Gab moved to Mastodon servers recently, leading Mastodon admins and developers struggling with the question whether to ban Gab.
There shouldn’t be any struggle. Free speech includes the right – even obligation – of the owners of platforms to block speech they find hateful. That’s a particularly easy decision for Mastodon, which is not Facebook- or Twitter-scale.
Adit Robertson on The Verge: How the biggest decentralized social network is dealing with its Nazi problem
Here’s the preview on YouTube.
Looks good! I never got into “Battlestar Galactica.” I became a Sackhoff fan watching “Longmire,” although I didn’t like the way her character was written. 📺
“The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!”
A new technique uses space-based satellite surveillance to prevent bridge collapses, by detecting defects smaller than the thickness of a dime.
The new technique uses computer modeling and high-resolution satellite images to detect subtle shifts in a bridge’s structure that could indicate that it’s starting to fail. Some of the changes are so tiny that they could be undetectable during traditional visual inspections, the scientists say. The new technique uses computer modeling and high-resolution satellite images to detect subtle shifts in a bridge’s structure that could indicate that it’s starting to fail. Some of the changes are so tiny that they could be undetectable during traditional visual inspections, the scientists say.
Operation BBQ Relief: Competitive barbecuers flock to disaster scenes to serve up delicious hot food to victims and rescuers. “I thought, who better than some guys who set up in parking lots every weekend to bring a comfort meal?” … “Barbecue is comfort food … It reminds people of good times with friends and family, and gives them hope for those good times again.” Plus, barbecue meals tend to be hearty and high in protein — good for periods of scarcity…. [many disaster survivors] haven’t had a warm meal in days.
Today I learned MetaFilter is still a thing and it’s still very good.
A court in Dresden, Germany, sentenced two men to prison for copyright infringement – on Usenet Yes, Usenet is still a thing. [The Register]
Vox journalist Matt Yglesias talks with Jenny Scheutz, housing economist and fellow at the Brookings Institution to untangle the US housing crisis.
Some threads: Exclusionary zoning is a big part of the problem; people in affluent neighborhoods don’t want to see more housing built. Rent control tends to exacerbate problems by discouraging rental property. Tying up so much American middle-class wealth in housing makes it hard to drive down prices; if your entire retirement is tied up in your house, as it is for many Americans, you’re going to fight to keep prices as high as possible, which hurts the poor, lower-middle-class and young adults.
“Two US lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan bill that would force the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to alert the public of hacking attempts on election computer systems.” The Republican Party opposes election reform because it knows it can only win crooked elections. On The Register.
But the plan draws criticism. Mike Dano reports on Light Reading:
“Today’s vote doubles down on the same auction-driven spectrum policies that have left rural America unserved and low-income students forced to do their homework on WiFi in McDonald’s parking lots,” added John Schwartz, president and founder of Voqal, a company that acts as a middleman between schools that want to lease EBS spectrum and companies like Sprint that want access to that spectrum. “Instead of updating EBS and expanding on the strong track record of licensees such as Voqal – which is proud of our record of serving schools and low-income communities – the Commission has voted to commercialize a vital public asset.”
Metallica to publish children’s book, The ABCs of Metallica [Ben Beaumont-Thomas/The Guardian] Never too early to start the youngsters on metal, death and desolation.
Instagrammers Love This Turquoise Lake, But It’s Actually A Toxic Dump [Salvador Hernandez/Buzzfeed News]
I’m a bad person for laughing at this story.
Beautiful photos tho.
People are actually going into the lake to get better pictures. Instagram makes people stupid.
Microsoft Teams overtakes Slack with 13 million daily users. [Tom Warren/The Verge] We use Teams and I’ve used Slack too. I don’t see any significant difference, other than that Teams is a Microsoft service, which will be a plus for Microsoft shops and a negative for others.
A new project from Google’s in-house incubator, Area 120, aims to help people find things to do and others who share your same interests. Through a new app called Shoelace — a name designed to make you think of tying things together — users can browse through a set of hand-picked activities, or add their own to a map. For example, someone who wanted to connect with fellow dog owners could start an activity for a doggie playdate at the park, then start a group chat to coordinate the details and make new friends.
