers, called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage” in a set that also included derogatory remarks about Latinos generally, African Americans, Palestinians and Jews.

NYT: Two Students Created Face Recognition Glasses. It Wasn’t Hard.

A month later, he found out just how strange. He had been an unwitting guinea pig in an experiment meant to show just how easy it was to rig artificial intelligence tools to identify someone and retrieve the person’s biographical information — potentially including a phone number and home address — without the person’s realizing it.

A friend texted Mr. Hoda, telling him that he was in a video that was going viral. Mr. Nguyen and a fellow Harvard student, Caine Ardayfio, had built glasses used for identifying strangers in real time, and had demonstrated them on two “real people” at the subway station, including Mr. Hoda, …

Last Updated: 27.Oct.2024 21:42 EDT

Saturday’s articles

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Yahoo: LA Times Planned ‘Case Against Trump’ Series Alongside Kamala Harris Endorsement Before Owner Quashed It | Exclusive

Alongside its endorsement of Kamala Harris, the Los Angeles Times editorial board had also planned a multi-part series against Donald Trump before the whole thing was quashed by owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, TheWrap has learned.

According to internal memos viewed by TheWrap, the series, tentatively called “The Case Against Trump,” would have ran throughout this week. The endorsement of Kamala Harris would then have been published on Sunday.

However, Soon-Shiong ordered the cancellation 0f the series and the endorsement without explanation, current and now former staffers have confirmed, setting off a massive crisis for the 142-year-old paper.

TorStar: Toronto’s rents are finally falling. Here’s why it’s happening — and how long prices could drop

Landlords are accepting lower offers as units are sometimes sitting on the market for weeks or months, experts say.

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According to Urbanation and Rentals.ca’s last rent report, Toronto asking rents declined by 8 per cent from September 2023 to September 2024, representing the eighth consecutive year-over-year drop and the largest year-over-year decline in 2024. The report says studio prices were down seven per cent, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units declined by eight per cent, and three-bedroom units decreased six per cent.

Guardian: My healthy lifestyle is horrific, says Jeremy Clarkson after heart surgery

The former Top Gear host was recently fitted with two stents, which improve blood flow to the heart.

Clarkson, 64, who last year recorded the final episode of The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, said he was not fazed by the operation, and that the prospect of abstaining from alcohol, and having to exercise and adopt a healthy diet, was his real fear.

In his column in the Sun, the broadcaster wrote: “If I go to a party, I must stand in a corner, nursing some refreshing elderflower juice, before going home at about 9.30. That’s terrifying too.”

Clarkson maintains a packed schedule, despite having retired from his car show with longtime collaborators Richard Hammond and James May. He owns a farm, a brewery and a pub, writes three newspaper columns and hosts the ITV gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Nate Silver: Silver Bulletin 2024 presidential election forecast

This is the landing page for the 2024 Silver Bulletin presidential election forecast. It will always contain the most recent data from the model.

NYT: Michelle Obama Makes a Searing Appeal to Men: ‘Take Our Lives Seriously’

In her first appearance on the campaign trail during this election, Mrs. Obama, long reluctant to engage in the political arena, described the far-reaching consequences of the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion, in the concrete terms of personal tragedy.

“If your wife is shivering and bleeding on the operating room table during a routine delivery gone bad, her pressure dropping as she loses more and more blood, or some unforeseen infection spreads and her doctors aren’t sure if they can act, you will be the one praying that it’s not too late,” Mrs. Obama said. “You will be the one pleading for somebody, anybody, to do something.”

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With the election 10 days away, Ms. Harris is facing an electorate deeply divided by gender. A majority of women support her. A majority of men are backing Mr. Trump. Her joint appearance with Mrs. Obama in Michigan seemed designed both to energize her female supporters and jolt men into understanding what she believes is at risk.

Last Updated: 26.Oct.2024 22:15 EDT

Friday’s articles

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iPhone in Canada: Apple Offers $1 Million Bounty for Cracking Private Cloud Security

Apple is offering a top reward of up to $1 million for those who can demonstrate significant breaches in its Private Cloud Compute (PCC) platform, marking it one of the largest bounties in the industry.

In a move to enhance transparency and encourage external analysis, Apple has now made the resources for its PCC Virtual Research Environment (VRE) accessible to the public.

iPhone in Canada: Rogers Rakes in $526M Profit in Q3, Fueled by $5.1B Revenue

As for Rogers prepaid subscribers, net additions increase 57% to 93,000, with total prepaid wireless subscribers at 1.1 million. In December, Rogers will shutdown its prepaid wireless service, along with Fido..

NYT: Phil Lesh Made Organ Donation His Personal Cause

The Grateful Dead and its various successors and offshoots were famous for making sure no two concerts were the same, changing their set lists with each performance. But since the late 1990s, at most every show featuring the original bassist Phil Lesh, who died Friday at 84, there was one thing that kicked off each encore.

It was not a song, exactly, but a brief monologue from Lesh urging everyone in the audience to declare themselves organ donors. The subject was personal to him: In 1998, at the age of 58 and suffering from chronic hepatitis C, he received a liver transplant.

