CNN: 2024 will be the first year on record to smash a warming limit scientists warned about
New data confirms 2024 will be the hottest year on record and the first calendar year to exceed the Paris Agreement threshold – devastating news for the planet that comes as America chooses a president that has promised to undo its climate progress both at home and abroad.
Nearly all the world’s countries pledged to strive to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius in the Paris Agreement, which scientists said would prevent cascading and worsening impacts such as droughts, heat waves and catastrophic sea level rise. They warn at that level, the human-caused climate crisis – fueled by heat-trapping fossil fuel pollution – begins to exceed the ability of humans and the natural world to adapt.
CBC: Federal government faces potential loss if Trans Mountain pipeline sold: budget watchdog
The pipeline could be worth between $29.6 billion and $33.4 billion, depending on what happens after the initial 20-year contracts expire, the budget watchdog said in an updated financial assessment of the controversial project.
Meanwhile, the cost to build the pipeline, which went into service in May, came in at $34.2 billion, dramatically higher than the $7.4 billion estimate in 2017.
The PBO’s valuation estimate doesn’t factor in sunk costs, such as the $4.5 billion the federal government paid to buy the project in 2018, or capital spending before 2024.
Manton Reece: Spinning off Strata
This is an opportunity to both simplify and expand our subscription plans. As an early heads-up, Strata is going to get its own set of pricing tiers.
OSnews: QNX becomes free for non-commercial use, releases Raspberry Pi 4 image
Well, it seems the company is trying to reverse course, and has started courting the enthusiast community once again. This time, it’s called QNX Everywhere, and it involves making QNX available for non-commercial use for anyone who wants it. No, it’s not open source, and yes, it requires some hoops to jump through still, but it’s better than nothing. In addition, QNX also put a bunch of open source demos, applications, frameworks, and libraries on GitLab.
One of the most welcome new efforts is a bootable QNX image for the Raspberry Pi 4 (and only the 4, sadly, which I don’t own). It comes with a basic set of demo application you can run from the command line, including a graphical web browser, but sadly, it does not seem to come with Photon microGUI or any modern equivalent. I’m guessing Photon hasn’t seen a ton of work since its golden days two decades ago, which might explain why it’s not here. There’s also a list of current open source ports, which includes chunks of toolkits like GTK and Qt, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
WashPo: Are standing desks actually healthy? Here’s what a new study says.
A large new study of more than 83,000 adults found that standing for more than two hours a day – as many people with standing desks do – didn’t protect against the cardiovascular risks of too much sitting.
Those hours of standing also turned out to have their own downsides, increasing people’s likelihood of developing serious circulatory problems, including varicose veins, abnormally low blood pressure and blood clots, compared with people who rarely stood.
Politico: An Overlooked — and Increasingly Important — Clue to How People Vote
The exit polls did not ask about media consumption, so we need to look for indirect clues. NBC asked the question in April when President Joe Biden was still in the race, and the results were dramatic. Among people who got their news from “newspapers,” Biden was winning 70-21. Among people who got their news from “YouTube/Google,” Trump led 55-39.
CNN: Trump still hasn’t signed ethics agreement required for presidential transition
President-elect Donald Trump has not yet submitted a series of transition agreements with the Biden administration, in part because of concerns over the mandatory ethics pledge vowing to avoid conflicts of interest once sworn in to office, CNN has learned.
As president, Trump repeatedly came under fire from ethics groups for potential conflicts of interest relating to his businesses and brands. Both Trump’s and his family’s foreign business ties have also come under intense scrutiny throughout his time in office and on the campaign trail.
I don’t know why he’s hesitating to sign it; he doesn’t appear to have ever worried about being bound by contracts before.
How to Geek: Your Smart TV Might Have a Camera—Here’s What You Can Do With It
There is no evidence that smart TV cameras track users, but the built-in microphones and cameras are still a big privacy concern for many. Sure, both could be used maliciously to collect data, and there’s always the threat of any camera getting hacked if it’s online, so take that as you will.
However, the bigger [sic] concern is ACR. Most smart TVs have a technology built-in called “Automatic Content Recognition,” which works in the background. Smart TV ACR can listen to the audio, capture what’s on the screen, and track your watching habits to deliver targeted ads better. Thankfully, you can turn off these features, and some users may go as far as disconnecting their TV from the internet to improve privacy.
Mashable: An object struck a satellite in Earth’s orbit, leaving a hole
The satellite company NanoAvionics released images online showing the damage to its MP42 satellite, launched in 2022 and designed to host several instruments for different customers. The source of the hole from a chickpea-sized object is uncertain, but the event underscores the growing risk to spacecraft in orbit around our planet.
Via SmartNews
Last Updated: 09.Nov.2024 18:57 EST