The end result feels a bit like a mashup of Facebook Events with a WhatsApp group chat, perhaps. But it’s wrapped in a clean, modern design that appeals more to the millennial or Gen Z user.
I’d rather use Facebook, WhatsApp, Meetup or some other service that’s likely to still be here in a year.
Google+, Google Reader, Google Buzz, Google Wave, Orkut, and Dodgeball weren’t enough for them.
If this new one seems interesting to you, enjoy it, but don’t expect it to be around in three years.
Weirdly, Google is actually one of the two most successful social media companies in the world. But nobody thinks of them that way. And other than that one spectacular hit, Google has been an utter disaster at social media.
You’re just embarrassing yourself, Google – stay home.
Novelist Stephen McCauley explores sexuality and relationships in “My Ex-Life." His novel “is a comedy about a couple whose marriage ended years ago when the husband came out as gay.” The woman contacts her ex-husband decades later when she has family troubles.
McCauley gives a lively interview on the Fresh Air podcast.
Recycling: People should stop thinking of recycling as a virtue, and start considering whether individual recycling programs are actually doing good. On the 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy podcast.
Can You Hear It? Sonic Devices Play High-Pitched Noises To Repel Teens
Philadelphia is putting a gadget in 30 parks and recreation centers that blares a constant, high-pitched ringing noise that only teens and young adults can hear, all night long. Some 20 parks departments around the country are implementing the youth-repellent devices. But the devices are also extremely annoying to some older adults with sensitive ears. And critics say the campaigns are just prejudice, and wrong.
“In a city that is trying to address gun violence and safe spaces for young people,” Philadelphia City Council member Helen Gym tells NPR, “how dare we come up with ideas that are funded by taxpayer dollars to turn young people away from the very places that were created for them?”
Gym is right. Ban behavior, not people.
Anti-“marihuana” ad, 1930s. https://reddit.com/r/vintageads/comments/cbocxh/anti_marihuana_ad_1930s/
I don’t think “dope peddlers” are giving weed away. I don’t think that’s how it works.
Elementary Education Has Gone Terribly Wrong
In the early grades, U.S. schools value reading-comprehension skills over knowledge. The results are devastating, especially for poor kids….
What if the best way to boost reading comprehension is not to drill kids on discrete skills but to teach them, as early as possible, the very things we’ve marginalized—including history, science, and other content that could build the knowledge and vocabulary they need to understand both written texts and the world around them?
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/…
Jibes with my own experiences as a child. Reading comprehension books bored me. I learned to read in school but taught myself to get good at it at home, with books I found interesting, generally science fiction.
They finally built a better ketchup bottle. And soon it’s going to be everywhere. www.washingtonpost.com/business/…
The bottle will be everywhere. Not the ketchup.
I don’t use much ketchup anymore, but it will be a happy day when they start using this for Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard and Sriracha sauce.
IBM: We Won’t ‘Bluewash’ Red Hat: IBM executives say they’d be fools to compromise Red Hat’s independence, following the $34 billion acquisition that closed this week. By me on Light Reading. www.lightreading.com/cloud/ibm…
ONAP ‘Dublin’ Lightens Network Orchestration: The latest release of the Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) sports enhancements designed to get the software up and running faster, so carriers can get on with sexy innovation. www.lightreading.com/open-sour…
5G Will Be 100x Faster Than LTE? More Like 2.7x Faster www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g… 5G speeds are failing to live up to hype. Is anyone surprised by this?
" … much of the dysfunction of tech regulation — from botched anti-sex-trafficking laws to the EU’s plan to impose mass surveillance and censorship to root out copyright infringement — are the result of trying to jury-rig tools to fix the problems of monopolies, without using anti-monopoly laws, because they have been systematically gutted for 40 years." craphound.com/news/2019…
Built on Sand: “Wherever we go, we’re surrounded by sand. It’s in the floors beneath us, walls around us and ceilings above us, plus the sidewalks and roads we use to get from place to place. Sand is a key ingredient in concrete, asphalt, and glass, not to mention the silicon chips inside our phones and computers. It is an essential component of modern life as we know it, yet, strangely enough, we are starting to run out.” 99percentinvisible.org/episode/b…
RIP Rip Torn: Actor’s actor, political activist, badass boingboing.net/2019/07/0…
IBM Builds Telco Muscle With $34B Red Hat Acquisition: IBM sees its combination with Red Hat as enabling a full virtualization stack for service providers, from infrastructure to OSS and everything in between. My latest on Light Reading. www.lightreading.com/cloud/ibm…
“Draw me like one of your French girls.”