NYT: Phil Lesh, Bassist Who Anchored the Grateful Dead, Dies at 84

Phil Lesh, whose expansive approach to the bass as a charter member of the Grateful Dead made him one of the first performers on that instrument in a rock band to play a lead role rather than a supporting one, died on Friday. He was 84.

His death was announced on his Instagram account. No further information was provided.

In addition to providing explorative bass work, Mr. Lesh sang high harmonies for the band and provided the occasional lead vocal. He also co-wrote some of the band’s most noteworthy songs, including ones that inspired adventurous jams, like “St. Stephen” and “Dark Star," as well as more conventional pieces, like “Cumberland Blues,"“Truckin'" and “Box of Rain."

NYT: NASA Astronaut Hospitalized After SpaceX Return to Earth

A NASA astronaut experiencing a “medical issue” was hospitalized early Friday after returning from the International Space Station, the space agency said Friday. Citing privacy, NASA did not identify the astronaut or provide details about the medical issue.

The hospitalized astronaut, who NASA said was “in stable condition under observation as a precautionary measure,” was one of four astronauts who splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Fla., at 3:29 a.m. Eastern time at the conclusion of nearly eight months in space.

Wales Online: Dog owners warned ‘annoying’ thing could cost them a £5,000 fine

The UK’s top ten neighbour nuisances:

1. Leaving dogs to bark (53%)
2. Playing loud music (49%)
3. Cars taking up road space (40%)
4. Unkempt property (37%)
5. Hearing someone having sex (35%)
6. Overgrown trees (33%)
7. Smoking in the garden (25%)
8. Making suggestion to change your property (19%)
9. Having lots of visitors (17%)
10. Being asked to join community events (17%)

Last Updated: 25.Oct.2024 21:25 EDT

Thursday’s articles

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NYT: How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and Popular

Two years ago, at 21, Jennings retired from cheerleading with a chronic hip injury, occasional slurred speech and intermittent headaches that she called “stingers.” She resolved to seek treatment for a traumatic brain injury. It was only when she was out of cheer entirely that she realized her difficult career in the sport was more than just a random string of bad luck. Jennings’s experience — of injury, grueling hours and emotional abuse — is not an uncommon one in the vast world of American cheerleading. “Every day I make more and more pieces click,” she said.

Nationwide, just over a million children, mostly girls, participate in cheer each year (some estimates are even higher), more than the number who play softball or lacrosse. And almost every part of that world is dominated by a single company: Varsity Spirit. It’s hard to cheer at the youth, high school or collegiate level without putting money in the company’s pocket. Varsity operates summer camps where children learn to do stunts and perform; it hosts events where they compete; it sells pom-poms they shake and uniforms they wear on the sidelines of high school and college football games. Each year, Varsity ships 4.6 million pieces of apparel, from $80 leopard-print “Cheer Mom” fleeces to custom uniforms covered in Swarovski crystals.

Gift article link

IMDb: Join or Die

Centers on America’s civic unraveling through the journey of scientist Robert Putnam, whose research on the decline in American community lights a path out of our democracy’s present crisis.

via Kottke

Last Updated: 24.Oct.2024 23:46 EDT

Wednesday’s articles

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Guardian: Nils Pratley: New Water Commission must create an environmental enforcer that is feared

An independent commission into the English and Welsh water sector would have been an excellent idea about 20 years ago. It is hard to pinpoint precisely when the industry went seriously off the rails but Ofwat’s infamous price review of 2004 is one starting point. That is when the undoubted gains from higher investment in the decade after privatisation in 1989 started to evaporate and the story turned into one of financial engineering and grossly inadequate regulation.

The 2004 settlement was wildly generous to the companies and kickstarted the disastrous take-private buyout boom by private equity and global infrastructure funds. Dividend extraction and “whole business securitisations” followed, tolerated by an economic regulator that, absurdly, took the view that sky-high debt levels and Cayman Islands financing vehicles were not its job to worry about.

Verge: Apple’s AirPods Pro hearing health features are as good as they sound

Apple announced a trio of major new hearing health features for the AirPods Pro 2 in September, including clinical-grade hearing aid functionality, a hearing test, and more robust hearing protection. All three will roll out next week with the release of iOS 18.1, and they could mark a watershed moment for hearing health awareness. Apple is about to instantly turn the world’s most popular earbuds into an over-the-counter hearing aid.

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With iOS 18.1 and the soon-to-be-released AirPods firmware update, the AirPods Pro 2 will offer hearing protection at all times across noise cancellation, transparency, and adaptive audio modes. There’s no “concert mode” or a specific setting to toggle. You can think of this as an expansion of the loud sound reduction option that was already in place. Hearing protection is on by default, and Apple says “an all-new multiband high dynamic range algorithm” helps to preserve the natural sound of concerts and other live events.

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For those 18 years and older with mild to moderate hearing loss, the AirPods Pro 2 can now serve as a clinical-grade hearing aid. Once enabled, you can also toggle on a “Media Assist” setting that uses your hearing test results to optimize the sound of music, phone calls, and video content.

