Tech News

Go ahead. Have a second piece of (belated) birthday cake. IRC Turns 30. Ars Technia:

For Ars staffers, IRC led to love, marriage, and trolling.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) turned 30 this August.

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C|Net - Inside the You Tube House:

Living in a mansion playing video games with your best friends all day. But inside, it’s a slightly different story.

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Tech Crunch - Tesla Tequila coming soon?

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed Friday in a tweet that the Tesla-branded tequila called “Teslaquilla”... is “coming soon.”

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Win 10, more flaws, how to fix? ZD Net:

Disastrous is the best word to describe Microsoft's release of Windows 10 version 1809. A data deletion bug forced the company to take the unprecedented step of halting the roll-out of its October 2018 feature update.

Shorter answer to fixing Win-anything: Switch to Linux
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Geek - Barn doorstop actually a meteorite:

...a 22-plus pound meteorite—the sixth-largest recorded find in Michigan, and potentially worth $100,000.

But I bet it did a good job as a doorstop, too.
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PC World - Alienware's impressive laptop:

Alienware's m15 is significantly smaller, thinner, and lighter than its 15-inch cousins[.]

Check out the video at the link.
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Trust in Google wanes, search engine DuckDuckGo Soars! BetaNews:

The privacy-focused search engine has enjoyed a 50 percent surge in usage over the last year, and it can now boast a new record of 30 million daily searches.

"Trust in Google wanes..." ... will the person who trusted in Google admit it?
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Ever been sun-burned? Blame Trump Dinosaurs for it.  Extreme Tech: 

...dinosaurs were sauntering around all day, looking for small morsels to eat. This may have caused a “nocturnal bottleneck” as mammals survived for generations by hiding underground during the day and only coming out at night.

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Establishing Biometric Databases.  Technocracy:

Does anyone remember that it used to be considered a conspiracy theory to warn people about biometric databases? Well, now that it is an accepted reality, we should be looking even farther down the slippery slope for new signposts indicating even greater plans to track, trace and database all human beings.

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TechDirt: The continuing battle between the FCC and net neutrality.

The FCC's claims that its rules embrace transparency are equally hollow, given the agency's replacement transparency provisions are entirely voluntary. And the idea that "market forces" can fix the broken and uncompetitive broadband industry should be laughable to anybody that's experienced Comcast customer service.

My Official First, Long, Boring NHL Post for the 2018-2019 Season

It's official. The 2018-2019 NHL Season is here (has been a couple days). But it seems like hockey just ended! It did. On June 8,  when Washington won their first-ever Stanley Cup against Las Vegas. Vegas is an expansion team, last year being their first season. And they somehow navigated their way into the Stanley Cup, losing the series 4 to 1. Prior to their loss, LV was slicing and dicing their way on the ice, carving their opponents on an almost un-stoppable path to The Cup.

Since it's been 124 days  since June 8, the NHL has to be the only major league sport with that short of an off-season. Can anyone think of a sport with less time off from the game?

Let it be recorded in history that this is my first, official, long, boring, NHL 2018-2019 post. If you like teh hockey, chime in, leave a comment. If you're not into hockey, might I suggest reading from any of the entries on my blogroll to the right.

The season is early. I don't write much about it until the second-half of the season. But let's see where the teams are starting.

Besides, you've been looking forward to my long, boring, NHL post, right? Kind of like you wait for the Long Boring Christmas Family Update Letter From (Insert name of relative here).

A lot has changed and some team-shuffling occurred between the close-out of pre-season  below, and with the opening of the new season.

2018-2019 NHL Pre-season Standings, September 30, 2018

Yes, things have shifted from the above graph to the one below. 

Detroit was dominating their division in pre-season, a little more than a week ago. Now, they've dropped. The shuffling out of the rest of the teams in the Atlantic Division appears as one expect. Ottawa came on strong last season, making it to the playoffs. Boston is Boston and season after season always is a tough opponent. Toronto has high expectations for itself this year.

Central's Chicago went from pre-season ranking of bottom-dweller to top dawg. Tied in W/L with Chicago (but Chi tops with points) are Dallas, Colo and Nashville. All contenders. Will St. Louis struggle with a slow start? Minnesota...I'll get to them.