USA’s formidable women’s team is no accident. It’s a product of public policy [Moira Donegan/The Guardian]
… title IX effectively turned the American education system into the world’s most successful women’s sporting development organization. The success story of women’s sports under title IX shows how marginalized groups can be given opportunities through policy interventions; how the talents and passions of individuals can be fostered when they have institutional support.
Greg McVerry: “Find a passion, start a blog.” Or you can just do what I do and post whatever pops into your head wherever you can find a text box on the web.
Pratik talks about taking photos on vacation, blogging in a post-Facebook world, and inability to do the Vulcan “Live Long and Prosper” salute.
“Muhammad Ali is a singular figure in American life. But there are elements of a modern-day Ali in Rapinoe’s stance toward sports and social activism, to say nothing of her ability to turn the glare of publicity—much of it controversial—to her advantage.”
USA 2019 Womens World Cup champions were unflappable, unequaled [SI.com]
Why Is Measles Back? [The Atlantic]
Peter Beinart, the author of this article, blames the anti-vax movement on rising idiocracy, but downplays betrayal by government, business and the medical establishment. Anti-vaxxers are wrong about vaccines, but they’re right to mistrust institutions.
A Bitter End For Regular Joe? Scientists Engineer A Smooth, Beanless Coffee [NPR]
A startup has developed coffee that’s made without the bitter flavor – and without coffee beans, too. Should they really be allowed to call it “coffee?”
Fish replacement may be the next big wave in alternative protein development
I’m intrigued by the idea of plant-based fish. I’m allergic to fish and would love to be able to eat it. Or to even know what fish tastes like.
I can eat shrimp, lobster and other shellfish, but not tuna, salmon, or other fish that swims. I’ve never had a tuna salad sandwich or sushi.
Microsoft’s Bill Gates: Steve Jobs cast spells on everyone but he didn’t fool me
Sounds ridiculous in a headline but Gates makes good points. Yeah, Jobs was often full of shit but the products were and are great anyway.
Shedding Light On Domestic Violence [Fresh Air podcast]. An average of four women are killed by their partners every day in America. Crisis center CEO Suzanne Dubus and journalist Rachel Louise Snyder talk about identifying risk factors in abusive relationships, prevention, and how to set victims up with resources to rebuild their lives. Snyder’s book is ‘No Visible Bruises.’
Spreadsheet [50 Things That Made the Moden Economy podcast]. A grid on a computer screen gives us a glimpse of the future of automated work. There are 400,000 fewer accounting clerks today than they were in 1980, the year after the PC spreadsheet debuted. But there are 600,000 more accountants.
Weeding is Fundamental [99% Invisible podcast.] When the San Francisco Public Library renovated 20 years ago, librarians fought to stop administrators from throwing out hundreds of books, and the card catalog.
The Town that Stayed Quiet: The This is Love podcast visits a city in northern Italy where everyone decided to stay quiet to save something beautiful.
First impressions of micro.blog: Community, people and content looks great. Design and UI are wonderfully simple. Performance is slooooow. Hopefully I signed up on a bad day.
Get a Spine! Stories about people – including a scientist who studies invertebrates – who get a spine, finding the courage to do what needs doing. On the This American Life podcast.
Maureen Dowd: It’s Nancy Pelosi’s Parade - The New York Times
I’m feeling warmer toward Pelosi after reading this article; she’s less of a toady to Trump than I thought. She’s clearly trying to oppose Trump, implement a progressive agenda, while keeping the moderate Democrats – in other words, the big-money donors – on board.
Still, she needs to understand that Trump and the Republicans are the enemy; they are not the loyal opposition. Pelosi is a peacetime consigliere, not a wartime consigliere, and this is war.
And Dowd is Patient Zero for the epidemic of corporate executives who have become coopted by the institutions they’re supposed to cover.
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