Globe: Flight delayed or cancelled? You might want to ask about a business class rebooking

Air passengers could learn a useful lesson from an Edmonton resident who challenged a carrier’s rebooking of a cancelled flight after he discovered that a much earlier departure had room in business class.

When Zachary Penner’s flight to Toronto was cancelled just half an hour before it was supposed to take off in mid-July, Air Canada automatically sent him a new ticket in economy class, the same fare he had purchased, for a flight leaving a day later. But a quick web search revealed that a business-class seat remained up for grabs on a similar flight departing just six hours after the cancelled one.

While Air Canada initially refused to upgrade Mr. Penner to the pricier spot, it eventually re-accommodated him on the earlier flight, saying an economy seat had suddenly become available, he said.

So they bumped someone from economy to business class, and then told him an economy seat had become available!

TorStar: Once again, Leafs play down to their opposition in 6-2 loss

Toronto followed up one of its best games of the young season with one of its worst in a road loss to a young, injury-riddled team.

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The Leafs were playing on back-to-back nights, coming off a complete — almost emotional — effort in beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Monday.

That led to a lot of pre-game gushing about how good [sic] the Maple Leafs were playing, how they were playing a different version of hockey under Berube, how they physically dominated opponents and how well they defended.

Year-after-year overconfidence hurts the Leafs repeatedly.

TorStar: The CBC’s new boss will inherit a ton of challenges. Here’s what observers say she’s up against

CBC’s new CEO will face a number of challenges as she takes the job, including a new mandate, how to fix English TV, and low morale all while waiting for the next election and whatever surprises that may bring.

I hope she has a better vision than the previous CEO.

TorStar: Doug Ford poised to send cheques to every Ontarian

Premier Doug Ford is poised to send cheques to 16 million Ontarians to offset rising costs as a possible early election looms, the Star has learned.

Sources say the premier’s gambit will be announced in Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s fall economic statement on Oct. 30.

While the precise amount of the rebate cheques is still being finalized, it should be at least $200 for every adult and child in the province.

Matt Langford (@matthew@social.lol): Little known Kindle resources

I’m always surprised how many people who use Kindles (or other e-readers) don’t know about these resources.

Use these to follow authors and books to find the best deals:

• bookbub.com
• ereaderiq.com

Use these to legally download free ebooks:

• gutenberg.org
• standardebooks.org
• aliceandbooks.com

Go read.

MacRumors: Report: Apple May Stop Producing Vision Pro by the End of 2024

Apple has abruptly reduced production of the Vision Pro headset and could stop making the current version of the device completely by the end of 2024, The Information reports.

Citing multiple people “directly involved” in making components for the headset, the report says that the scaling back of production began in the early summer. This indicates that Apple now has a sufficient number of Vision Pro units in its inventory to meet demand for the device’s remaining lifespan through to next year.

TorStar: Peter Khill argues for lesser sentence over judge’s error

“I am truly discomfited and humbled in bringing this matter to your court’s attention,” Justice Andrew Goodman wrote in a letter explaining his mistake — that he read out the wrong number from an old draft, and didn’t immediately correct himself.

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The appeal panel made up of Justices Gary Trotter, Benjamin Zarnett and Jonathon George will deliver their decision on the conviction and sentence appeals at a later date. Khill remains on bail pending that decision.

Politico: Poll shows California’s Prop 36 crime initiative poised to pass by large margin

Nearly three-quarters of the California electorate plans to vote for a high-profile ballot measure that would increase penalties for some theft- and drug-related crimes, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

Seventy-three percent of likely voters said they would support Proposition 36, the survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found, compared with just 25 percent who plan to oppose it. That’s a slight increase from PPIC’s September poll, which found 71 percent of likely voters in favor of it.

Last Updated: 23.Oct.2024 23:46 EDT

Tuesday’s articles

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On my Om (Om Malik): The Problem with Podcasts

Will the podcasts give me an ad-free experience with subscriptions? The answer is no. I thought the whole point of podcasts was to free us from the past, aka the “radio,” and its format tyranny. 

It’s not just podcasts—streaming nowadays is no better than television. Netflix, the company that invented binge-watching, now releases episodes once a week, like old-school TV. Independent blogs and newsletters are less personal and more like old media.

Last Updated: 22.Oct.2024 15:41 EDT

Monday’s articles

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CBC: Rogers customers call contracts misleading as fee for TV boxes goes up $7/month

When Cathy Cooper signed a contract with Rogers Communications four months ago, she says a sales rep told her the monthly price for TV and internet service was guaranteed for two years.

So she was shocked to see her monthly bill increase just three months later, and called the telco giant to find out what was going on.

That’s when she learned that the TV boxes in her house were going up $7 apiece, except for one which would still be included in her monthly package.

Cooper had six TV boxes, because her grown children and a grandchild live at home with her.