The Met and Pacific division teams all have settled out where they are in W/L, in a not-unusual NHL new season start. Carolina and the Islanders are doing something right. A bit surprising, the Rangers are winless.

In the Pacific: Vegas will be on everyone's watch-list, this being year two. Arizona needs a good year, but will they have one? No idea here. You?

Edmonton dominated pre-season and has tanked. The Ducks and the Kings have their stuff together, so far. Calgary? San Jose, who played so well when they played well in last season's playoffs, will be tough. Vancouver another team needing a good year.

Returning to the MN Wild. They played Vegas on October 6. The Wild scored a goal in the opening minutes and held a one-zero lead over LV. LV scored with slightly more than 90 seconds remaining in the game. It went into one OT, both teams scoreless, so, tied 1 - 1.

The Wild lost in a shoot-out.

The shoot-out has to go. It does. It was never a good idea to begin with and never should have been implemented.  Would you decide the winner of two, tied NBA teams by a free-throw contest? Decide a tied football game with a series of field-goal attempts? Decide an MLB tied game by pitcher vs hitter determining a winner by requiring a home-run be hit?

Return Winner/Loser in tied NHL games being decided by a series of unlimited, FIVE-MINUTE overtime periods.  Workout the details...two, five minute overtime periods. If score remains tied, ten minute break both teams, then return to ice for two, five minute overtime periods (or only one - the "third" OT -  if a team scores, obviously). Repeat process until one team scores within the 5 minute OT. These OTs aren't going to go more than 15-20 minutes. It's not that hard, is it?

The Wild...they have work to do. Zach Parise is back, which is great. The Wild should consider hiring an exorcist who can forever banish the demon whereby the Wild fail to take any advantage when on the power play, less, that they give up a goal while on the power play, which they have done...way too often.

Coach? Doesn't matter. Goalie? Doesn't matter. Team Captains? Doesn't matter. Team roster? Doesn't matter. The Wild need to do a 180 on executing their power plays and once they "get it", it must never be un-learned.

My first, long boring NHL Sermon for the 2018-2019 season has ended. May you be Blessed and go in Peace, Eh.
---
Fixed Typo 10/12/2018

"World has [ fill in the blank with a number ] of years to stop catrastrophic climate change." And Weed in Space.

The Mirror: Only eleven years left to stop global climate crisis.

The Irish Times: Climate change far worse than originally thought.
Of course it is. How could anyone have thought differently?

Smart Cities Drive: UN says we have 12 years to tackle climate change.  Where'd that cagey UN find an extra year?

Uh-oh. From June, 2017, The Guardian: World has three years to stop dangerous climate change. So are we down to two, ten or eleven years? 

Sky News: 'Unprecedented action' needed to avert global warming by 2030.

There it is..."Unprecedented." A favorite adjective of the global warming alarmists. Surely, "Epidemic" must be one other story click away.

We've had about twenty-years or more of "ten-year This Is The End" dire warnings. Amazing how quickly global warming retook its focus now that the Kavanaugh saga is over, isn't it?

And because in space, no one can hear you toke;  Weed. In space.  Tech Crunch: 

Space Tango is taking its own steps to develop experiments on how the zero gravity environment could affect cannabis cultivation.

Alongside two Kentucky hemp and cannabis cultivation and retail companies, Atalo Holdings, which provides hemp genetics, and Anavii Market, an online retailer of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) therapeutics, ["] Space Tango has set up its own subsidiary to research how microgravity can be used to better cultivate particular strands of hemp for medical compounds...the model is looking at low earth orbit to actually develop and design applications for life on earth.["]

World News Links

China very silent over missing Interpol Chief. Singapore Press:

..."China remained silent yesterday over the disappearance of the head of Interpol, deepening the mystery over the international police chief's fate [who] was last seen leaving for China late last month from the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, south-east France[.]"

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Final court appeal for Christian woman on death row; charged with insulting Muhammad. The Independent:

If her appeal fails the mother of five, from the rural village of Ittan Wali, Punjab, will become the first woman to be executed for blasphemy in Pakistan.

