Can't imagine this working without some variant of a "forever chemical" like PFAS (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.2c01499 'However, virtually all such [Omniphobic] membranes are fabricated with long-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)') : would be good to include in the summary 'completely bio-degradable' if that is not the case - and it seems it is not.

What happened was that I fluked when going through (TSA) security at the airport and forgot my laptop until I was in the air. At that point contacted the Swiss airline and they sent a message to ground. No worries, was the reply: your laptop has been found by TSA. This was in a flight from the US to Germany.

Once in Germany I ofcourse immediately started checking with TSA, to see if they got it. I could not get through at first, and the airline and their bagage handler Swissport was also at a loss. Then in the afternoon TSA reported the laptop had been given to an airline bagage handler representative, but still no word or way (tried zillions of telephone numbers) to actually know where it would go.

I knew I put my name+phone as a sticker to it, but it was not used. TSA looked at the name at the lock screen, and that was how they assigned it to my name, and gave it to the bagage handler. But still: now my laptop was with some Swissport handler and I had no way to get it back, nor did they contact me.

TSA did provide me the name of the person, so I got bold after a while of annoying failed attempts to contact Swiss or Swissport: I looked up his name on Facebook (I still had an account then...) - and surely: a person was found that also is a Swissport employee. I sent a private message explaining my ordeal, and he replied that indeed he collected it from TSA. After confirming some details he said the laptop would be arriving in Germany the next day, and it did ! I hate facebook, but to this day believe that hadn't I taken matters in my own hand, I would still be looking for it, as the airline is pretty much hands off on this type of service - not all employees are too, as it turned out, no matter their shitty pay.

As with the same knowledge, one person or a collective thereof (a company eg) can never surpass the whole of humanity. With AI tools - they are just that - now there is the opportunity to steam ahead and with the same knowledge one person/company could surpass the whole: say they use it to start a news column site or programmer as a service. At least some parts of our lives could be replaced/monopolized by AI because it enables such monopolization by being quicker, better, and cheaper. Not everything: just like in Gattacca someone still needs to polish the floor where the AI company resides. So there is hope ?

https://nos.nl/teletekst#819 and still works, with basic colors and graphics. No ads as well, and standardized (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletext)

Made me think about this: https://youtu.be/g124hpodhgQ, firm action indeed!

1 dose of Johnson, two doses of Astra. Both vector vaccines, Astra and Sputnik were tested in a Russian study, and nothing alarming came out *except* the CVT risk (thrombosis), Been two weeks after my lasts shot, and feeling fine. The thirst for brains is not so bad yet that I actually need to eat them, so I am safe? Oh yeah, and tested safety during two events with a lot of unvaccinated youth (and likely infecter, we are talking Thr Netherlands here) over two weeks, also there no infection for me. N=1, but I think I am ok.

This one "slip up" will make sure 90% deinstalls the app, contact tracing is harmed, and Australia could face - as Biden puts it - a dark winter...erm summer. Good work guys: in being tasked to get intelligence to protect and safeguard your countries' interests, you fucked up and instead increased the death toll of COVID-19 in your country. Wow...

I read that in Hong Kong, they were worried about the spread through sewer pipes. In many houses, there is a discharge pipe, which allows air to escape. If - and I have seen this in practice ! - you push a gas through the toilet on the ground floor, the gas finds it's way through the discharge pipe on your roof and you see smoke pillowing out if that gas is visible. However, the gas *also* finds it's way to the neighbours' house. So: same for that gas, any sewer gas that contains SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19) will likely make it's way through the sewer pipes to other homes as well. My five cents: make sure you don't have any sewer leaks in your home today : if you smell something, fix it, you might fare better that way.

Mod parent up. Seems this was a very short lived result, as the hydrogen disappeared after a while. This article does mention the current finding though, using diamond anvils.

There's a thing called standby and flight-mode on laptops. I am glad I did not in hindsight.

Going through security, I forgot my laptop only to find out in the plane at cruising. I immediately informed the attendant who contacted ground. A person was then sent to the TSA lost&found to pick it up with my name. The funny parts: I had a sticker on my notebook with all my details, including phone no. It was never used. Instead, when picking it up they only opened the lid to see the login name on the lock screen (only my first name), and the combination of laptop description was then used to give the laptop to the airline guy. For me to actually get it back, I had to contact and find the guy on Facebook (only had a name and non-working telno from TSA) no less ! But, I got it back :) And I guess TSA did something good, like not allowing a stranger to sticker my laptop with their details.

in The Netherlands: Guardian article on Dutch lawsuit here. So there is some precedent, albeit under a different legal system.

which states (3.2 https://ec.europa.eu/energy/si...) : "a simple indication of the mode (e.g. a LED) is not considered as being a function. Therefore in "off-mode" as defined in the Regulation, a LED could be on."
So as it is not functional, clearly there can be no LED. The TV is therefore OFF :)

It is amazing, because back in the early 20th century everybody thought that was a load of bull. Similar like you do today - people were ridiculing the concept of flying machines then. [rant]It takes a visionary to start from the other direction: possibility first, then obstacle. You start by looking at the obstacle - what would you possibly want to do at a site like slashdot where people generally want to read about possibilities ?[/rant]

Where do you think Shell comes from ? Major stockholder: the Dutch government.
Our government basically has a lot invested in doing nothing, so this was a good decision. The liberal conservatives immediately shrugged and said they wouldn't change a thing, but a precedent has been set. Maybe some good will come from this after all.