CBC: Watching an NHL game this season may be more complicated than you think

Now, to watch NHL games this season, you will need to subscribe to Sportsnet, TSN, TVA and Amazon Prime.

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Last year’s Stanley Cup final Game 7 between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers became the most-watched broadcast in Sportsnet’s history.

CBC: Winner of 2024 B.C. election may not be known for another week

Based on preliminary results, CBC News has not projected the winners of 11 ridings — with the NDP leading in six of those, and the Conservatives in five.

Two of those ridings will be subject to an automatic recount — which happens in any district where the margin of victory is 100 votes or less. Parties can also request a recount in close ridings.

The guaranteed recounts will occur in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, which the NDP is leading by 23 votes, and Surrey City Centre, which the NDP is leading by 96 votes.

The winners of those recounts will be determined during the final counting period between Oct. 26 and 28, according to Elections B.C.

WashPo: No, McDonald’s didn’t confirm Trump’s baseless claim about Kamala Harris

In a message to employees obtained by The Washington Post, the fast-food giant made clear that it isn’t saying what Trump says it’s saying.

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But what 2024 is experiencing is very much not a typical presidential campaign. And so Vice President Kamala Harris’s mention of having worked at a California McDonald’s in the summer of 1983 led directly to the unexpected sight of former president Donald Trumpstanding in the drive-through window of a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania, pretending to fill orders for pretend customers

TorStar: Ford’s bill to limit bike lanes will ‘review’ existing ones

In a salvo at Toronto, Ford’s Progressive Conservatives hint at the end of bike lanes on Yonge and Bloor streets and Eglinton and University avenues.

What a doughead!

TorStar: Ontario appoints Dr. Jane Philpott to lead primary care team

In the face of mounting criticism over a worsening shortage of family doctors, Premier Doug Ford‘s government is turning to Queen’s University medical school director Dr. Jane Philpott to solve the problem.

The former federal Liberal health minister will head a “primary care action team” aimed at connecting every Ontarian to a family doctor within five years. Her appointment takes effect Dec. 1.

Philpott’s challenge is massive: 2.5 million Ontarians do not have a primary-care physician, a number that is expected to top four million in the next couple of years as the province grows and aging family doctors retire.

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Meanwhile, a switch to a new supplier last month has left home-care patients under the Ontario Health atHome agency without basics like gauze and bandages — or even painkillers and sedatives — for the past month.

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Opposition parties signalled they will pressure the government on health care this fall with Ford seemingly more concerned about bike lanes, building a tunnel under Highway 401 and spending as much as $1 billion to get beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks into convenience stores a year earlier than planned.

Last Updated: 21.Oct.2024 19:35 EDT

Sunday’s articles

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iPhone in Canada: Ontario is Getting a New Area Code in 2025, Says CRTC

Starting April 26, 2025, Ontario will debut a new 942 area code to meet the growing demand for phone numbers in the region. Current area codes are 416, 437, and 647 [and 613]. The decision was made to ensure there are enough phone numbers in the province.

“The introduction of a new area code creates millions of additional telephone numbers without affecting the existing numbers,” said Kelly T. Walsh, Program Manager of the Canadian Numbering Administrator, in a statement. “The new 942 area code will be added to the current area codes already in use in this region and will cover the same geographic area.”

Inc.: Starbucks' New CEO Only Needed 6 Words to Explain the Company’s Biggest Problem

Niccol goes on to explain what he means:

“Many of our customers still experience this magic every day, but in some places — especially in the U.S. — we aren’t always delivering. It can feel transactional, menus can feel overwhelming, product is inconsistent, the wait too long or the handoff too hectic. These moments are opportunities for us to do better.”

Inc.: Google’s Deal to Develop Small Modular Reactors Is More Good News for the Nuclear Industry

The next-gen tech is expected to cut down on the cost of reactor development as big companies seek carbon-free power for AI.

Getting there fast enough is a challenge. So far, SMRs are no cheaper per kW or kWh than the traditional behemoths.

On my Om (Om Malik): Waiting for Apple’s Intelligence

This morning, I asked Siri to create a playlist for Eric Hilton on Apple Music. Its response? “Sorry, I don’t understand.” Come on, Siri, this shouldn’t be so difficult.

And don’t even get me started on the iPhone’s spelling and grammar suggestions. Compared to other AI-powered tools like Google Docs, Apple’s offerings feel practically prehistoric. The suggestions often lack context and sometimes border on nonsensical. It’s like playing grammar roulette every time you type a message.

Last Updated: 20.Oct.2024 22:05 EDT

Saturday’s articles

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Slashdot: The Analogue 3D Drags the Fondly Remembered N64 Into the 21st Century

Analogue, a retro gaming company, is releasing a hardware-emulated Nintendo 64 console that can play every N64 game in 4K resolution. TechCrunch reports: …

CBC: Inuit in Ottawa applaud Google’s latest addition to translation tool

Google Translate is adding a new language to its platform that could serve thousands of people in Ottawa as well as Canada’s North: Inuktut.

It’s one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages across the country, and is the first one spoken in Canada to be included in Google’s translation software.