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The Weekend Australian: Congo tanker truck fire, at least 50 dead.

"The driver of the tanker truck has disappeared while the driver of the tractor trailer died at the scene," the ministry said.
[.]
Deadly traffic accidents are common in Congo, where roads and other infrastructure in the vast country are often poorly maintained.

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The Weekend Australian: Tina Turner's kidney transplant.

Tina Turner has revealed she underwent a kidney transplant with an organ donated by her husband.

The 78-year-old singer says in an upcoming autobiography she has suffered from kidney disease and by 2016 her kidneys were at "20 per cent and plunging rapidly"

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The Daily Dot - Tesla inventors to Elon Musk: Nix the tweeting:

Perhaps most frightening of all, one Tesla staffer said the company was chaotic.
[.]
While Musk was mostly silent toward those asking him to stop tweeting, he did respond to one Twitter user who said it seemed like Musk was actually working against Tesla’s long-term investors.

“Hang in there,” Musk tweeted. “If you are truly long-term, it will be fine.”

Elon Musk tokin' on The Joe Rogan Show

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Silicon Valley Liberal planning "Internet Bill of Rights." Recode: 

The author of these proposals is Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) [...] a set of new regulations for Silicon Valley that Democratic legislators may start pushing next year if they recapture Congress in November.

Tech has been, and will continue, outpacing law at breakneck speed. Politicians meddling in Tech is never good for Tech (or for law) and this is equal across Dems, Repubs and Others. Libertarians excluded, of course.

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You gotta fight...

For your right...

To Party ...

... ur, You gotta fight, for your right, to be a prostitute. BBC:

Husna Bai, a 24-year-old woman, told Judge Jagdish Sahai that she was a prostitute. Invoking the constitution, she had filed a petition challenging the validity of a new law to ban trafficking in human bodies.

By striking at her means of livelihood, Bai argued, the new law had "frustrated the purpose of the welfare state established by the Constitution in the country".

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Let's all get our favorite junk foods, sit down and read about it:  Can social media help people lose weight?  BBC: 

"I think the negative thing about being able to hide behind that anonymity is that people will say things on Reddit that they would never say to an actual person," [said Christy Brissette, a registered dietician in Chicago].

Whoaaaaa....right there. What's this about people on Reddit hiding behind anonymity? That can't be accurate, can it?

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The Observer -  Conservative Pundits thank Michael Avenatti for Kavanaugh confirmation:

Pundits on the right are crediting attorney Michael Avenatti with Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Will the Libs turn on Avenatti? What if he is secretly working against them? Huh? Huh? Conspiracy Thread time?
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Movie: Metropolis

New Statesman: Nietzsche's descent into madness.

...he was often incapacitated, as he would continue to be throughout his life, by illnesses of various sorts.
[.]
... the onset of his madness is usually dated to 3 January 1889, when, seeing a cabman mercilessly beating his horse, a sobbing Nietzsche threw his arms around the horse’s neck and then collapsed.

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Sidney Morning Herald - "Party-bus" passengers being denied entry into bars:

...[the party bus passengers], "Usually they are pre-loaded, they have obviously been drinking at home and on the bus on the way in.  (Well, yeah - that IS the idea, isn't it? - DD).  We want an environment where locals and visitors can all enjoy a venue," [said Richard Adamson, Coordinator of the Newtown Liquor Accord].
[.]
 "So if you're coming on a party bus, you're probably going to be turned away," [he said].

Goblin Roaming our Solar System

From RT: Goblin Roaming our Solar System -

A new planet dubbed the Goblin has been hiding in the mysterious Oort Cloud in the far reaches of our Solar System. And it could prove that a Super-Earth commonly referred to as 'Planet 9' is really lurking somewhere beyond Pluto.

The confirmed discovery of 2015 TG387, aka ‘The Goblin’ (it was monitored around the Halloween period here on Earth) was thanks to the largest and deepest survey ever conducted on distant solar objects, in the hunt for the ever-elusive 'Planet 9,'[.]
[.]
The Goblin is one of three objects clustered together in a mysterious region of the Universe known as the Oort cloud, an area beyond Pluto that was once thought largely barren and bereft of celestial activity.