The term Inuktut is increasingly used to refer to Inuktitut, the language spoken largely in the Baffin Island regions of Nunavut, and Inuinnaqtun, which is generally spoken in the Western Arctic, among other languages or dialects. Inuinnaqtun’s written form uses qaniujaaqpait, or syllabics, and qaliujaaqpait, based on the Roman alphabet.

The Verge: Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition hands-on: color E Ink looks pretty good

The Kindle Colorsoft’s only new feature is the colors. But it looks like a good start to a color E Ink future.

via Manton

NewsNation: 3 killed and 8 injured by gunfire following a Mississippi school’s football game

Shootings by young men have been an “off and on” problem recently in the county, which has a population of almost 16,000 residents. The young men who talk to the sheriff tell him that it’s often because they have a “beef,” or disagreement with someone.

“It’s hard to see what they are fighting over. I don’t think they are fighting over turf or drugs,” March said. “These are young men walking around with weapons. I wish I had an answer.”

Wow.

NewsNation: Flight attendants in crisis: Stripping, struggling, homeless

• Flight attendants tell NewsNation they are struggling to make ends meet
• Some have resorted to eating passengers' leftovers; others are on food stamps
• Union prez: Flight attendants ‘can’t survive’ on such low wages

It would have been better if they had identified more of the airlines responsible.

ScienceAlert: Caffeine in Your Blood May Affect Body Fat And Diabetes Risk, Study Reveals

“Genetically predicted higher plasma caffeine concentrations were associated with lower BMI and whole body fat mass,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published in March 2023.

“Furthermore, genetically predicted higher plasma caffeine concentrations were associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Approximately half of the effect of caffeine on type 2 diabetes liability was estimated to be mediated through BMI reduction.”

Last Updated: 19.Oct.2024 22:47 EDT

Friday’s articles

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404Media: Tinkerers Are Taking Old Redbox Kiosks Home and Reverse Engineering Them

The code that runs Redbox DVD rental machines has been dumped online, and, in the wake of the company’s bankruptcy, a community of tinkerers and reverse engineers are probing the operating system to learn how it works. Naturally, one of the first things people did was make one of the machines run Doom.

As has been detailed in several great articles elsewhere, the end of Redbox has been a clusterfuck, with pharmacies, grocery stores, and other retailers stuck with very large, heavy, abandoned DVD rental kiosks. To many people’s surprise, many of the kiosks remain operational even with the bankruptcy of Redbox’s parent company, which has led some people to “liberate” DVDs from the abandoned kiosks. Reddit is full of posts by people who say they have taken dozens of DVDs from kiosks all over the country.

Free DVDs is one thing. But in recent days, people have realized that they can, in some cases, get free Redbox kiosks. In an August filing, Walgreens told the bankruptcy court that it has 5,400 abandoned kiosks at its stores, and that it is spending $184,000 a month keeping them powered. “Walgreens should not be required to continue to ‘store’ and power Redbox kiosks across the country without any form of payment,” the company wrote. And so tinkerers and reverse engineers have begun asking stores whether they can take the devices off their hands.

Wikipedia: empanada

An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in Spain, other Southern European countries, North African countries, Latin American countries, and the Philippines. The name comes from the Spanish empanar (to bread, i.e., to coat with bread), and translates as ‘breaded’, that is, wrapped or coated in bread. They are made by folding dough over a filling, which may consist of meat, cheese, tomato, corn, or other ingredients, and then cooking the resulting turnover, either by baking or frying.

For the TIL file.

NYT: Texas Supreme Court Halts Execution in Shaken Baby Case

Mr. Roberson’s case has drawn intense national scrutiny because of the role that the shaken baby diagnosis played in his conviction. His lawyers maintain that no crime was committed at all and have presented evidence and expert testimony that his daughter, Nikki, most likely died in 2002 from pneumonia exacerbated by medication that she had been prescribed.

NYT: Trump Tries to Rewrite History of Jan. 6 in Campaign’s Final Stretch

Donald J. Trump amplified a conspiracy theory that the federal government had staged the Capitol attack and compared jailed rioters to Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II.

BBC: How will weight-loss drugs change our relationship with food?

Now, let’s look at Semaglutide, which is sold under the brand name Wegovy for weight loss. It mimics a hormone that is released when we eat and tricks the brain into thinking we are full, dialling down our appetite so that we eat less.

What this means is that by changing only one hormone, “suddenly you change your entire relationship with food”, says Prof Giles Yeo, an obesity scientist at the University of Cambridge.

And that has all sorts of implications for the way we think about obesity.

Last Updated: 18.Oct.2024 23:55 EDT

Thursday’s articles

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CleanTechnica: Meteorologists Who Connect Hurricanes And The Climate Crisis Are Being Threatened

A whole bunch of conspiracy theories and disinformation has bombarded social media as a result of the two hurricanes, exacerbating what was already a disturbing trend. “We’re all talking about how much more it’s ramped up,” Marshall Shepherd, who is the director of the University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences Program and a former president of the American Meteorological Society, stated. There has been “a palpable difference in tone and aggression toward people in my field,” he explained.

Meteorologists and the Need to Demystify Disinformation

Broadcast meteorologists are highly skilled professionals who work at the intersection between climate scientists and the public. They have a public position in which they can and do educate their viewers about the local impacts of global climate change. When today’s meteorological community shares the same viewpoints and outlooks as most climate scientists about anthropogenic climate change, they are zeroing in on difficult political terrain.

CleanTechnica: Tesla To Get Into LFP Battery Production — As Max Holland Predicted 4 Years Ago

“The company is also set to work with Chinese manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), with an executive from CATL earlier this year hinting at plans to develop low-cost batteries for a large-volume EV from the automaker,” Zachary Visconti adds. “A report from Bloomberg in January also said that Tesla would be buying machinery from CATL to build in-house LFP batteries for its Megapack, though it would be 100-percent operated by Tesla.”

LFP is a great choice for home batteries.

Globe: Liberal MPs will present official demand for Trudeau to resign in coming days, sources say

Earlier rumblings among some Liberal MPs that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should resign appear to be quickly snowballing into a serious effort to force him out, with caucus members expected to present within days an official demand that he step down.

Three Liberal MPs have told The Globe and Mail that they anticipate the demand to be presented in two steps: first, in writing as soon as this weekend, laying out the fact that constituents are telling MPs that Mr. Trudeau needs to go; and second, in an open microphone session at the party’s next caucus meeting in Ottawa, on Wednesday.

Unlike past talk of a caucus revolt, which gained no momentum, many Liberals say they believe that this time is different and that since Friday it has become clear that the Prime Minister has a problem on his hands.

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The first official said they are not playing down the frustrations that caucus feels or ignoring the issues raised. They said they expect a frank conversation behind closed doors on Wednesday and that one of the options under consideration is for the Prime Minister to kick his staff out of the meeting to allow MPs to speak more freely.

I guess that shows us who’s actually in charge.

Axios: Russian-Ukraine would be ‘world war’ if North Korea joins, Zelensky warns

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Thursday that 10,000 North Korean troops are being readied to join Russian forces in their fight against Ukraine, multipleoutlets reported.

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In a podcast interview released on Thursday, former President Trump blamed Zelensky for allowing the war to start, even though Russia invaded Ukraine, the Washington Post reported.

Wired: SpaceX Has a Plan for Starlink to Hit Gigabit Speeds

Elon Musk’s satellite internet company told the FCC that a few tweaks to its “orbital configuration and operational parameters” could result in nearly 10 times faster downloads.

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As for actual speeds in 2024, Starlink’s website says “users typically experience download speeds between 25 and 220 Mbps, with a majority of users experiencing speeds over 100 Mbps. Upload speeds are typically between 5 and 20 Mbps. Latency ranges between 25 and 60 ms on land, and 100+ ms in certain remote locations.”

Global: 4 more Liberal cabinet ministers not seeking re-election: sources

Filomena Tassi, who serves as minister of economic development for southern Ontario, and Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal both confirmed Thursday they have informed Trudeau of their decision not to run again.

Both ministers were first elected in 2015. Vandal was named northern affairs minister in 2019, while Tassi has served multiple cabinet roles since 2018, including as seniors minister and labour minister.

As well, a senior government source says National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough — both of whom have been in cabinet since the first Liberal government was elected in 2015 — are also not running for re-election.

Globe: Passenger trips to take longer in Ontario and Quebec after CN rule change, Via says

CN last Friday said Via’s recently arrived Siemens train sets running between Montreal and Windsor, Ont., must lower their speed at public crossings.

The rule – previously in effect only at certain crossings between Montreal and Quebec City – is causing delays of about 30 minutes per train on average, Via said.

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Even before the slowdowns at crossings, delays were not uncommon at Via Rail. Only 59 per cent of Via trains reached their destination on time last year, and 57 per cent the year before.

Both Via and CN want the government to pony up for new tracks for passenger rail. The best use for the money?

Last Updated: 17.Oct.2024 18:40 EDT

Wednesday’s articles

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NYT: Global Electricity Demand Is Rising Faster Than Expected, I.E.A. Says

A surge in power use worldwide could make it harder for nations to slash emissions and keep global warming in check.

On my Om (Om Malik): Minimalissimo, R.I.P.

“The site is in archival mode,” the founders wrote on the website. “The plan is to keep it up and preserve all the content that was posted throughout the years, but we’re not going to update it further.” It is a wonderful repository of “the finest examples of minimal architecture, art, interior, furniture, lighting and product design.” The site features 4,000 projects and more than 30,000 images.

Guardian: Russia suspected of planting device on plane that caused UK warehouse fire

The parcel is believed to have arrived at the DHL warehouse by air, though it is not known if it was a cargo or passenger aircraft, nor where it was destined for. There could have been serious consequences if it had ignited during the flight.

A similar incident occurred in Germany, also in late July, when a suspect package bound for a flight caught fire at another DHL facility in Leipzig, and investigators are looking at links between the two. German authorities warned this week that had the parcel caught fire mid-air it could have downed the plane.