Stephanie Clifford Stormy Daniels

Eight-plus NHL games on tap to watch...oh, Kavanaugh confirmed for Supreme Court

Brett Kavanaugh confirmed by Senate in 50-48 vote. BBC:

The Senate backed Brett Kavanaugh's nomination by 50 votes to 48.
[.]
The only party dissenters were Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who had intended to vote no, and Democrat Joe Manchin, who voted yes.

That should have meant a 51-49 tally, but the absence of Republican Steve Daines, a yes voter who was at his daughter's wedding, altered the final figures.

Ms Murkowski opted instead to simply mark herself as "present", leaving the final vote 50-48.

 I'm glad this drama is over.

Now...I need to figure out how the heck I'm going to watch around eight NHL games  simultaneously tonight. 

Susan Collins is now a "betrayer of women."

Susan Collins, U.S. Senator - Maine (kinda-pretend-sometimes Republican) has said she will vote to nominate Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Because Senator Collins recognizes there is no substantial, let alone remote circumstantial evidence, that Kavanaugh is guilty of the alleged accusations of Dr. Christine Ford...Collins is now labeled a "betrayer."

Celebrities to Collins, "You are a betrayer of women."

Susan Rice scolds Collins for "Her betrayal of women."

More celebs turn caustic towards Collins. Lifezette:

...director Rob Reiner was just as extreme in his reaction.

He wrote, “Susan Collins turns her back on women who have been traumatized by sexual assault. Elections have consequences. To start turning the ship of state back towards the rule of law, decency, truth, and the preservation of Democracy, Nov. 6 has to be a lot more than a blue wave. VOTE!!!”

Law? Decency? Truth? WTF is wrong with Meat Head, anyway?

Collins is a "betrayer of Maine voters."

Planned Parenthood calls Collins, a "betrayer of people everywhere." Everywhere? Really, now...everywhere?

All this is good news. When I hear Libs whining this loudly and to this extent, I know something is going right.

Let's hope Collins doesn't bow to pressure.

How Does He Know the pig Doesn't Want to be Bacon?

Hey, the Pig personally told me that he wanted to be bacon. It's on his bucket list. The Pig was also appalled that a Berkeley store would obtain a restraining order preventing "occupying and protesting."

Restricted free speech via a restraining order in Berkeley by a Berkeley-located store? You're traveling through another dimension...that's the signpost up ahead - your next stop...the Bizarro World.

A protest in Ralphs Supermarket, in Los Angeles, staged by Direct Action Everywhere in 2017. Photograph: Ruth Iorio

The Guardian: 

For a full week, a big black banner was posted from a sidewalk in Berkeley, California. “OCCUPY WHOLE FOODS”, it declared in large, white block letters.

But the protesters who created it, a group from the animal rights activist organization Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), were not actually able to do much occupying. Just days before a weeklong protest scheduled for late September, in which the activists had planned to call attention to alleged animal welfare violations by suppliers to Whole Foods’ parent company, Amazon, the Berkeley store filed a restraining order.

“We are not allowed to even step foot in the parking lot right now,” said Cassie King, a DxE organizer. “We can’t go inside the store and ask our questions.”

"We are not allowed to even step foot in the parking lot right now,"..."we can't ask our questions."

Oh. How. Fucking. Sad. Do these horribly mistreated and discriminated protesters have a GoFundMe page yet?

Has anyone notified the International Court of Justice and The Hague of the atrocities committed by Whole Foods against the DxE group?

George...well...he's getting upset.

Thou Shalt Not Clap (No applause, PLEASE!)

Next will be "sighing".

Sputnik News: Manchester U bans clapping:

The student union at Manchester University has banned clapping and replaced it with "jazz hands". The decision has been met with widespread derision on social media.
[.]
Jazz hands — waving both hands — is the British Sign Language (BSL) equivalent of clapping and has been introduced to ensure deaf and autistic people do not people left out.

But the decision has been greeted many on social media as a sign that political correctness has finally gone too far.

I was unaware that political correctness could ever "go too far."

I applaud "Thou Shalt Not Clap." But I do so only in the form of miming.

Did you hear me clap? No? Damn, I got this mime-thing down.