Wales Online: An emergency fund is being set up for Welsh universities

Welsh universities have warned of a possible £100m black hole.

Globe & Mail: Global oil demand to peak by end of the decade as countries push to electrify their economies

Demand for crude oil will hit a tipping point before 2030, leading to stiffer competition among producing countries and falling prices, the Paris-based agency said in its annual World Energy Outlook, while cleaner energy sources keep expanding their reach in transport and power generation.

After the peak, the IEA said, the reduction in oil demand will be gradual through the subsequent decade, based on countries’ current stated policies.

Peak oil will arrive with nuclear fusion power generation and full carbon sequestration.

Gift link

Globe: Kelly Cryderman: David Eby has morphed into a Prairie pragmatist

With a week to go in British Columbia’s election campaign, BC NDP Leader David Eby is looking like he has won some momentum back. His platform announcements have been prolific, along with his potshots at Conservative Leader John Rustad.

But the outcome is far from decided, and this is what can’t be lost: Mr. Eby is a different politician than he was early in 2024. He’s now more like his NDP brethren – and one sistren – in the three provinces to the east, and even has some policy alignment with conservative premiers.

Last Updated: 16.Oct.2024 21:59 EDT

Tuesday’s articles

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Guardian: Sleep perfectionists: the exhausting rise of orthosomnia

The UK sleep-tracker industry is estimated to be worth £270m a year – and forecast to double by 2030. Could all this data be making our insomnia worse?

CP (MSN): Former Alberta justice minister Kaycee Madu to be sanctioned by law society

A former Alberta justice minister is to be sanctioned after the provincial law society determined he “undermined respect for the administration of justice” when he phoned Edmonton’s police chief after receiving a traffic ticket.

The Law Society of Alberta cited Kaycee Madu for the 2021 call last year, and a hearing took place in June.

In a hearing report, committee members say Madu’s conduct is worthy of sanction, although a punishment has yet to be determined.

CBS: Georgia judge blocks election rule requiring hand counting of ballots

After Georgia voters began heading to the polls Tuesday for the first day of early voting in the state, a judge enjoined election officials from moving forward with a controversial new rule that would require the hand counting of ballots when polls close on Nov. 5. 

Judge Robert McBurney called the rule “too much, too late.”

The judge expressed concern that the “11th-and-one-half hour implementation of the hand count rule” would lessen public confidence in the election results. Thousands of poll workers would be handling and counting ballots “in a manner unknown and untested in the era of ballot scanning devices,” without time for uniform training, McBurney wrote. 

Last Updated: 15.Oct.2024 22:45 EDT

Monday’s articles

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ScienceAlert: Mysterious Tick-Borne Virus in China Uncovered by Scientists

Ticks are responsible for spreading over 25 human and animal diseases. While you may be familiar with some of these — such as Lyme disease — there are many others you’ve probably never heard of, including some that have been discovered only in the past few years, such as wetland virus.

ScienceAlert: WATCH: Amazing Moment as SpaceX Catches Giant Starship Booster

For the first time ever, SpaceX has followed through on a Starship test launch by bringing back the Super Heavy booster for an on-target catch in the arms of its “Mechazilla” launch-tower cradle in Texas.

ScienceAlert: Can’t Hear People When It’s Noisy? A Study Links This to Dementia Risk

In a 2021 study of over 80,000 adults over the age of 60, those who had trouble hearing speech in noisy environments had a greater risk of dementia, which is an umbrella term for conditions characterized by memory loss and difficulty with language and other thinking skills.

But there’s an upside, too: The study added to evidence suggesting hearing problems may not just be a symptom of dementia but actually a risk factor of dementia that could possibly alert people, their families, or doctors to its onset before any deterioration begins.

Atlantic: Charlie Warzel: I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is

The truth is, it’s getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality. As Hurricane Milton churned across the Gulf of Mexico last night, I saw an onslaught of outright conspiracy theorizing and utter nonsense racking up millions of views across the internet. The posts would be laughable if they weren’t taken by many people as gospel. Among them: Infowars' Alex Jones, who claimed that Hurricanes Milton and Helene were “weather weapons” unleashed on the East Coast by the U.S. government, and “truth seeker” accounts on X that posted photos of condensation trails in the sky to baselessly allege that the government was “spraying Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton” in order to ensure maximum rainfall, “just like they did over Asheville!”

WashPo: In Iceland, a hunt for Russian submarines and deeper U.S. relations

KEFLAVIK AIR BASE, Iceland — The Pentagon’s top general strode to a P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane here on Thursday morning, boarding just before a cold rain turned to snow. The aircraft roared to life and ascended over craggy, black lava fields before heading out over the North Atlantic Ocean. U.S. forces aboard walked him through their mission: surveying the chilly waters for Russian submarines.

The rare visit here by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., came as U.S. forces have observed a rise in Russian submarine activity in the Atlantic. Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the head of U.S. European Command, told the House Armed Services Committee last year that Russian patrols are “at a higher level than we’ve seen in years.”

NewsNation: Donald Trump leading Kamala Harris with early voters in swing states: Survey

Former President Trump has a slight edge over Vice President Harris with early voters in battleground states, new polling shows, a promising sign for the Republican in the highly competitive presidential race.

A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found 48 percent of voters who said they would cast their ballots early in critical swing states picked Trump, while 47 percent sided with Harris. Another 5 percent of respondents said they went with another choice or had not yet voted.

Last Updated: 14.Oct.2024 23:50 EDT

Sunday’s articles

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Electrek: Elon Musk wants you to believe Tesla is about to deliver self-driving without any data

Yesterday, Tesla unveiled a cool-looking car, the Cybercab, that is entirely reliant on making Full Self-Driving (FSD) work, which was supposed to happen every year for the past 5 years, according to Elon Musk’s own statements.

Every year since 2019, Musk said that he expects Tesla to upgrade its supervised FSD into an unsupervised FSD, as promised, by the end of the year.

At one point, the CEO claimed that his inaccurate timelines were due to achieving “local maximums” in the software, which they couldn’t see until they hit those ceilings. Despite this problem, he keeps giving new timelines and selling the product while Tesla could still be running into local maximums.

Wikipedia: Pontypridd

The name Pontypridd derives from the name Pont y tŷ pridd, Welsh for “bridge by the earthen house”, referring singly to successive wooden bridges that once spanned the River Taff at this point.

Pontypridd is noted for its Old Bridge, a stone construction across the River Taff built in 1756 by William Edwards. This was Edwards’s fourth attempt, and at the time of construction, was the longest single-span stone arch bridge in the world. Rising 35 feet (11 m) above the level of the river, the bridge forms a perfect segment of a circle, the chord of which is 140 feet (43 m). Notable features are the three holes of differing diameters through each end of the bridge, the purpose of which is to reduce weight. On completion, questions were soon raised as to the utility of the bridge, with the steepness of the design making it difficult to get horses and carts across. As a result, a new bridge, the Victoria Bridge, paid for by public subscription, was built adjacent to the old one in 1857. Pontypridd was known as Newbridge from shortly after the construction of the Old Bridge until the 1860s.

jwz: Mosaic Netscape 0.9 was released 30 years ago today

According to my notes, it went live shortly after midnight on Oct 13, 1994. We sat in the conference room in the dark and listened to different sound effects fired for each different platform that was downloaded. At some point late that night I wandered off and wrote the first version of the page that loaded when you pressed the “What’s Cool” button in the toolbar. (A couple days later, Jim Clark would go ballistic in a company-wide email because I had included a link to Bianca’s Smut Shack.)

via Manton

Wired: Piece by Piece Director Morgan Neville Will Never Use AI Again

Back in 2021, Morgan Neville thought using AI to recreate the late Anthony Bourdain’s voice would be an interesting Easter egg in his documentary. He ended up being a canary in Hollywood’s AI coal mine.

Coal & land mines.

WashPo: How Kamala Harris’s five years in Montreal shaped her life

For Harris, her education came in what was taught in her classes, but perhaps even more in the political tensions around her. Still, classmates said they had no inkling of her political future.

“She was an impressive girl – kind, a great singer and comedian,” said Richard Carr, who added that he had a crush on her. “She was a total clown, and usually the one who was actually instigating the pranks on her friends.”

Last Updated: 13.Oct.2024 23:20 EDT

Saturday’s articles

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InsideEVs:This Brand New Nissan Leaf Has Been Bricked For Two Months

Nissan has blown its early EV lead. The company was the first to offer a mass-market EV in the United States. It introduced the Leaf in 2010, years before the Tesla Model S hit the street. Yet 14 years later, the company has not capitalized on its early mover advantage. It still sells the Leaf with the ancient CHAdeMO charging plug that’s rapidly being phased out here, and its only other option is the Ariya, an acceptable if not particularly notable EV crossover. And as Kyle Conner explains in the latest Out Of Spec video, the company still hasn’t learned how to properly service EVs.

ABC: Harris releases her medical report to give Trump’s health and advanced age new scrutiny

Trump refused to release his medical records during his first campaign in 2016, and despite promising multiple times to release his medical records in this race, he’s not done so yet.

NZ Herald: America’s Cup: Team NZ take 2-0 lead over Ineos Britannia in Barcelona America’s Cup match

Team New Zealand have started their America’s Cup defence in fine form.

BBC: Male domestic abuse victim stopped from using bathroom and toilet

A man who was kicked and punched, made to sleep on the floor and refused access to a toilet by his abusive ex-girlfriend says he wants to tell his story to help other victims.

Gareth Jones, 41, says it took more than a year of therapy to begin to recover from months of emotional and physical abuse from a woman he met online in July 2021.

A charity whose helpline he turned to said male domestic abuse is not as rare as some people may think - and one in six or seven men will be a victim in their lifetime.

Last Updated: 12.Oct.2024 21:33 EDT

Friday’s articles

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